Camp Chase Gazette and the Watchdog

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Camp Chase Gazette and the Watchdog

Mr. O'Beirne, actually I don't think that discussion would be all that lengthy regarding the support of The Watchdog over the last few years. They have had the same high quality information, articles, and reviews as they've had for years, but I think with the competition offered from the higher quality format of Civil War Historian, coupled with less of the "old guard" of C/P/H reenactors taking to the field or staying involved in the hobby, created less of a readership therefore less subscriptions. That is all, of course, prior to this new undertaking. I think that will indeed create another set of issues.

[CJDaley]

Re: Camp Chase Gazette and the Watchdog

Mr. O'Beirne, actually I don't think that discussion would be all that lengthy regarding the support of The Watchdog over the last few years. They have had the same high quality information, articles, and reviews as they've had for years, but I think with the competition offered from the higher quality format of Civil War Historian, coupled with less of the "old guard" of C/P/H reenactors taking to the field or staying involved in the hobby, created less of a readership therefore less subscriptions. That is all, of course, prior to this new undertaking. I think that will indeed create another set of issues.

Agreed Ross, you bring up some great points as always. I'd like to add one more factor...the world wide web. Printed research doesn't stay in print for long, soon after arriving on your doorstep most great articles are scanned and published online. This is mostly done by well meaning people wanting to spread good works, but with all those free good works out there, why subscribe at all. Wall Street Journal, USA Today and others are fighting with ways to compete with e-competition and I suspect the Watchdog will have to adapt to the technology in the coming years. I wish them luck, it's a tough market.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Camp Chase Gazette and the Watchdog

INTERNET. Chris hit that nail right on the head. In the last self published edition of The Watchdog (Vol 15 # 2) that arrived in my mailbox today there is an article of about 2,500 words on the "Future of the Mega Event" (originally titled "Death of the Mega-Event") where the subject of the impact of the internet on magazine publishing is discussed in some detail. You can read it in there, or wait for it to show up on the internet in about 30 days...

Interestingly...you got to be careful what you wish for...a while back, when we still had more attractive options and a higher subscriber base (but the trend was still unmistakeable) it was suggested that we continue to self publish The Watchdog but in PDF format and e-mail it for a small yearly "user fee". The readers feedback was unanimous that they wanted it in paper. And in paper they shall have it.

Mods, let's shut this one down and I will start a new thread to go off in the direction our comrade Kevin O'Beirne wanted to explore in greater detail.

[Craig L Barry]

C/P/H and The Watchdog

Originally posted by Claude Sinclair:
The C/P/H folks just were not supporting the Watchdog as they have in the past.

Kevin O'Beirne wrote:

And why do you suppose that is?

Seriously, it's probably worth an open discussion. I suspect it would be a lengthy one.
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Okay, I've started a new thread to bat this one around a little bit. Anybody care to opine? I'll start...This is personal opinion. The Watchdog published a quarterly,but it was really in the "information" business. What sort? The sort of "information" that interested the hobby's more serious participants...where does the progressive segment of the hobby go for that kind of information now? The INTERNET and though the search functions can be a bit ponderous, it is a whole lot faster than waiting to read it in a magazine, especially a quarterly.

Back in 1993, when Nicky Hughes started The Watchdog, only about 15% of households had a computer and very few (if any) had regular access to the world wide web. Around 2001-2003, Watchdog subscriptions hit their peak as the households with computer figures rose to over 50%. What started to gain momentum about that time? The internet and the internet forums like this one. The kind of information we provided in magazine form is pretty much offered on-line for free.

Our last good chance to continue to grow (or maintain) our subscription base for The Watchdog magazine was probably a few years ago when we entertained the idea of a web-based publication, or as an alternative e-mailing the quarterly as a PDF. So The Watchdog segued into books, and the book projects have been very well received by the C/P/H segment also by other segments of the hobby, too.

[coastaltrash]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Where can we acquire back issues of the Watchdog from now that it has merged with CCG?

[Craig L Barry]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

None of that will change. Go to www.watchdogreview.com or write The Watchdog, PO Box 1675, Warren MI 48090. I think Bill was selling back issues for $4 per volume (year) vs $ per issue at Mill Springs, if you know what issues you want.

[TKlas]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Hi Craig,

Did you gents ever consider working with Nicky and the Civil War Historian? I think a portion of c/p/h and some of the masses do subscribe to this solid pubilcation. With the nosedive the CCG took after Nicky left and the deplorable things this publication has done in the recent past, I have a hard time seeing your content getting a honest shake.

Just a thought.

[Charles Heath]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

In the early years of the 'Dawg, I enjoyed the product reviews the most, and the somewhat Consumer Reports flavor gave the impression someone out there was looking out for Joe Reenactor's hard earned dollars.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Tom:
We went down that road and to the best of my knowledge the interest was not there on the part of CWH. However, many of our editors (and former editors) published articles in CWH despite failing to fulfill their agreed article submission commitments to The Watchdog. Didn't I publish a few things in CWH, too? True, but only after meeting my Watchdog article commitments. CWH Editor-in-Chief Nicky Hughes is someone whose contributions are worthy of the highest respect. I will continue to support CWH as long as he is involved with that enterprise, but The Watchdog always comes first.

Charles:
Agree. You are right again my friend. Astute as always. The lack of product reviews was one of the factors that influenced the current course of action. There were fewer and fewer products being submitted by vendors for The Watchdog to evaluate. I can think of a variety of reasons for the failures in this area, more than a few of them were our own fault and some that were not. In fact, the final edition (Vol 15 # 2) has a product review on the Cedar Creek Supply Depot M-1861 elongated ball .69 cartridge box. This is one reason why we always privately published, so as not to be influenced by funding provided by advertisers.

[Hank Trent]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

I hear great things about the EFUBU EBUFU, and from people whose opinions I respect! Yours among them. There is no doubt I have been missing out on something good. Never say never but with a variety of activities competing for any available time, it all depends on priorities.... Presumably EFUBU EBUFU events raise more money for battlefield preservation than Mill Springs, right? If not, who cares what they call the events? Do they raise funds for battlefield preservation or not? I'll be supporting Cedar Creek next weekend for that reason.

Wait a minute. Over on the other thread, quoted above, you're saying you don't attend EBUFU events and may never do so? And you've never bothered to find out if they raise money for battlefields, and even if they do, it's all about the money, and not the experience the event offers to the participants, so Cedar Creek is the kind of event you support?

Okay... what's the target audience of your readership again? Because if it's the c/p/h crowd, I think you just made it clear what you think of them and their events.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[coastaltrash]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Hank nit the nail square on the head with that comment. Outpost is taking place in Spring Hill, Tennessee, which depending on which road you take, is about 30-45 minutes (Murfreesboro has a lot of traffic lights) from where you reside according to your user information. Now, the drop in subscription rate and the move to CCG will only further move the Dog away from the CPH side of the hobby because we get no support from you guys. Now, CWH has done numerous AAR type articles for our events. Hell I've seen Nicky more over the past year at WIG events than I have some of the membership on this forum. Why should we listen to product reviews by someone who doesn't actively follow his own advice? Why should we as a community mold our impressions around a magazine who is not even on the same page as us?

Further, and now with the Dogs new move- why should we support the Dog when it is now combined itself with the National Enquirer of CW Magazines? A magazine who has STOLEN the hard work of leaders of the campaigner movement. I've worked with Kevin and have talked with him enough to consider him a friend, and I generally don't like when people steal from friends. There's another option on the market now, and talk of another "newsletter" formatted publication coming out that if it does, will be by some very "in the know" people in the authentic community. That could be proud campfire talk, but we will see.

[paulcalloway]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Craig -
I'll echo Pat's encouragement - Get yourself to Outpost III.

It's as close a thing to a c/p/h national as we're going to have this year. If it's within an hour or two drive, egads.. cancel the weddings and funerals and take advantage of the short drive.

[Charles Heath]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

Call me slow, but does anyone else get the impression someone has not heard of the ACPP? Dusty, gitcher pokin' stick.

Sigh.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

That is 100% fair criticism and intellectually honest, at that. I freely admit my priority is (and has been for some time) to participate in the parts of the hobby where the prospects for raising the most funding for battlefield preservation exists. For example, The Watchdog attended Mill Springs to which we have contributed more than $5,000 over the past few years. The event raised $125,000, which is fantastic for what was basically a half-baked event. Similarly, for the past four or five years The Watchdog has donated a de-farbed musket for Cedar Creek to raffle off, an activity which has raised around $5,500 for CCBF.

As my actions suggest, I will drive twelve hours (barring any trouble along the way) to Cedar Creek to support their battlefield preservation efforts, even though the event is very likely to be a disappointment, before I would drive 45 minutes to do Outpost III, an event that promises much greater comraderie and from everything I have heard Outpost III would likely be the much better event. Ergo, more enjoyable for me. No doubt about that. CCBF was recently rated as the #1 battlefield in terms of need. Most of us have limited time in the form of full weekends to invest in Civil War events, and the decisions you make along those lines are based not only on your preferences but also your priorities. This is not solely about me.

The target audience for The Watchdog is (and remains) those who want to "Get it Right", we don't limit that to any self identified "segment" and we don't limit or identify ourselves by meaningless terms. And our other stated reason for existence is to raise funds for battlefield preservation. We don't pander to any one group over any other. There are enough as you point out that do that. The Watchdog never has and we are not about to.What is the make-up of so-called C/P/H segment? If it is self identified, what is the criteria? Is it made up of the 5,000 members of the A-C Forum? Or just the 10% of that figure that do EBUFU events? Or is it just the smaller number that solely do those events? To the extent that the C/P/H segment is comprised of those who want to "Get It Right", we are 100% there for that. Is that the whole membership of the Authentic Campaigners Forum or some subset of it?

We now know those are who are dependent on any one segment of a declining hobby (in terms of participants) are in for a rude awakening. You wouldn't want to base your livlihood on it. Some of our premier approved vendors have recently figured out, too. Our moment of dawning comprehension came when The Watchdog could not even pre-sell enough copies of Columbia Rifles Research Compendium 2nd Ed to offset the cost of printing it, and did not sell enough copies to break even on it until it was advertised to all "segments" of the hobby. The hobby embraced CRRC-2 not any one segment. Let me hasten to add we are down to our last 50 copies.

The pundits have said segmentation is ruining the hobby, who knows? We moved past it a long time ago. It gets down to this...Are you interested in "Getting It Right" and battlefield preservation, or are you primarily interested in doing your own thing in the form of events "by you for you"? I don't care if you are, that's great for you, but that's not what The Watchdog traditionally represents.That said, I will absolutely honor my previously stated offer. If Charles Heath will take his chisel to his stone tablet and produce something on "Rations", I will include EBUFU in my schedule, and recommend the same for The Watchdog. Paul is right and I have no reason, other than time management not to get down to Outpost III.

[coastaltrash]

Re: C/P/H and The Watchdog

What part of associating a groundbreaking publication with flat out thieves of historical information is a good move? I still fail to see that. Also, not smacking the great stride, but of that $125,000 what did it cost the park and state of Kentucky to actually host the event, and is that 125k the profit after all costs were evaluated?

Also, Charles did produce a good article on rations for CWH. I'm sure Camp Chase will be along to print it under a new authors name in a few months anyway.

I'll also give some credit where credit is due and give an explanation why. While flipping through my copies of The Hardcracker Handbook and The Third Mississippi book which consists of articles from the Company Wag or the Watchdog I understand that a lot of the information these publications put forth really set the stones for the house this movement is built on. That being said, and as a student of history I judge books on the publishers and titles associated with them. What does that say about "Wearing of the Gray", for being associated with Camp Chase? Is there an article on proper coon bones? Who all is involved in this project? Are the articles documented with proper footnotes? What has this person done before? I plan on picking up a copy of the book, simply out of curiosity.