John Lee Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I did not participate via the magazine. I received an email from the BMFA on 12 Sep 2020 giving me a link to participate in the survey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Guess if they threw the mag in the bin you wouldn't know there was a questionnaire so we'll never know. For Rich Griff - the last BMFA AGM had membership at 30,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I didn't participate as I was not a member in 2020. I didn't even realise there was a magazine, there wasn't back in the 80's, 90's. I am sure I would have said, if asked, I would read it from cover to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Symons - BMFA Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 4 hours ago, Andy Stephenson said: Was this a self selecting survey? If so then those who responded were the ones who read the mag, or some of it, as there was no option to say it was binned unopened. No. The survey was an online survey and all members were emailed about it and had a chance to air their views. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I Thought the present BMFA mag was well laid out, continue like that and they will be well read. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 21 minutes ago, Andy Symons - BMFA said: No. The survey was an online survey and all members were emailed about it and had a chance to air their views. This means to me that it was self selecting as the only ones who responded were those who wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Symons - BMFA Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Andy Stephenson said: This means to me that it was self selecting as the only ones who responded were those who wanted to. That isn't what you said in your post though. You said that if it was self selecting then only those who read the magazine will have responded. The only way to respond was online, so those members who get all their news from the magazine because it is the only medium they use couldn't respond. I have to say, personally I was surprised how highly rated the magazine was, probably one of those silent majority things, those that are happy with it get on with reading and enjoying it and the minority who aren't are more vocal about it which gives a skewed perception of things. Edited January 30, 2022 by Andy Symons - BMFA 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) On 29/01/2022 at 23:10, Andy Stephenson said: It's been said before that authorities like the CAA have taken much more notice of the BMFA for being a national controlling body because they act like other sizeable representative associations and the one thing they all have in common is regular communication with their members usually through print media. For this reason alone it seems worth it to keep up the appearance of a responsible organisation worth listening to. Having said that I would be more than willing to receive mine in electronic form. This has been stated before when the need for the magazine in printed form has come up, you are quite right. Whilst it may have been true in the past I wonder whether it is time for the BMFA to revisit that decision given changes in how many of us consume content: I don't know about you, but almost none of my crucial correpondance - mortgage statements, bills, bank statements, tax returns etc - are received or completed on paper these days, and I certainly don't ignore them just because they don't arrive on paper. I know "going paperless" isn't a reality or preference for everyone, but it is for large percentage of us, far more so than when this was last looked at. For those individuals who do prefer electronic rather than paper correpondance, surely they would be more likely to read the magazine if it was delivered to them via their preferred medium rather than on paper? That would certainly be the case for me, as I could consume it easily in gaps in the working day when away from home rather than it sitting on the side and being "tidied up" by my other half without me asking! ? If we look at the other national associations with Article 16 Authorisations, not all of them have paper magazines. The LMA website states that members receive "...a regularly published journal. This is sent to every member, all over the world.", but is that on paper? Sorry, I'm not a member so don't know. FPVUK certainly don't list a magazine on the list of their benefits, and again they have an authorisation. Most interestingly the British Drone Flyers (the new org set up and "Powered by the BMFA" as per their website) email their newsletter our every other month, but provide members the opportunity to download the BMFA News as needed. I am not advocating for the print version of the mag to be ditched completely (I know some members do still prefer it), but it does seem to be time to offer a "paperless" BMFA membership to those who prefer to consume content electronically and/or want to reduce environmental impact. After all, the CAA and BMFA must be happy for members of Associations to under an Article 16 authorisation without a regular paper magazine given the way the BDFA do their comms. The only snag might be that if large percentage of the members go paperless the cost of producing the paper mag at lower volumes will get more expensive. Is that really a major problem though? I am not saying paperless subscribers must get a discount - let's just plough that money back into other stuff that helps model flying (like paying for legal advice/lobbying against any additional legislation that may come our way in the coming years). YMMV. Edited January 31, 2022 by MattyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) 31 minutes ago, MattyB said: I am not advocating for the print version of the mag to be ditched completely (I know some members do still prefer it), but it does seem to be time to offer a "paperless" BMFA membership to those who prefer to consume content electronically and/or want to reduce environmental impact. Do you mean like this ? Edited January 31, 2022 by PatMc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, PatMc said: Do you mean like this ? Yes, but at present it's not possible to unsubscribe from the paper version, nor am I automatically updated when a new online version is uploaded. Those are the elements that would save the BMFA money and improve the offering for those of us who don't want or need a paper copy. Edited January 31, 2022 by MattyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Calcutt Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 On 27/01/2022 at 18:32, Peter Jenkins said: Andrew, do you participate in the Achievement Scheme? Yes I have b certificate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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