From the Editor

by Glenn Case

Why in this modern day and age do we publish the MAAM in hard copy form?     This question gets asked a lot nowadays and deserves an answer.  When I first assumed the responsibility of being your editor, I asked the very same question.

Well, first of all, the MAAM is published on line.  Go to http://phoenix.us.mensa.org and you will find the past issues of the MAAM in electronic form as well as other information of interest.  But, why bother to publish a hard copy at all?

The answer is simple.  First, not everyone in Greater Phoenix Mensa has a computer.  That may sound strange, but it is true nonetheless.   Mensans are a diverse lot.  Many have computers, but some do not.

Another  factor is that while many have computers, not all are connected to a cable Internet connection.  The MAAM in a suitable electronic format takes about one or two megabytes.  On a cable hookup, it would take about 20 seconds to download.  Then you just shoot it off to your printer.  Have a cup of coffee and there is your MAAM waiting to be read.  If you have a dial up connection, however, it would take more like several minutes to download.  This could be an unacceptable inconvenience for some people.

Finally, in any case, some hard copies would have to be printed.  Problem here is that the cost of setting up the MAAM for printing is more than half the cost of printing it.  So even if we printed a third of the copies we presently print, it would not save all that much.  Also, our advertising revenue could be impacted since people paying for advertising expect a certain circulation.  So, all in all, it would likely be break even at best.

    The final bottom line is that at this point a fully electronic system is not feasible, at least here in Phoenix.   I suspect strongly that it will be within a few years.

The next thing I wanted to mention is that starting with the January issue, Karen Baurenschmidt will take over as the MAAM Editor.  So we are looking for a Calendar Editor.   I have agreed to pinch hit for a while until someone can be located,  but the job is open and waiting for someone to take it.  It is not overly time consuming.  It takes about four hours to collect the entries   (most of which come in via email) and cut and paste them together.  This rough draft is then shipped over to the Editor for inclusion in the MAAM.  If you are interested, let me know.  I will be happy to work with the new person as long as it takes to get them on board.