Any Comments?

[Used 2B PopUPTimes]

I'm just curious about your feelings about the magazine's direction. We have 1 more issue of Pop UP Times this year and then Editor Bob is going to make some changes starting with our Jan / Feb issue.  We'll always cover pop ups but we have to expand our coverage or die. The new name is RV Enthusiast magazine.

D.

[RVMOMNDAD]

By expanding, I hope you mean that you are going to include all types of RV's.   I do love camping in a pop-up, but like everthing else times have changed and so have I.  When we purchased our first pop-up 5 years ago, I never dreamed that in 5 years I would go from working full-time, popupping whenever possible, living the 4 harsh seasons in Iowa---to where I am today.  Not working, disabled, and living full time in a 30 ft. travel trailer in Oregon.   So I for one, welcome all changes......camping is my lifestyle and where my mind is.......what I do it in is just a matter of lifes situations.

[The Tree Top Inn II]

I'm just curious about your feelings about the magazine's direction. We have 1 more issue of Pop UP Times this year and then Editor Bob is going to make some changes starting with our Jan / Feb issue. We'll always cover pop ups but we have to expand our coverage or die. The new name is RV Enthusiast magazine.
 
D.

Dave: I responded a couple of months ago directly to Bob. My comments then were to expand your coverage, in addition to the usual, traditional canvas folding trailers, to cover various types of folding trailers or pop-ups including Trail Manor (some of these are pretty large), Hi-Lo, Aliner, Chalet, and the various brands of hybrids. However, the magazine would retain its niche of smaller, lighter, lower, and safer trailers. If you don't do this, you're just competing with "Trailer Life" magazine; you'd have no niche. Also, the magazine could have a little more coverage of smaller towing vehicles (used for towing all types of smaller trailers) with large 4 cylinder engines (like 2.7L), V-6s, and small block V-8s. Following the lead of "Camping Life" magazine, have a regular feature on things like astronomy, amateur or "ham" radio, geocaching, expanded recipes (like a regular Dutch Oven cooking column), and other activities often done while camping, hiking, etc. I always look forward to each issue of your magazine. I wish it were a little thicker each issue.  Scott

[rccs]

I guess I will be waiting to see how the new format turns out. I am not sure if I will like the magazine having all types of campers or not because that is the reason I have stayed with Pop Up Times (because it has been about my type of camping - pop up camping). I had subscribed to Trailer Life, Camping Life, Good Sam Club and Roads To Adventure magazines thru the years and they had very little if anything to offer me on pop up camping. I can understand your reason for having to expand your format though but please keep pop up camping involved more so in the new format.

[Gone-Camping]

Like many of of others, I started out here at PU Times years ago, I have moved on to a Hybrid, and now moving to a diesel pusher....but I'm every bit the enthusiast I started out as...to think 10 years ago I was tent camper and couldn't have been happier!
 
Speaking of which...I was just checking out a 30' PU made by ALiner...this thing is big!!! Click Here

[Used 2B PopUPTimes]

FYI - I still have a pop up in my driveway.

[gr8grandpa]

I hope that you keep a lot about popups and small trailers in the magazine. I would like to read about other camping related articles though. I told my wife to let all of my other magazines expire except Pop Up Times. I will renew at least a year on the new magazine to see how I like it.

[Campaholics]

I would like to see more articles about Pop Up maintnenace and modifications. Greatly expanded food articles.  More dutch oven cooking, absolutely!  More articles on state and national parks and other camping destinations.  For the techies amoung us, there must be software that is useful to camping.  Find it and tell us about it.  Book of interest, add a book review column.
 
I won't loose any sleep over a name change, or expanding coverage to include other equipment.  We bought the pop up to enhance our camping activities.  It's the other things that make camping an even better experieince.  As long as you can give us new insights, you will have me as a subscriber.
 
Bob

[BigJohn]

Hi Bob, just my thoughts. I started subscribing to Trailer Life and Motor Home mags to get a feel for the RV industry, eventually I bought a PUP and looked for a comparable mag. Trailer Life deals in TT, 5'ers, with very little if anything for PUP even though PUP are sometimes classed with TT. I dropped Motor Home because there was nothing there that was of interest to me. I have continued with Trailer Life only as a wishful thinking entertainment. I found PUT and subscribed only to be disappointed in the smallest RV mag in the business (AFAIK). I know that PUPs are somewhat a "dying" breed, soon to be replaced by Hybrids, I assume. I would really like to see PUP as the center focal point of the new mag and I would find some interest in hybrids; however before passing judgement,  I will view a couple of issues before I decide whether to keep the mag going or drop it in favor of Camping Life, which in my opinion focuses on just that, Camping. Thanks.

PS: If you are going to come out with this mag, why not do it monthly?

[sacrawf]

I subscribed because of the exclusive focus on Pop-ups, and would be disappointed in a broadening of the focus of the magazine to include larger vehicles.  I do understand that a change may be necessary in order to acquire a broader subscription base.  There are already a number of general interest RV magazines out there.  I do not subscribe to any of them as most of their products reviews and how-to articles (about such things as mobile high-speed internet, slide-outs, and diesel power chips) do not apply to the way we camp or would want to.  Rather than to consider a broader focus of types of camping vehicles, perhaps a focus on travel destinations for campers interested in outdoors activities with locations better suited for small campers (pop-ups, hybrids, family tent, and truck campers) would expand the number of subscribers without being product focused. Furthermore, advertisers could be expanded from products primarily to include businesses within the issue's geographic area(s) of focus.

[meriflower1985]

Well I'm new to PUT and new to popups.  I'm not new to RVing.  There isn't another magazine out there like Pop Up Times.  What you want to cover is already being done by other magazines, Trailer Life, Motorhome, RV News, and Camping Life, to name a few.  You will not find any popups in those magazines.  Do I really want another one like those - no, I have let my subscriptions run out.  

I would prefer that you keep it small (pop ups, hybrids, a-frames, trail manor).  I do like another poster's idea of covering pop up maintenance and modifications and more articles on national and state parks.  Articles just on "camping".  Another good recommendation from another poster was on smaller tow vehicles.  So if you need to expand, please expand it to something better than the others just not another imitation of those mags put out by RV.NET.  

Also, thank you for asking for my opinion!

Nancy

[mike4947]

As long as you focus on "camping" and not "RV'ing" I'll keep subscribing.

[SkipP]

The easy answer, for me, is to just keep it the way it is (was) but more of it!

I think you've proven though that it's just not economically feasable to maintain status quo and pay bills. I'd like to see a magazine that draws the line at smaller campers (slide-ins, hybrids, pop-up's, A-liner/Chalet's and maybe Castia types). There's enough coverage given to motorhomes, 5'ers and large travel trailers in other mags to leave that direction alone for the most part.
 
Articles that cover subjects such as Campground Reviews, destinations, vehicle maintainence and new products are applicable to most types of camping and seem to be a good fit. Some of this stuff already exists in the current format. Outdoor oriented subjects (photography, star-gazing, canoe/kayaking, biking, hiking, geocaching etc.) are a great fit as well.
 
I've shared the campfire with PUT reading...and writing...for a while now. My family and I have made friends that share a common interest that we'd otherwise have never known. Hopefully, it can find a way to maintain it's roots, have a greater appeal and be solvent!

[AustinBoston]

I've subscribed to a variety of magazines over the years that broadened their focus.  Every one of them broadedned their focus enough that I no longer subscribe.  At least two of those are no longer published, including one that I considered the most valuable magazine I ever subscribed to.

One of the things my brain i has to do a lot of is filter out irrelevant stuff.  When I subscribe to a mag, I expect to have to filter out ads that don't interest me and an occasional article that doesn't interest me.  But having to filter out most of the articles in a publication I pay for, and occasionally finding I'm filtering an entire issue, will kill it for me.

How about trying to get one issue of the magazine into every new pop-up manufactured, or making a deal with retailers who might pay a reduced price for a 3-issue subscription for their pop-up customers, or a free "classified" ad if they buy each customer a full year?

IMHO, gaining new customers with creative marketing is more valuable than trying to gain customers by spreading yourself too thin and exposing yourself to bigger, more powerful competitors.

Austin

[Ron]

What he said!