BMFA mag's going a bit over the top?

[Bob Cotsford]

I just came back from the Friday shopping to a pile of mail on the doormat, included in which was the new BMFA mag. The curious part is that I got not one, not two but three virginal copies, all addressed to me and alll marked with the correct BMFA membership number.

I know it's Christmas, but really?  Three copies?

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 07/12/2018 14:25:57

[Chris Walby]

Its so you can pass two copies on to prospective new members, simples

[Geoff Peacock]

I only got a single copy. However… it seems the BMFA have changed my name.

No longer am I Geoff - I am now known to them as GHENGIZ Peacock .

Whether it's Ghengiz Kahn or Ghengiz Can't (my wife's suggestion) I'm not quite sure. Better have a look at their new Portal and check. More technology to deal with, I suppose.

[Stuart Z]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 07/12/2018 14:25:14:

I just came back from the Friday shopping to a pile of mail on the doormat, included in which was the new BMFA mag. The curious part is that I got not one, not two but three virginal copies, all addressed to me and alll marked with the correct BMFA membership number.

I know it's Christmas, but really? Three copies?

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 07/12/2018 14:25:57

And I got two!

Like Bob’s with matching data on the envelope. (And are BMFA going to stop using plastic “envelopes” )

S

Edited By Stuart Z on 07/12/2018 15:40:11

[Geoff S]

Posted by Geoff Peacock on 07/12/2018 14:58:07:

I only got a single copy. However… it seems the BMFA have changed my name.

No longer am I Geoff - I am now known to them as GHENGIZ Peacock .

Whether it's Ghengiz Kahn or Ghengiz Can't (my wife's suggestion) I'm not quite sure. Better have a look at their new Portal and check. More technology to deal with, I suppose.

It's probably because people think (incorrectly) that our first name is spelt 'Jeff'. Though I admit it might be fun to be called Genghis.

I received just the one copy but I didn't check to see if my name was correctly spelt.

Geoff (or perhaps Genghis)

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

Posted by Geoff Peacock on 07/12/2018 14:58:07:

I only got a single copy. However… it seems the BMFA have changed my name.

No longer am I Geoff - I am now known to them as GHENGIZ Peacock .

Whether it's Ghengiz Kahn or Ghengiz Can't (my wife's suggestion) I'm not quite sure. Better have a look at their new Portal and check. More technology to deal with, I suppose.

I have changed your record to say Geoff. There is no email address on your account so you will need to email [email protected] to add it and then a password reset email can be sent to you.

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

A minor admin error generating the export for the printers, a small number of people will get multiple copies, most just the one.

[Kevin 216]

I got 2 too I thought it was because I had paid the bmfa fee early and Go membership was indicating 2 live subscriptions!.

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

Posted by Kevin 216 on 07/12/2018 18:41:30:

I got 2 too I thought it was because I had paid the bmfa fee early and Go membership was indicating 2 live subscriptions!.

Correct. Sorted now though.

[Erfolg]

It would not surprise me that the errors or issues are related to the BMFA upgrading their management portal. I expect that they have been populating a new relational data base from an existing system.

Is it the end of the world if this, or something similar has been taking place. IMO no, it is part of the price of reducing costs and increasing head office efficiency. As we constantly see, or are aware of, the potential for things going wrong with increased reliance on technology remains. The rewards are services and opportunities at a fraction of the cost, or maybe not possible with the comfortable world of paper.

Personally I can live quite easily with the odd error, when my overall services increase and costs reduced.

[Bob Cotsford]

It's not the end of the world except it's not going to help reduce costs in the short term if the printers are churning out surpluss copies!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Erfolg]

Bob

There will always be some problems. In my case I received my BMFA news today, a single copy.

In the longer term, many changes do reduce cost, improve service.

In a way i smile, as I think that potentially my region is helping to fund some of the changes, via our regional budget, yet I recognise that in the longer term these small problems are inevitable as we move forward.

Now where are my stone tablets and chisels?

[Erfolg]

Tom

Is it a rare collectors copy?

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Cuban8]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 07/12/2018 19:39:37:

It's not the end of the world except it's not going to help reduce costs in the short term if the printers are churning out surpluss copies!

Having previously worked in the print/paper handling industry, I wouldn't be too alarmed at the cost of extra copies, Bob. The main costs are design/transport/handling/postage, unless things have changed radically over the last ten years or so, the actual cost of printing is surprisingly low and gets even better the more you make.

[nigel newby]

I got a pair as well. Tom you need to put them both on e-bay. As any dealer will tell, you always get more for a matching pair!!

Nigel N

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Cuban8 on 08/12/2018 10:02:06:

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 07/12/2018 19:39:37:

It's not the end of the world except it's not going to help reduce costs in the short term if the printers are churning out surpluss copies!

Having previously worked in the print/paper handling industry, I wouldn't be too alarmed at the cost of extra copies, Bob. The main costs are design/transport/handling/postage, unless things have changed radically over the last ten years or so, the actual cost of printing is surprisingly low and gets even better the more you make.

Unfortunately delivering three copies brings triple all of those costs other than the design step!

[Geoff Peacock]

Posted by Andy Symons - BMFA on 07/12/2018 17:34:08:

Posted by Geoff Peacock on 07/12/2018 14:58:07:

I only got a single copy. However… it seems the BMFA have changed my name.

No longer am I Geoff - I am now known to them as GHENGIZ Peacock .

Whether it's Ghengiz Kahn or Ghengiz Can't (my wife's suggestion) I'm not quite sure. Better have a look at their new Portal and check. More technology to deal with, I suppose.

I have changed your record to say Geoff. There is no email address on your account so you will need to email [email protected] to add it and then a password reset email can be sent to you.

A big thanks to Andy - sorted out in double quick time .

[Erfolg]

Geoff

I have had one new member to our club, who lives at the other end of the country and two members changed their Christian names.

Being totally honest these are small issues.

At present I am quite pleased with the new system, particularly as it is hard to develop then implement when the budget is modest and time is short.

At a practical level, it takes me back to being a student, where one exercise required breaking a connection to a record, then making a new one, to both of the pointers. It sounded dead easy. It just required a bit of code writing to do it. But it could all go so badly wrong, if you got the code wrong. As an exercise it did not really matter, in the real world, oh my God, what do we do next.

[kc]

Anyone who got 3 copies from BMFA probably also got 3 copies of the amendments to the rule book - so no excuses for not keeping to the rules!

If anyone wants a way to ensure nobody reads the rule book it's best to send out amendment after amendment so that nobody actually has a complete copy of the actual rules. Just like the small print on so many things that is so difficult to read that nobody bothers...........................

.................but this time it is important! There are many significant changes to the law that affect our flying, yet they are contained in an amendment sheet in amongst the useless politically correct claptrap about " diversity" and " appropriate behaviour" -- just the thing to put people off reading the important rules.

Why didn't we get a new copy of the rulebook that is clear yet concise and focussed on the important matters only.

[Erfolg]

KC

I did read the changes. Out of context it is not always obvious as to the significance or the meaning.

I am hoping that when the dust settles and it becomes apparent what the CAA want on line, or what ever it is they want in totality, the mag is used to present a full and rounded presentation of facts and implications to all modelers in clubs, lone fliers and slope etc.

In the mean time look at the amendments.

[Erfolg]

Although I did not make the connection that the Magazine Label list and the new membership Portal were one in the same thing, from reading the magazine I should have twigged it.

In reality it looks like the BMFA have created a new relational data base, with a number of front ends (windows) for the different users. These probably range from Internal management, membership payments, club official access, magazine address list, and so on.

I am guessing that provision will have been made for head office to undertake queries. These could be as varied as members per area, clubs, types of clubs.

If I am correct, the issues with a few names, pales into insignificance compared to the task that has been achieved, with little or no fanfare. I am guessing that the cost or investment has been low, as is a necessity for a business with +30,000 people.

As an aside I have used the new club portal (window) and have found it (so far) very intuitive, accessing via tiles, allowing specific fields to be amended, without being a current IT guru. Great for an old numpty with no current knowledge at all, that is me. For those of us who see IT as a tool, rather than a intellectual pursuit, it cuts the mustard.

I can see the this new data base being used for trials of providing the mag on line in the not to distant future. As with everything, nothing stays the same.

Edited By Erfolg on 09/12/2018 11:27:50

[BackinBlack]

Posted by Erfolg on 09/12/2018 11:24:52:

Although I did not make the connection that the Magazine Label list and the new membership Portal were one in the same thing, from reading the magazine I should have twigged it.

In reality it looks like the BMFA have created a new relational data base, with a number of front ends (windows) for the different users. These probably range from Internal management, membership payments, club official access, magazine address list, and so on.

I am guessing that provision will have been made for head office to undertake queries. These could be as varied as members per area, clubs, types of clubs.

If I am correct, the issues with a few names, pales into insignificance compared to the task that has been achieved, with little or no fanfare. I am guessing that the cost or investment has been low, as is a necessity for a business with +30,000 people.

As an aside I have used the new club portal (window) and have found it (so far) very intuitive, accessing via tiles, allowing specific fields to be amended, without being a current IT guru. Great for an old numpty with no current knowledge at all, that is me. For those of us who see IT as a tool, rather than a intellectual pursuit, it cuts the mustard.

I can see the this new data base being used for trials of providing the mag on line in the not to distant future. As with everything, nothing stays the same.

Edited By Erfolg on 09/12/2018 11:27:50

Well said, I wholeheartedly agree. Praise where praise is due

I see that the magazine is already available online, but not the December issue yet. It's under the BMFA tab as BMFA News Magazine.