Hey everyone,

I have a question about E-USA's bulletin.. First I should explain the situation. So, I had a membership in 2012, and I didn't receive the last two bulletins from that year, so Bill Harris was kind enough to send me the last two from 2012.

I received an envelop with two bulletins inside, but they looked different. They were folded up, and when I opened them, they were the size of printer paper. They used to be little booklets, and now they look different. I took photos, so you guys can see what I'm talking about.

Did E-USA change the bulletins? Has everyone else gotten bulletins like this? I can't afford my membership with E-USA anymore, so I haven't seen any of the newer editions of Usona Esperantisto.

Thanks for your help!

-Stefanja

EDIT: The stupid photo didn't stick, so I had to upload it to a website. Hopefully you'll be able to see it now.

Sinanthiel:Hey everyone,

I have a question about E-USA's bulletin.. First I should explain the situation. So, I had a membership in 2012, and I didn't receive the last two bulletins from that year, so Bill Harris was kind enough to send me the last two from 2012.

I received an envelop with two bulletins inside, but they looked different. They were folded up, and when I opened them, they were the size of printer paper. They used to be little booklets, and now they look different. I took photos, so you guys can see what I'm talking about.

Did E-USA change the bulletins? Has everyone else gotten bulletins like this? I can't afford my membership with E-USA anymore, so I haven't seen any of the newer editions of Usona Esperantisto.

Thanks for your help!

-Stefanja

Stefanja,

I haven't asked any of the powers that be over there, but the last two bulletins have been in that format. I'm thinking it has to do with cost/labor savings and the desire of folks to read the bulteno on their book readers and handhelds.

Sinanthiel:I received an envelop with two bulletins inside, but they looked different. They were folded up, and when I opened them, they were the size of printer paper. They used to be little booklets, and now they look different. I took photos, so you guys can see what I'm talking about.

Did E-USA change the bulletins? Has everyone else gotten bulletins like this?

Yep, that's what I got as well. I kind of preferred the smaller format but am thankful that I still can get it in paper. Although I originally liked the idea of electronic magazines, I still prefer paper when I can get it.

Amike,

Paul

Sinanthiel:Did E-USA change the bulletins? Has everyone else gotten bulletins like this? I can't afford my membership with E-USA anymore, so I haven't seen any of the newer editions of Usona Esperantisto.

Greetings Stefanja,

It's a long story, but yes, Usona Esperantisto is now a primarily electronic magazine, with the print version generated from the electronic original. The content is the same in both versions, but as you noticed, the printed version no longer fits into those tidy little A5 booklets.

The change to a primarily electronic format was an initiative of E-USA's president in late 2011. The details were debated rather fiercely throughout 2012, with one side wanting an almost exclusively online format, and the other wanting to retain the primacy of the print version. (I'm simplifying, but that was the general gist of it.)

The result has been a compromise designed to enable online sharing of content via social networks, while retaining most of the layout (and all of the content) in the printed version.

The big advantage is that you can now read everything online, the moment it appears, at http://bulteno.esperanto-usa.org, and even without membership you have full access to every issue except the most recent one. (Currently I've converted all of 2011 and 2012 to HTML, with part of 2010 already up, and more to come.)

Other neat stuff:

• You can easily share your favorite articles via Facebook, Google+, or Twitter, using buttons at the top of each article.
  
• If a member shares a link to an article in the latest issue (which is otherwise closed to non-members) using a social network like Facebook or Google+, non-members can follow the link and read the article without being asked to log in.
  
• There's now a less expensive "Online Membership" option for those who don't want to receive the printed version.
  
• You can receive notification of new articles via RSS feed, and they also appear in a nightly-updated list at the top of the Esperanto-USA webpage.

If anyone is interested in the discussion that led to the change, here's the relevant info:

• The President's proposal (2011:5)
  
• Responses from Lusi Harmon and Bill Harris (2011:6)
  
• Response from Philip DeCamp and a reply (2012:3)
  
• A compromise (2012:4)

This new version is still considered an "experiment", and I'd like to tune it to the needs/wants of the readers. If anyone has requests for changes, please let me know.

Amike,
- Hoĉjo (Redaktisto, Usona Esperantisto)

I have a comment that's only partially related to the e-usa bulletin. Regarding this year's Landa Kongreso, it looks like the most up to date information, the announcements related to the Kongreso etc, are ONLY published in the E-USA bulletin. Therefore, if a non-member wishes to attend the Landa Kongreso (or NASK for that matter), and comes to the Esperanto-USA website for information, and clicks on the link for announcements - surprise! It asks you for your member information to see it. It ends up looking a little unfriendly. I went looking around the website, curious to see if I could find the same information anywhere, in a place that didn't require logging in, and I didn't find it.

My suggestion would be that for these kinds of events that are public in nature, that the information from the bulletin should be repeated elsewhere on the website - or if it would be easier, the members-only barrier should be removed for those items. Maybe it's less important for NASK, which has its own website, but this year's convention doesn't seem to have its own website (yet?), so for any newbie interested in attending the Landa Kongreso but not sure about joining Esperanto-USA, the block that pops up when you try to access convention information gives an (unintentionally) unfriendly and unwelcoming impression.

Actually, there is an announcement about the Landa Kongreso on the E-USA website, but like most of the content there, it's buried beneath a mountain of irrelevant information, well out of sight.

That said, you make an excellent point about the announcements in UE; for events like LK and NASK, access should definitely be open. Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll see what I can do!

Saluton Hoĉjo,

Thank you very much for the informative reply! I greatly appreciate your help, and I'm kind of happy that the bultenoj are available for non members. I can't afford a membership, so I am totally willing to wait to see the newest issues released.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Amike,
Stefanja