Editor's Corner

But Wait—There's More!

by Dave Pratt
Velocissima Editor

In the March issue of Velocissima, I reported on the results of the AONE Newsletter Survey, which sought to determine how many of our members were happy to read Velocissima, online at this web site rather than receive it printed and mailed. Thanks to the many of you who participated! Here’s what your Directors have decided to do:

We’ll continue to publish Velocissima monthly. However, starting with this issue, the print version is not being sent to those of you who indicated that you were content with only the online version. Thanks go out to all of you—you are saving your club a sizable chunk of change!

It’s not too late for the rest of you to sign on! Some of the advantages of getting Velocissima online are:

Everything’s in color!

It’s not limited to a fixed number of pages—there’s always more online than we can fit in the print version!

Late-breaking news, changes, corrections, and updates are added instantaneously.

Back issues are always available.

The contents are searchable.

Classified ads are updated continuously.

There’s an online members’ forum.

You can download each issue in Adobe Acrobat format.

And more!

But the biggest incentive for going electronic is cost! When you sign up to be an online-only member, you free up club funds that can be used for other activities!

Separating online members from print-and-mail members is an extra effort, but we now feel that it’s worth it. Whenever you feel the urge, send an email to webmaster@velocissima.com saying that you’d like to join the online program.

And here’s a special incentive: As most of you know, AONE currently adds $5 on top of the $45 AROC annual dues to help defray the cost of the newsletter (it doesn’t even come close!). If enough of you sign up for the online-only program, we will instruct AROC to stop making the additional charge! (We can’t do it on an individual basis—we need to get enough of you to take Velocissima online so that we can afford to eliminate the charge.) So, unless you just have to see Velocissima arrive in your mail box, please consider signing up.

What? Still not convinced? You say you want more? Well, alright then, we shouldn’t do this, but, well, here’s our final offer: Sign up for the online-only program and we’ll throw in, absolutely free, an official AONE coffee mug, emblazoned with our proud logo and our web site’s URL so that you’ll never forget it! Just come to any AONE event, tell a Director that you’re an online-only club member, and the mug is yours! (These free mugs will not be shipped.)

Wait—we've made it even easier! Simply check the box on the online AONE Election Ballot when you vote in the Election of Officers!

So sign up today, save your club some money, enjoy the advantages of Velocissima online, and get yourself a free mug! (Those of you who responded to the survey saying that you liked it online are already signed up—and eligible for that mug!)

It’s election season for AONE, and it’s important that you take the time to vote for your new club officers. Click here for details.

Well, uh, your Editor just bought a '74 GTV, the third of my Alfa career. But the best part is that it's located in ... San Francisco! Time for another road trip! My brother John and I will fly out and start driving it back on Wednesday, May 9. We've done this twice before, both times back in 1998, both times in GTVs (one for him and one for me). The second time, we took a laptop and digital camera, and updated my personal web site daily from the road with photos and, uh, commentary. If all goes well, we're going to do the same thing again! No Interstates for us—this is gonna be 10 or 12 days of driving the back roads of America in an Alfa, with plenty of stops (scheduled and probably unscheduled) along the way!

So travel vicariously along with us by visiting www.dvpratt.com/RoadTrip2001 every day starting, say, Thursday, May 10. It'll be nice for us to know that you're with us (and just an email and a FedEx delivery away from one of your spare parts if we need it)!

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