THE C&SSA EDITORS' EXCHANGE Dedicated To Enhancing The Production And Role Of Newsletters

In Cactus And Succulent Societies Vol. 1, No. 3, August 1992

Co-editors: W. McMaster Clarke, 3947 Harrison Pike West, Cleveland, TN 37311

and William J. Felts, 2305 NW 111th, Oklahoma Citv, OK 73120

LETTER TO THE EDITORS

Dear E d i t o r s

We are w r i t i n g to comment on you l e a d a r t i c l e , " E d i t o r i a l Freedom." I t r a i s e s the v e r y important i s s u e s of what is a n e w s l e t t e r ' s proper f u n c t i o n and of the freedom enjoyed by the n e w s l e t t e r e d i t o r .

On a f a c t u a l b a s i s , we agree w i t h the statement t h a t "the proper f u n c t i o n of an e d i t o r i s to r e p o r t the news i n a f a c t u a l and balanced manner." We a l l s t r i v e to be f a i r and even-handed. Opinion should be so l a b e l e d although simple, pro-club b i a s i s expected in a n e w s l e t t e r .

A n e w s l e t t e r f i l l s many more f u n c t i o n s than what i s i n the i d e a l i z e d concept of the newspaper in a f r e e p r e s s s o c i e t y . U n l i k e newspapers, n e w s l e t t e r are a l s o :

* VOICES OF OUR CLUBS: We r e l a y the word about our o r g a n i z a t i o n to members who a t t e n d meetings and those who don't, to p o t e n t i a l members, to the l o c a l p r e s s , e t c . A pro-club b i a s is expected. (Most newspapers are the v o i c e f o r t h e i r " c l u b s " — b e t h a t c l u b a p o l i t i c a l point of view, a p o l i t i c a l party, pro b u s i n e s s , or whatever, they j u s t work w i t h d i f f e r e n t ones.)

* CHEERLEADERS: Yes, we p r e s e n t the p o s i t i v e s i d e of things because we encourage p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the c l u b and i t s a c t i v i t i e s . Southern C a l i f o r n i a may be unusual in t h a t t h e r e are 7 c a c t u s c l u b s w i t h i n a p r a c t i c a l d r i v i n g a r e a and there i s competition f o r p o t e n t i a l members. But even i f t h e r e were only one club, we would be competing w i t h e v e r y t h i n g from other p l a n t s o c i e t i e s to D i s n e y l a n d f o r our members' time.

* REWARDERS: Mention i n the n e w s l e t t e r i s one v e r y important way the c l u b r e c o g n i z e s members' e f f o r t s .

We are e d i t i n g n e w s l e t t e r s . not newspapers. The p o i n t is t h a t t h e r e is a fundamental d i f f e r e n c e in the goal of each. One is not n e c e s s a r i l y b e t t e r than the other.

Your view of e d i t o r i a l freedom, "your owner has the power to c o n t r o l what you, the e d i t o r , can put i n 'your' n e w s l e t t e r , " concerned us. Although w e a l l have p r a c t i c a l l i m i t s — n o t to y e l l " f i r e " i n a crowded t h e a t e r i s the famous example of l i m i t s on freedom of e x p r e s s i o n — w e have much more freedom than your statement e x p r e s s e s .

What would happen i f you, the n e w s l e t t e r e d i t o r , wanted to t r y something new? My guess i s t h a t i f i t doesn't i n v o l v e money or a h i g h l y charged p o l i t i c a l i s s u e t h a t would s p l i t the c l u b , you can t r y i t . We are a s s e t s to our c l u b s , p u t t i n g i n many hours. We are important, were hard to r e c r u i t , and w i l l be hard to r e p l a c e . The f a c t t h a t we are w i l l i n g to take on a tough job and do i t w e l l when o t h e r s are not g i v e s us power. And, t h i s power t r a n s l a t e s i n t o a g r e a t d e a l of e d i t o r i a l freedom.

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Look at the n e w s l e t t e r s a c r o s s the US or from around the world. The d i v e r s i t y , the d i f f e r e n c e s , and the freedom expressed is amazing. Yes, almost everyone has the meeting times, t o p i c s , e t c . But from t h e r e on, the v a r i e t y is astounding.

* Some a re only one pa g e — b u t others run to 10. * Many are p l a n t o r i e n t e d w i t h a r t i c l e s on the "plant of the

month" w r i t t e n by those i n the know—but many a r e n ' t . * Some get i n t o l e g i s l a t i v e i s s u e s l i k e the Mojave P r o t e c t i o n

b i l l — b u t most don't. * Some t r y humor—but most don't. * Some have g r a p h i c s — b u t others don't. * Many s t a y out of i n t e r n a l c l u b s q u a b b l e s — b u t others don't.

Each r e f l e c t s the p e r s o n a l i t y and a b i l i t y of the e d i t o r , the a t t i t u d e of the people around him/her, the time they have, the budget they have, e t c .

So Mac, l i g h t e n up and cheer up. We are doing something we l i k e f o r groups we care about. What we do is important to our group and we are important if only because we d o i t . Relax and have fun w i t h i t !

S i n c e r e l y ,

Joe and C a r o l

Ed note: I do enjoy i t ! Sorry to sound u p t i g h t . Most of the time you are a b s o l u t e l y c o r r e c t . But I stuck my head i n t o t h a t buzz saw once, and don't recommend any of you do l i k e w i s e .

BEING EDITOR OF A SMALL CLUB NEWSLETTER

By Peg Spaete, Editor, Cactus Chatter, Oregon C&SS

B e l i e v i n g t h a t a s m a l l c l u b n e w s l e t t e r s h o u l d c o n t a i n b o t h news about t h e hobby and news about i t s members, I have w r i t t e n a MEET MEMBER... about a l m o s t e v e r y member i n our c l u b . I t a k e a p i c t u r e o f them a t one o f t h e meetin g s , and t h e y p r o v i d e m e w i t h t h e m a t e r i a l . T h i s a c t i v i t y has l e d t o a warmer s o c i a l i z i n g among our members as t h e y d i s c o v e r areas where o t h e r s a l s o have l i v e d , t h e i r o t h e r h o b b i e s , t h e i r c a r e e r s , and t h e i r f a m i l i e s .

A l s o , a MEMBERS' CORNER i s i n c l u d e d i n ev e r y n e w s l e t t e r w i t h b i r t h d a y and a n n i v e r s a r y c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s , p l u s o t h e r c u r r e n t news about members such as awards, i l l n e s s e s , t r i p s , and o t h e r c u r r e n t a c t i v i t i e s . The w i n n e r s o f t h e P l a n t o f t h e Month and what people d i s c u s s e d o n t h e P l a n t o f I n t e r e s t t a b l e i s a n o t h e r page about members. The r e s t o f t h e 7-9 page n e w s l e t t e r t h e n c o n t a i n s i n f o r m a t i o n about p l a n t s and ways t o r a i s e them, a c t i v i t i e s about v a r i o u s c l u b s and p u b l i c a t i o n s t h a t would b e o f concern t o our members. A l s o , t h e r e i s i n f o r m a t i o n about g r e a t s i n t h e f i e l d , e s p e c i a l l y o b i t u a r i e s , u s u a l l y w i t h a p i c t u r e ; new b u s i n e s s e s , and r e g i s t r a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n f o r c o n v e n t i o n s and c o n f e r e n c e s .

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There i s l i t t l e e d i t i n g o f a r t i c l e s t h a t are t u r n e d i n t o me s i n c e I b e l i e v e t h e s t y l e o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l s i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t . O b v i o u s l y , any s p e l l i n g o r g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s a r e c o r r e c t e d , b u t t h e f l o w o f t h e words are l e f t as w r i t t e n . As I would t e l l my s t u d e n t s , w r i t e i t on paper as i you were t a l k i n g t o someone. Once t h e y r e a l i z e d i t d i d n o t have t o be l i k e a t e x t b o o k , t h e y e n j o y e d w r i t i n g . U p t o t h e n , t h e y expected w r i t i n had t o be v e r y f o r m a l and f u l l o f p r o f o u n d t r u t h s . Some people j u s t p u t comments i n o u t l i n e form and ask me t o w r i t e i t . T h i s i s no problem; i t i s p a r t i c i p a t i o n , and t h a t i s what w e a s e d i t o r s want.

Because of t h e v a r i o u s methods o f r a i s i n g c a c t i and s u c c u l e n t s , n o t any one t e c h n i q u e i s t h e o n l y way. Depending o n where i t i s grown -greenhouse, o u t s i d e , i n t h e house, under l i g h t s ; what area t h e grower l i v e s i n - h i g h h u m i d i t y , d r y , extremes i n t e m p e r a t u r e ; what k i n d o f c o n t a i n e r s are used, t h e t y p e o f w a t e r a v a i l a b l e . . . a l l t h e s e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a r e i n g r e d i e n t s f o r an a r t i c l e ; c o n s e q u e n t l y t h e same p l a n t can be r a i s e d in v a r i o u s ways. I know one l a d y who has a l l her r h i p s a l i s o n w i c k s .

When dues are due, I s t a r t o f f e r i n g a f o r m on t h e back sheet two months b e f o r e (November). I n January I p u t a n o t e on t h e f r o n t page w i t h a space and i n f o r m them t h a t i f t h e r e i s a checkmark, t h a t t h i s i s t h e i r l a s t n e w l e t t e r , and we would hope t h a t t h e y would r e j o i n us.

I m p o r t a n t n o t i c e s such as a change of m e e t i n g d a t e , show d a r e s , t u r n o v e r f i l e s are due. . . are a l s o p r i n t e d on t h e address sheet, by t h e l a b e l i n a d d i t i o n t o a w r i t e - u p w i t h i n t h e n e w s l e t t e r . A l s o , l i t t l e p o s t - i t s a r e sometimes i n c l u d e d i n i n d i v i d u a l n e w s l e t t e r s w i t h a thank-you o r a J l

s p e c i a l r e q u e s t f o r a s p e c i f i c a r t i c l e .

I t r y t o i n c l u d e p i c t u r e s or drawings ( w i s h I were an a r t i s t ) t o break u t h e p r i n t e d page s o i t i s more r e a d a b l e . A v o i d i n g l o n g paragraphs a l s o h e l p s .

Peg Spaete is a CSSA Director, Chair of the CSSA Seed Bank (actually, she is the Seed Bank), Hobby Greenhouse Association Director, Chair of their Slide and Videotape Library, etc, etc. She is a popular speaker, eg on the program at the Northwest Conference in Vancouver.

PRACTICING WHAT WE PREACH by Mac C l a r k e

W i t h a two a r t i c l e s p r o m o t i n g use o f photographs i n n e w s l e t t e r s , w e had b e t t e r g e t w i t h i t . So f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e e v e r , i n g l o w i n g b l a c k and w h i t e , t h e Exchange has p h o t o s .

We s o l v e d t h e problem of p h o t o s u b j e c t s by s n e a k i l y h o l d i n g a N e w s l e t t e r E d i t o r s m e e t i n g a t t h e M i d - S t a t e s S t i c k - T o g e t h e r i n T u l s a . I hope B i l l t o o k n o t e s , I d i d n ' t . We d i d d e c i d e t o send t h e Exchange t o a l l CSSA A f f i l i a t e s , whether o r n o t t h e y have n e w s l e t t e r s . Maybe we can encourage them! And I t o o k some p i c t u r e s f o r t h i s a r t i c l e .

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I used my Kodak 35mm f i x e d f o c u s P o i n t and Shoot, w i t h b u i l t - i n f l a s h and ASA 200 Kodak C o l o r P r i n t f i l m . I'm n o t a p h o t o g r a p h e r , b u t most photos a v a i l a b l e t o you w i l l be non­p r o f e s s i o n a l a s w e l l . More t o t h e p o i n t , t h e p r i n t s v i o l a t e Kathy Malon's s u g g e s t i o n t o have l i g h t backgrounds. S h o o t i n g i n l a r g e h o t e l f u n c t i o n rooms w i t h a s m a l l f l a s h j u s t about guarantees d a r k background. As C a r o l Wujcik suggested, I t e s t e d s e v e r a l photos on s e v e r a l machines. The b e s t seem to be t h e newer Sharp c o p i e r s w i t h a "Photo" exposure o p t i o n . But even on t h e b e s t of them. t h e group photo was bad!

F o l l o w i n g Kathy's s u g g e s t i o n , I found a p r i n t shop t h a t would do PMT H a l f t o n e . That was easy, t h e f i r s t one I c a l l e d , on about 2 hours n o t i c e , d i d t h e j o b w h i l e I w a i t e d about 5-10 m i n u t e s . An advantage Kathy d i d n ' t m e n t i o n , i s t h a t t h e t e c h n i c i a n can a d j u s t t h e exposure t o g i v e b e t t e r c o n t r a s t t h a n i n t h e o r i g i n a l p r i n t . P r i c e was $6.00 f o r f o u r 3*5 p r i n t s on t h e same s h e e t . As you can see on t h i s page, t h e h a l f t o n e o f t h e group reproduces much b e t t e r t h a n t h e o r i g i n a l p r i n t . Even when t h e o r i g i n a l

Editors meet in Tulsa. Standing from left;Bill Felts, Central Oklahoma & CSSA Editors' Exchage; Chuck Staoies, Mid Iowa. Seated from left: Jeanne Philipps, Henry Shaw; Delores Kirk, Omaha; Dave Eopeie, Arizona Cactus and Succulent Research; Mary Jo Gussett. CSSA Vice President; Jack Makepeace, Kansas City. PMT above, Sharp 8600 Photo below

Chuck Staples, Mid Iowa. PMT left, Sharp 8800 Photo right

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p r i n t g i v e s a n a c c e p t a b l e copy, such as Chuck S t a p l e s ( p r e v i o u s page), t h e PMT g i v e s b e t t e r c o n t r a s t , showing more d e t a i l . I f you can a f f o r d a few d o l l a r s per i s s u e , PMT is t h e way t o go!

On t h i s page i s a h o r r i b l e example of a poorer c o p i e r f o r Chuck's photo and t h e PMT h a l f t o n e o f i t . Don't f o r g e t t h a t o t h e r photos m i g h t have g i v e n d i f f e r e n t Chuck Staples, Mid Iowa. PMT left. Cannon NP270F light right

r e s u l t s . Yea v e r i l y , TEST! T r y more t h a n one copy shop. I n Cl e v e l a n d TN, i t i s no problem t o f i n d a p l a c e t h a t l e t s you do i t y o u r s e l f . The o n l y shop t h a t made copies f o r you j u s t went broke. A l o c a l business c o p i e r s t o r e has about 6 machines a v a i l a b l e f o r demos and f o r c o p y i n g , a t t h e cheapest p r i c e i n town, 6 c e n t s per page. The o n l y problem i s , don't b o t h e r t e s t i n g u n t i l you are ready t o go t o p r e s s . Tney s o l d one or the two good machines w h i l e I was t y p i n g t h i s . Since I had planned t o show obvious d i f f e r e n c e s between d i f f e r e n t copy models from t h e same m a n u f a c t u r e r , changes had to be made.

Most o f you a l r e a d y use photos i n your n e w s l e t t e r s , b u t not a l l . Those who don't m i g h t want t o t r y . B e l i e v e me, i f I can d o i t , anybody can!

L E T ' S GET GRAPHIC!! By Kathy Malon. Editor. Henry Shaw Cactus Digest

You remember that old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words?" It is a cliche, but it is true. As editor of the Henry Shaw Cactus Digest, I find that including photos will get more comments (favorable) than just about anything else you do.

Does your club have a show? Take pictures or find a camera nut to do it for you. (There is at least one in every group.) Is a member going to a convention or another club's show? Photos, get them to take photos. ASK, most people will be glad to lend them to you.

Please note the use of the term LEND. With the cost of developing and prints it is considerate to return them after you have published them.

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Most of us "print" our newsletters on copiers these days. If you have access to a color copier you can stop reading. Just stick them on the page and run it. If you don't, and they charge a dollar per sheet SIDE here; I have a suggestion. Most copiers will do photos—quality varying widely with the machine. Some are not bad but there is a better way. A little thing called a PMT halftone can make them look 100% better.

And what, you ask is that? Take a look at the pictures in your local newspaper (any printed picture will work but the dots are easier to see on the coarse newsprint). Dots, right? See all those little dots? For offset reproduction pictures are broken down into these little dots by screening. These dots reproduce the tones or values in the picture. For magazines and books these photos are screened and converted to negatives. The text is photographed with spaces for the pictures. The text and photos are combined and plated. This looks great, but it ain't cheap. In St. Louis, it is at least $20.00 for one 8V2" x 11 page for negs and plates.

The second and vastly cheaper way involves the PMT HALFTONE mentioned above. If your newsletter is actually printed rather than copied your printer probably uses PAPER PLATES. The pages of your newsletter skip the negative step and are reproduced directly onto a paper master. The photographs are done in basically the same way for paper plates as they are for negatives only the result is a positive. The PMTs reproduce much better on your copier also.

Any printer with darkroom capabilites should be able to do them. Some printers will do a whole sheet for you (12 x 18 is a standard size) which can save you money. They can also be reduced and enlarged. If you want to get a whole sheet done (4 to 8, usually) they all have to be done at the same percentage. Generally, they come out better reduced than enlarged.

And don't be afraid to "crop them". Of course, you can't do that with the snapshots that you should give back. But PMT's are another thing entirely. Take some blank paper. I like to cut some at right angles and use them for little frames. Many, many snapshots have extraneous material. For example: you have a gorgeous picture of your show winners. Unfortunately, a visitor with a butt as big as Rhode Island is covering up half the winners on the left side. Get your X-acto knife... .crop that offending posterior out! Those entries were invisible anyway and your picture will be much improved for the editing.

Another t ip. . . i f you can get them, black and whites reproduce much better than color. Dark backgrounds don't come out as well as light. And this includes RED. For offset purposes red photographs just like black.

I hope these suggestions may help or at least inspire another editor to bug hell out of the membership. PMT's aren't free but they are not that expensive and the improved quality makes up for the costs. Costs vary... .call around.

Good Shooting!!!

Kathy Malon has had 25 years expereience in the printing trade where she has typeset lots of newsletters, but not C&SS newsletters. The previous editor "sort of volunteered me" to edit the Henry Shaw Cactus Digest in St Louis. Her bosses in the print shop where she works let her use "many thousand dollars worth of equipment" to produce the master copy. Then she has it Xeroxed, just like the rest of us.

CSSA Editors' Exchange Page 7 Aug 92 EDITORS' EXCHANGE SURVEY, PART II

by Mac C l a r k e

Returns are i n from 17 c l u b s , not as many responses as we'd l i k e , but maybe as many as we are going to get. We w i l l s t i l l a c cept r e t u r n s , should the s p i r i t move you. The new i n f o r m a t i o n does not change the r e s u l t s reported i n the l a s t i s s u e , so maybe we have a s i g n i f i g a n t sample. At l e a s t a s i g n i f i g a n t sample of those who respond. You a l l s t i l l l i k e e d i t i n g a n e w s l e t t e r , but the best hedge was from Jack Makepeace who l i k e s i t " e s p e c i a l l y when I drop the l a s t one i n the mailbox"! I n a d d i t i o n to Jack from Kansas C i t y , thanks to Sue Haffner of Fresno, Kathy Malon of Henry Shaw Cactus S o c i e t y of St L o u i s , David Naylor of Toronto, and David Tufenkian of San G a b r i e l V a l l e y f o r t h e i r information.

The t a b l e below shows the contents of your n e w s l e t t e r s . I f you think the s t a t i s t i c s are d u l l , you should have had the joy of compiling them. I t makes watching pa i n t dry p r e t t y e x c i t i n g . The numbers are the percentage of a t y p i c a l i s s u e ' s space devoted to each category. C e r t a i n l y , no s i n g l e i s s u e c o n t a i n s every category, but over a s e v e r a l i s s u e s t r e t c h of a l l the c l u b s most of the c a t e g o r i e s would be covered. Note t h a t the range i s t y p i c a l l y p r e t t y wide. Some of you emphasize one group of c a t e g o r i e s , o t h e r s have a q u i t e d i f f e r e n t makeup.

CATEGORY AVERAGE RANGE 230. How-to a r t i c l e s 2 1 % 1-60% 220. P l a n t of Month and 225. P l a n t d e s c r i p t i o n s 13 0-30 210. Business m e e t i n g news 9 1-40 200. M e e t i n g N o t i c e 9 1-20 270. A r t 7 0-20 265. Photos 6 0-30 260. E d i t o r i a l s c

—J 0-20

Nameplate 4 2-7 215. O f f i c e r / c h a i r l i s t 4 <l - 8 235. H a b i t a t t r a v e l o g u e s 3 0-11 245. B i o g r a p h i e s 2 0-12

P r e s i d e n t ' s message 2 0-12 Coming events-.calendar 2 0-8 Annual show 1 0-8 R o s t e r 1 0-8

205. Dues N o t i c e 1 < l - 3 255. Sunshine 1 0-3 240. Q & A columns <1 0-5 250. O b i t u a r i e s — No-Yes 275. P a i d ads 0 None 280. Others (by d i f f e r e n c e ) 9

The above breakdown is based p a r t l y on q u e s t i o n a i r e answers, but mostly on going through the i s s u e s you sent me. Since I exchange w i t h some of you, some of the breakdowns are based on a y e a r ' s worth of i s s u e s , others on only 1 i s s u e . That may be the reason f o r the 60% v a l u e f o r the h i g h end of the range on How-to a r t i c l e s . Even though t h i s one v a l u e d i s t o r t s the average upwards, such a r t i c l e s a r e the most common i n a l l the r e s t of the n e w s l e t t e r s . I f a range s t a r t s at 0 a t l e a s t some of you never have t h a t category. A range s t a r t i n g a t <1 ( l e s s than one) means you s a i d it happened r a r e l y . The "Nameplate" category covers the top of page 1, a "masthead" i s t y p i c a l l y i n s i d e and l i s t s p u b l i s h e r s , e d i t o r s , e t c . Some of you p r e s e n t the " O f f i c e r s / c h a i r " category as a masthead. Yes, some of the c a t e g o r i e s were not on the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . And I combined the " P l a n t of Month" and "Plant d e s c r i p t i o n " c a t e g o r i e s . Some of you run POM c o n t e s t s and report r e s u l t s , most of you who do i n c l u d e p l a n t d e s c r i p t i o n s and s e p a r a t i n g the two was too much for me.

Continued. Paae 8

CSSA Editors' Exchange Page 8 Aug 92 SURVEY, continued

As you might expect, there are a wide v a r i e t y of formats, contents, and g o a l s . Nearly a l l of you do more than j u s t a "cl u b news" r e p o r t , but the 'extensions' show a l o t of o r i g i n a l i t y .

So where does a l l t h i s copy come from? From you, overwhelmingly!

SOURCE AVERAGE RANGE E d i t o r 65% 15-85% Members 15 0-75 Exchanges 15 0-50 Others 5 0-30

Chuck S t a p l e s does i t r i g h t , he s u p p l i e s 15%, h i s members 75%. None of the r e s t of us gets as much from members as we supply, although Peg Spaete comes c l o s e , w i t h 49% from her members, 50% from h e r s e l f . How do you get members to supply a r t i c l e s ? As Chuck s a i d i n h i s a r t i c l e i n the l a s t i s s u e , " S e c r e t s . There aren't any." Go back and rere a d h i s a r t i c l e , i t can save you l o t s of work. G e t t i n g your own c o n t r i b u t i o n s down to 15% i s u n l i k e l y , but 25% of us provide h a l f or l e s s of the input. That would seem l i k e an a t t a i n a b l e goal f o r many of us! Work on your members, and take advantage of exchanges! Good Luck

Next i s s u e w i l l cover the mechanics and f i n i s h t h i s r e p o r t .

CSSA EDITORS' EXCHANGE W McMaster C l a r k e 3947 H a r r i s o n P i k e West C l e v e l a n d TN 37311 USA

FIRST CLASS MAIL