Magazines

[Mike Garside]

<I have moved this message from another thread where RIB International was mentioned, and put it here to make it a separate topic JK>

RIB International, is a law unto itself. How it gets away with what it does, in my very personal view, is mind boggling. I subscribe because there's nowt else. There should be.

No half decent publisher should insult his customers with the the likes of...

* Three page features that start witha double page spread of a single pic (often irrelevant) and then less than a page of words and more pics.

* Bits of puff culled from press releases sent in by advertisers that is passed off as "News".

* Main editorial features that either unintentionally or (gawd forbid) deliberately turn into "advertorials" for advertising customers.

I could go on.

There are few niche markets like ribbing that are served so badly, again in my opinion, by its' press. And I cannot think of one in which there is no competition like this one. It makes me

Now (he pauses for breath) I'll wait and see what sort of response that short tirade provokes....

[Alan]

Mike,

You know my thoughts on the subject!

Rib Int is often irrelavent (I recall product news about stuff of passing relavence to RIB owners), is always a triumph of glossy presentation (although so glossy and badly laid out that it is often difficult to read) over content and frankly only gets the circulation it does because its the only game in town!

HMS is a nice enough chap and some of the contributors are very knowledgable but its not worth the money, the website is cr*p and I get the impression that RIBEX is the money generating part of the operation.

I guess there is a fine line between getting the advertising revenue fromrib manufacturers and being too independent in thought about rib design, quality and service but I have never read a really bad or negative review of a RIB at all. Mind you the same could probably be said for Motor Boat and Yachting, PBO etc etc.

You know what needs to be done about it! Who needs an easy retirement anyway?

Alan

[Mike Garside]

So, we've "outed" ourselves, Alan. Maybe that's where it will all end. Who knows?

But what I would like to see on this thread are postings from the, no doubt, many supporters of RIB International. Tirades are pretty meaningless unless they make someone else

Cheers

[Julian]

I have to say that the last few copies of Rib Int have been rubbish. There are so many things that they could add to the magazine which would be of interest to us all but never do. Oh well. One day we may get a decent mag.

[Bittentobuggery]

Hi Mike,

Sounds like you could be getting back in the publishing business...

Where do I subscribe ?

All the Best

Brian

[GraemeCooper]

My latet copy of RIB interntional landed on my mat this very morning, o to see this hread was quite timely to say the least.

I scanned through the mag over breakfast, and failed to find a single page that capture my attention enough to actually read the article in depth.

Having scanned it further what is there is, in my opinion, hardly worth reading.

I find it such a shame that the fascinating and exciting subject of Ribbing should be treated so shabbily by its main source of information.

So Mike, if your looking for an editor for your new venture......

[Brian]

I would have thought that the biggest RIB story of the year would have been, and still is, Alan Priddy's circumnavigation. For RIB International to totally ignore the story, never even mentioning Alan's progress once, smacks of small mindedness and a lack of generosity of the soul.
As an individual I like and respect HMS a lot. But I am surprised by this aparant meaness of spirit in the magazine that he edits.
I subscribe to R. I. because it is the only game in town-but I do wish that it would either improve or have competition.
Being a conspiracy theorist I also find it uncomfortable that there is no healthy Readers Letters section.
So, if anyone else wants to publish a rib mag you may count me in as a subscriber

[nigelt]

I completely agree with most of the above.

Landed on my mat yesterday and had finished reading anything of interest in about 15 minutes!

The worst bit just has to be the car tests. I don't think that any writer had been near any of the cars tested at all. They have basically got the manufacturer's brochures and taken most of the wording and photos from them. If you compare the writing to any popular car magazine it looks what it is, completely amateur.

I also read Motor Boat Monthly yesterday as I had a particularly long train journey. This included more about Spirit Of Cardiff than Rib International.

I am also not that interested in Ribex in the middle of September, I would be more interested about who's going to be at the Southampton boat show.

Nigel

[DM]

Quote; Increase your earnings to 60k, buy a copy of Rib international and it all comes easy;

I made this statement in an earlier thread which may have been misunderstood by some so I'll try to clarify. As my passion is sea angling and with a pedigree in fast fishers, I noticed that when the seahog was weatherbound, Ribs were still going out. So I did some research which included buying rib international. Didn't manage the 60k bit though. It nearly put me off. It gave me the impression that ribbing was a corporate world open only to the rich and famous, very cliquey, and that it had drifted away from its roots. I want practical articles, how to make/mend things, peoples experiences in the waters that most of us use, not the bloody amazon. It has a bias to the top end of the market which I feel is not where most ribbers are. If I want to read about vehicles, I'll buy a car magazine. The only writer I feel any affinity with is Andy the outboard man. This forum is a far better read and takes a lot longer than the 15 mins to get through RI. For me, PBO has the best format of the boating media but is biased towards the sailing fraternity. So come on RI. More for the troops, less for the generals. P.S. I feel much better now.

[jools]

Never found a copy of RI in any WH Smith - or anywhere else!

Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything!!

[GraemeCooper]

The only place I have seen RI for sale is in the Alladin's Cave Chandlers in Swanwick, nd even they admitted that they don't get every issue. I asked my locl newsagent to get it for me, but apparently it isn't listed in the usual Wholesaler info, soIhad to subscribe - and you are then stuck for a year !

Perhaps thats why they do it that way .............

[Jelly]

I happen to Agree with most of whats said above.
Once apon a time when it first came out it was okay, then it increased in price and halved the editions.
At this time it was also withdrawn fron WHSmiths and went to subscription predoninatly
It is very rare to find a well written article - has any one noticed the lack of proof reading?
There used to be articles of relavence but there seems to be more on cars and adverts!
Lots of shiney new boats most more sutable for sunning oneself then the UK in anything other than high summer.
Nothing on older boats for those of use unable to splash out on a new boat - what lasts?
If only it got as bad a Y& Y it would be a major improvement!
ok rant over!

[cliveg]

I recently subscribed to above publication following a comment 'earn 60k and buy Rib int' and there is no hiding David as you have openly admitted your satement earlier in the thread.(I wont be instructing solicitors)

Having received my first edition I was very interested, being new to RIBs but did feel it was rather flimsy with little real content. I too felt the car review a total waste of space.

It strikes me there is a big gap in the market that members of RIBnet could more than adequately fill.

David your £60k may be just around the corner!

Cheers

Clive

[Viking]

I thought that comment would get you going Mike, I am pleased to see that a lot of other people share our views.

Ithink the worst article I ever read was the trailer article, where the guy baught a RIb, which made him get pulled by Airline hostesses whom he was so busy servicing he forgot to grease his Axle.


I didn't actually finish this, but I felt how much more sensible it would be have been if it was set out more on the lines of a PBO article..

An earlier comment in this thread stated that a lot odf information can be found in this Forum, this is Sooooooo correct and this isn't info you can find on any of the pages of RIB international, but you should be able to!

I am proposing that to improve the situation we could do three things ( four if you do nothing). What is presently sad is that the only magazine dedicated to ribbibng is being almost boycotted by enthusisatic Ribsters (doh)

Start writing what we would like to see, and what we don't want to see in Rib international on this thread and the invite Hugo to read it and comment.

Publish an alternative

Add the features we want to see to BIBOA's magazine. that could boost the membership.


I think think one of the best articles I read in Rib international was by John Aldis when he described building the boats for the RB4...chesk out the console he made!

That's my bit

[Charles]

HMS and Co will be over here in two weeks time. I will print out this thread (how do I do that JK?) and present it to him. Its no use moaning about these things, put it in writing, like I did, and send it to them. Maybe, just maybe, someone will listen?!!

[Mike Garside]

Please, will someone out there say something good about RIB International.

Keith, a poll perhaps? Maybe a carefully loaded question such as, "RI, within a tiny fragmented market with barely no consumer spend, is doing a seriously brave job."

But you can do better than that, I know.

Actually, not in my year and a bit of subscribing to that rag (industry speak, no offence intended) have I once seen a feature on SIBs. Are they missing just a bit of the market?

Whadyathink?

[Alan]

Originally posted by Charles
HMS and Co will be over here in two weeks time. I will print out this thread (how do I do that JK?) and present it to him. Its no use moaning about these things, put it in writing, like I did, and send it to them. Maybe, just maybe, someone will listen?!!

Oh gawd dont do that, taking constructive critiscm is not one of HMS's strong points methinks. I recall a very "hurt" posting in response to critiscm (most of it constructive and well informed) of RB4 last year!

I do find this thread interesting. I didn't renew my subscription in 2001 for reasons given and only rarely see a copy these days. From the comments made nothing has changed!

Alan

PS

Nice to see some appreciaion of RIBLINES, the BIBOA mag. Considering its an amateur effort aimed at the 250odd members of BIBOA I think its a pretty reasonable read. (Of course being an occasional contributer might make me a little biased )

[Richard B]

I've just received my first ever copy of RIB int. and feel that whilst some of the comments have made their point through exaggeration, there is nevertheless the feeling of having received a little less than good quality press. In fairness, it's better than Sportsboat and RIB magazine, but that's not saying much!

I liked much of the presentation and design, and the general overall presentation of the magazine is very professional, but what really got me was the fact that there are five pages of the eighty-eight trying to be a car magazine.

That's 5.7% for the statistically minded.

Now, the editorial team could, in my opinion, have got away with it if they'd given some hard and accurate information on the towing capabilities of the two vehicles (and I mean manufacturer's recommended towing weights, the legal maximum, and a real world test, with some relevant pictures) - but no, that opportunity was missed.

Why am I about it? Because if I'd wanted a car magazine, I'd have bought one! WHS are full of the things, and they're boring (imho). I've done cars, and now I've found something a lot more challenging. I wanted an exciting magazine about RIBs.

So, as RIB int is sold as a RIB magazine, and therefore must be fit for the purpose, I reckon that I'm owed a refund of 5.7% of the purchase price.

As a subscriber I pay £18 pa for 6 issues = £3 per issue
£3 x 5.7% = 17p

Charles, I thank you for your input here, because I'd like to come along to the St Malo cruise to collect my 17p from the editorial team.

[Mike Garside]

I should be be off to my bed and doing something useful...

But, Pepper m'dear boy, have you ever thought why an editor ( and in this case the publisher as well) gives up all that space to editorial about cars in a mag about RIBs?

Get real.

Despite that, and far be it from me to cast "nasturtiums", but... y'dont think it could have something to do with not having to pay for the editorial write up, or heaven forbid, a regular series of free trial drives in nice new four b'fours?

Nah! 'Course not.

At least Clarkson is rude about most of his freebies.

[Richard B]

Originally posted by Mike Garside
But, Pepper m'dear boy, have you ever thought why an editor ( and in this case the publisher as well) gives up all that space to editorial about cars in a mag about RIBs?

Oh, yes! I wasn't born yesterday m'dear ole fellah!

Originally posted by Mike Garside
Get real?

I can assure you that I'm very real indeed! You see, me and Mrs Pepper are a couple of big customers of publishers. We read stuff like it's going out of fashion. Literature, classics, contemporary fiction, faction, fact, biography, autobiography, technical, magazines, ah! back on the thread now... Anyway, you missed my point - imho the editor or writer of the article could have saved the publication's credibility by making the article relevant to the magazine's topic instead of offering something which we could have read in the free local advertiser.

I'm tryin' to be positive in this criticism cos I'm likely to get a cheque for £15 and two fingers from RIB int...

So, how's about this for an idea...
Regular columns - such as a BIBOA report? This is hardly a ground-breaking idea (I'm sure a publishing type like you, Mike could rattle off an instant formula that would leave me stammering hopelessly) - and to kick this off, I'd be willing to volunteer to attempt something on a regular basis.

Anyone any other suggestions? Let's get some positive feedback going...

I'm still coming for my 17p.