Saturday, June 19, 2010

The New QU

When I arrived home from work yesterday evening, a new (and very different-looking) Quail Unlimited magazine was sitting on the counter.  Gone was the cheesy cursive masthead logo, and gone was the terrible, amateurish cover photo that usually adorned the increasingly thin magazine.

It was replaced by a rather hefty book with an updated logo (even though the stylized quail head looks a bit like a pissed off chicken) and a lovely photo of a covey rise by esteemed outdoor photographer Terry Allen.

The magazine -- and ,much of the organization itself -- is now administered by Steve Smith and Village Press, the same guys that publish and edit Pointing Dog Journal, among other titles.  I haven't had much of a chance to read the magazine, but in flipping through it, I'm betting it's going to stay a little longer in my "reading library" than the old QU magazines.

While I'm still not quite ready to throw my money -- and sweat equity -- at the organization again, this step is nonetheless promising.  Mr. Smith can put together a magazine, and more importantly, Village Press has mailing lists and marketing savvy that just may help save this once-proud conservation group.

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting - so, did the mag contain any materials about what the organization is going through, what their new objectives are, etc?

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  2. Yeah, it addressed the issues upfront -- that there was some bad leadership, etc. I think they want to regain their status as the big dog in quail conservation, but I honestly wonder if they can overcome the damage. Most of the guys I know who were heavily involved in QU have moved onto other organizations -- from PF/QF to Safari Club, to dropping out of the conservation scene altogether.

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