Cliftonite Magazine

[Darren N]

I’m writing to let everyone know that, after consulting with the Club Committee, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that we will not be able to produce a Cliftonite Magazine this year. While we recognise this is a great shame, particularly in the TdF year, we have been completely overtaken by practicalities.

Without wishing to go into great detail in public, the principal reasons for us not being able to publish a Cliftonite magazine this year include:
- Lack of volunteer resource, particularly in the area of publishing skills where we have lost 100% of our previous capability.
- Lack of content (only 2 vague promises from members thus far).
- Lack of sufficient advertising & sponsorship revenues (many, many issues here!).
- Exorbitantly expensive printing costs which simply cannot be covered by Club coffers.

With all of the above key elements of the magazine severely compromised, we simply cannot produce this year’s edition. Even if we suddenly had 5 extra helpers, this would not solve the issues relating to the commercial funding model, the lack of publishing skills and the generation of content. If we’re honest with ourselves, the printed magazine appears to have become irrelevant in the digital age. We’ve given it our best shot but feel like we’ve been trying to hold back the digital tide.

This obviously gives rise to the next step as to what the Club should be doing by way of member communications, particularly as 25% of our growing membership are juniors. A recent request was made for members’ views on consideration of a Facebook page and Twitter feed and I understand the Club’s Committee are considering how best to take this forward. My own view is that these media channels should be progressed but that is very much a personal view.

I would like to encourage any member who may have been considering an article for the magazine to continue to make their submissions and they will be published in the News section of the website. This can be done on an ongoing basis.

The Cliftonite editorial team is very sorry that we cannot produce the magazine this year and apologise in advance to those who may have been looking forward to reading it later in the year. If other digital channels are launched, I would encourage you all to participate and engage with them. Finally, I would especially like to thank my fellow editorial team members who worked tirelessly in the last 2 years to produce a great product.

Kind regards
Darren

[mikeh]

Darren,

Sad news but very well done on the past two Cliftonite's. They were superb and provided ready and inspiration for all of our riding in 2014.

I have an article on my experiences in Yorkshire for the TdF. If these articles are to go onto the website I wonder if it could be thought about that we have a page where all the memories of the Cliftonites of 2014 are kept for those members in the future to read and experience some of the atmosphere we did.

Congratulations to all of the members that had been involved in the Cliftonite over the years. Let's hope it is not the end of the story but part of it as we move onto other media (digital or otherwise).

[Rob]

Well done Darren. Not only on your team's efforts over the last couple of years on the Cliftonite, but also on a measured, diplomatic post!

Dispiriting news indeed....

I, like others, enjoy having a physical magazine to thumb through. Moreover, several back issues of the Cliftonite live on our coffee table and various non-cycling visitors enjoy reading selected articles.

Maybe someone can explain just *how* twitter/facebook/other platform can take the Cliftonite's place in practice (in general terms).

Edit - genuine question - am not looking for an argument!

[Darren N]

Thanks Rob, I appreciate your comments. I’m just back from a difficult NYMBO today around the hills of Malham – it’s amazing how much leg strength you can lose on a Summer holiday!

We’re all a bit gutted by the Cliftonite tbh. You are one of the few who know how many photos I took this year to fill the Cliftonite. Regardless of the availability of content or publishing skills, the main issue is that the financial model is seriously flawed. The process of raising advertising revenues is almost impossible, and even if it was easy, we can’t seem to raise enough funds to cover the print costs of c.£3k. If anyone out there knows how to raise such an amount, they should yell out! – Maybe we should consider cake stalls, a national sponsor (although this goes against the mantra of supporting York shops), a wealthy benefactor, maybe someone to emulate Mike H’s fund raising skills! We should also think about whether members even wish to put all of these resources into the Cliftonite when they may equally want other media channels to be opened.

Regarding your question about how the Cliftonite can be ‘replaced’ by other digital media channels, the fact is that it can’t! There have been mountains of emails sent behind the scenes this week between the Committee and the editorial team, all of it constructive. My point is that all channels should be opened, none should be closed and all should be embraced to suit the various demographics. You and I may prefer the Cliftonite but some may prefer Facebook, some prefer Twitter, some prefer Instagram or Pinterest, some prefer a blog, some prefer the forum on the website and some prefer the Cliftonite – we should embrace them all and not be exclusive to one. A central point holding us back is the myth that the Club revolves around the website and the Cliftonite rather than the fact that all communication channels revolve around the Club. The main reason the Cliftonite can’t be progressed is that the Club can’t afford it, otherwise we would, and should, definitely keep it open – it’s not a question of progressing one channel instead of or in place of another. The sooner the Club stops using the ‘OR’ word and adopts the ‘AND’ word when it comes to communication channels, the better. BTW, if anyone wishes to know what other York and nearby cycling clubs (our competitors!) are doing in terms of communication channels, they should Google them, it makes for fascinating viewing.

BTW, I will try to find a solution to publishing Cliftonite content on the website in the interim.

Hope this helps the discussion,



Darren

[Broom Wagon]

Fully understand the reason for the demise of the Cliftonite, but I can help being unhappy - I've years of them in drawer. Oh well.....