Digital news, blogs, social medias, video & music on demand, e-commerce, affiliate & viral marketing, organic searches, mobile & smart phone applets, etc…. All these terms describe how information is searched, delivered and received wherever you are at anytime of the day. And since you are among the average 212,000 monthly readers of this Blog, you demonstrate that information technology has forever changed and that news have higher value when they can be delivered on demand with opportunity for you to react, comment, and become yourself, if such is your choice, a member of the journalistic community.
Recently in Utah during the BUB Speed Trials, I had an interesting conversation with Chris Callen, Chief Editor of Cycle Source, a Grass Roots Motorcycle Magazine, exchanging ideas about the future of motorcycle news medias. I told him that I thought that print magazines had their justification in the register of news sources, but that they were linear, uni dimensional, irrelevant to deliver some news and unable to interact with their readers. That I believed in what I call “3D Communication”, a platform of multiple news channels where each media has its own justification, like up to the minute flash news, entertaining news, educative news, investigative news, etc expressed in text, audio and video, depending of your needs, taste and time available. Chris agreed, smiled, and I knew he was on something…
And today’s Chris Callen reply is, in a partnership with Zinio to offer a Cycle Source Magazine digital edition that will be published monthly right alongside their printed magazine. Readers can purchase the same $20 subscription for twelve issues now and have a digital edition sent to their computer before the print version even comes off the press. Chris says: “It’s been nearly 13 years since Cycle Source Magazine published their first issue and the world of technology has entered warp speed since then. In each digital issue, Cycle Source will have embedded rich media with streaming videos, photo galleries and live links to all articles and advertisements. By the end of 2009, there will even be an i-Phone app that readers may use to have each issue delivered to their i-Phone device for portability”. Subscriptions can be bought three ways now, paper magazine $20 per 12 issues (US), digital edition $20 per 12 issues (Anywhere) or by bundling them together for an additional $5 to the regular subscription rate. Cycle Source Magazine.
Wildman Gone Wild – way to go Chris.
I use to get 20 Biker-related print magazines 5 years ago. Now I am down to 4(Yes, Cycle Source is one of them) since I prefer to read online now due to time-constraints. Not to mention I really like the interactive nature of the online medium.
All the best going digital. I’ll sign up asap Chris.
BikerMarc
Can you Cuss when you go Digital or Internet? I think a Few MFer’s are called for, once in a while.
Yeah, you can cause the bastard retailer can’t cancel your deal for a cuss word!!!! That’s long been part of the problem.
Nice job Chris,
Look for us at BUB 2010 with an Indian Uprising.
A magazine supporting another magazine. Never seen before. Cyril is great. Cycle Source is good.
More raisin pie .. Good job Chris .
Cyril does kick ass. He has always been a good friend and supporter!!!!
In regards to the digital subsription is it in email form only or can you go to site and read/ search an archive, etc. ?
Yes, the sub notification is e-mailed to you, then you can search, archive, download, clip, print, share stuff on social networks, pretty cool. If you follow this link you can take a test ride.
http://www.zinio.com/cyclesource
Chris
Chris all you have to do now is hook up with Cyril and get a podcast up on i tunes, even if it only once a month…..i dont think any media works are hard as you to do and always enjoyng reading and hearing your views on the industry.
Chris did you near anything on the Penske deal?
Chris, thanks for picking up on the intent of my poorly asked question and I do see the merit in what your doing.
An additional question if I can is if Zinio is a contract holder of yours and others news, mags, etc. do they send out the sub-notification or does Cycle Source and what if other than the isp address does Zinio have/see and are they able to sell ones subscriber info, etc.? Thanks in advance.
No, Zinio does not have rights t oour subscriber info. It’s right in my contract. They do send the notification out but they are not allowed to use your info for anything other than that. I own the content and they are just the digital reseller for the digital newsstands. So it looks pretty seccure as far as I can see.
Good job, good answer, Thanks
Chris is ahead of the game. Looking forward to continued innovation and out of the box reporting from both Cycle Source & Cyril Huze blog. Both are relavent, interesting & cool. I am proud to support both companies. Further, I enjoy both thoroughly.
Correction! I love Chris and Cycle Source magazine! But RENEGADE MAGAZINE has offered its entire publication in print and ON-LINE in a 3D page turning format for free for more than over a year now.
I know my mag is not yet on newsstands nationwide just YET but we are growing fast and have select distributors around the world and have a stron online following, and should not be ignored.
Renegade may still be underground for many but we have a strong following and have been leading the industry in graphics, photography, content and style, for several years now, so watch out Chris we are coming to a newsstand near you soon!
Love ya bro!
Scharf
Renegade Magazine
Woops sorry about the typos, I’m sure of you are going to bitch about that, but it’s Monday morning the day after Biketoberfest, so cut me some slack on that.
Scharf
Ok, Scharf, I went to your site and checked out what you are offering and yes, it is the same basic PDF flip book that we have been offering for a year now also under our free copy section but here’s the deal. The stuff we are doing now is LIVE, has hot links, rich media, searchable format, live index, video, photo galleries, and is distributed through national retailer’s NEW digital newsstands. It is years ahead of the PDF flip book, that’s why we did it. You should check into it for your publication since I believe that this will be the start of the anti-newsstand revolution!!
Oh, and thanks for reminding me to “Watch Out!” ……… “I Will!!”
Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas, kiss his ass, kiss my ass, kiss your own ass, happy Hanukkah
C-
NICE!!!!
good luck Chris, always looking forward for the Source.
just wish they could make a brail copy of Playboy………
missed you at willies! i know you had to work! boo hiss…i had to hang out with roadside fred…or roadside john..whats his name?
Chrisy,
since all this good Karma is going your way. You ought to celebrate with a bag of New Zealand Pineapple lumps Congrats babe
.Love you lots
C
Congrats to Chris for being enough of a visionary to see where the future is headed!! More and more people are digitally connected than ever before so it’s only a matter of time before this type of layout is commonplace..regardless of what’s been said here Cycle Source is the first magazine to do this so I felt the record needed to be set straight! Hey A1 you might be able to remember my name if you would wear a shirt every now and then, I have a Chandler Originals that might fit you just right LOL!!! Good seein you on Thursday dude!! Roadside
I’d expect nothing less than brilliance and innovation from a brilliant and innovative guy! Go Baby Go!
hugs,
Pepper
My Man Pots and Pans!
Good on ya!
Peace
Joe
Chris
You missed one and I hope your celebrating El Día de los Muertos !!!
Hey Chris,
I love your mag, you’re my inspiration! I meant no disrespect and I don’t mean to take away from your new online publication.
I admit I haven’t checked out your new online issue, I just did what every American does I reacted to a head line, without checking out the facts, sorry. Congrats on the new online issue!
As I stated it was early Monday morning after Biketoberfest, and I still had a bit of a hangover.
No disrespect intended. I have only respect for what you have done!
I’m only trying to make my own way bro, so don’t be mad at me for being proud of what I do.
You more than anyone should know just what I’ve had to sacrifice just to get as far as I have.
I’m not trying to compete with you or Cycle Source, it is a great publication!
Renegade is really not a biker mag anymore anyway, Renegade is a custom culture magazine. We continue to cover the biker scene, but we also cover the hot rod scene, Pin-Ups, music, art, skate boarding, surfing and whatever else I think is cool in each issue.
I’m just a poor white boy, trying to make something from my talents.
Kick It!
Scharf
Hey everyone, thanks for the kind words…..
Scharf, I’m ok dude, just seriously, if you’re hip on where this whole thing was going, check into that company that’s behind what we did. We are only doing a small part of what’s possible with this format so far, there is a magazine on their site titled “Vive” that really does it good. Interactive ads, additional articles on subjects, it’s real futuristic stuff. I’m gonna’ start slow since I’m just a poor white boy too, and stick with stuff like simple videos and photo galleries, oh, and I am going to start in the next issue doing audio version of “From the editor’s desk” that might sound funny, but testing the waters for an all audio component in the future. The post above that stated a brail Playboy is right, accessibility is the key. We could be on the edge of technology with automatic language converters, who knows where it goes from here.
C-
Congrats Chris. Can’t wait to celebrate with you at Dennys in Ventura again. Wild times. Seriously though you continue to push the boundaries which is always exciting. Ride on mate. We gota do Death Valley.
i dont know…i just tried the sample…found i had to a lot of zooming in inorder to see or read and at that point you can only see part of the page…so then have to zoom back out…not my cup of tea….some people with big screens/resultion may find it better…….however i wouldn’t give up the print version just yet.
todd
No way, not giving it up. Just adding to it.
About the zooms, once you zoom in, you can just drag the page around to read what you want. I know it takes a little getting familiar with. But thanks for the feedback.
C-
good job chris-
for the record: hot bike and many other bike mags have been on zinio for a long time.
question chris: is cycle source a chopper pub as this blog title would suggest? i see baggers and even stock trikes (yikes) and sporty’s in there (the euro xr), as well as the new fat boy “don’t go around corners” low.
what’s the scoop man?
Ok, how about this, you define what my magazine is and tell me. I dig bikes. I dig all bikes, and we won’t go single track on anything because of that. Even though we run a ton of choppers, we still run the rest of what goes on in the industry cause it’s current and the average rider is into more than just one thing. That’s the responsibility of journalism to deal it all up and let the reader say what is cool but you tell me……
And what is your hang up on trikes? I know a ton of old heads that can still ride today cause of ’em. Hopefully I will make it into my later years and be able to sling a leg over a trike rather than give up riding because someone doesn’t think it’s cool. But wait, I ride a bagger too, with tennis shoes on, and I chop my Shovels and Evo stuff, I dig vintage stuff, I like great paint and flat black. I dig music as much as my bike, I’m into art and cultures outside my own. I am a wandering poet without a home….. Yeah I can see your point, I’m all mixed up and I don’t quite fit any of the other categories out there huh? That’s why we do Cycle Source the way we do and even why it doesn’t have “evil choppers of wicked killer death” in the name. It’s simple: Cycle Source.
Here’s the deal man, I spend too much time working my ass off to do good stuff in print for my readers to worry about what class something goes in or if it’s cool enough. But you brought it up so let’s think about what a chopper is and for that matter what makes up the culture behind it all. I know what it is not. It’s not able to be packaged, defined, explained, traded, harnessed, controlled, manipulated, bought, sold or forced to fit into a marketing plan and that my friend makes all the difference in the world. So in that respect, yessir, Cycle Source is a chopper pub.
For the record, I do see Hot Bike On Zinio, but other than that…… Not one other American Motorcycle title. All the young guy pubs are like Racer X, and even the big guys like Cycle World. I think that this says volumes about where we are as an industry. We still feel that tour customers are not ready for technology and man, that is anything but true. And hell, if Penthouse is doing it, then I’m all in!!!!!
There are many good magazines that people can choose from and Cycle Source is one of them. And there are different flavors of magazines for different riders some still here while some have gone. I especially enjoy reading from writers who ride and Chris has his own twist on things generally because he is the real deal and rides. I too am in the trenches daily just like many others in this wonderful industry as we believe in what we do and live our experiences. We are fortunate enough that our busines allows us to take in these experiences but at the same time we all work our asses off for it and then enjoy the pleasure of sharing these experiences with others which is fun. My near Death Valley riding experience turned into a bit of a disaster a couple of years ago but IW mag made a great article out of my misfortune and many others got to experience my misfortune which was well worth the pain. Paving the way with new technology boggles me most of the time, heck my mate Brian Klock got me into using a Blackberry which was a major step for me. Like many industries in the US whom are currently searching to either survive or expand, magazines to continue to search out new expansion points. It will be interesting in 10 years to reflect back upon these non normal times that we are currently facing. Keep in mind that a magazine page or 10 has saved many a biker making an emergency pit stop out in the outback. But one remains a sure thing for me, I’ll still be running my points in my ignitions. That would be sacraledge to upgrade.
Hey Chris Congrats man ..those gears never stop do they?!
A Motorcycle Media much needed! Just left you a message call me back I have some ideas!
Much love –