FOCUS magazine (for the elite?)

[DavidJ]

For example there is a photo of the Elite Sprint final map, but only a limited part of the course, and not the bit that relates to errors mentioned in the text - compare that with route analysis in CompassSport - which actually gives us more?

Focus = 1 map; CompassSport = 11 maps. Not surprising that I spend about 10 times as long 'reading' CompassSport! There is a place for the details of elite competitions and the hard work of the those taking part but please could BO remember that we take up the sport because of the challenge of reading maps and navigating (at whatever speed) - reports without maps can be very dull.

[SeanC]

I think both Compass Sport and Focus give a boost to the sport in different ways. I bet that at any one time there there is a good chunk of BOF members who have the potential to drift away from the sport for a variety of reasons. The magazines remind us what a great sport it is and why we should get out there and go orienteering.

The strange thing is that both magazines arrive at the same time! This is a pity. That means there is a 2 month gap between the moral boost effect of the magazines. Would it be possible for Focus to be delayed for a month at some point? Does anyone think this is a good idea? At least it would make LOT happy for a while

[RJ]

Focus has a job to do and IMO it is doing a good one! Yes, it would be more interesting to have more maps with courses and routes.... but buy CompassSport for that. Each to its own!

Some may find the BOF business bit in Focus of little interest, but it is important that Club of the Year and Club Mark are highlighted. People who want to take up the sport and are new to it should be informed of the quality of the club structure that we have, and have confidence in the various levels of protection (ethics, children etc.... even if Gross thinks it is OTT) that they can expect when joining the sport.

The section on governance and the 'team' at BOF who are now running the sport/organisation on our behalf was enlightening and informative. Surely this is what several threads on Nope have been about..... finding ways to have our voice heard and to understand the channels through which decisions are made. So some people find it boring and 'propaganda' based but it is important that we are informed about it.

And as for the elites, and the dismissive attitude of L.O.T. ...... the elites are the competitors who 'do' the sport properly.... and long may they show us how to do it, in print/pictures or in the forest. There are very few (OLD!!??) M/W50++ who can demonstrate how to navigate while running at speed.

The future of the sport is firmly in the hands of the youth... I just hope they are not sickened off by the 'sour' and sometimes 'ill informed' comments by L.O.T. and a few others. I see a lot of talent amongst the juniors and youth out there.... long may they show us how it 'really should be done'!!

[EddieH]

What I can't take from LOT is his sluron the Elite being uninterested in the rest.
Nothing could be further from the truth in my experience. I never fail to be surprised by their interest and ineed awareness of results in other classes.

I personally like to read everything about both UK and World elite races, but I do think that there needs to be a little more attention payed to the rest simply to prevent the likes of LOT from holding the opinions he does. I think the very name "Elite" is very unfortunate as it acts as a turn-off to many ill informed people in just the same way as "Sprint" totally fails to convey what short distance orienteering really is.

Nick has a difficult balance to strike with CompassSport. Elite successes are there, but he knows that if he focused as Focus does he would lose hundreds of readers.

[mike g]

People who want to take up the sport and are new to it should be informed of the quality of the club structure that we have, and have confidence in the various levels of protection (ethics, children etc.... even if Gross thinks it is OTT) that they can expect when joining the sport.

It isn't only Gross who thinks the protection stuff is way OTT, but without going into that, are people who want to take up the sport likely to see Focus (unless they happen to visit the same doctor's surgery as DM)? I thought it was only circulated to existing BOF members. That is the whole point that Mrs H is making - that the BOF marketing manager's job should mainly be to promote the sport to people who might want to take it up, rather than producing a magazine for existing participants.

[Patrick]

...are people who want to take up the sport likely to see Focus (unless they happen to visit the same doctor's surgery as DM)?

Which is surely another argument in favour of online distribution.

Cheers,

Patrick

[mike g]

Which is surely another argument in favour of online distribution.

that depends on whether you think it will encourage them or put them off...

[DM]

Better get my copy down the doctors right now, if I can remember where I am registered, haven't been in years....

The original comment was made in response to someone suggesting they would bin it. Better to put it somewhere people can read it than bin it was my view.

On line info is great for people who know where to look, ie the converted but poor for those who don't yet know they want to try the sport - what marketing is about.

[Mrs H]

Don't get me wrong, I think Caroline edits the magazine well considering the material she is given to work with and given that that is what she has been told to do - and DM's doctors idea is great - I'm just questioning whether she should be spending a large chunk of her limited time marketing the sport to us?

As I said after the radio interview on Monday - BBC Radio West mids wants to speak to people with unusual or interesting hobbies - With a prompt like that I would send out an e-mail to every local radio station in the country asking if they would like to speak to someone from a local club - if anyone said yes I would contact the local club - possibly with the link to the recording of Harley and my interview if it was thought worthy - and say can you get someone to do something like this - it's a day's work to be honest (if that).

I would be writing articles and submitting them to loads of magazines - from the ones they give away free in supermarkets to the specialist outdoor magazines and stuff like "Practical Parenting" which i used to buy when my kids were younger (right kind of target audience) - oh I've got loads of ideas - and before you say "well why don't you do it" I did offer - but was turned down (perhaps they thought I wasn't good enough!)

But even though I did get that star letter and photo published in the Daily Mail. Given how critical you all were at the time of my low brow taste in newspapers has anyone else tried it with any other paper - I haven't heard if you have - If i was Caroline I'd have set someone up to write to all of them.

[RJ]

.......- that the BOF marketing manager's job should mainly be to promote the sport to people who might want to take it up, rather than producing a magazine for existing participants.

Mrs H certainly has thoughts that are worth pursuing.... the idea of contacting the plethora of local radio stations and asking for interviews. It is also worth noting that local newspaper reports of your clubs' activities are also noticed by the general public.... and by the editors/producers of local radio. If they see something of interest they will CHASE you!

Focus.... yes it is sent to the membership, new and old members alike. The new members need to know what the 'BOF' is all about, and the old members need to be kept up to date with all the changes.

Clubs are the starting point for advertising.... this is where those who want to try the sport find out where and how. Once new people have attended a series of informal events and enjoyed what they are offered they will WANT to join. Then they get Focus and find out what the 'national' sport has to offer.

There is a place for national coverage, but a club based, LOCAL development is much to be preferred. Clubs know what they have to offer and what the local population audience are likely to respond to. Build from the bottom up, the pyramid will be much higher when more clubs are as successful as our best ones!

[ifititches]

I really enjoy getting Focus, as I'm both interested in what the Elites are doing and in the Clubmark and other sections. It keeps me in touch with all the live issues in the sport in the UK, which feeds into any development work I do.

I'd be amazed if this magazine doesn't get sent out to all kinds of other interested bodies to showcase our sport, and it needs to look professional.

The issue about not including the relevant bits of the map/not enough maps could be maybe remedied if it was test-read by a couple of active orienteers before going to press (if they could turn it around quickly)

Incidentally, today I went to a pre-retirement seminar for doctors, and guess which sport was featured in their handouts, complete with governing body address? Orienteering was in there alongside cycling, swimming, tennis, golf, bowls, croquet, darts, angling, sailing and rambling. It may not bring in any new elites, but I was delighted to see it there; perhaps someone really did leave a Focus in their GP's surgery!

[awk]

It seems that BOF can't do right for doing wrong. I clearly remember the days when the complaint was that BOF was failing to communicate, and when it was doing so, it was with poor quality newsletters, communications etc.... So we now have a professional quality Focus, and it's now too glossy and too expensive.

There are complaints that Focus might prove to be competition for Compass Sport, followed by other complaints that it isn't as 'good' as Compass Sport, because (for instance) Compass Sport has loads of maps, broader coverage and less of the 'corporate' or 'political' material. But then if Focus did the same thing, surely it really would prove to be competition.....

Focus is the Federation's national newsletter to its members (and presumably others). It's telling us about Federation activity. One of the biggest areas of activity, because the largest chunk of grant money goes in that direction, is elite competition. To me it seems reasonable that we hear about that, just as we hear about Clubmark, Child protection work and the other activity that the Federation undertakes.

The elite, or at least the open, competition is the newsworthy end of the sport at a national level. It seems reasonable to me that it's the main focus of coverage. Anyway, LOT's arguments lost all credibility with me after his silly comments about the elite - sheer ignorance, particularly given that we have a sport where the elite are far more in touch with the grassroots than others (I've just had a very poor experience with the GB sailing team)!

All in all I think Focus does an extremely good job as being the magazine of the BOF, whilst Compass Sport, is a good general O-magazine with some excellent content (although I wish Nick would do something about the design layout, but that's a different issue!). I enjoy both.

Two things I do agree with: why do both appear at the same time - staggering would be much better; and like Mrs H, I remain concerned if this is a part of Caroline's remit- it's got to be too big a proportion of a critical job.

[mharky]

I got cycling weekly through the post yesterday. For some reason, it was full of news about elite level racing and international cyclists. This is a total disgrace. I want to read about over weight middle aged punters who don't know what the hell they are talking about. The cheeky magazine even had an article on the Giro D'Italia, which is just a holiday for the riders, paid for by members of British Orienteering.

[awk]

I I want to read about over weight middle aged punters who don't know what the hell they are talking about.

About as silly as LOT. All you do is reinforce LOT's prejudices about elite attitudes, aside from being patently wrong. Seen the front end of the vets' classes lately?

[epocian]

Mrs H
Have you had any feedback from the general public about your local radio broadcast?