Parachutist magazine IMHO

[kelpdiver 2]

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Opting out of the mag should then get a discount on dues - which it doesn't. We get two a month which we don't read (anymore) either.

For magazines with a lot of advertizing revenue (which Parachutist probably is not), there isn't much of a discount to give, since the buyers are paying for access to sell to people like you. So if 30 or 80% choose not to receive it, the revenues drop, the costs stay nearly the same and ultimately the organization pays for it anyhow.

[4wayFly 0]

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the ever prevalent professional competition coverage

Where is that, exactly? All I ever see is CRW and articles with titles like 'Remember when?', 'Look at this skydiving helmet from the 50s' and 'Back in the good ol' days when we was jumpin' rounds'.

Kidding aside*...agree, it would also be good to have a lot more info for, and by, newbies. The USPA could also follow the English mag's lead and invite contributions aimed at newer jumpers from its vast number of skydiving stars in every discipline (not necessarily talking Knights/ Fire/ Majik/ Airspeed, also up and comers like Fury, Divewerkz, Rookie teams and so on).

Make the most of the massive talent we have on our doorstep (many US jumpers get published a lot more in European skydiving mags than they do in Parachutist - explain that one).

* I AM kidding, the last Parachutist had some great articles on swooping, camera work and freeflying. (And obviously the Nationals report.) The new look is much better. Maybe it is making a move away from 'Remember when...?' into 'What's going on now', which would be good. Comments above are just suggestions to add to that.

[kelpdiver 2]

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As for members submitted articles they are way more picky than say "Skydiving" is. Not in quality of writing, but the piece must be politically correct and in no way slam any gear, manufacturer, or DZ that's advertised. I've had several, what I thought were decent articles, rejected because I can't write "happy talk."

Nick, the official publication for the sport isn't in a good position to be bad mouthing its members, even if warranted. Slam container maker X and their response may be to stop talking to the USPA, rather than to take the criticism, esp if the end result is it costs them a lot of revenue. USPA's purpose is to promote the sport and those involved within, so the end result is a mantra - if you have nothing good to say about X, say nothing at all. But you can still praise the best.

Does that make the magazine less useful? Of course. It might be better for the magazine to follow the example of "Discover Diving" which is primarily focused at first year divers. Focus on the information that post A's should and often aren't getting - the exit separations, dealing with crowded landing patterns, downsizing intelligently, the into to freeflying (and CRW, and others).

Also, I think I'm in the minority, but I liked the old style better than the new look. I liked the full sheet cover photo with Parachutist. But on the inside, it seemed that Skydiving's photos were better, perhaps just because of the bigger page size, but it seemed higher resolution as well.

[relyon 0]

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... All I ever see is CRW ...

Really? You must read a different Parachutist than I do. I love to see CRW but rarely do. I was quite pleased to see a 15-way CRW formation on the Sep '07 cover, but there's only one other picture inside and a short piece about CF at the nationals.

Bob

[Remster 24]

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... All I ever see is CRW ...

Really? You must read a different Parachutist than I do. I love to see CRW but rarely do. I was quite pleased to see a 15-way CRW formation on the Sep '07 cover, but there's only one other picture inside and a short piece about CF at the nationals.

Bob

Thats because the USPA hates US CREW skydivers.

Remster

[billvon 2,400]

>Thats because the USPA hates US CREW skydivers.

Actually, Remi, USPA just hates you.

[rygon 0]

lol at the ppl saying that the uk mag is much better as we have a few ppl in the uk saying its shite...always the same stuff never enough so and so etc

being a student i dont undertand all of wahts put in the mag (nor the politics) but i enjoy reading the article every month on a certain technique (this mnth spotting, last mnth sit flying)..cant do either yet but im sure its going to come in handy...also every dz has a area to put what been happening in their area..im sure most of it is not that news worthy to the majority but for the ppl ppl who is there it is good ( i got a mention of doing my 1st freefall...means fuck all to everyone else but it was important to me)
but as said in many issues the reason the same dz or expertise is getting so much coverage is because its the same ppl whos putting in the stories/photos ...if they had more stuff then they would put it in ... so maybe its worth entering your own stuff a few times and then complaining if it isnt in rarther than do nothing and still complaining

[Remster 24]

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>Thats because the USPA hates US CREW skydivers.

Actually, Remi, USPA just hates you.

I should have kept that canopy.

Remster

[gjhdiver 0]

Parachutist goes straight from the doormat to the recycling bin. We get two copies too. It's been so dull for so long that I can't remember the last time I ever bothered to open it. I wish there was some way to decline it on the USPA membership form and pay less, and from what I've been told, it's too complicated and costly to just send me the one each month, so two get thrown away evry time.

Now the BPA magazine and the Swedish ones show how it should be done, and of course Skydiving Magazine still actually doesn't shy away from discussing controversial issues. I actually look forward to all those magazines arriving.

[pilotdave 0]

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Parachutist goes straight from the doormat to the recycling bin... It's been so dull for so long that I can't remember the last time I ever bothered to open it.

How do you know how dull it is?



Dave

[skypuppy 1]

Nick, the official publication for the sport isn't in a good position to be bad mouthing its members, even if warranted. Slam container maker X and their response may be to stop talking to the USPA, rather than to take the criticism, esp if the end result is it costs them a lot of revenue. USPA's purpose is to promote the sport and those involved within, so the end result is a mantra - if you have nothing good to say about X, say nothing at all. But you can still praise the best.
________________________________________________

A few years back I submitted a 3500 word article on Bill Cole along with numerous vintage photos from the '60's and '70's. The reply was that Parachutist publishes profiles on very few skydivers, and therefore it would send a wrong message to publish one about someone who has been kicked out of their association.

My response was to not renew my USPA membership.

Skydiving Magazine later published the article in it's entirety. For my money, I'll take Skydiving magazine anyday.

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[4wayFly 0]

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therefore it would send a wrong message to publish one about someone who has been kicked out of their association

How interesting, when they nevertheless take the decision to feature the team that beat the USPA's national 8-way team at the WM 2006 on the cover of the USPA calendar, and in 2001 to show the team the USPA's 8-way team beat at the WM on the cover of the mag which contains the official write-up. (Win or lose, I guess there are some teams who 'do' and 'don't' get covered.)

So do they or don't they consider the 'message' of what they feature? Can't have it both ways.

[LloydDobbler 2]

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being a student i dont undertand all of wahts put in the mag (nor the politics) but i enjoy reading the article every month on a certain technique (this mnth spotting, last mnth sit flying)..cant do either yet but im sure its going to come in handy...

SPOTTING?!? What's that, again? You mean, people still DO that over there?


(BTW, I'm just kidding...at my DZ (where we still spot the old-fashioned way, with our eyes), we get a lot of mileage laughing about our experiences at other DZ's, watching people file out of the plane like lemmings when the green light comes on.)

(Of course, sadly that DZ full of peeps who know how to spot is closing...).

/end thread hijack/

I'd love to see a copy of the BPA mag - do they offer copies/subscriptions for sale?

Signatures are the new black.

[kallend 1,623]

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therefore it would send a wrong message to publish one about someone who has been kicked out of their association

How interesting, when they nevertheless take the decision to feature the team that beat the USPA's national 8-way team at the WM 2006 on the cover of the USPA calendar, and in 2001 to show the team the USPA's 8-way team beat at the WM on the cover of the mag which contains the official write-up. (Win or lose, I guess there are some teams who 'do' and 'don't' get covered.)

So do they or don't they consider the 'message' of what they feature? Can't have it both ways.

You know, an awful lot of skydivers really don't care who beat whom in a FS competition in what year.

You are flogging a dead horse.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,400]

Please keep the discussion on whether USPA hates americans in the thread you started.

[4wayFly 0]

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You know, an awful lot of skydivers really don't care who beat whom in a FS competition in what year.

You are flogging a dead horse.

Thanks for your progressive comment. My point is that, were the competitive side of the sport promoted properly within the sport itself, more people *might* care about what is going on at the cutting edge of their sport. They (and the rest of the world) might even begin to consider skydiving a sport (rather than a slightly odd hobby). This in turn could attract more media interest, better funding, more participants and ever increasing standards and facilities. I can only think this would be a good thing for all participants, competitors and business owners within the sport.

I fully realise some people prefer to preserve the status quo, and that is entirely your prerogative.

[billvon 2,400]

> I can only think this would be a good thing for all participants . . .

Not for me. I don't want skydiving to become more like a NASCAR race and less like a bunch of odd people who skydive.

[4wayFly 0]

The comment was:

> They (and the rest of the world) might even begin to consider skydiving a sport (rather than a slightly odd hobby) [....] I can only think this would be a good thing for all participants . . .

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Not for me. I don't want skydiving to become more like a NASCAR race and less like a bunch of odd people who skydive.

So your definition of 'a sport' is a NASCAR race?

[JeepDiver 0]

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I'd love to see a copy of the BPA mag - do they offer copies/subscriptions for sale?

and here is the link to how contributions are requested and handled.
http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/contributions.html

If you wish to subscribe
http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/subscribe.html

Notice the difference between how Skydive the Mag website requests member contributions.

and the Parachutist website.

http://www.uspa.org/publications/parachutist/online_index.htm

Which one is performing the job of publishing a member magazine better...? That is all I am asking and requesting discussion. I feel it can be improved upon IMHO.

[billvon 2,400]

>So your definition of 'a sport' is a NASCAR race?

Yes, car racing is a sport. Gets great sponsorship. There's lots of media interest, good funding, lots of would-be racers in the stands, and very high standards and facilities. People make millions off it.

[4wayFly 0]

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>So your definition of 'a sport' is a NASCAR race?

Yes, car racing is a sport.

Bill...I know car racing is a sport. But NASCAR Racing does not *define* sports.

[DSE 3]

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Bill...I know car racing is a sport. But NASCAR Racing does not *define* sports.

Nor does skydiving.
....rather than keep bitching about the love you're missing, why not expend some of the same energy that you're putting into these threads. Contact the editors at Parachutist via email or phone call. You might be surprised at what they have to say.

[billvon 2,400]

>But NASCAR Racing does not *define* sports.

Nope. But per your description, it sounds like the model we should be pursuing. More media interest, better funding, more participants and ever increasing standards and facilities to improve things for participants, competitors and business owners within the sport.

[4wayFly 0]

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Nope. But per your description, it sounds like the model we should be pursuing. More media interest, better funding, more participants and ever increasing standards and facilities to improve things for participants, competitors and business owners within the sport.

I apologize for the confusion, I was thinking more along the lines of snowboarding, skating, or other so-called 'extreme' sports which are commonly compared to skydiving. Not that I have anything against NASCAR racing but I doubt the spectator interest would be there. Skydiving, however, could do more to drive supporter interest within the sport itself (its own magazines), as a first step. We have top level competitors who approach this 'odd hobby' as a sport and that could be recognized better.

[tbrown 26]

Parachutist has a lot of potential, it always has. Some years it's better than others.

One thing for sure is that it's not the main source of info that it used to be. With all the websites and videos available online, Parachutist has to find where its niche is and make itself stand out.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !