16 December 2011 What a year!
Thank you
For being so patient and understanding during this past week when we had unexpected downtime while our previous hosting company finally managed to (do their job) and redirect our SMN web address at our new server – boy I hope none of us has to endure that inefficiency again!
We now have our own dedicated server that is certainly big enough to cope with our growth plans into the near future, hopefully providing the speeds, capacity and stability we need in a state-of-the-art magazine title like SMN – you deserve it and we deserve it given the investment that’s invested in so many ways by so many people.
So, a serious thank you to all of you who continue to subscribe and support SMN and reap the benefits of doing so.
Thanks too, to every member of the SMN Review Team and your subscribers out there that have contributed in any way to SMNs success to date – SMN needs you and I need you so thank you again for all your hard work and creating some of the best scale models anywhere.
There have been some truly fantastic projects joining the huge archive of ‘back issues (review and feature articles) that live in Finished Now.
As Francis so aptly put it to me – “Let’s move on…” and that’s what I’d like to do now.
A break for Christmas… we all need one!
It’s been manic on the lead into Christmas and the New Year, with everyone working hard to bring you lots of new content in time for the break. We plan to also take a short break between 23 December and 2 January.
This means your SMN will be available of course whenever you want to look at and explore it, but we are unlikely to add any new content in that time window. Rest assured, we’ll still be preparing for the off on 2 January and you can expect plenty of new material to appear and continue to appear after that!
How are we doing?
This time of year always provides an opportunity for reflection on our goals and objectives for SMN. Those of you that have read my words here in ‘Geoff Now’ over the months may remember that at the start of this year I wanted to:
- Reach 170 completed Review and Feature Articles in SMN – Achieved (175 as of today)
- Reach 100 walkaround photo reference sets in SMN’s Photo Reference Library – Achieved (150 as of today!)
- Reach 400 Here Now kit and accessory reviews – Achieved (432 as of today)
- A production rate of 2 HD videos entering your Techniques Bank every month – Achieved in the last few months
- Bring more of a rounded, balanced content to SMN. Finished Nowlooks like this:
- Aircraft – 1:72 23 ; 1:48 53 ; 1:32 34; 1:24 and other 9
- Armour – 1:35 and 1:48 2:1 in favour of 1:35
- Maritime – Mostly 1:350 but we have several 1:700 scale projects planned and in the pipeline
2012?
In my first editorial of 2012 I’ll set out the goals for next year, which will be equally as challenging but so exciting too, with next year promising to be a fantastic one for SMN and all who continue to subscribe to this magazine. And don’t forget, as every month goes by, your subscription, at whatever level offers more and more astonishing value for money as well as quality content.
You’ll continue to have access to everything we’ve ever published and Silver and Gold subs will be the cheapest and best options on offer, so do think about upgrading to either of those at the end of your current month if you are a Bronze or Bronze-Plus subscriber.
FAQs for SMN
This is an important development that will be coming very soon. We get asked all sorts of questions from modellers thinking of subscribing to those of you that do, so this area of SMN will provide the answers in one easy to access place. Watch out for that!
More HD videos in the builds (and your TB)
This is something that you will have begun to see in some of the builds and we are trying to expand where the builder has access to the technology, knowhow and capability. As ever, we will be accelerating the items going into your Techniques Bank – that’s a continuing commitment.
Manufacturers – new kits and reviews
This is an exciting prospect in 2012 – more manufacturers and suppliers seeing the value of sending in their new kits and accessories for detailed, objective reviews with more pages and coverage than any paper magazine can offer AND with thousands and thousands of people viewing them every month.
Why wouldn’t you send them in? It has to be the cheapest form of advertising your products available in the scale modelling world – fact!
Also… we will be opening up a few, selective advertising slots in SMN at very reasonable rates – the pages that visitors, not just subscribers, see all the time, so do contact me at geoff@scalemodellingnow.com if you are interested in an informal chat about the possibilities and opportunities available.
I hope to be able to make an exciting announcement on a partnering arrangement we hope to have with a mainstream manufacturer soon, so watch this space!
Have a great Christmas and happy New Year in 2012!
Back very soon…
Geoff