Time to abandon the printed version of "The Clapper"?

Dear fellow ringers,

when fall version of "The Clapper" was published earlier in the year, I took some time reading it, as I usually do, and ended up spending a few minutes glancing at the annual budget.

I was surprised to read that over half of the annual budget, ($5,500 out of $10,640) was earmarked to cover the cost of producing "The Clapper".

I emailed Bob Aldinger, our Treasurer, to find out more, and after a couple of clarifications I discovered that all $5,500 of this annual budget is spent on printing and mailing the print editions of the clapper to those who opt to receive it.

As a member who has chosen to receive the PDF edition ever since it was offered, I was more than a little annoyed to find out that I was so heavily subsidising the production of the print edition, when I would much rather see the guild's money being spent elsewhere, indeed on pretty much ANYTHING other than printing and mailing costs, when the PDF edition is so very readily available to any member who has access to a computer.

Please feel free to chime in, but is it not time that we discontinue the print edition of "The Clapper", and save ourselves the time, money, and environmental waste that is no doubt incurred in its production?

I have attached the Budget from October's clapper, for reference.

Respectfully,

Duncan Large