Brief by Central Staff
Colorado Central – December 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
This seems as good a place as any to answer some questions we’ve been asked more than once, so:
Q. Why don’t you send out renewal notices by email, when possible, rather than post cards or letters?
A. Because we’d have to keep track of a subscriber’s email address, as well as his postal address.
In order to mail magazines, we have to keep track of postal addresses, but adding email addresses to our system — addresses that often change frequently — would entail more clerical work when we’d rather be writing or walking the dog.
And we’d also have to establish two categories of subscribers: one to be notified by email and one by snail mail.
Although it may cost a little more to use the Postal Service, notifying designated subscribers by email would require more bookkeeping and time. And at this point, we employ no clerical or production staff.
Right now, we save as much of our budget and time as we can for writing and research. But maybe someday….
Q. My copy was missing some pages. Why does that happen, and what can I do about it?
A. It happens because the magazine is usually printed in two press runs, then the parts (called “signatures”) are assembled by a machine (a “collator”) before they are stapled and trimmed. Like all machines, this one doesn’t always perform perfectly.
Presumably the printer catches most of these mishaps. And we often catch light magazines when we’re putting on mailing labels — but not always.
If you get a magazine that doesn’t have all of its pages, or is otherwise marred, just let us know (e-mail is the fastest way, but a phone call, fax, or letter also works), and we’ll mail you a new one ASAP in a plain brown wrapper.
Q. I was nosing around your website, and noticed that your pages all have URLs like “01020312.htm” Is there some method to this?
A. Sure. The “0102” part means the item was in our edition number 102 (August of 2002), the “031” means it was on page 31, and the “2” means it was the second item on that page. It’s not pretty, but it works.
Q. When do you update your website, www.coloradocentralmagazine.com?
A. In theory, at the end of the month. In practice, when we get around to it, and during busy times, we can lag by several weeks.
Q. We got some Chaffee County candidate’s bulk mailing before the election, and it had your permit number, 77 from Salida. What gives?
A. We allow the use of our permit for various bulk mailings, providing the mailer does all the work. But we don’t sell or rent our mailing list. We figure your subscription is a transaction between you and Colorado Central, and it is no one else’s business.