View Camera Magazine Needs a Proofreader - Again

[steve simmons]

Michael

Mistakes Happen. Your continual public complaining is not doing anything to make a positive contribtion to anything. Apparentlyyou are one of those people who feels it is fair to stand and read a magazine, thereby taking the contents, without paying for it. The ethics of that type of behavior are far lower than any honest mistake that we may make. The fact that you and a few others seem to feel the need to come on a public forum unrelated to the magazine an harp over an over again makes one wonder about your agenda.

steve simmons

[ronald lamarsh]

To Michael and all those who are so upset about editorial errors in VC magazine. Why don't you all get together and see if you can put out your own publication? Are you all actually up to it? Or are you like most folks who when they can't do better they just criticize.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I think this is getting a bit out of hand.

I buy VC because I enjoy learning more about my craft and seeing what others are doing. If it came out on plain paper, stapled at the edge, I would probably still buy it. On the rare occasion that I have had any issues with delivery, they have always addressed my concerns promptly and professionaly.

We are a small community within the greater world of photography, and I think we should support each other as best we can. This forum should not degrade to a bashing session. If there is feedback that can assist then we should provide it, remember it is not what you say but how you say it.

Thanks for staying positive.

[Robert McClure]

Gentlemen,

Can we not give Mr. Simmons the benefit of the doubt? Can we not give him credit for what he does successfully accomplish each issue? Why must he necessarily rise to the standard many of you have suggested he must - or face what is often very harsh criticism?

As one person suggests, why don't the most disgruntled of you personally communicate with Mr. Simmons? Cite your objections and or make your constructive criticisms. The motive might be to simply inform Mr. Simmons, or to assist him in making improvements you feel might increase the quality of View Camera Magazine. Provided this is truly an objective.

But I note that many of the remarks included above carry unusual intensity, and border on outrage. I am therefore compelled to ask: has Mr. Simmons truly damaged some of you to such a point that anger and resentment are reasonable responses?

It's very tempting for me, when I am angry, to lash out at other persons and situations. Because I have a need to bleed off my own anger. I want targets. My instinct does not include that I might focus on my own feelings and emotions as the primary source of the real answers. But I want those answers as a photographer and seeker of truth.

Now, you will forgive me for my directness, but in some cases above, the real issue for some of you might be that you are just angry. Steve Simmons (or Ron Wisner) and their actions (good or bad) may not really be the issue for you, as far as personally important issues go.

As a photographer, I try to stay away from the kinds of things that might negatively impact my art and craft.

You just have to get really honest. That can start a process which can lead to things most people never experience, because it's so difficult to confront self. I was scared that when I met him I wouldn't like him, but he turned out to be ok. Then everyone else was, warts and all.

Pax Vobiscum

[John Boeckeler]

Sure he's going to take a good look at VC - even read an article - before he buys it. It seems that with this magazine, he doesn't want to buy a pig in a poke. I wouldn't call that unethical and low behavior.

[Doug Dolde]

Yes I did suspend my subscription...thats how I know about the incessant renewal notices.

I bought this one on the newstand only because I wanted the Charles Cramer article. hen I went to page 32 where the contents said it was, another article was there.

Ok so it's not a deal stopper...it just seems ridiculous for a magazine of this caliber to have such continual and glaring errors.

[steve simmons]

Mr. Traitz
We do not reserve seats at specific panels. No one would have told you that. We only just began charging the card numbers people gave us. We always wait to eliminate problms if people have to cancel and the problem of refund. This makes it cleaner for everyone. All seating is on a first come first served basis. This is how we have always done it. We do what we think will be the more popular sessions twice incase there is a conflict with another session.

The program for the conference has been in the Jan/Feb and March/April issues. It is also on the web site. It has ben made readily available to anyone and everyone.

To Mr. Alpert.

No you did not start this thread but you made some personal remarks in your post and that is what I am responding to. There was no need for such behavior and you could have made your point without becoming personal.

steve simmons

[Chad Jarvis]

There can be no excuse for spelling errors.

The correct answer to the criticism, which in my opinion is fair, is "Your input is valuable; we recognize it as a problem, and we'll try harder." In the past I've been vocal - though not rabid - regarding poor editing and spell checking in VC. I appreciate Steve's argument that it's difficult, but that doesn't relieve him of his responsibility as an editor and publisher.

I have some pet peeves. In television news I expect correspondents and anchors to understand and use English in a grammatically correct fashion. In print, I expect editors to do the same. I also expect them - if actually unable to spell or type accurately - to be able to use a spell checker. No excuse. Unfortunately some us appear to hold ourselves to higher standards when posting to a bulletin board than some editors do when proofreading copy.

And before Mr. Simmons challenges me to publish something, I already have. I acknowledge the difficulties in production, and to you I suggest Microsoft Word. It's got a terrific spell checker, and the grammar check, while not perfect, is quite useful.

I don't believe this is nit picking. It's been a persistent problem in VC for so long now that it is somehow deemed acceptable. It's really not. Plenty of rags have many times more content with a far lower error rate. If the "When I read other maazines see mistakes in hm as well." (Does anyone else see the irony in this quote?) dog would hunt, these conversations wouldn't be happening so often.

Before I'm accused of harping as well, I'll go on record as saying I used to subscribe, but I found the copy to be too poorly written and edited to buy and try to ignore, so I dropped my subscription. Any publisher/editor out there who believes publishing sub-par copy is acceptable is choosing to accept his own mediocrity. Those of us who don't accept mediocrity need not buy the publication, which is why I for one choose not to.

If you managed to actually read all this, I thank you.

[Bob Douglas]

What a sad day this has turned out to be. Come on folks this bashing is turning really ugly. If you really want to make change happen communicate with the staff at VC not on this forum.



Steve,





I don't bloody care about typos, editing errors, table of contents being mis-numbered. I can live with it as it's the contents that really matter at least to me.



You and the team are doing an absolutely awesome job for the large format community! So bloody what if errors do occur. We all make them, the whiners need to get over it, live and enjoy life.



Awaiting my next issue with anticipation, typos included ;-)



Peace,



Bob

[Dean Tomasula]

I think we all would be better served if we find something we don't like in VC magazine to go directly to the source. E-mail Steve with your complaints and politely point out the mistakes you've found. I'm sure he would be more inclined to try to alleviate the problem if he knew you were more interested in his putting out the best possible photography magazine, rather than calling him names.

Yelling at him here on this forum serves no purpose. He and his staff are not perfect and will make mistakes. Sometimes mistakes get through when deadlines approach. It happens at all publications.

Instead of complaining and calling him names, help him out a little by privately e-mailing when you find something wrong. At the rate magazines go out of business and worse, cover digital, we should be thankfull there's a magazine of such quality dedicated to LF photography. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't call him on it when he screws up. We should just do it politely.