July MR Workshop

[Pruitt]

In the "Workshop" column of the July issue, someone asked how to make a lift-out / hinged section to eliminate a duckunder.

The answer was, in effect, "If ya want an answer, buy our books."

What's with that?

In the past I've seen these kinds of questions given a basic answer, followed with something like "...Book X and Book Y provide more in-depth information on this subject." That's fine - a basic answer, with a lead to more information than can be provided in the column.

But why even print the question, if there is no attempt to provide any answer? To use it as a vehicle to advertise other Kalmbach products? Cheesy way to advertise, guys! (And to me the reply - it certainly wan't an answer - came across as a bit cold and indifferent as well).

I'm paying good money for that kind of stuff, along with lots of unused white space (see the topic "A Whole Lotta Wasted Space in Trackside Photos")? Come subscription renewal time, it won't just be automatic this time - it will take some re-evaluation of the cost / value equation.

Anyone else see this the same way, or am I just off the deep end again?

[Anonymous]

It's all about making money for Kalmbach. Period. Us readers and forum visitors don't mean squat. If something in the magazines isn't adding to the Kalmbach coffers, out it goes. I imagine Al Kalmbach would be horrified of what the corporation has become these days if he were alive!

Bob Boudreau

[mrgstrain]

I also agree that the answer seem's to be a bit tacky & also agree with the topic of to much white space. Having been removed from the hobby for many years & recently returning 1 1/2 yrs, i subscribed to MR mag. to relite my fire, & recently renewed my subscription got a good rate, i figured if there were 5or 6 good mags. a year it cost the same as a whole year, but next time i might have to think about . This way they don;t have my $$ up front to work with.
Larry

[dknelson]

The question was a good one but the answer has to be a long one - way beyond the allotted space. It has been covered in many MR issues as well as in their book and perhaps they should have cited more than one of those articles since some readers might well have the answer somewhere right on their shelf -- and often it is buried in an article and does not show up in the index
Dave Nelson

[davekelly]

I also think the answer was a bit tacky. Model Railroader has changed since I started reading it. Some of the change has been good - but a lot of what has gone on has me agreeing with Bob. There seems to be two trains (pun not intended) on how to increase the bottom line. One is the slash and burn and the other is putting out the best product. Perhaps the background of the editors has something to do with it. Long gone are the folks that were Model Railroaders first and business folks second. I'm thinking specifically of Gordy Odegard and, if I'm remembering it correctly, Al Kalmbach himself. Look at the job descriptions when an editorial position becomes open. Unless my memory fails me I'm afraid Gordy wouldn't get hired if he were to apply today given his background.

Dave has a good point. There should have been more references to point to. Old articles, books etc. I do think that MRR missed an opportunity also. What an excellent lead in to say something like "We'll be running a 'MR project Illustrated" or a 'Step by Step' on building lift out or hinged sections later in the year." Something like that would have me thinking "cool - can't wait to see it" vice "man, what a blantant ad." Actually it looks like they did miss the boat. In the "Coming Next Month" there's a "Walkthrough lift bridge" listed. Oh well.

[trainboyH16-44]

WHAT?! You've got your july MR already? When's mine gonna get here?
WHERE IS THAT @#^%&* DOGSLED ALREADY?
LOLS
Matthew

[BRAKIE]

Seems to me that MR is heading down hill at breakneck speed.To bad that..I can remember when MR was the leading magazine in the hobby..Now I must ask can it be fixed or is it beyond fixing?
Sorry MR but you keep going down hill with just about every issue.Can't the editors see this?

[JohnT14808]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44

WHAT?! You've got your july MR already? When's mine gonna get here?
WHERE IS THAT @#^%&* DOGSLED ALREADY?

Yup, July came to the West Coast last Friday!!! Pretty good reading this month, but dang....I couldn't find the Coming Events section ANYWHERE??!?![;)][;)]
[:D]

[Bergie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FundyNorthern

It's all about making money for Kalmbach. Period. Us readers and forum visitors don't mean squat. If something in the magazines isn't adding to the Kalmbach coffers, out it goes. I imagine Al Kalmbach would be horrified of what the corporation has become these days if he were alive!

Bob Boudreau

Bob, as a person who has worked here at Kalmbach for over 11 years, I can tell you that your comments are way off base and very insulting. Do you think our company would survive for 70+ years if we treated our customers as though they "don't mean sqaut"?

Have you ever called our customer service department? They're the prime example. They go out of their way to treat each and every one of our customer like they're royalty, because they are. I would challenge you to find a company that devotes as much time to their customer's experience as our company does. Check out www.kalmbach.com: "Kalmbach's goal is to be a leader in each of the fields we serve. Kalmbach is customer-focused and recognized for treating its customers and employees like VIPs." To an outsider, that statement would appear to be nothing more than text created for a company's Web site. Work here though, and you'll know how honest and legitimate those words are. (Our customer focus program devotes a siginificant amount of time to assuring that our customers expectations are being met and exceeded.) Call our customer service line some time and you'll see what I mean.

I highly doubt our founder would be horified to learn about a program that devotes so much time to our customers' experience with our company. Rather, I think he'd be rather proud.

Erik

[Anonymous]

Hey Bergie!!! Thanks for settings these guys strait. I see no problem at all with Model railroader. I think it is evn better than it was 10+ years ago. Great work, and thanks for providing us with a safe and fun forum experience.

CSXguy

[Pruitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bergie


Have you ever called our customer service department? ... They go out of their way to treat each and every one of our customer like they're royalty...

I highly doubt our founder would be horified to learn about a program that devotes so much time to our customers' experience with our company. Rather, I think he'd be rather proud.

Erik

Erik -

I've called the customer service department on several occasions when an issue has been lost in the mail, and I agree with you completely. The only customer service department that even comes close to Kalmbach's responsiveness and willingness to help on a consistent basis is Walthers. The home computer industry could learn a lot from you guys (I'm betting they won't though).

Still, though Bob was pretty strident in his reply to my original post, the "buy this book if you want an answer" reply to the question posed, without even a basic explanation, does seem to be somewhat out of sync with the customer service department's committment to the subscriber. I don't recall ever before seeing a question answered in the way this was. I was also surprised that Jim H., who has been with the magazine so long, would have written such a reply. Now maybe he was really rushed and had to get something written up at the last minute, or maybe his reply was severely edited to fit the space available. But whatever the case, what came out in print for all to see forever certainly comes across as more serving the interests of Kalmbach than the poor hapless modeler.

At least it hit me that way.

[oleirish]

Have you guys written to MR about this problem?

[Pruitt]

No, I just brought it up here for discussion. Sometimes I lose perspective a little bit and see a non-issue as something akin to WWIII, so I wanted to see if I was completely off-base with this observation.

At most, it might be a symptom of a new focus on profits at Kalmbach. Then again, it might just be a one-time abberation caused by a looming deadline or over-enthusiastic editing for space.

If other things in future issues strike me the same way, then I'll write to the editor. Meanwhile, at least some of the MR staff read the forums, so I'm pretty sure they've seen this topic.

My remarks about rethinking my subscription renewal come from a combination of things, this being only one small part of that whole pie.

[davekelly]

Too bad Bergie didn't address the subject of this thread.

[Bergie]

I will address it, but keep in mind I'm not directly on the MR staff.

To Mark B's comments...

QUOTE: The answer was, in effect, "If ya want an answer, buy our books."

What's with that?

In the past I've seen these kinds of questions given a basic answer, followed with something like "...Book X and Book Y provide more in-depth information on this subject." That's fine - a basic answer, with a lead to more information than can be provided in the column.

AND...

QUOTE:
Still, though Bob was pretty strident in his reply to my original post, the "buy this book if you want an answer" reply to the question posed, without even a basic explanation, does seem to be somewhat out of sync with the customer service department's committment to the subscriber. I don't recall ever before seeing a question answered in the way this was. I was also surprised that Jim H., who has been with the magazine so long, would have written such a reply. Now maybe he was really rushed and had to get something written up at the last minute, or maybe his reply was severely edited to fit the space available. But whatever the case, what came out in print for all to see forever certainly comes across as more serving the interests of Kalmbach than the poor hapless modeler."

It's tough to give a basic answer to a complex situation like an access bridge. They vary greatly in design alone (depending on the application on the specific layout), let alone the wiring scenario that can be created. That Workshop installment had a little less than three columns of space (or just about one page) to answer reader questions. That's not a lot of space to cover a topic like this. Thus, since we have already covered this topic in other places, both in the magazine and in a book, Jim pointed that out. As a person who actually works with Jim, and being someone who used to be in our advertising department (read: Jim never did reviews of products to help me and my advertising sales efforts), I know that Jim doesn't think in a devious manner that you're suggesting. I'm certain that Jim was genuine in his answer.... again, it's a complex design element that's tough to cover in a small amount of space within Workshop.

Keep in mind that all modelers situations are different. As we cover different aspects of the hobby in the magazine, a specific topic may or may not apply to your individual situation at that point in time. It's not like we all started our layouts at the same time and we're certainly not painting by numbers. Now, as our universe of readers approach different aspects of the hobby at different times, we are looked to for guidance. Since everyone's not at the same place in the evolution of the hobby, we may get questions that we've already covered before. That's when an answer like Jim's will be applicable. If we've already covered a topic recently, we're most likely not going to devote space to do it again, especially when it's something complex like an access bridge.

To Mark B's other comment...

QUOTE:
At most, it might be a symptom of a new focus on profits at Kalmbach. Then again, it might just be a one-time abberation caused by a looming deadline or over-enthusiastic editing for space.

Trust me, there's no "new focus on profits" that would be affecting Jim's integrity. Nor anyone else on the staff, for that matter.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Erik

[Pruitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bergie

Trust me, there's no "new focus on profits" that would be affecting Jim's integrity. Nor anyone else on the staff, for that matter.

Whoops!

Believe me, I in no way meant to impugn Jim's, or anyone else's, integrity! I'm not sure how my remark can be construed in that manner, but if it somehow does read that way, my apologies.

For any commercial endeavor, new or old, a focus on profits is critical if the endeavor is to get any older. I was suggesting that Kalmbach is sharpening their focus somewhat, by more strongly promote other Kalmbach products, where appropriate. No integrity issue there at all, that I can see.

I still cannot recall any other instance where the only answer to a published reader question was to obtain other Kalmbach books for an answer. If someone can point one out, I'd certainly be grateful.

[Anonymous]

Bergie,
I really liked your responses.

QUOTE: It's tough to give a basic answer to a complex situation like an access bridge. They vary greatly in design alone (depending on the application on the specific layout), let alone the wiring scenario that can be created. ... Thus, since we have already covered this topic in other places, both in the magazine and in a book, Jim pointed that out.

And

QUOTE: Keep in mind that all modelers situations are different. As we cover different aspects of the hobby in the magazine, a specific topic may or may not apply to your individual situation at that point in time.

If Jim would have replied with something more along those lines, I don't think that people would have had an issue with it. However, he was a little more blunt and didn't explain WHY he wasn't giving an answer. It was just "Go buy our stuff".

As Davekelly pointed out

QUOTE: In the "Coming Next Month" there's a "Walkthrough lift bridge" listed.

So why not put that in. That would make the original person feel like their letter truely meant something to MRR and they're following it up with an actual article. If it can be listed in "Coming Next Month", why couldn't it be mentioned in the Workshop?

Thanks for clearing things up Bergie.

Kevin

[Anonymous]

I have an example of MR great customer service. My wife and I were passing through Waukesha a few years ago. I asked her if we could stop and see Kalmbach. We walked in off the street with no appointment. I asked if some would show us around. One of the staff took the time (an hour) to tour the offices and answer the many questions I had about putting out MR. I don't remember his name, but he was so kind and generous. He was near retirement, and had spent most of his career with MR. It was obvious how much he enjoyed working there. We were shown the art department, page layouts, photographs and how some of the great illustrations are created. There was one room where project railroads were built and a lot of the photography was done. We were even shown the employees model railroad! There was no focus on profits on that day.

My wife, who is as far removed from my hobby as a spouse can get, was very impressed by how we were treated. When you reach out and impress someone who doesn't care about your business, that is customer service.

I appreciate all that MR has done for this hobby to make model railroading fun.

[MisterBeasley]

I'm just glad that MR cares enough about the community to check these forums and actually respond so quickly. That close involvement with the hobby is encouraging.

[jfugate]

I'm glad to see Bergie weigh in on this discussion.

While I agree with some of the "MR's not what it used to be" sentiment, I DO NOT for one minute think there's this "conspiracy" to forget the readership and maximize profits no matter what.

I think the changes are more a sign of our times. What I sense more is going on is most of the staff are now journalists who model, rather than modelers who write. The result is less of a somewhat intangible deep passion for the hobby that comes out in the writing or even how the magazine is constructed each month. The current staff is not "bad" for being this way, it's just the way things have evolved.

And this deep passion for the hobby is something you can't just manufacture. It happens when model railroading would be your number one freetime passion even if you didn't work for MR. You are a serious student of the hobby, and the fact that you might work for MR isn't a factor.

I do agree that simply saying "see our other books" and making no attempt to at least summarize the steps in the workshop answer comes across as kind of tacky, whether or not that's what's intended.

Given this deep passion for the hobby from years gone by isn't really in the magazine these days, it probably would be wise to work extra hard to AVOID looking too Madison Avenue in your material. Go overboard to emphasize the "we're here to help" angle in your presentation.

It appears more people are assuming MR's just out to make a buck and that there's no heart left ... so right or wrong, MR would be wise to take note and be more careful to convey more of a heart in the future.

In other words, readers aren't complaining just because they're a bunch of mean spirited folks. There is something that is triggering this perception, and MR ought to counter it by really toning down anything that could be misconstrued as not having a heart.

[Bergie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chewie8han


As Davekelly pointed out

QUOTE: In the "Coming Next Month" there's a "Walkthrough lift bridge" listed.

So why not put that in. That would make the original person feel like their letter truely meant something to MRR and they're following it up with an actual article. If it can be listed in "Coming Next Month", why couldn't it be mentioned in the Workshop?

Again, I'm not on the staff, but here's how to look at it...

From month to month, page counts fluctuate. Basically, an article can be pulled at the last minute if the page count of that issue is going to go down. They are probably reluctant to make mention of a story that's coming in the next issue within the editorial portion in case that article needs to be pulled for one reason or another.

Erik