How can our comnunity help Glassline?

[CrassGlass]

Most of you are aware that Glassline has had to switch from print publication to digital due to dwindling advertiser revenue in an uncertain economy. I know that has pissed off a lot of people, but this is the world we live in and print publication and mail delivery is expensive. Glassline has been around for 25 years, and is one of only a few small publications geared toward our hobby/industry/love of hot glass. I for one, want to see this resource and small business that is part of our community flourish, and it could use our help and support right now. What can we do to help Glassline get back on its feet and potentially return to printing at some point in time?
The first thing I can think of is to subscribe, and do so with the understanding that you will only be getting digital editions for the foreseeable future. When you subscribe, you also get access to about twenty other digital issues. There's a lot of information in there, and it is an especially good deal for new subscribers.
Help me brainstorm here- what could we do to help one of our own? Anyone have services they could offer Glassline to help them out? I know some of you are unhappy with the way in which Jim has handled things, but let's move forward. Catty responses, which my inner bitch usually loves, aren't necessary.

[Ray]

Jim stated he needs 5 pages of advertisers
to be able to get back to a printed version.
Any one on here make enough product to globally advertise
via glassline?

[fUmEsNiFfEr]

Maybe if he is stuck in digital format he can add other digital features that would never have worked in print.

I know that there aren't any video demos in a printed mag. There has gotta be something that he can bump up the value with.

[Enigma]

I wouldn't mind to having more access to back issues maybe sell all back issues digitally, by single issue or by year or make a upper tier subscription to access all past issues.

[PyroChixRock]

If someone could go in and change a few things on his website, it would greatly affect his outcome. right now he's setting himself up to be chastised for fraud, which you've seen happen already. its a few clicks of a button by someone who knows websites to rectify that.

If he can send out a written letter, snail mail, to all his subscribers, it would greatly affect his outcome. right now they are in the dark and this sets him up for angry people.

If he can handle himself better and give a little more understanding to those who are upset, and rightfully so, it would greatly affect his outcome. right now he is not, and he is losing more from it than he realizes.


I'm still willing to help him turn this around, but the help I gave before (I subscribed the day I found out he needed subscribers. I promoted on fb and here for others to subscribe and I know quite a few did. I gave him free advertising on TMP by way of a banner ad, etc.) didn't make much difference, because of those other 3 problems I listed above. we could bring in 1000 new subscribers, and the 3 problems above will still fuck it all up in the long run.

[Amorphous]

Perhaps he could offer a spiral bound copy of a year's worth of digital issues, especially to the subscribers who paid extra for special delivery during or after it went all digital. It would be a very nice gesture towards the subscribers. This may also be a possible revenue stream, maybe some people (like myself) would pay just for the spiral bound "year book".

[Enigma]

It is kinda weird that 2 USA subscription prices are offered depending on the shipping ,I could see how that would be perceived as misleading and lead to anger, maybe one subscription price and if it ever gets back to print then send a option for shipping choice

[gomilobster]

If I could remember how to fuck with forms and php and other things I would be more than happy to take a look. Even if it didn't actually change the form, if there was an ability to stop people from seeing/being able to select from shipping when it no longer exists that might help, but I also don't wanna be the person to accidentally break his site either... if someone is currently active with xhtml/css/php im sure thats all it would take.

[PyroChixRock]

there are TONS of us that could make the changes to his website. People have told me they have offered him help, but things are still not changed. Why is that? Is he not willing to accept the help?

Until things are made clear to his subscribers he is going to run into all these additional problems. We can't help him if he doesn't want our help.

[OceanMelt]

I like Amorphous's idea of the year book. I too would purchase something like that. I don't know, maybe keep it in digital (if a must) and then at the end of each year do a large one-time print of the year's issues, for those interested. That actually would generate two revenue streams and people could choice b/w one or the other, or both. However I realize that means anyone wanting paper copy only has to wait the entire year, which sucks.

I don't know, but the all the posts about this lately has my money "on hold". Seems like it was/is an amazing resource.

[loydb]

The problem with Glass Line is Jim. I don't think it is solvable.

[Aymie]

I agree that the problem is Jim as well. Also, his resistance to fully embrace the pipe community doesn't help.

[themoch]

I feel the same as you all do about the technology on the site.

it's sad to see the publication take a dive, but it really has made so very little effort to stay current with technology or trends, or print layout.

at this point it needs thousands in technology overhaul that i doubt there is a budget for.

[James Sowell]

the ability to access the back issues is a bigger value then being able to see 4 new digital issues a year.
we could help him by buying all the old issues he has still unsold . he has not digitally released the issues that are not sold out so its a win win for everyone

[mattholimeau]

(TL:DR; read what themoch said. doh! ninja'd!)


If someone could go in and change a few things on his website, it would greatly affect his outcome... its a few clicks of a button by someone who knows websites to rectify that.

It's really not *all* that simple - that's kindof like saying making a bubbler is just a few punties and you're done. (Say, in this case, a simple, clear no-frills bubbler - but you still need to know some ins and outs so it doesn't crack on you.)

Putting aside tons of UI issues aside that in my opinion really necessitate a complete rewrite of hotglass.com*, the main barrier to just getting a site updated is authorization and access. A non-tech-savvy business owner with a (maybe) failing business where (maybe) the one thing that *does* seem to be working is that the website will still accept new subscribers, is going to have a hell of a time considering making ANY change to that website, let alone a change to something in the payment pipeline. Such a person also probably knows that you almost always get what you pay for - someone offering to help for free, even someone genuinely wanting to help and plenty competent, isn't going to seem like a good idea, because of both the gut reaction as to the aforementioned saying, and because there's (likely) no evidence at hand to back up the competency. Mostly, though, there's just no way in hell they're going to hand over the keys to the shop to someone they don't completely trust.

And there's plenty that can go wrong and take down the whole site without the person who knows everything about xhtml/css/php wouldn't realize it. For example, (and now I'm not saying this has happened to me or anything, except that it has) that person has only run apache on windows as a test environment, and isn't all that familiar with *nix file permissions. Their upload changes the file permissions, making it so anyone looking at the web site gets a 404 error. Say it's a header file that gets included on every page in the website, or a formatting file (you won't get that clear 404 permission error, the fancy formatting you just spend hours on just happens to not load) - stuff can snowball quickly, and in strange ways you wouldn't expect. Problems that "didn't happen when it was tested". Sometimes systems administration knowledge is just as important as the coding knowledge - there's aplenty to make a business owner wary.

(I also wanted to make the point, though it didn't really fit with the rant, because it doesn't really apply to this hotglass scenario, is that usually, writing new code is easy, but modifying existing code is freaking *hard*. In this case, from my perspective, it's quite easy to see and know that removal of a form element is very unlikely to have any effect on any other functionality, but a business owner isn't likely to have the knowledge to be able to trust that at all - but may have some sense of the new vs modify concept.)

Also, I'd note, that xhtml/css/php seems a bit of an overkill skill set for this project on the coding side - this site is all table formatted, copy/pasted html with just barely a smattering of javascript and css (no doubt copy/pasted in from random examples on the web). It doesn't take much to see that yeah, you just remove that chunk of code from that html file and that option goes away - but getting access to and downloading the source, setting up a completely separate server environment and getting the site running, testing the change, deploying, and testing the change again in production - really the bare minimum of what needs to be done - is at least a couple billable hours, not just a few clicks.

---

*: In terms of those UI issues, I'd say that it just doesn't reflect well for a site that's ultimately decidated to art to look so, well, ugly, unartistic. If he were to dedicate to switching to a digital format, this would reflect even worse, because then the look of the website is directly in the same wheelhouse as the product - saying it's a print magazing kindof gives a bit of a pass on the website front, since then it's just a sales mechanism for a magazine, not any attempt to be an online experience.

I too subscribed when noise was made on here, knowing that it was likely to be only digital moving forward, primarily interested in the old ones in digital format. They did have some pretty tutorials, and I like to tell myself it was worth the cost, but maybe I have a bit of buyer's remorse... and maybe a bit more after hearing on here (rumors? I dunno, I didn't check myself) about repeated tutorials and, well, other statements made in emails from the glassline guy. I can also definitely understand anger from those who subscribed when expecting it to continue to be in print. It's always great to have another resource in the glass world, but sometimes demand changes and businesses can't adapt - here it's pretty clear that someone ate his lunch, the advertising dollars from the bigger guys went elsewhere and aren't likely to come back, especially if he doesn't do anything to earn them back (maybe reinvent and reposition, but I don't want to start to give out business advice [nor start pretending I'm qualified to do so, though clearly I'm walking that line, hah]), and increased subscriptions are a drop in the bucket and not going to do anything to change the situation. What that also potentially means is that those advertising dollars are now going to support other events and magazines that are potentially of higher quality - our free market economy at work, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[christopher]

RE EDIT: how many pdf issues are available online? I can't find that many, maybe six or seven?

[Skipjack]

There are 24 compete issues available for download as of a couple of weeks ago. (19-1, 19-6, 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-6, 21-1, 21-5, 23-2, 23-3, 23-4, 23-5, 23-6, 24-4, 24-6, 25-1, 26-1, 26-3, 28-4, 28-5, 28-6, 29-1, and 29-2) The list includes the last few distributed as online issues.
In addition, there is content from another 60 issues which can be retrieved. (From 1-1 through 17-6, but not every issue has content which can be retrieved.)

[VinE]

Keep it simple. Supply and demand. Knowledge is worth something. Go back to print and sell subscriptions to neo-Luddite types. Or start embracing the glass porn trend and give the content away while figuring out some side business to augment it.If he catered to 710ers and stocked up on slyme and decals he could probably turn a profit. Seems like dude has an ethical dillema. Its sad to see that he can't embrace the shift of culture.its even more tragic to see that the "know it all newbs" don't seem to appreciate anything outside of functional piece (hot breath pics are 99% rigs for concentrates.Seems like art lamp working like what was being made in early to mid '00's (Milton/gossamer glass/kobuki/Eugene rain)is being ignored for the bandwagon of $$ being created from a shift in the culture.

[mattholimeau]

Huh, thanks VinE, I just learned something. I read "neo-luddite" and had the thought "hah, isn't that a complete self contradiction?" I always thought luddite was a general term for, well, basically an old dog who doesn't want to learn a new trick, so wouldn't a neo luddite then be a dog who does learn a new trick? Or maybe a dog who learned the old new trick but doesn't want to learn yet another? He still learned the trick, though, and thus wouldn't be a luddite, thus contradiction, right? If luddite = new stuff hater, how can you be a new new stuff hater? Maybe not a contradiction, maybe they just hate themselves!

But, alas, google tells me I'm quite wrong:

"Neo-Luddite is used to describe those who are considered to be anti-technology, or those who dislike or have a difficult time understanding and using modern science and technology. The word Luddite is a historical political movement term used to describe people who are opposed to technological innovations."

Though I gotta say, I still don't see much of a distinction. Unless they want to say the word luddite specifically only applies to those textile workers in the 1810's, then a tech hater is a tech hater, be it tech from 100 years ago or tech from 1 month ago.

Oh! And then I read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism and now maybe I get it. Neo-luddism isn't just disliking and opposing tech, it's an actual attempt to revert to older ways, to specifically eschew new tech.

Sorry that's all a bit off topic. But I thought it neat to learn, and figure I'll share.

To get back on topic a bit - VinE, where's his ethical dilemma? I don't see it as any ethical issue that he doesn't want to or doesn't have the ability to adjust to the evolving marketplace. You're saying he doesn't want to sell out to noobs who only want to see rig porn? I'm not sure that's really the same market as glassline - I only just spent a couple moments looking at hotbreath's website just now, but it seems they're targeting counterculture in general. That's a much, much broader audience than glassline, which is (seemingly) trying to be an educational resource for lampworkers. On the hotbreath site, I see a torch giveaway, so I could be completely wrong, maybe they do have lampworking tutorials and the whatnot and I just don't know what I'm talking about (i'm not a hotbreath reader) - but based on their website, that would surprise me. Looks like they're trying to be a glass porn showplace for anyone interested in glass. I think you might be going too far in expecting them to be directly comparable magazines - in the same space, sure, market share competitors, probably (though indirectly), but trying to play the same role, seems like really not quite the case.

[menty666]

I view neo-luddites as those irritating hipsters that crow about their vinyl records...that they ironically ordered from their iphone.


Having said that, there is something to be said for the old ways. I'm growing to like my kindle for books, but I still prefer paper for the magazines as it's less temptation to go check facebook/email/here/etc.

I mean think about it, glassworking is over 3,000 years old, and we still do a lot of things the same way they used to, just with tools made of slightly nicer materials. Keeping it old school kind of makes sense.

[Ray]

Vinyl is different than books in that the Records are actually better than the digital recordings..a lot of harmonics etc are lost
when on cd or digitally recorded.
Vinyl aficionado's would be better able to describe the reasons vinyl was a much richer recording medium/system.

[shawnette]

The site doesn't have to have a complete re-write (although it would be nice if it were updated). He just needs to update the subscription page dialogue: Take down the 1st class, Foreign & Canada options & change the 4th Class option to "Digital". Since, in reality, the only delivery method is digital, that's all that he should be showing.

If he offered a pay for print edition once or twice a year, he could charge more for that, or charge for those editions separately. As it is now, he's basically not giving anyone what they've paid for and any foreign subscribers are getting royally screwed.

It really is as simple as making a few minor changes. 10 minutes of work, if that.

[hashmasta-kut]

i've been collecting vinyl for 3 decades, far before hipsters existed. used to be record stores were super empty of people(hipsters).

[Ray]

Hell it used to be that record stores were about the only source of music and always had people in them.
I don't know what a hipster is, but probably wouldn't care what one is either.

I gave up all my records for free years ago, never imagining that they would ever be desired by anyone, including me.
Had all the ones I liked on CD's then.
Was that the 80's or 90's? lol

[menty666]

Not to flog a dead horse, but am I right in seeing there's no way on the site to order just a single issue? I kind of wanted the one that just came out, but I don't want a whole subscription, so I looked, but it doesn't look like he's set up for single issue sales. Blah..

[CrassGlass]

Just as a follow up- Back when I made the original post, I also e-mailed Jim volunteering to help him in any way I could, mentioning my technical and desktop publishing skills. He graciously responded and asked for suggestions. I gave a few suggestions in areas I could help and never heard a thing. It saddens me. At this point, I am super busy with things in my own life, so I'm not going to pursue it, but I could have definitely helped him earlier.
I noticed there were only four ads in the latest issue. Does not bode well.