Has Nicky left the CCG?

[paulcalloway]

Re: Has Nicky left the CCG?

The CCG was a 2 minute read before Nicky came on and then it turned into something much more. I presume it will return to a 2 minute read - I guess you count me among those with a knee-jerk reaction. Nicky Hughes was the only reason I ever resubscribed to CCG, and now that my renewal notice has arrived, I don't see the point in renewing.

I don't really see NOT renewing as a knee-jerk reaction though - call it apathy.

[Strawfoot]

Re: Has Nicky left the CCG?

My thoughts are that Nicky Hughes was an extreme pleasure to work with. As a writer, you don't want your editor skewering your material. Nicky showed a lot of trust in me, on everything I submitted.

Additionally, I have tried to contact the new publisher at CCG at least twice to get back the pictures I had submitted for an article on TAG. I explained explicitly to the lady on the phone that I was one of their regular contributors. To date I have heard nothing back from them.

I was planning a piece on Pickett's Mill, and still may do it. But how many of us have seen this before in life? A new manager comes in, wants to establish themself and make changes to seem important, steps on toes, and screws everything up.

From this writers standpoint (albiet only AAR's and nothing else much useful), this is not a good thing. I too am looking with a skeptical eye on how these people are going to farb up 140 Franklin.

Mike Phineas
Arlington, TX

[billwatson]

Re: Has Nicky left the CCG?

There's an element to this everyone is overlooking. The Courier serves a niche market -- civil war reenactors. It has a niche group of advertisers, as well. For publications, the key to financial success is market share.
The Courier had part of the niche market. Camp Chase Gazette/Citizens Companion had part of the market. The Civil War News has part of the niche, also, but a more ambiguous part, since they are also targeting people who have a general interest in Civil War history and Civil War preservation, who are not necessarily reenactors.

Now many of the reenactors who were not part of the Courier's customer base are in there, by virtue of the purchase of Camp Chase and the Citizens Companion. The Courier can tell advertisers and potential advertisers that it has more than 50 percent of the reenactors who buy reenacting publications as its share of the market. 50 percent is the magic number to justify raising advertising rates. And they'll start piggybacking advertising, giving people deals on ads if they go in both publications.

Since in my opinion the people who own the Courier are in this for the bucks, not for history, I fully expect them to suppress any articles in any of their publications that would hurt their advertising. That means you'll see no articles that might lead to discrimating purchasing by consumers of materials and gear. They will support, financially, reenactments that provide plenty of down time so people can shop with their adverisers, and they'll probably have all kinds of partnership opportunities with their advertisers at reenactments they sponsor.

And Camp Chase/Citizens Companion? Keep in mind we're not talking about a magazine with a big staff. It was Nicky and a couple of paid people and a whole bunch of volunteer contributors -- kind of like an EBUFU publication. I don't think The Courier will be able to pull that off -- and I don't think they care. They bought out the competition, and the only reason they have to keep the magazines going is weak -- there's an outside chance that if they don't give the magazines some illusion of existence, someone else will start one up to fill the vacuum.

The idea of buying out your competition and closing down their operation is quite common in publishing. I once worked for a chain that bought out the "other" newspaper in a town where the chain operated its own paper; they bought them out, shut them down, and took their press and computers out of the town for use in other parts of their chain, so there was no longer even another doubletruck press within a hundred miles to give anyone any thought of being able to publlish without a huge investment. And they ended up going from 30 percent market share to about 60 percent market share, still having to put up with pesky things like cable and radio.

So whichever way this goes, don't look for them to continue Camp Chase Gazette in pursuit of the same goals Nicky Hughes had in mind.

I suggest, meanwhlie, that the Authentic Campaigner is a great place to submit the kinds of articles Nicky was soliciting. Perhaps a featured spot on the home page could be set up to access new contributions?

Bill Watson
Battle-scarred veteran of publishing wars

[JimKindred]

Re: Has Nicky left the CCG?

As a CCG advertiser I emailed the new owners when this topic first came up to verify if Nicky Hughes was leaving or not. I knew the answer to my question before I wrote them but I wanted to hear their spin on it. To date I have yet to receive a response from them.

[64OVI]

The Future of Reenacting Information

Bill....let me echo what you have posted about the publishing business. Having spent a good portion of my career in the newspaper and advertising business, I can tell a number of stories about buyouts and their purposes. It is always about market share and profit and content of the publication is usually about the last thing these people concern themeselves with, unless an advertiser complains.
In all truthfulness, I think it is fair to pose the question...is there really a need for a publication aimed at the mainstream? Before Nicky Hughes became editor of the CCG, their readership was declining and I think a major reason lies in the fact that as the hobby has splintered into its mutally exclusive spheres, no one publication can satisfy the needs of the readership. What I see happening is that Lakeway has indeed increased its share of the reenacting market and that market will continue to decline because low-end mainstreamers who make up at least 50% of the hobby are least likely to read.
It has been postulated elsewhere that the internet has trumped the written publication as the avenue of choice for the segment of the hobbies that do wish to be informed about a multitude of subjects within our community. I would agree with this and submit that a web-based publication needs to be developed to replace the CCG & CC. The forums utilized today are most valuable but I think more needs to be done and I hope it will be.

Kent Dorr
"Printers Devil Mess"

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Has Nicky left the CCG?

Hallo Kameraden!

I believe the "fondness" for CCG might be based upon where one is "at" in the F/M/C/P/H/A Paradigm. Or, based upon one's Mental Picuture...

I have been an on-off, mostly always on again, reader for many years since discovering the early "mimeographed" versions on an older friend's bookshelves.
I have let my subscription run out several times after I found I was tossing the newly delivered issues on top of my book shelves without ever opening them.
The cycle was repeating recently, and I was at the end of a current subscription, when Nicky "appeared."
Hopeful of some partial change that would at least reflect that small percentage of H/A lads in the World, and somewhat intrigued by the "Playmate, er Quality Impression of the Month" feature- I had to give CCG one last chance. (I would get CCG just to see who was thought to "qualify" and why.. :-) )

I have no complaint against CCG, as I realize my Mental Picture and "needs and wants" moved on years ago while the CCG remained the same. The fault lies in me, not CCG.

Beauty does lie in the eye of the beholder, and there just are not enough H/A eyes to financially merit or even warrant a page or two (especially if that might be viewed as threatening to a readership that is heavily F/M and slightly C based.

I had thought about writing the types of articles I myself would have liked to read- but the water coming up through the floor of the sinking ship kept ruining the paper and smearing the ink. And the Law of Diminishing Returns kept whispering in my ear.... And a commitment to try to do more and greater good on a number of boards on the WWW just got in the way... :-(

Others' mileage may vary.

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt