"The "New" NAR Members Guide

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

Got my NAR Members' Guide Today. What a POS. Nothing but recycled articles and no member discounts. What a waste. Try to defend this, sportsfans.

 

[dr wogz]

What were you expecting? Advance LINUX guided multi staged MACH 2+ min-dia carbon fiber Strato scratchers articles?!

It's an excellent learning tool, and a great reference for newer rocketeers. While I did miss the discounts & coupon pages, it was still packed with good information. And it only comes out once every 2 years.

I may be relatively new to NAR, but I don't remember seeing any of the articles in my past publications of Sport Rocketry.. And frankly, while the articles are below me, it's a great tool for newbies. I gave mine to an eager colleague who's showing an interest in model rocketry. Bring it to your local club to donate to other newbies if you don't want it.. Or the local scout troop, or air cadets, or 4H, or...

If you think it's such a POS, what can you offer to help improve it? Magazines in general are dying, they need people to contribute articles & content & such. Sadly, we all seem less & less likely to do one, despite a nice reward for doing so.. ($350 if I recall, for a published article)

NAR put out a magazine & a help guide. That's more than some organizations do with the fan-base we have.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

I'll tell you what I can offer to improve it. Make it a part of a new member's enrollment package. I'm willing to bet that 75% of the people who got this POS learned absolutely nothing new

 

[kuririn]

So I take it you're cancelling your membership and requesting a refund?

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

Once upon a time the NAR boasted that you could recoup your membership by a judicious use of

the coupons in this POS . No more, I guess

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

Ni I'm not. Now, please tell me what you learned from this recycled rag.

 

[kuririn]

Didn't join for the magazine. And since you're not cancelling, I guess that's not why you joined either.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

BTW, as far as I know, the NAR does not solicit articles for the guide from the general membership.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

In case you didn't know, the NAR and Sport Rocketry are two different publications. Sport Rocketry has a variety of articles, though lately. high power rocketry dominates, and is published 6 times a year. Sport Rocketry solicits articles from the membership. The NAR guide ,in the past had a variety of non-repetitive articles, plus manufacturers discount coupons, and was published every other year. This issue is virtually a carbon copy of the articles from the one published in 2017. There are NO discount coupons. The NAR once boasted that you could get your subscription money back by using those coupons. As I wrote above, I have never seen a solicitation for articles for this guide. This is pitiful, especially since NAR member is at all time high. I'm sure, Kurinin, those facts must have temporarily slipped from your noggin.

 

[Worsaer]

It's important to keep in mind how many new members join each year. While some articles may be 'recycled', for a large number of people they contain new material for them.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

What were you expecting? Advance LINUX guided multi staged MACH 2+ min-dia carbon fiber Strato scratchers articles?!

It's an excellent learning tool, and a great reference for newer rocketeers. While I did miss the discounts & coupon pages, it was still packed with good information. And it only comes out once every 2 years.

I may be relatively new to NAR, but I don't remember seeing any of the articles in my past publications of Sport Rocketry.. And frankly, while the articles are below me, it's a great tool for newbies. I gave mine to an eager colleague who's showing an interest in model rocketry. Bring it to your local club to donate to other newbies if you don't want it.. Or the local scout troop, or air cadets, or 4H, or...

If you think it's such a POS, what can you offer to help improve it? Magazines in general are dying, they need people to contribute articles & content & such. Sadly, we all seem less & less likely to do one, despite a nice reward for doing so.. ($350 if I recall, for a published article)

NAR put out a magazine & a help guide. That's more than some organizations do with the fan-base we have.

Well, you lost me, dude. You say you miss the discounts and the membership coupons. I guarantee you if you remember the issues of this guide that had those things you've wasted your time leafing though this bunch of recycled material. This material is only good for someone who can't tell the difference between an Estes Alpha III and a LOC Cyclotron.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

Yup, you learned nothing new

 

[kuririn]

Didn't join for the guide either.

 

[WhiskyTangoFoxtrot]

It's important to keep in mind how many new members join each year. While some articles may be 'recycled', for a large number of people they contain new material for them.

Hardly progress for an organization that has it's largest membership ever.
ALL the articles were recycled. I stand by my original statement. 75% of those who got the 2019 NAR Membership guide learned nothing new. Plus no more discounts or manufacturer's coupons.

 

[gldknght]

I'll tell you what I can offer to improve it. Make it a part of a new member's enrollment package. I'm willing to bet that 75% of the people who got this POS learned absolutely nothing new

I'm still trying to figure out what you want in the guide? You say to make it a part of a new member's enrollment package, which by definition means entry level articles, right? What good does a how-to article on prepping for a level 2 or level 3 flight do for a person just starting out in Mid-power, or model rocketry?

But then you turn around and complain that there's nothing new in the guide "for you to learn." What is your experience level? What kind of article are you specifically looking for? Have you contacted NAR and asked them about the process for submitting an article? Or do you just want to complain without really wanting to help make the guide better?

 

[les]

In terms of discounts, I would assume that is up to the different vendors to offer a discount. I doubt NAR ever subsidized the discounts. If the vendors have not offered a discount they may have found in the past they didn't get enough response to make it worthwhile....

 

[gldknght]

In terms of discounts, I would assume that is up to the different vendors to offer a discount. I doubt NAR ever subsidized the discounts. If the vendors have not offered a discount they may have found in the past they didn't get enough response to make it worthwhile....

True, and I'd wager that the vendors offering discounts in the guide actually had to pay an advertising fee, which subsidized the cost of the guide.

 

[GuyNoir]

In terms of discounts, I would assume that is up to the different vendors to offer a discount. I doubt NAR ever subsidized the discounts. If the vendors have not offered a discount they may have found in the past they didn't get enough response to make it worthwhile....

Correct, we don't subsidize the discount. It's up to the vendors to decide if they want to participate in the coupons or not.

 

[GuyNoir]

True, and I'd wager that the vendors offering discounts in the guide actually had to pay an advertising fee, which subsidized the cost of the guide.

Incorrect. We don't sell ad space in the Member Guidebook, only Sport Rocketry magazine.

 

[gldknght]

Incorrect. We don't sell ad space in the Member Guidebook, only Sport Rocketry magazine.

Ok, that's cool>

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I’ve been a member of NAR for at least 5 years or more, and I don’t remember ever receiving this Guide in the past. This is the first one I remember receiving. When I saw it in my mailbox, I thought it was going to be a copy of Sport Rocketry, but obviously it’s not, and clearly it serves a very different purpose. Frankly, I wouldn’t expect a publication like the guide to be updated very often — that’s not the purpose of it. It looks to me like a broad overview of rocketry for people who are new to rocketry and new to NAR, so unless something changes significantly in the overview topics covered for that specific audience, you wouldn’t expect an update to the material.

The Guide does seem like something that should be sent to new members with their initial membership, not sent out to all members every 2 years. I see the value for a new member, but not much value to anyone who has been in the hobby a few years.

 

[gldknght]

I’ve been a member of NAR for at least 5 years or more, and I don’t remember ever receiving this Guide in the past. This is the first one I remember receiving. When I saw it in my mailbox, I thought it was going to be a copy of Sport Rocketry, but obviously it’s not, and clearly it serves a very different purpose. Frankly, I wouldn’t expect a publication like the guide to be updated very often — that’s not the purpose of it. It looks to me like a broad overview of rocketry for people who are new to rocketry and new to NAR, so unless something changes significantly in the overview topics covered for that specific audience, you wouldn’t expect an update to the material.

The Guide does seem like something that should be sent to new members with their initial membership, not sent out to all members every 2 years. I see the value for a new member, but not much value to anyone who has been in the hobby a few years.

I did get this when I first joined the Nar, but was already an experienced flyer at the time. Still, I found some interesting things in it. I say that if we want the guide to stay relevant to us as our experience level rises, we need to contribute to the guide in some way. Those that publish it don't pull the material out of thin air.

 

[kyle]

I don't know what WTF has going on in his/her life, but seriously you need to chill. The last few member handbooks or whatever they're called, I've tossed directly into the recycling. They're aimed at beginners, which was great when I got my first one.

Don't bother joining Tripoli, given your attitude here you'd probably have a heart attack when you finally realize they don't even have a magazine.

Then again, if this is your standard reaction, maybe you should join Tripoli and wait for the magazine.

 

[Nytrunner]

The logistics would be a large undertaking, but a members guide that "leveled up" as someone continued being a member would be interesting.

Of course that requires maintaining and printing different sets of info and tracking membership time of folks

 

[ewomack]

As a beginner I'm finding the guide anything but a POS. I can see where experienced flyers have no use for it, but it's answering a lot of my newbie questions (and admittedly raising a few more), so hopefully I'll be able to learn a lot from it and have smooth launches that don't delay or disrupt the more experienced people at launch events. This is one way that it can serve even experienced people: it will hopefully cut down on the numbers of clueless newbies. There will always be a few, of course.

 

[dhbarr]

As a beginner I'm finding the guide anything but a POS. I can see where experienced flyers have no use for it, but it's answering a lot of my newbie questions (and admittedly raising a few more), so hopefully I'll be able to learn a lot from it and have smooth launches that don't delay or disrupt the more experienced people at launch events. This is one way that it can serve even experienced people: it will hopefully cut down on the numbers of clueless newbies. There will always be a few, of course.

Do you have a Handbook of Model Rocketry ( Stine ) ? If not, you're in for a real treat!

 

[James Duffy]

Try to defend this, sportsfans.

Ever considered stamp collecting?

 

[ewomack]

Do you have a Handbook of Model Rocketry ( Stine ) ? If not, you're in for a real treat!

Not yet, but I mean to pick that one up when I'm done reading the NAR guide - looks like it's now in the 7th edition, dated 2004.

 

[tightwad]

Oakey-dokey, the NAR guide is a re-issue! Big deal! I give the guide to new rocketeers as a learning tool and for their safe flying practices. Do not throw them out, give it to new future NAR members.

 

[Cnorm]