flyingsignalman Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Perhaps like the TV programmes nowadays, they think we have the attention span of a gnat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I did buy it in the end after I realised there was a second part to the East Lynn article. I also bought the Modeller at the same time. Reading them both on my journey home today I have to say that if the idea of putting the ads in among the editorial content is intended to make them more visble it failed miserably with me. Looking through the body of the magazine I just thought, 'Advert' and turned the page without noticing what it was for. I did actually look to see if I could remove the Hattons section in the middle to bin it without the magazine faling apart. Yet with the adverts in the Modeller, and indeed the ones in their own section at the back of BRM I read through them once Ihad looked through the content. I like the ads in model railway magazines but the ones in among the articles are just an unwelcome intrusion. As others have said I don't much like the extraneous boxes and random bits of text dotted about the articles either. They add nothing and are a distraction. It is a pity as the actual articles are interesting if you can follow them through the maze of unrelated stuff. Oh and did I see some mention of a model railway show at Alexander Palace? Trying too hard to be innovative and losing the focus of the magazine is my verdict. Sorry BRM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Brit70053 Posted March 14, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 14, 2012 Looking through the body of the magazine I jjust thought, 'Advert' and turned the page without noticing what it was for. I did actually look to see if I could remove the Hattons section in the middle to bin it without the magazine faling apart. Yet with the adverts in the Modeller, and indeed the ones in their own section at the back of BRM I read through them once Ihad looked through the content. I like the ads in model railway magazines but the ones in among the articles are just an unwelcome intrusion. As others have said I don't much like the extraneous boxes and random bits of text dotted about the articles either. They add nothing and are a distraction. It is a pity as the actual articles are interesting if you can follow them through the maze of unrelated stuff. Oh and did I see some mention of a model railway at Alexander Palace? Trying too hard to be innovative and losing the focus of the magazine is my verdict. Sorry BRM. Seeing this and similar comments on this thread re assured me that I hadn't just been feeling grumpy when I posted my earlier comment. It strikes me that my reaction might relate to the similar, (alright, altogether more intense) irritation I suffer when trying to watch any decent drama on commercial television. You know:- 6 minutes of program followed by up to 6 minutes of commercials and a plug for the news programme, giving you ample time to forget what happened previously, thereby totally destroying continuity and enjoyment of the program you are actually trying to watch. If its of any validity to the discussion I've always enjoyed browsing through the Ads in BRM when they appeared in blocks at the front and back of the magazine content, but as a seperate exercise to reading the articles. When, Like the TV commercials, the ads occur so frequently and randomly amongst the text of the articles, I'm put off my reading and have eventually given up (several times). There's only so many cups of tea a chap can brew in an evening. I hope my comments are taken as constructive criticism, I've subscribed to BRM for quite a few years now and don't want to have to consider cancelling as I've enjoyed the mag on the whole. Regards, John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 As the previous poster said.......doing the adverts is a completely separate exercise. I think most people do the content first.....then some days later, they pick up the mag again, as I do, and do the adverts in a meaningful way. Dotted about in the current fashion I'm afraid they dont work as well....well at least they dont for me. However.......as someone who had dropped BRM 12 months ago.....I bought it this month...and I did enjoy the content, and am going to put it back on my list again for purchasing. Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2012 Not very keen on the adds being spaced in with the articles, I have always liked to read the articles then browse the adds at the back That's what I detest about American magazines, generally. Kevin Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2012 Page ninety said "New products" at the top followed by "whats new" in a full banner across the page, followed By " a look at new products in the world of railway modelling" so it managed to repeat itself three times in three LINES, I AM NOT A GOLD FISH, I can remember what I've just read!! Many other pages have quotes in large text taken from the text in the same page, I AM NOT A GOLDFISH I can remember what I've just read!! Many other pages have in red boxes or dotted outline boxes again taken from the text, I AM NOT A GOLDFISH. I can remember what I've just read!! The entire magazine smacks of very poor work by people who are just trying to fill up the pages without trying, Like the Photos of past wotk by T Wright just dug out of the left overs bin. If this output continues like this then you will lose yet another reader.. Model Rail does that too, with the quotes. They are just unnecessary repetition and distracts from the article. Sometime I find myself, looking for the context of where it came from - a waste of time. If the pages can't be filled with worthwhile stuff, perhaps a reduction in the number of editorial pages is a solution? GIGO? Kevin Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky W Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 why not post the FULL contents descrition on the website every month so you know what you will be buying? Thought I'd been doing this on here for ages now...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hardly Dicky. I never once saw mention of those full page ads in the traditional contents section! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted March 15, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2012 Thought I'd been doing this on here for ages now...? Hi Dicky, No slight intended on you. This thread is about the BRM Reader Survey, and whether they asked the right questions. It has (reasonably) moved on to some feedback to them about their magazine. That's why I say that THEY (BRM) should post the full contents description on THEIR website - a PDF of the relevant pages would be ideal. The reason for this is that I (and many others judging by other posts) tend to look at the contents pages on news stands before deciding which magazine(s) to buy each month. We are prevented from doing so in the case of BRM by the stupid, environmentally unfriendly plastic bag. Thats one reason why I for one buy less copies of BRM each year than I do RM, HM or Model Rail. If they took responsibility for providing an alternative it would not be as good as removing the bag, but it might help. I'm sure many people appreciate what you do, but the post was not about this site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators SteveCole Posted March 15, 2012 Administrators Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hi Colin, Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated. We've recently started to post a short video that shows what's in each issue. Hopefully this helps. Here's a direct link to the April 2012 preview video. http://bit.ly/Af2eDa Thanks, Steve Brand Editor Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNWR lives on Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Survey completed, one gripe which is nominal on all surveys, Wales does have a North and South part, much as the UK is split into east, west, midlands etc Also noticed that there was no mention of coach articles directly, but it did mention frieght Against the flow it seems I quite like BRM, I find it the most readable and diverse of the Mags I think the biggest issue with any Mag produced is we all have different interests and focus so it is up to a mag to try and find a balance, hence why I like to flick through the mags (Or guess off the bagged front cover contents) and pick the one that interests me most that month Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted March 15, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hi Colin, Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated. We've recently started to post a short video that shows what's in each issue. Hopefully this helps. Here's a direct link to the April 2012 preview video. http://bit.ly/Af2eDa Thanks, Steve Brand Editor Thanks - that's very good, if the plan is to do that every month I shall certainly use it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amdaley Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hi Colin, Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated. We've recently started to post a short video that shows what's in each issue. Hopefully this helps. Here's a direct link to the April 2012 preview video. http://bit.ly/Af2eDa Thanks, Steve Brand Editor Hello Steve. Very nice but why not use a voice over to describe the articles in brief instead of the music ? Any voice will do. It doesn't have to be a film star. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
autocoach Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 The music if you want to call it that is somewhat cheesy...Actually the theme from Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Wererabbit would do nicely and is redolent of cheese too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators SteveCole Posted March 16, 2012 Administrators Share Posted March 16, 2012 Hi all, Yes, we'll be doing the video each month to show what's in the next issue of the magazine. amdaley: nice idea about the voice over. I'll look into it for the next issue and enlist the help of someone with a decent voice. I can also ensure everyone that we are listening to your comments about the magazine and the advert placement. Thank you. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I subscribed to the e-version starting with the February issue, therefore I have only seen three months' worth so far, and my contribution to the survey may not be based on magazine experience but I have completed it anyway. I have no problem with the ads being between articles. I dont like ads in the middle of articles, but I find them to be a nice break in between, and if the ads were sometimes biased towards the article that I have just read I would look at them in a more inspired frame of mind and think "maybe I could buy one of those and try my own version". I realise this is not going to be possible on most occasions because of the nature of the businesses involved, but it's just a thought. I loathe magazines with 20+ pages of ads at the front, and then a similar amount at the back, and all the modelling articles stuck somewhere in the middle, because to me it seems such a counter intuitive method of advertising. I just tend to ignore the adverts and read the middle bit, which I am sure is not what the advertisers would wish for. Even if I did go back to them at a later date, I find that turning page after page of similar box-shifting businesses displaying exactly the same items at 5 or 10p differences per item, rapidly has me choosing to watch paint dry instead. The photo reproductions on my laptop are excellent, and I have difficulty believing that some images are really of models at times. The product reviews are also very good, and well researched, so that is another plus point. My home is bursting at the seems with collections of various railway magazines from the past 60 years, so this online version is exactly what I need to placate SWMBO. All in all, I would say full marks from me; this is just what I was looking for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon020 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 The concept of an electronic mag has it's appeal, but there is one point that I wonder about. I tend to keep the mags I have, complete; when I'm looking back through them for an article, I can pull the pile of mags out and scan the covers for perhaps eiether a mention of the subject, or a picture on the front that jogs the memory (assuming I can't recall the article within which it appeared). If they're stored electronically, this "scanning" activity is more prolonged. This isn't an e-mag issue specifically; it's been a hurdle to anyone trying to work in the paperless office environment for years, in fact I think that the paperless office has actually resulted in more paper being generated... it's just not kept for long. A solution????? Years ago, once a year, the magazine would be published with an annual index, within which all articles were listed to aid locating. This is something that seems to have been lost.., and that has been unfortunate. So, if there's to be an e-mag, will their be an accompanying search facility that will allow subsrcibers to do a word/data search for a particular subject, that can search the content of all mags and list the results with hyperlinks? I know this can be done with pdf and doc files in some e-record facilities, but it would be interestign to know whether it was something that had been considered for the future of these periodicals. You're going to tell me that this is already available now aren't you... in which case, I'll get my coat. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 As an irregular purchaser of BRM I looked at the latest issue to see if it seemed to be better than previous ones- I bought the one with Armathwaite earlier in the year as my previous purchase. I also did a straight comparison with the equivalent issue of Railway Modeller. Looking at BRM- I don't like the ads spread amongst the editorial pages, it interrupts the reading and makes it too easy to miss something. The diary dates aren't anywhere near detailed enough- nothing really information-wise to guide one's preferences if there is a clash. The editorial content- Railway Modeller has 23 more editorial pages for the same cover price- a third more! This number excludes for both mags the diary dates and the small ads ( and RM's diary dates section is about twice as long......) There was only one page of Peco tub-thumping advertisements interrupting RM's editorial content this month- I got a different number every time I tried to count the Warner-group equivalents in BRM.... Overall impression of the new BRM - not good enough to convince me to buy it regularly. At the rate Hornby Mag is improving BRM is rapidly moving from second to third in the rankings IMHO. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLD Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Years ago, once a year, the magazine would be published with an annual index, within which all articles were listed to aid locating. This is something that seems to have been lost.., and that has been unfortunate. ... I know this can be done with pdf and doc files in some e-record facilities, but it would be interestign to know whether it was something that had been considered for the future of these periodicals. I'm sure Railway Modeller do publish/have published an electronic index... Not sure if it's every year on their annual CD ROM, or if it was a just a one-off on one of the Aniversary ones? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 amdaley: nice idea about the voice over. I'll look into it for the next issue and enlist the help of someone with a decent voice. But please make the voice have a normal speaking tone and not a QVC type "selling" voice! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ELTEL Posted March 27, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 27, 2012 David, there's a direct link into the Survey in the opening post of this thread, if you want to do it. Richard Yes, but yet again there website is down. I think RMweb may be there saviour if they listen to what the modeller wants. But if the do not it will be bye byr BRM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Yes, but yet again there website is down. The MRL site is running slow at present but not 'down'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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