FWW is being hit by the economic slowdown like many others, and is about to eliminate the Finishing Forum aspect of “Ask the Experts”, which is the same as “so long, Pete”.
I always found Peter Gedrys’s advice good as gold, so I’m sorry to see him go. Since there’s no formal announcement, I thought some others of us who’ve enjoyed Pete’s input might like to know that he’s leaving.
Mike D
Replies
Awwwww that's a shame. Got some really good info. from him - he'll be missed. Upside is that with all that talent he'll do fine.
Hmmmm, not a bad puckster either.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I think it a real shame. Peter knows what he is doing, is patient, and knows how to teach. Hard to beat. Also, finishing is an area in which lots of non-pro woodworkers have a big skill gap. They make nice designs and very tight joints, and then rag on some home brew mix somebody told them about that fails to really bring out and do justice to their exacting woodwork.
Joe
I think this is another in a series of bad decisions by FWW. Another thing that set them apart from the rest of the rags about woodworking goes by the wayside. Many of the finishing articles that are published in FWW have glaring flaws, Peter's advice was always spot on. Who will be around to correct the mistakes now?
Rob
I will be sorry to see him go. His article on waxing was really a breakthrough for me.
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
I'll miss Pete's advice, as well.
I must say, however, that the decisions involved in reducing expenses within a business are never easy, and almost always subject to criticism from outsiders. The easy solution, of course, is for each of us to buy a few $hundred more in FWW books and such.
"I must say, however, that the decisions involved in reducing expenses within a business are never easy, and almost always subject to criticism from outsiders. The easy solution, of course, is for each of us to buy a few $hundred more in FWW books and such."
A better solution would be for Taunton's leadership to fire their idiotic business consultants and realize that they just simply cannot make the return on investment that public companies in other industrys make - no matter how much spam marketing e-mail they send out, how much the dumb down their content in a vain effort to make the magazine one for "all woodworkers", or how many tool reviews they include.
It makes me upset that they are not going to have these experts that I rely on to be a woodworker. I wonder what will happen if enough readers get upset about the lack of good content that they cancel their subscriptions based not on the economic times but because of repetitious articles and bad or boring content. I wasn't planning on canceling but if I keep filling out surveys about what I want and don't ever see it in the magazine then I might. I have brought this up in another posting as well. It would be nice to see FWW contain some of the more advanced techniques and some instruction for some of the more modern trends of where furniture making is going without forgetting the traditional techniques that got us here. I know that new woodworkers need to be able to learn but what about keeping the more advance woodworkers stimulated also. I dont envy the task of trying to keep everyone happy that they must feel but I sure would love to get excited that the FWW is in the mailbox again.
My decision not to renew my subscription a year ago is looking smarter by the minute. I started 24 years ago with the publication and FWW was the only teacher I had. I used to get so excited when the new issue hit the mail box; it is such a shame to see it go the way it has. I see the folks over at Cooks Talk are none too happy with what Taunton has done to Fine Cooking either. I’m sure Paul Roman would not like want has happened to his once fine publication(s). <!----><!----><!---->
Ralph's right in that it's hard to be conclusive without knowing the whole story on the business side, and with a couple of magazines folding just about every week now, I doubt anyone's trying to get returns comparable to those in more successful sectors. But I'd add this: I've spent my career in magazines, mostly on the editorial side and only lately on the business side, and the strategy is generally to cut back everywhere you can BEFORE you cut content, which, after all, is your whole product. What's most troubling about letting Gedrys, Rogowski, et. al., go is that it is definitely a significant cut in content. It's one thing to "dumb down" content; it's much more serious to reduce it. Either Taunton has screwy priorities—cutting content when they should be cutting somewhere else—or they're really hurting.Norman
Edited 1/30/2009 9:34 am ET by nboucher
It appears Gary Rogowski's forum is being phased out as well. Are all the non-staff experts being let go?
Norman
It's interesting that the internet is touted as the future of all of this but the website is where the cuts start when times get a little tight.
Wonder what's happening on the print side?
Wonder what's happening on the print side?
4 issues a year, 47 pages each. With 32 pages of advertising. In the new, 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" format size. I worked in printing for 20 years. Seen it happen to the best of 'em.
Lee
While I understand the business climate I hate to see him or anybody go for that matter best of luck.
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
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