[APML] Why there are not as many film newbies, and what to do about it

[Alan Voetsch <critter12952@yahoo.com>]

Hi all,

 Almost 3 years ago I stumbled onto this list by the following
circuitous route: from the bottom of the yahoo homepage, under 'Arts &
Humanities', I clicked on Photography, the other options being History
and Literature. Anyway, the second link under the Photograhpy heading
was 'Astrophotography', then the first link under Astrophotography was
the 'APML Archives'. Well, that link brought me here.

I woke up early this morning and tried to retrace that route. Where
there used to be a link to the archives, there is a link called
'Astronomy and Astrophotography'. Under that link, at #71 is a link to
the archives.

What is the point of this idiotic rambling you ask? I'm not sure, but
in a current thread, we've discussed more CCD newbies than film
newbies. I'm trying to figure out how ANYONE even finds this list. For
starters I have no doubt that more people would find this list if it
was listed on the first page instead of the 4th. I don't know how to
get it changed, but I bet someone does. SBIG has a direct link to their
group from the company site. 

In all the years I've read S&T and Astronomy magazines, I may have seen
a reference to this list (or other lists) once. I don't understand
that. These user groups can be very useful when we try to climb a very
steep learning curve, and there are many on the way to decent
astro-photos.

If you stop and think about it, what single step has been the most
helpful to you along the way? In my opinion, joining this list has been
the smartest thing I've done in this hobby. I guess that makes the
point of all this; how can we get this list exposed to more beginning
imagers? Well, there really is only one universally common thread: the
astronomy magazines. Advertising is probably not an option as it costs
money, but how about a write up stressing the strengths of this and
other lists? Better yet, something on a recurring basis (every month or
two) would upgrade visibility on a continuing basis. It would also be
in the best interests of the magazines to promote us, as it would
increase sales of their advertisers. I don't have specific ideas on how
to do this, but that's where you come in, let's hear about it.



=====
Alan Voetsch
critter12952@yahoo.com

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