Greetings.
I
feel I wish to offer an observation here. I am concerned about something.
Did anyone hear Mr. Ludi say the following?
<<My recommendation is that we do not purchase the binders
at this time. Run a survey at Madison or otherwise, get a number of
possible sales and then make a decission. We have a big ticket item coming
up that will require monies and an inventory to support our members for
future years. The 2009 ten-year Checklist is something we need to plan
support. >>
Now, it could be that you have by now managed to round up enough
potential orders that he would say something different if asked, but as
I read the Archives, he has not yet done so. Am I incorrect? After all,
Mr. Ludi is the one who is going to have to manage the logistics on this
scheme.
I
remember once, as Membership Secretary, watching the Board vote
into existence a radical change in the Membership Year which I told
them point blank could not be implemented in the time frame mandated by
the Bylaws. I did not say that I disagreed with it, which, in fact I
did not, I did not say I thought it was ill-advised, I said we are a
business office and No Can Do It Like That, and I
was correct. Regardless, one after another, the votes kept
rolling on in, until there it was, in all its glory, passed.
As to these binders. I have a couple of suggestions, other
than to make sure you give all due consideration to anything Mr.
Ludi says regarding practicalities.
These are: When setting your prices and advertising same you
will need to remember shipping outside the country, and all that
may entail. Also, when negotiating your best price with the vendor,
make sure that you have reorder prerogatives at that original price or
better for a reasonable time, or you may find you cannot continue to offer
the product. Also, see if you can find out about how long they think the
binders will last with average care in average conditions. Sometimes there
is a mean time to failure on materials and the things will age in AIS
Storefront storage just as surely they will age on your book shelves. Also,
do bear in mind the economy: many people are hard up these
days.
I
do not want to order any AIS binders. Sorry. You
could not give them to me. Although I maintain a personal reference library
here, my experience is consistent with Kate's; I tried this sort of
product and not only was it hard to dust, it fell
open up and things got beat up. I have some journals stored
in binders with Rubbermaid no-punch plastic magazine strips, and
SIGNA is in a looseleaf notebook as it is designed to be, but
most materials of this sort I store
flat in stacking plastic sweater boxes.
Cordially,
Anner
Whitehead