TL;DR : With the kind support of PostgreSQL Europe, I am launching a new edition of the PostgreSQL Magazine in an innovative paper format. The primary goal is to publish it and send copies to PostgreSQL Conference Europe in Tallinn in November. If we’re sucessful, additional copies will be sent to other events.
I’m here to talk to you about the new direction for PG Magazine. So far, we’ve produced 2 issues of the magazine and we’ve received an entousiastic feedback from long-time community members as well as complete newcomers. I still believe that paper is a great medium to promote PostgreSQL and there’s a need for a regular printed media in the community.
However we’ve been struggling to find a stable economic model to ensure this media remains a community-driven effort. So far the balance we’ve found is that the content is produced, edited and controlled by community members, while the graphic editing, printing and shipping is done by professionnals and paid by non-profit associations (PG Europe, SPI, and others) or commercial sponsors (EDB for instance)
This model works with the current format of the magazine (36 pages) but it’s very slow. Producing a new issue requires a lot of time to gather the articles, edit the content and proof-read everything. It’s also very hard to translate. So far only the Chinese community has been able to fully translate the magazine.
Based on this considerations, here’s an attempt to make the whole process more dynamic while switching to a more appealing format.
Over the last month, I’ve worked on what I called a “folded magazine”. The basic idea is that the magazine is presented as an A5 newspaper. Then you unfold it and you get an A4 newspaper. Then you unfold it and you get an A3 newspaper. Then you unfold it and you get an A2 poster that you can take back at the office…
I used this concept for the 2016 PG Day France booklet. Here’s a video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9tbCGsb2Ak
This format has drawbacks
a- The graphical editing needs to be done by professionnals. A PostgreSQL community member with basic graphic skill can no longer participate to this effort. Previously some Chinese guys where able to produce a translation of the magazine, this format will be harder for them
b- The printing needs to be done by professionals. You can no longer print it at home unless you’re the happy owner of an A2 printer.
c- The PDF version will be weird
But also many advantages :
1- It requires less content and we’ll be able to produce the magazine on a regular basis.
2- It’s easier to give away : giving away a 34 pages magazines to random stranger at a booth was sometime a waste of paper
3- The A2 poster is a great way to provide more visibility for PostgreSQL inside the PostgreSQL our users workplace.
4- It’s easier to translate
If you want to join the effort here’s an optimistic roadmap :
- Step 1 : Gathering content (deadline 31/07/2016)
- Step 2 : Editing Content (deadline 15/08/2016)
- Step 3 : Reviewing (deadline 31/08/2016
- Step 4 : Layout (deadline 24/09/2016)
- Step 5 : Last Check (01/10/2016)
- Step 6 : Printing (15/10/2016)
The 3th step (reviewing) and 5th step (last check) are the ones that require more manpower and time. So prepare yourself for some proof-reading in august and september :)
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