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AOSA ANNUAL REPORT 2001 |
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During Committee meetings we discuss a variety of matters which affect the Annual Report (Magazine) but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I sat back and thought, just how involved the editorial and production process is, and how much Gill and Dick, and others who help them, save the Association in costs each year. Gill Jackson has been the editor of our Annual Report for eleven years! In 1989 Dick Dennis joined her on the production side and the two of them have been working away as a team ever since The Annual Report production process is almost continuous – with perhaps a short break after each edition goes to the printers. After the Summer Reunion, material for the Annual Report begins with the AGM minutes and the accounts. These come from various sources, mainly from Margaret Carnegie, the O.S. secretary, followed by a variety of contributed articles and photographs. Some of the articles are typed by Gill but mostly by Dinah Prior. This is followed by the biggest editorial task of all – compiling the News of Old Scholars section, a very large compilation of letters, postcards, e-mails, telephone calls and reminiscences – again all typed up and stored on disk. Gill starts this task in early January, she is responsible for compiling the news from OS within the UK, Arthur Grainge reports on news from OS based overseas. Photographs are an important part of the Magazine and, until recently, these were sent directly to the printers for them to deal with. Dick now scans existing photographs and uses a digital camera when taking photos himself. As material arrives, it is sent – mostly now by e-mail – to Dick who stores the articles on his computer. Dick then sends the proofs to Suzi Scaife to run her expert eye over the text, to catch the errors and adjust the punctuation. Bit by bit the Magazine comes together. Gill prepares a layout, makes her choice of photos and writes captions – starting with the Presidential Address and working through the 64 pages from cover to cover. Dick, using Desk Top Publishing, puts the Magazine into its final form on his computer, complete with pre-scanned photos. After a final proof reading the Magazine is printed on a laser printer and sent to our printer in Middlesbrough, who makes plates, and prints and binds the finished copies. The 902 or so magazines are delivered along with envelopes and address labels to the home of Wendy Smith. They are then sorted and inserted into the envelopes by, more often than not, Wendy Smith, Clifford Weschenfelder and Mary Banks. Wendy then takes the bulk of the sorted magazines to the post office for franking, 702 Inland, 80 Overseas. Cliff, Mary and Sue Fox hand post any magazines local to them. The address labels used on the envelopes are printed out from the AOSA members’ database by Dick in the Isle of Man. Clifford Weschenfelder has also been looking after the sponsorship arrangements for the past few years. Our printer now has a minimal task. Magazine production costs for the last two years were £1,160 and £1,380 (the edition for 2000 having a 4-colour cover) If the Association had to pay for typesetting and pagination a further £5-600 would be added to the bill. I know you will all agree that the Annual Report is always of an exceptionally high standard, both in its content and layout. We can all help by sending contributions, news, reminiscences, photos etc. for the following year’s magazine to Gill before Christmas. Many, many thanks to the whole team who produce and distribute the report that links our members throughout the Association across the world. Sue Fox (Turner 1964-71) AOSA Chairman |
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