<VV> RE: Communique article rejections

[N. Joseph Potts]

Jim -
     I don't usually seek particulars as to why an article is not carried,
nor force ANY decision to reject. Editing a magazine is a mysterious process
to everyone but the editor (and sometimes to the editor, too). It involves a
lot of trade-offs. Obviously, for my purposes, as for yours, the trade-offs
have been against not only (one of) my articles, but by no coincidence,
against my interests, too, which run very much to the techical (but NOT
limited to performance, and not limited to stock or non-stock).
     The Communique, it would appear, is a bit more of a society column than
you or I might prefer, and GROUPS (as opposed to individuals, which might
describe you or me better) need a vehicle like the Communique. These people
get together from all over the world once a year (I haven't made a national
yet, though I'd like to), they meet regionally at least that often, they
might meet locally as often as once a week, and they compete with each other
in autocrosses, economy runs, concourses, and so on and so on. I know you
only through VV, but I suspect you don't go in for a lot of this stuff, at
least where Corvairs are concerned. I certainly don't.
     The Communique is largely for people who know each other, I gather.
I've noticed that on the rare occasion when I do participate in an event
that is carried in the Communique, I don't show up in any pictures, nor get
mentioned. In a way, that's appropriate, because my participation tends to
be minimal. I've autocrossed and concoursed, but never placed.
Half-heartedness on my part is undoubtedly much of the explanation.
Half-something, anyway.
     Anyway, now and then these folks who know each other exchange something
of a technical nature that interests us, and with somewhat greater rarity,
they (the editor) may have some interest in some technicalia WE have to
offer.
     There's a big social side to this hobby as most people practice it. The
Communique is the organ of that aspect, to a large extent. Meantime, thank
God, we have VV. This also is largely given over the socializing, but it's a
lot easier to filter, and to find the stuff we want in it, than is the
Communique. And, in our techno-geeky ways, I suppose we even socialize a
bit.

Joe Potts
Miami, Florida USA
1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Burkhard [mailto:burkhard at rochester.rr.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 9:32 AM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Cc: 'N. Joseph Potts'
Subject: Communique article rejections was RE: blow up electric fans


Joe -

Yours is the 3rd story I've heard about the Communique rejecting articles.
The other two folks (whom I respect very much) were told that they had
articles that were too technical and not of interest to the "general
reader".  This is pretty disheartening to those of us inclined to write on
such matters ourself.  I'm wondering what the problem is?  I don't think
every issue should be packed cover-to-cover with non-stock tech, but if
decent quality material is out there, it ought to be published.  CORSA
membership has been dropping and the membership has been greying for many
years -- we need to do things to keep the hobby interesting to ALL members.
I for one am bored to tears when Communiques are filled with reports of
local mall shows and cruise nights.  If you don't know the people, who
cares?  Where's the beef?

Younger Vair owners are (often) the ones most interested in such technical
articles.  If we continue to reject them, these folks unfortunately may see
little reason to join CORSA. That's not good for anyone in the long term as
I think CORSA provides the backbone that maintains interest in the marque
which helps support the vendors, who keep us all in parts, etc. etc.

If anyone out there has had an article rejected by the Communique, let's
hear the details, including the "official" reasons.  I didn't realize this
was such a problem until I'd heard similar stories from a few guys.  It
doesn't take long for such warnings to get around...  If there's some dirty
laundry, better to air it and resolve it.
Communiques that have some technical meat to them are an incentive to join
CORSA, especially to younger guys.

Jim Burkhard