The Magazine Going Forward

[ParamountCruiser]

DVD’s would be improved by getting rid of the numerous “Are we having a good time” in each DVD.

[Marg McAlister]

Marg,
I was keen to motivate others to suggest how the mag / DVD might be improved.
I must admit to being unconvinced that the publisher / owner would permit you to improve the mag.
It appears he has and as a result you have.
Sincere congratulations on your effort thus far…

My suggestion, not yet taken up was for you to study / adapt ideas from the USA’s Bunzer ‘RV Doctor’ approach to ‘on the road maintenance & road check. On another forum an owner of a weighbridge invited forumites to attend on 2 Saturday mornings recently.
Another forumite, a serving police also attended.
Critically important issues of weight, distributing weight when loading, suspension and sway issues were discussed while the tugs & vans & motorhomes were weighed free of charge. Sadly, I live in another state and could not avail myself of the opportunity.

Firstly, that would make an excellent topic for a lead article.
Secondly, the magazine could foster such events on a wide range of issues…

So Marg, from a potential critic – keep up the good work.

Thank you for the congratulations, Tomcarm, but it really is not just me changing the mag. The owner/publisher had already decided that changes were necessary, and I was brought on board as part of the process. There are still changes happening, and we all see it as an ongoing mission to make the magazine appeal and be relevant to as many Aussie Nomads as possible. No doubt we won’t get it right all the time, but we’re trying.

Thank you for your continued input. As always, it is noted and passed on.

Cheers
Marg

[Giz and Jon]

hi there Marg
first off, this is my first post.
I have read this mag for a while and have enjoyed it.
Talking about going forward, why can this magazine not be produced in a digital format for those of us who want the mag but don’t want the weight or space taken up if an article is wanted to be kept for future perusal?
I know I would be a subscriber if it was digital, I already subscribe to 5 digital magazine that interest me and enjoy the freedom they give as to storing them.
thanks
John Baxter

[Marg McAlister]

hi there Marg
first off, this is my first post.
I have read this mag for a while and have enjoyed it.
Talking about going forward, why can this magazine not be produced in a digital format for those of us who want the mag but don’t want the weight or space taken up if an article is wanted to be kept for future perusal?
I know I would be a subscriber if it was digital, I already subscribe to 5 digital magazine that interest me and enjoy the freedom they give as to storing them.
thanks
John Baxter

Hi John,

I couldn’t agree more about the benefits for caravanners of being able to take up a digital subscription – both because of weight and because we’re constantly on the move!

So you’ll be happy to hear that C&M is definitely going digital! Not just thinking about it, but actively working on it. The mag has explored options for several different platforms, but they want to make sure they get it right. Watch this space!

Cheers
Marg

[Giz and Jon]

great news Marg!
and thank you for the reply.
all the best
John Baxter

[ShortNorth]

Hello Marg,

Just a suggestion – would it be possible to adjust the balance spread of the RV reviews please.

In a typical issue there may be say four reviews – in about 90-95% of cases, the reviews seem to all be for large tandem axle vans, over 2500-3500kg, over 18ft long and costing well over $50k, and needing big expensive tugs, or motorhomes with their attendant higher purchase costs.

It seems that C&M is forgetting that many of us don’t have the money or need to have BIG vans, so can we please have say a minimum of 25% reviews each issue covering the compact single axle vans under 2000kg ATM, and under $50k – the sort of van that can be towed by the likes of a 2000kg Sorento or Santa Fe or similar, and even the smaller tugs like the 1600kg Sportage or ix35 or similar. I know that most of the really lightweight vans under 1500kg are mostly the euros, like Swift, Bailey, Adria, etc, but there are a surprising number of Australian built vans under 2000kg ATM, but we rarely see any reviews of these.

I’ve found that frequently, any small van reviews under 2500kg seem to mainly be camper trailers like Jayco, Goldstream, etc. If the manufacturers are not offering these smaller vans for review, maybe specific requests from C&M might result in the smaller vans being offered for review.

Just a suggestion – I’d love to be able to open each new C&M issue and find at least one van review targeted to my demographic. Even at one under 2000kg van per issue, it would still take the best part of 12 months to be able to amass enough info to make a good comparison towards a future purchase. For info, I currently tow an Aliner, but will want to upgrade to a ‘proper’ van sometime in the not too distant future.

Regards, Brian

[Jetta7]

Hi Marg,
Agree with Brian’s post above, last year when we were looking for our van, we read all the C&M magazines for the previous 18 months and couldn’t find much relating to light vans.
We had a restriction of a maximum of 1350 kg.
There are vans out there but you have to dig really hard. We ended up with an Olympic Sprinter side door which we are really happy with, however our disappointment in the magazine seeming to cater more to the bigger van , and expensive setup was one of the reasons we stopped buying.
We are on the road now for 8 weeks and have noticed that there are a lot of vans around our size out there 14-15ft , I definitely agree it’s a significant demographic.
Even when we upgrade from this pop top in probably 5-6 years time we only want a maximum of 16-17 ft van that can be towed by a small medium diesel.
Great to see the magazine is making changes, hopefully soon we will be buying it regularly because enough of the content will be of interest to us. (Understand you can’t please all the people all the time, but some of the people most of the time is better than no one anytime)

Keep the good work up.

Cheers
Jetta7

[GregMusgrave]

Hello everybody I trust you are all enjoying a wonderful adventurous greynomad day no mater where you maybe. I’m not sure if this question has been raised before, if it has I apologise. Firstly I’m avid reader of the magazine and sadly because I travel overseas a lot (I enjoy a break from my motorhome) I miss so many editions. Can I subscribe to electronic versions similarly to other like magazines? Thank you and look forward to hearing from you. Muz

[Marg McAlister]

Hello everybody I trust you are all enjoying a wonderful adventurous greynomad day no mater where you maybe. I’m not sure if this question has been raised before, if it has I apologise. Firstly I’m avid reader of the magazine and sadly because I travel overseas a lot (I enjoy a break from my motorhome) I miss so many editions. Can I subscribe to electronic versions similarly to other like magazines? Thank you and look forward to hearing from you. Muz

Hi Muz,

You’re not the only one keen to see the mag in a digital format – it makes sense, so that we can all carry them with us on an iPad or computer for easy reference! Be assured this will happen. The main issue is choosing a platform that will be easy for people to use and view. There are several options we’re looking at and testing right now.

Enjoy your travels,
Marg

[gregnsue]

And the magazines response to the readers’ requests back in May for reviews of smaller vans is????????