Hi all, While I love the forum I have become disheartened with the magazine I guess I never noticed how little actual content is actually in the magazine until I took it to a meeting to read while waiting and realized that in just under an hour I had read all the actual content I had been so happy to see after waiting a whole month to get it.

It seems the magazine now is more filler than actual content, I counted over 59 adverts of which most were full page and the others were half page now in a magazine that is only around 90 pages long that does not leave much room for actual content then when you factor in the pages of product reviews then the editor page and the like it does not leave much room for actual content.

While I do understand with the extremely low subscription fee which is asked I am sure the adverts bring in more than what the subscriptions do annually but I got that letter about raising the subscription fee which is understandable in a world where everything is getting higher but I have to ask myself do I really want to pay more for a magazine that is almost completely full with advertisements?
 
So the question is can I still use the forum if I choose to not resubscribe when my subscription runs out next years?

As a side note what little actual content there is in the magazine is wonderful stuff and the people who make it do a wonderful job.

Years ago they let people be in the forum w/o a subscription.
Today I'm not so sure.
Granted there are advertisements galore in the magazine, but "most" are focused, except for the numerous Viagra type ads.
Why do they think we need those? I better not go there.
You could try not re-subscribing and see what happens...
Me, well I think it's a wash. The magazine is good, but the forums are better, so I consider part of my subscription fee my forum fee.

Yeah im pretty disappointed with the sex video ad in the latest issue never mind the viagra ad's specially seeing how my 8 year old son likes to look at my woodworking magazines I cant allow him to look at these because well I dont wanna have to explain it to him lol

WHAT! a sex video ad!
I didn't notice that, gonna have to look and call them on the phone and give them a piece of my mind!

Rather than call and the message falling on deaf ears, I shot off an email to:

editors@handymanclub.com and chobbs@namginc.com ( advertising person )
It said:

OK Guys, enough is enough,

what's with the damn sex video advertisements in the magazine?

Look we've been putting up with the enlargement ads, the viagra type ads and this has gone far enough!

How the hell do you expect me to leave the magazine on a coffee table after reading it?

What about people that let their sons and grandson's read it?

What about the prodigy of the female gender?

Can you offer something to help explain it to a youngster?

You are turning the magazine into a slime-ball thing.

I am very disappointed and disgusted.

I can't threaten to drop my subscription, even though I am well known in the forum for my contributions, because you will say; "who cares".

But I WANT YOU TO KNOW, I'm pretty DISGUSTED!!!

Gerry Dombroski

While waiting for a Doc appointment, I looked at an Opera magazine. I discovered that more than half of that magazine was full page ads. So in this economy I don't think you will find much difference in most magazines.

The sex oriented ads will most likely be there for a long time. They bring in the money. It is not Handy that OK's what ads are placed in their magazine, it is NAMG, the parent company, that places the ads and prints the magazine. Handy them selves don't like them there either.

If you are not a member, you can view the forums, but you will not be able to post.

I have to agree with both of you to a point. As Gerry D. said, part of the member price for the mag subscription is membership fees, which cover the forum operation, the gadgets they send us like return address labels, the test product shipping & handling costs etc. I used to look forward to the magazine coming, now it is just so much clutter on my desk and coffee table because most of the projects I find seem like the staff got together and did a redo on another's kitchen, or they had a beer day and replaced a window together. There is little in actual patterns that fit all or most occassions, but are specific to the job at hand that needed doing. Now if and when I open it, it is to catalogue the one or two worthwhile projects in my computer indexing system and then put them into a binder for easy access if needed.
Seldom do you see a plan for a bookcase, desk, welding cart (although I don't do metal work some members do) and the like. On the rare occassion these are entered in the magazine, the measurements are null and void since they were built specifically to fit in a cubby hole in another staff members home, and thus a custom made one of a kind event. And, with that said, who needs another fire pit anyway? I much more enjoy WOOD Mag and even Woodworkers Journal which by all means is a cheaply thrown together rag without much due consideration of what the reaaders want. JMHO! There goes my chances at this months give-a-ways!!!

I've been around here a long long time, before they invented nails.  The magazine has gotten smaller because the articles are smaller and there are less of them.  The ads have increased because the costs have increased.  The life membership dues investments probably are not yielding as much as they used to, just like your own investments.  The "better sex" ads are there because compnayies are cutting back on their advertising.  These type of ads are showing up everywhere.  I doubt HCOA will stop them because they need the money.  SO WHAT!

The best part of your membership is free - this online gold mine of information.  Your question shouldn't be "Do I want to cancel my subscription".  It should be "Do I want to lose this site".

 

I understand all that Ray, but if they ONLY would put them on a page of their own so one can discard it without taking out material that is worth keeping.
This last ad, that we are talking about, is on the other side of an article about pencils that I found interesting.
Should I tear it out or glue the preceding pages together.
Right, it's not worth the trouble.

Well it is a forum and I expressed my opinion and dislike of the ads. That's about all I can do.

( I would miss the likes of you, Craig, Dewey and all the rest too much to leave! )

I questioned them a year ago about putting those ads back to back so you could just rip out the page, but they said, as mentioned before, they (Handy) have no control over how the magazine is laid out. NAMG does that along with the publisher.

You could always paste a blank piece of paper over the offensive ads.

So stick around, the magazine is a miniscule part of the club features.

Ya know, I flip past them so fast I hardly realized what they were, or maybe it is just habit. I never thought about younger kids looking at em since mine don't live in the house here. I'd maybe think about cancelling my subscription, but I became a life member back in 04, so my dues are already paid (although they now have this "master life member" thingie). I enjoy the articles, but they do seem repetitious sometimes. I think they did a couple issues in one year about yard water features or something. But I am SO GLAD I finally registered on these forums since all of you are so great and knowledgable.

This topic has been discussed a lot in the past. It was probably 2 or 3 years ago that I tore out their full page ad and sent it to HCOA. I told them what I thought of it, and told them that " If you feel this is appropriate for my living room, you can post this copy on your office bulletin board". I never got a responce, but Ill bet it never reached the office Bulletin board. The magazine is lacking in content. Worse than ever.

Gerry, I do tear out the ads. If there is anything on the back of the page that I wish to keep, I take it to the printer and print it out, then drop the ad in the shredder. You can staple the info you want to keep back into the magazine if you wish.

I'm with Dewey with ' WOOD " magazine. It's strictly a woodworking magazine, not a handyman publication, but it is generally loaded with information. AND, you don't have to subscribe to the magazine in order to post on the forums. They do monitor their forums closely and will delete anything that they feel is inappropriate,such as language, or topics they feel may be offensive to others.Probably a little too restrictive in that area, but otherwise, a group of very helpful guys.

Let me add one more comment.  Maybe I don't know when to shut up.

I realize that the "sex" ads are a problem with members that have children and with members who are offended by this type of ad.  The club doesn't seem to care and more than likely an ad will be on the back of an important page.  I really don't know what you can do except tear them out.  As already stated, we've discussed this issue before and got no where.  Of course, that doesn't mean we can't go over it again.  I don't get upset about the ads because I ignore them.  As a matter of fact, I probably ignore all the ads most of the time.  So far, all you can do is vent about the ads.

I'm just saying, don't leave because of the ads because there is more to this club than those ads.  Now, if you don't like us and can't put up with us, then you may leave.  LOL