66 percent discount
I imagine Paul, Billie, Douandara, Vong, Meiling and Vayakone sitting at a table on a sunny Sunday afternoon in San Diego, CA. “Hey guys”, Paul shouted in ecstasy, “let’s make a new Lao magazine and let’s become the nouveau riche of the Lao media world”. “Yes, but I want to be Director”, Billie cried.
That Billie, always at the front row when it comes to attention.
“But, Paul, I want to be a Director too”, Douan whispered in Paul’s ear. “Well”, Paul replied, “I promised a Directors’ job to Vong but hey, what the heck, I’ll make you Marketing Director, how is that?”. “And can I be Creative Designer”, Vayakone asked with big expectations in her eyes. “Please Paul, I love creative stuff you know”. “Of course”, Paul smiled, “you will be the Creative Designer, alright?”
And they went on and on at that sunny afternoon when Lao Roots magazine was born. Forgetting a few essential ingredients for a successful magazine: good writers, perseverance in overcoming obstacles and the sanctity of deadlines.
Yes, there are many chiefs in Lao Roots Magazine, in love with displaying and talking about themselves, but only a few Indians. Fancy job titles worked like magnets to old iron. However, it is virtually impossible to create a magazine with only Directors and other job titles with high yuppie appeal.
Their failure to comprehend this shows, painfully.
In their own words:
Lao Roots Magazine (LRM) is a bi-monthly, nationwide magazine that captures the Laotian American experience and provides a forum for English speaking Laotian Americans
Bi Monthly? In all the months of my subscription I expected one magazine every two months (this is the meaning of Bi Monthly). Unfortunately, only two episodes arrived at my doorstep while I assumed to get 6 magazines for my 25 bucks worth. No explanation whatsoever at the Lao Roots sites, only silence about the lack of production.
Yes, it seemed such a great idea on that sunny afternoon in San Diego: let’s just make a magazine. But it takes hard work, dedication and good writers to make an interesting read. Everyone wants to be a Director or a Vice President at Lao Roots. Fancy job titles don’t make the companies though; it is all about the product and this product does not comply to promised quality standards.
Perhaps they want to take advantage of the Lao community that is so desperate to embrace a small success. Applause applause at all times is what Lao people do, even when they purchase a below-standard product from Lao producers. It appears you can open a can of Padek and Lao people pretend it smells like roses as long as it has Lao roots hanging out…
None of that. Demand quality, Lao people! This is not Lao helping Lao, this is vanity eating itself, laziness of thinking and a complete failure in perseverance. Lao Roots is failing to deliver what they promise. Don’t swallow that crap. Send in that coupon now!
I was also wondering why I only received only 2 issues.
Dear Sir or Madam:
Thank you for the review. Wow, I can’t believe you took the time to actually write that. You could have saved all that energy by emailing l me, I would have explained to you why it took so long to get it out. Yes, we started off being bi-monthly, but along the way, we’ve had to deal with numerous obstacles. Since we are a staff of volunteers, it’s difficult to get everyone to meet certain deadlines. Everyone has their real jobs that puts food on the table and not to mention their personal lives. I am thankful that they’re dedicating any amount of time to LRM. So, don’t even try to question the staff’s dedication as you don’t know the amount of time and effort everyone put into this magazine.
Secondly, getting content about Lao people isn’t all that simple. In case you’re not too familiar with Lao people, there’s not that many of us in Hollywood, sports, or the media in general. The normal citizens are extremely private about their personal lives, and thus reluctant to do interviews.
We’ve also had to deal with getting advertising revenue. In case you haven’t realized, Laotians don’t really have the numbers that demands attention from mainstream businesses. We’ve been rejected by so many companies, you couldn’t even imagine. We’ve had to struggle to even get what we have, and to be honest, most of the people that placed ads probably did it just to support us , without expecting business (or anything else) in return.
If you think this is about vanity, or taking advantage of Lao people, you are sadly off base. We’re actually losing money at this point, as I have had to front own money into LRM - Just so we have something out there. Do you even know how much it takes to produce such a high quality magazine? Oh, wait…you write a blog…that’s right… I guess you wouldn’t know.
To conlcude, I truly apologize for the delay in coming out with Issue No. 3 (which will arrive at you house within the week). But, I dont’ think it warrants this attack. If you had only received 2 issues…so what? It’s two beautiful magazine, with your people displayed in high quality paper? That’s not worth it??? If not, then I’ll gladly refund your $25…no problems. In fact, email me your name and I’ll send you back your money tonight, hopefully that’ll square us and make you happy.
It just saddens me to see another Laotian try to knock down their fellow Laotians, especially when they’re trying so hard to give to the community. Stop being a crab in a bucket and perpetuating the stereotype that all we do is sit back and criticize people. With that said, thanks Laovoices.com for your support and keep doing your thing.
-Paul
Paul wrote: “If you had only received 2 issues…so what? It’s two beautiful magazine, with your people displayed in high quality paper? That’s not worth it???” Does that mean that we’d only get 2 magazines for our subscription, or are we still getting 6 magazines for 1-year subscription of $25?
"To conlcude, I truly apologize for the delay in coming out with Issue No. 3 (which will arrive at your house within the week)."
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your quick response. I appreciate that very much because it shows more sides to this story and enriches the discussion.
First of: please refrain from playing the sympathy card (another Laotian try to knock down their fellow Laotians) and being a cry baby (they’re trying so hard to give to the community). It does not work and is a bit too obvious an attempt to mobilize support based on solely on your Lao background. Mobilizing support based on quality would be a better strategy for you.
You started this business, Paul. Contrary to your assumption that I have never published a magazine I must disappoint you again. I have published, sold advertisement for and wrote for a glossy mag.
So I do know how hard it is to create a (monthly) magazine. However, you should have known before you started out that you would run into obstacles. Anyone with a certain amount of experience in publishing could have told you that you would have run into many difficulties, especially the ones that you have mentioned.
Does that exempt you from the fact that you don’t deliver what you promise and that deadlines should be sacred?
I don’t think so.
Perhaps making a magazine is too hard. Then quit and be honest about it OR do your utmost to get it done without being a crybaby.
You run a business because you ask money from subscribers, and now we simply demand what we paid for.
Is $25 not enough to run your show? Then fire your CFO for making such a gruesome budgeting error. It is your responsibility to run a healthy business, Paul, do you understand? Simply be a man about it.
And why don’t you apologize on your site about your delays? You know it is a major sin for a magazine to publish after deadlines.
Also, should we assume that the money paid to LRM was a donation to a “charity” and we are lucky to receive any magazine at all?
And, Paul, you may play down “blogs” all you want but when will you get yours up? LOL. Not so easy, is it
And yes, I do take time to research and write things. I respect my readers and it’s also my hobby. Is that such a surprise for you? Hmmm…
So I do know how hard it is. Take care man, keep on producing LRM and learn to take some criticism. And learn to distinct criticism from an attack.
Right now, as a customer, I still have good hopes that LRM will keep up its promises without crying about how hard it is to run a regular business.
If you can’t keep up, I’ll ask for a full refund. I keep my eyes on LRM. Thanks again, Paul, sincerely.
To be honest, I did wrote a complaint on one of my posts about this, but didn’t want to ‘down the Lao people or not show support’ as most come back or excuses that Lao people like to use, and can’t say that I’m very happy that I couldn’t put Laoroots name on my post, I’m actually ashamed of myself that I didn’t. I think as Laotian doing business, we should try to do a good job and be a good role model for other Laotians, especially with your profession and education background; I was very disappointed to see how you treated your customers, Laotian readers, at least you should inform us at your web site, with this known, a slight delay we can overlook. As bloggers, we’re very responsible for our contents and our readers, we update Laovoices almost everyday, and yes, we also work just like you because we also eat food, therefore we put food on the table…just like you. I won’t ask for my refund because I’m one of the paranoid ones that didn’t subscribe under my name nor have it sent to my house for fear that my name might be sold, and thank you for honoring the 6 issues for my 1-year subscription. Here was my post of my complaint about Laoroots Magazine: http://laovoices.com/2007/12/08/the-check-is-in-the-mail/
Hi Padek (Sorry, I don’t know your real name),
I can take criticism. Can you? It’s interesting how brave you are hiding under the veil of this anonymous blog. Like I said brother, all you had to do was email me, you didn’t have to take this route. Seriously, provide me your name and I’ll send you back your $25 - we don’t want you to feel "misled". And I didn’t knock bloggers, I love blogs, I use to blog myself.
"Anyone with a certain amount of experience in publishing could have told you that you would have run into many difficulties, especially the ones that you have mentioned."
Yes, they did tell me (us). They said NOT to do a Laotian magazine, because their demographics are too low that you won’t get enough revenue from mainstream business nor support from the Laotian people. However, we ignored them because we believed in our people, and most importantly we wanted something positive out there in our community. We never claimed to be professional publishers, as I have stated, we’re compiled solely of volunteers, without ANY publishing experience - working on the mag during our spare time. We figured, even if we fail, somewhere some confused kid out there picked up one of our magazines and said "hey, Lao people can be more than gang bangers and gamblers; we can be doctors, artists, musicians, designers, athletes." And maybe that’ll inspire him to do good, or at least give him some pride in his culture.
Instead of simply criticizing, why don’t you use your vast experience in the industry and help us out. We can definitely use all the help we can get. paul@laoroots.com
Anyways, brothers and sisters. This will be my last visit here…for awhile. I wish everyone here a Happy New Year and much prosperity.
Ginger - Sorry, I don’t really read your blog…so I didn’t know what you wrote. Only reason I came on this blog was because a member of your blogroll (not going to say who) emailed me about it. Take care.
Paul, I don’t need your Lao Roots Mag to prove that Lao people can be more than bangers and gamblers. That is the oddest presumption about Lao people I ever heard and mostly a ghost in your mind, I presume.
If you want to make Lao people so proud as you claim you do, then simply deliver what you promise and stop whining about being volunteer, how hard it is and all other complaints. If you want to be a hero then do your job, more than PR-ing yourself, Buclao.
Buclao, yeah, that was your name when you hid yourself for years.
Just promise all LRM subscribers that you will give them their full $25 refund if you can’t deliver the promised 6 magazines in the first year of LRM magazine. Now that would be a great help to the Lao community, wouldn’t it?
Can you do that, Paul?
Ps: Ginger, he does read your blog but Paul is kinda in a hissy fissy mood right now. He’ll clear up soon
Hi Paul, if I want to complaint to you, then I would have emailed to you, but the last time that I emailed to ask if you’ve received my article, it took you almost 1 month to reply, and yes, I realize that you’re a very busy person. Obviously, the post that I wrote was for Lao Voices readers. I was a bit disappointed that you didn’t try to inform your readers that you can’t deliver as promised, which was a bi-monthly, you could have easily posted on your web site, or sending out letters to your subscribers, you obviously have our mailing address. Your 1st issue was April-May 2007, then you skipped June-July, and you 2nd issue was August-September 2007, and it’s now January 2008 and not a word or explanation from you, what were we suppose to think? If it were you, what would you think? IMHO, if you come out and inform us, we would have been very forgiving, as we all know that Laotians are very forgiving people. Most of us at Lao Voices might be hiding behind our pen name, including myself, but we are sincere, and our voice is heard.
Padek, I do have many silent readers.
Paul, your first comment was full lame excuses! You need to acknowledge what happened and take responsibility for your actions!
Wow! How horrible. you guys are truly pathetic, trying to put down people that are just trying to do something positive for the Lao community. I am ashamed for you.
Sam, perhaps you can think of something clever to say when you want to insult?
I bet you love it when you get ripped of. Well, that will be your fate then, "Sam".
Paul says, “I dont’ think it warrants this attack.”
There is a deep distinction between criticism and attacks. This is a constructive parody-styled criticism - the foundation of the Internet and the democratic media. If you are offended by this nature of criticism, then your are criticizing free speech, or the world wide web itself. Then it would be hypocritical of you to even have a presence online. Spam, nonconstructive gibberish, false or damaging statements are considered attacks.. but this ain’t it.
Sam says, “you guys are truly pathetic, trying to put down people that are just trying to do something positive for the Lao community.”
Your useless comment only gives lazy Laotians more excuses to fail in life. Don’t you want us to succeed?? if so.. then enjoy this parody and learn to make your own 66%-off coupon.
Them are fighting word boys! Learn to respect your elders.
I don’t know what to say right now, but I think Padek & Ginger do have a point here.
Go online and order something from Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com. Wait a couple of days, weeks, months for what you order. See how high your anxiety goes the longer it takes to receive what you order after the receipt states, ‘you will receive your shipments within 2-3 days.’
Business is business. If you’re going to start one, do it right. Your customers are your business…and regardless of anything, they will always be right!!!
Billy said: "Them are fighting word boys! Learn to respect your elders."
Ok, I am lost. How is this discussion disrespectful towards elderlies?
[...] Padek: Billy said: "Them are fighting word boys! Learn to respect your elders." Ok, I am lost. How is… [...]
The bottom line really is you got a customer who had already paid for the product(s).
If I own a business it is my job…no…..my responsibility to provide the product or notify the customers of the delay.
It is a business and not a charity. I want to make money from this business so my customers need to trust me. If they trust me then they going to tell their friends. That is how I am going to grow. And if they got ripped off, they going to tell their friends.
I remember reading an article on a Business Week magazine few year back, a business owner was telling the writer that a customer had ordered a telephony product but the items were never deliver on the specify date. When the customer call to check on his product they discover a mixed up. The owner bought a plane ticket and deliver it himself the same day. He really went above and beyond. He took it upon himself to do what was right.
Icebreaker! Icebreaker!
Thanks Dallas for your understanding of my short message.
Padek, learn to read beyond the intro…and get the true message. I’m not disagreeing with you or Nye or Lao Voices.
Wow. Quite an interesting topic. I too am a subscriber and I feel what you guys are saying. I don’t think it’s about critizing the idea behind what Paul is trying to doing, but I think people are just upset that they aren’t delivered what was promised to them.
If it were an “american” runned business and we as minorities didn’t speak up, I’m sure people would think “gosh, typical asians, never speaking up for themselves”. But since it’s Lao runned, we shouldn’t say anything? We should just sit around and wait until they feel like they are ready to publish something?
Paul, your intent with Lao Roots is a great idea, but your lack of deadlines and promises might be causing you to lose some supporters.
Billy wrote: “Them are fighting word boys! ”
If anyone needs anger anonymous tips, read nye’s article: “Anonymous as in AnonyMOUSE.” She makes us want to be nice.
If we don’t get along then some people will just laugh at our lack of social graces.
We should give nice advices (like in some of the Loavoices articles) each time we don’t agree, instead of just being mean. My advice to pual is that his business might need a consulting firm, pual needs to know why they are falling behind schedule (from someone else’s perspective.) It takes guts to admit defeat.
What is the going rate for a consulting firm? Or is that an insulting question…
Hi everyone, late comer here. Weather you are supporters, customers or both, the bottom line is what’s next for Paul and the group? I suggest that LRM (not just Paul) starts the LRM Blog for a start. We supporters or customers can meet you guys there. How’s that sound boys? Oh, I should tell you, I’m a Southerner. We use boys a lot. It’s how we talk. Don’t get offended.
Paul, Billy, and Vong, Anon was right, LRM is or was a great idea. It was a great idea for Laotians of your generation to come up with. While I was attending 2nd ICLS, I bought a copy from you guys because it’s was a great stuff create by Laotians about Laotians. It was the best souvenir I got from AZ. On the airplane ride back home, I read y’all magazine from front to back and from back to front.
I believe you guys can take care of business. So, just do it. Good luck.
Sam says: “you guys are truly pathetic, trying to put down people”.
Hey, sam. Sorry, your comment isn’t useless and no one’s lazy. It was just my crummy day…no offense to anyone.
Hi everyone. I have just read this after it was forwarded to me from my friend. I am not taking sides but will speak on behalf of both parties (customer vs. bus. owner).
Any business is hard, however, we do have to deliver what we promise. The main goal of a business is to profit, but profiting from what we cannot deliver is bad business practice. This is when our business will collapse and end. It’s good to have volunteers, but we all know that to meet the publishing deadlines and to get the business on the right track, those volunteers need to get paid. Since “LAO ROOTS” is getting paid for the magazines it delivers, why not actually make it a business and pay your employees? If the money is not enough, then maybe increase the price so that the customers will be satisfied with what’s guaranteed to them.
Criticisms and suggestions is what helps business grow. However, if it gets to personal, then it’s something else that need to be dealt with on the side on a personal level. Listening to the conversations back and forth, some of our customers seem to know Paul and his crew on a personal level and seem to have some kind of grudges against each other…If it’s beyond business and is more on a personal level, then please take care of it like adults. If not, then let’s make suggestions for LMG so that they can grow as a business. Not all businesses are perfect nor successful, but at the same time, there should be no excuses for bad business practices. We have to understand as business owners, there’s a big difference between paid and free subscriptions. If it’s paid, then people will have expectations. However, if it’s free, then no one has the right to say anything.
Despite the fact that LRM cannot deliver what they promised, I truely want to thank you guys for your bright an thoughtful ideas. I can see that a lot of hard work was put into each magazine that was issued. A lot of my american friends are now familiar with our traditions and culture. I work with many people who love to learn about new cultures and would love to recommend LRM to all of them in hope to promote what our culture has to offer and to support LMG business. I really have faith in LRM and really think that you guys will go far as a business. However, the business does have to work on what they promise. As a business, we have to be careful about what we have in writing because, in America, lawsuits are always pending.
Nothing personal. It is the question if Lao businesses are regular businesses or a joke. No one wants to be a joke, therefore, meet your demands and give your customers what you promised to them. Cuddling and sweet talking gets you nowhere. It only gives the people who do this the idea that sublevel service is enough for Lao people. Bad idea.
Now and then it seems like Lao people are so happy with any small initiative they will actually swallow anything in terms of deliverables. I think if you publish a magazine & you plaster your face across the Net to get recognition, as LRM does, then deliver what you promise. Life is simple, business is clear. Don’t mix it up with personal issues and high emotions.
NANG NOI wrote: “A lot of my american friends are now familiar with our traditions and culture. I work with many people who love to learn about new cultures and would love to recommend LRM to all of them in hope to promote what our culture has to offer and to support LMG business. “
I admire those Lao businesses out there that delivered as promise, but honestly, in this case, I don’t think there is any grudged. I think what they’re lacking from the beginning is communicating with their consumers, if they can’t deliver as promised, let us know, that’s what their web site is all about, we’re not mind reader, and I can’t say that raising the price of the magazine will help their business to grow, if anything, it would decrease their sales as we all know that it’s printed $4.95 on the cover of their magazine for less than 40 pages, and with their new price of $25 for 4 issues, we’re looking at $6.25 per issue, any suggestion of what the new price should be? Any good business person would know that sometimes you have to lose money first before making any profit, being the price leader gives you the edge over your competitors, and maybe not having much competition out there is what slows things down, but bear in mind that there are free Lao websites and Lao blogs that also promote Lao culture and are more up to date with the contents.
As for suggestion, I don’t see a lot of Lao culture, I just flipped through all issues, but more of promoting Lao famous people, and I guess that is what being Lao is all about, if that’s the case, great work BTW.
I agree with the comments said. Except for the fact that we were sitting around one summer day. It was actually winter - and I - just wanted to travel… But Potato, pottaaato.
Please be patient with us. We are correcting our mis/judgments and making ish appear from our asses… We hope you guys continue to blog about what you do and don’t like. That’s just free edits!
Listen, i’m not gonna lie, it needs all the help it can get, and if anyone of you guys are the least bit interested in putting in your ten kips -please feel free to hop on board the LRM train and fire away. In the mean time, you keep reading, we’ll keep putting out a good work-in-progress magazine.
Hey, sometimes you gotta fail in order to know success. Thanks for being apart of the first phase of LRM, and will see you in the peak years for the ribbon cutting and flushing down of ze bubbles.
PS. You will still get your full 6 issues regardless of the yearly timeframe. Again, apologize for the delay, and we’re running as fast as we can.
Some people are motivated by good deeds, some prefer money, some want recognition, some just love the competition, others want all. For all practical purposes, creating a friendly, competitive, creative, well stocked, well thought out working environment with diverse and well taken care of workers with entrepreneurial sprits or with lots of drive can help a lot. In my opinion, getting free labors from nearly random volunteers usually won’t move the workers at the speed of business, but the interns might if their poor grades will count to their future jobs.
False praising is one of the worse thing some parents can do to their child. Their children could grow up to become less motivated. They can be frustrated when they can’t achieve what they want. My mother is strict. If I came home from a fishing trip without a fish, she would let me and everyone know about it for weeks. Only when the dust settles is when there is praising and love. Another words, before we say we truly want to thank LRM for their bright and thoughtful ideas, we should consider whether they are, otherwise it’s just false praising.
Ok, Vayakone (advertisement associate of LRM,) calls on free edit but surely she means free publicity… Well, if this is your idea of good free publicity you really need to do a few refresh courses in PR and marketing.
From their replies, I keep having this feeling that LRM people had no clue what they were doing and still don’t. It is like a constant cry for help from LRM. Yes, the old school paper-based magazine still holds more prestige than a blog, but can you really do it? Can you get it done? It sounds like it’s over your head.
See, the problem is not that you make/made mistakes (although not getting 66% of your product out is a very gruesome mistake in the real world) but pretending this mistake never happened at the cost of your customers.
There was, and still is, not a word about LRM not complying to its promises. Why no newsletter or a small paragraph on your site: “sorry, we tried but we failed, next time better”? None of that but complete secrecy and silence about the lack of production.
It’s all about face, this LRM, which is fine, to each his own. So we all hope you better and will tell us, customers, when you can’t get something done. There isn’t a newspaper of magazine in this world that would be silent about such a lack of compliance. You bet on Lao people to endure the pain and keep their mouth shut. Unfortunately for you, there was Lao Voices that does not applaud at any flatulent sound you make..unless it’s really the value we expected.
Some advice that could be useful to you:
1) Limit the number of issues to 3, max 4 a year
This will decrease the fatigue you all must be feeling by now doing this magazine next to your job. Get a realistic view what you can do as a hobby and that which isn’t possible.
Also, limiting the output per year implies more time for editorial quality. With a custom magazine in a small niche like this, quality focus should be your goal
2) Three magazines a year is $10 a magazine
Yes, with a focus on good-quality Lao topics people will be prepared to give their ten bucks for such a rare item. It will also help you with the costs. $30 for a 3 quality magazines / y is acceptable to many.
3) Be upfront about your mistakes and inform your customers about those that influence them
Do you really want me to elaborate on this?
4) Realize California is not the center of the world
Don’t forget the Lao French and Hmong topics. American culture is in no way superior to any other culture (most even think the reverse, but that is also very culture centric). Show us that you are cosmopolitans.
5) Link to other cultures and dare to critisize
How are Lao people embedded in the US, Australia, France? What are their problems? Is it possible for a Buddhist to live in harmony with Neo conservative Christians? What could be better, how to improve. Inspiring topics. It is great to applaud but sometimes you need to put a magnifying glass on what is not so good. Be young, bold and daring. Focus on the younger readers (15-40).
You so so smart commie man. When will you grow up and realized all you know is crap.
LRM Staffs,
Basically we just want you guys to treat us the customers with respect. Maybe respect is not the right word. Maybe obligation is more appropriate.
Everyone have a job to go to but if you are going to be late you let your boss know that you will be coming in late.
If the magazine is late in publishing then just put a statement on the webpage to let everyone know that it is late and when it will arrive. It is so simple. Leaving it in a limbo and apologizing for it in a response to a comment in some blog is not a correct or very professional way of doing it especially given the background of some of the staffs …IMO.
(I just want to let you guys know that I am not trashing you guys. Matter of fact, I like the magazine. )
Of all the insults you could pick you chose “commie man”? Lol.
Old man, at least make a tiny bit of sense posting here. For undirected insults and other air head comments with spelling errors I refer you to the Hub. Over there you may spew your idiocy in abundant quantities.
This is the only magazine that I read cover to cover. Growing up in an all white suburb I really lost touch with my culture. When I first picked up a copy of LRM at my cousin’s house it really woke me up to what I had been missing all these years. Not that I’m going to abandon my white girl friend and friends and start hanging out with Laos people, on the contrary, it made me want to take them along and show them the beauty of our culture.
That said I would like to offer the staff some constructive feedback as opposed to the personal attacks some of the other bloggers have launched. We understand if you are a little late but that 6 month stint with no issues really hurt your credibility and will probably end up costing you when it comes time for renewals. Since we all love the magazine we were more disappointed than anything and a lot of us thought it had died since there was absolutely no communication about it being so late. It seems like every issue has a completely different cast of characters on the staff. You really need to focus on building a core team of dedicated folks that will help out for more than one issue and get things done on time. I really like the personal profiles of Lao “celebrities” but it is getting a little out of hand. I was floored when I opened the last issue and saw a Laos professional rodeo star. Definitely keep profiling inspiring individuals like Billy Soksoda but I would suggest limiting it to about two people per issue. Issue 4 was almost entirely profiles and looked more like “Lao People” than “Lao Roots”.
We need to see more stories about our culture, community and our peoples struggle. You were on the right track in issue 3. That Royal Laos dance troop article was a great. My mom showed that issue to all her friends because she loved the pictures. I was also very inspired by the Lao Town USA series you started in issue 3. I would definitely like to see you continue that series and feature more Laos communities like Amarillo. This article showed the creativity I expected out of Paul and his talented team, although they could have done a better job editing it for typos. After reading the story it almost made me feel robbed of my childhood since I wasn’t raised in a large Lao community like the one in Amarillo. Then I realized that I was he only one robbing myself of Laos culture and am actually planning a trip to Laos.
Bottom line is keep the issues coming and the creative juices flowing. This is the best $25 I have ever spent. It appears that some on the board do not understand basic economics. If they were printing millions of copies they could probably deliver three mags for $10. Given the small size of the Lao community their negotiating power is limited (just look at the postage they have to pay) and there aren’t to many big money sponsors. I’m actually surprised they can get this out for $25. LRM Staff, please disregard everything this Padek person is saying. He is obviously a clueless fool and does not understand the real world.
This is a warning to those that want to come in here and carrying personal attack, I will not tolerate it. Bring in something with substance, not commie or calling someone a fool.
Buc la noy, I don’t think you will find it appealing if a stranger would come up to you and calling you a fool. That last statement was not necessary and let’s hope you don’t resort to name calling as a habit to get your point accross in the “real world”.
Hey let this clueless fool give you a small informative lecture in (very) basic economics
You were doing so well until the end so I’ll do some basic calculus to enlighten your real world.
3 issues for $30 / y is $10 proceeds per magazine (my idea). Higher income, less costs, more focus on quality.
Your plan: 6 issues for $25 is $4.1 proceeds per magazine and twice the editorial work at at least + 30% more costs.
Are we getting the picture yet? You know, I can take a punch as long as it is not based on misconceptions and miscalculations. Feel free to disregard anything I say as long as you get your facts straight
I don’t think anyone is a fool here, some are very knowledgeable in what they are talking about, business is business regardless of what industry that you’re in and most of us are working in a business world, and yes, very knowledgeable of what we’re talking about.
No one likes to embarrass himself or herself, and most of the time things are easier said than done. Most people that are in publishing business like to produce what they think is their best quality, crossing all the t and doting all the i, and I’m sure LRM is the same way and didn’t expect critics from readers.
It is not that important of the feedback that they get back unless they see that there is room for improvement, if they think it’s perfect, then constructive criticism can come out as an insult, sometimes it’s not that important of what you said, but how it’s perceived by the listeners, otherwise you’d be wasting your time, breath, and energy and when some of LRM friends that came out and voiced their opinion on their behalf, some of the comments (except for Buc la noy) is clearly telling me that they didn’t read the magazine in detail, or might just flipping through the pages, but not much of a serious readers. I agreed with what Buc la noy said about their topics, as a reader, I think the articles are very good (I reposted some here and at my blog, reference credit to LRM,) but the overall magazine is very narrowed in terms of topics of covering, I’m seeing too many famous or successful Lao people, but not a lot of the Lao culture or what I like to call it ‘Lao Roots’ and maybe I misunderstood the term ‘Lao Roots’. But like I said earlier, if the founder doesn’t see room for improvement, then those that don’t like it might not be their targeted audience, serious readers might not be their targeted readers. When I subscribed to any magazine, I like to read cover to cover and no exception to LRM, and not having it around just to show off that I have Laoroots Magazine. As it stands, I’m not sure if I would continue with my 2nd year subscription, sometimes lacking of communication can come off as being arrogant.
A good way to loose personal credibility is to call someone a name without a reasonable explanation.
LOL. I like you guys. nuff said. I don’t care what paul says!
We are NOT pretending nothing happened. Trust me.. there has been some fingers flying through the air only to find that our thumb points right back to us, so bare with us. we are sensitive to your demands and will post our apologies.
And EDITS as in, EDITS. not PR. EDITS. Suggestions, clarifications, Edits. That’s what everyone has been kinda doing here.
As a small group of Vs, we wear many hats. We are revamping the mag, and we hope to find the right outfit to match. We’re taking all sugs. in and will def. improve the way we deal with things. Bare with us, for we have been knocked down each time we try something different. For those who are uncertain about next year’s ordeal, no worries- hopefully we will grab your attention again (with contents that pleases all areas of past, present, and future life. We are more aware of the little and big things that make a difference in our readers. We want this magazine to thrive, and without yal as the readers, listeners, eyes, ears, and voices, it will be extremely hard. So to recap on my opening; I like you guys. Thanks for the suggestions, thanks for the love, and thanks for the CONSTRUCTIVE Criticism (even though i’m brushing the personal attacks off my shouldas because it’s just ridiculous to be mad) – okay. Blog No. 2. gotta get back to LRM. Peace.
So… is Pedek a/your name or is that phonically supposed to mean fermented fish sauce? (Smirky smiley face depicted here).
Padek is my name here but you may also call me by my other nick “commie”" (although a member of the Dutch liberal party). It’s Padek because I mostly write about sweet stuff….