The Informant finished?

[hedley 1,900]

...Hows about 'Starring' on This bloody matter.

..i don't want to again sound Rude, but just get ON the bloody PHONE! .. . .and S O R T this!!

...it's T U R N O V E R...and...R E S P E C T..to and of your Clientel !!

...you have to the end of the week to get communique' here...in lieu of action having been taken., . .still sound Rude?,

..well how else do we get some bloody ACTION!

. . I N T E G R I T Y..et al

[...and here's the choice..like David LeRoth's theme-song to the L.A.'84OLYMPICS said..."...Aaah ya Might as Well..JUMP..J U M P ! " ][your choice of 'the jump'..'chump' ]

[Peter M 2]

..we note that the FridayFLASH..had about 9,000 readership.,

we read the Informant..retained about 3,000.

..and here's the Real reason that Tipped-the-Balance..in eventuation...as to why it's come to play Out the way it has.

BeCAUSE..as in the CAUSE!, . .beCause we've had NO leadership...with leaders that actually DEMAND accountability and a true delivery on CONTRACT!, . .the repeated ACT of letting Gordon'n'Gouch, just deliver the FLASH, whenever It felt like It!,

..it was left up to ME! . .to try and obTAIN this bloody accountability and proper SERVICE on our behalves.

Dozens and DOZENS of times...i ended up in Toll calls...trying to insist getting delivery up to a standard minimally!

Drivers didn't give a Shet...and told Dairy owner / Outlet owners NOTHING on their clientel's behalf.

Mike BROWN!, the corporate coward., Didn't even have th'balls to 'take-over' where i kept having vigilantly, ...left things@ with these jokes G'n'G.

...the Bossman there souinded like an exGangman of some description., he tried his standover Bigboy crapp on me...but he'd not encounted someone Like me before...so it 'bounced'.

...i had his begrudging respects after a few calls., i Tried to keep that momentumn Up...but the Toll cost was too much., let alone the temerities of mike Brown !!

..i posted Dozens and dozens of times Here...but collectively, you all decided to let 'the Cat keep playing with the pissed off 'Mouse'...and be amused by my stancings....instead of getting in beHIND me !!

SO!

. .with the Circulation problem being the main cause of 'unviability'., and It's main reason was the Failure to DELIVER the product/service...on Time!

This had it's perpetuations on the back of the INDUSTRY minions Letting this occur !! . . .by Not standing by ME in lieu of Mike BROWN being a 'girlboy'.

...you've Let a wee company of delivery truck Wankers / Dreamers!...let this Outcome all be Visited upon you all.

...it was the 3,000 'Only' numbers of circulation-use...that Allowed the POLITIC to occur between the two Currently...that've 'dropped-the-Ball' !!

HAD the leadership had any INTEGRITY...let alone penises and Testicles, and Had the Cafe' readership not been so shallow and 'tory'....by supporting me instead of just 'giggling' like Girls,

. . .Then, 'things' would be Very much different toDAY...... . . . . .

Hedley

So what you are saying is that the Racing Board should have chipped in to ensure didtribution of Friday Flash.

Yes by throwing in an advertising insert those costs could have been offset.

Probably a far better option than spending megabucks on the current situation. However racing hierarchy is not used to thinking outside the square.

For racing form why don't you just log into http://www.trackwork.co.nz and get far better form than you could possibly get in a printed format.

[hedley 1,900]

Thanks for that., will check it out., . .below is a recent explaination 'of books'

16-09-2010, 12:03pm

Isaac

Registered User

Real Name:

Isaac Hedley,why do you still persist in wanting to buy race booklets in this day and age.

Simply follow this link https://www.tab.co.nz/racing/index.html

and go to 'racing form' and you can print off a booklet yourself,anytime

There is so much information available at your fingertips on the World Wide web

Isaac

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#7 16-09-2010, 06:17pm

hedley

Registered User

Real Name:

Hedley Jordan ..Isaactually,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

..i still require their format., and the chronicle i use them as...because beside each athlete's #,name and 'form'line..in the papyrus space, i write a code of vanacular shorthand..that denotes debility or favour, flummox or merit., so that their form has interim relevancy for upcomming comparison'n'ponder et al . .should i require the memory recall 'jog' that it serves as., it too then allows me biorhythm analysis...for the estimated prediction of 'aimed@Races' etc., helps one 'look into a supposed prep' you might estimate's afoot of an athlete...as "programme", and so That diligencia regime then proffers one "overall Instinct" for race-pann..and therefore it's 'outcomes'...provided the ruddy riders are of sufficient decorum for ordinary expectation etc

"...Thankyou Isaac..gentlemanSir., you've helped everyone "

[John Clydesdale 229]

I never studied 'Marketing', lol - believing it to be a waste of my time and regarding anyone with a 'Degree in Marketing' as someone to be kept well out of any payroll I might fund...

And when you see how various marketing plans pan out, I always praise myself for being so wise, heh heh...

Newspaper circulations are falling. Why - unless you're flogging cars or real estate or are advertising jobs - would you even bother advertising there?

Mainstream television ratings are falling too - hence the mad rush by TVNZ to 'reconsider' its stance on Paul Henry once a couple of its biggie advertisers hinted they might pull their plugs.

The future is all computers and the Internet...

What possible benefit is there, using figures quoting above, of spending $900,000 pa on just one newspaper to cater to whatever fraction of the 160,000 folk actively interested in racing read that newspaper?

I can only just see a rationale for the NZSE bothering, each day, to run a full-page facts and figures ad on how each stock/commodity/currency fared in the previous 24 hours, lol. Given that trading is now virtually a 24/7 operation, any/possibly all of the figures quoted have long since been superceded, right? Online figures are virtually instantly updated...

Some of the Australian racing form sites online are brilliant...

Use those once or twice - and they're easily printable - and you only ever bother to read the freebie Friday ads in our major newspapers to find out which of your fave horses is running the next day...

I suspect you have almost answered your own statements.

Yes, TV ratings are under pressure at times, but that is the nature of competing media. It is now more diverse and fragmented but the highest rating TV events are still matching those of the past.

People watch TV less, primarily because what is available to the viewer is less attractive than previously, but again because of competition.

Even after all of your online escapades you state you use the paper as a point of reference. That is the point of the Informant, reference and easy as pie. It is handy, no need for logging on required, The Informant has good human interest stories, something the FF never mastered. The Informant has better form reference and has trackwork info, also other performance factors that you don't easily access elsewhere, all in one easy tabloid.

If you think it is all going to be an online future for all of that sort of information then you are deluding yourself.

Yes, you will get various aspects, but at this stage there is no apparent online answer to the existing Informant structure and composition. So support it by buying it or advertising in it or at the very least tell those marketing gurus that you are so cynical about at the RB, that they should continue to advertise in it, as that is, in the main, their target market.

Oh Proper..... next time you have a cup of something, drink of something, and what you are presently pouring into what you are driving and the clothes you are wearing......well they have all had an influence on you by the effect of marketing, which makes me want to lol, because your early comments tend to indicate that your not a guinea pig of marketing, but in reality you unwittingly are!!!!

But thanks for the help in confirming that the RB cannot manage a marketing budget, along with the other aspects of a cash organisation that seems to be losing money at a rate of about 20% pa at the moment!

[Peter M 2]

Even after all of your online escapades you state you use the paper as a point of reference. That is the point of the Informant, reference and easy as pie. It is handy, no need for logging on required, The Informant has good human interest stories, something the FF never mastered. The Informant has better form reference and has trackwork info, also other performance factors that you don't easily access elsewhere, all in one easy tabloid.

If you think it is all going to be an online future for all of that sort of information then you are deluding yourself.

Yes, you will get various aspects, but at this stage there is no apparent online answer to the existing Informant structure and composition.

John ...What absurd statements.

The Informant dosen't and can't come close to providing the raceform information in comparison with online info.

Just go on to http://www.trackwork.co.nz and as far as NZ galloping is concerned and tell me does the Informant have?

Turn and finish photos.

Finish images of all trials,

Complete race and trial form with commentaries in front of you not just five or so starts.

Easy access to videos say from NZTR site if you log in there as well.

Does the Informant tell you that all trialists in a trial have subsequently won a race.

Performances rated by time and several other factors much of it colour coded.

Thats just for starters. If you can't log in just use race for login and cafe for password.

NB. This is not an advert. I just wish to prove a point.

[John Clydesdale 229]

Peter, it does have trackwork. But as I stated, it has a lot of other benefits that single sites do not have. That was my point.

I use the various sites that provide the benefits you mention, but none has the collective information of the Informant.

I live in the country and cannot get even average dial up performance, so on the weekends the internet is not an option to me.

So the internet world is not available to everyone all of the time.

[chelseacol 2,488]

John ...What absurd statements.

The Informant dosen't and can't come close to providing the raceform information in comparison with online info.

Just go on to http://www.trackwork.co.nz and as far as NZ galloping is concerned and tell me does the Informant have?

Turn and finish photos.

Finish images of all trials,

Complete race and trial form with commentaries in front of you not just five or so starts.

Easy access to videos say from NZTR site if you log in there as well.

Does the Informant tell you that all trialists in a trial have subsequently won a race.

Performances rated by time and several other factors much of it colour coded.

Thats just for starters. If you can't log in just use race for login and cafe for password.

NB. This is not an advert. I just wish to prove a point.

But Peter don't you enjoy sitting down and reading something like the Informant ? And if you are going to the races or the pub, or are just away from the computer and want a bet do you carry around hundreds of pages of printouts from various websites ?

Don't get me wrong I spend hours on the computer each week, and also do most of my betting via the web. But I like having a good formguide in front of me (+ the Informant colours are great while watching races)

[Peter M 2]

Peter, it does have trackwork. But as I stated, it has a lot of other benefits that single sites do not have. That was my point.

I use the various sites that provide the benefits you mention, but none has the collective information of the Informant.

I live in the country and cannot get even average dial up performance, so on the weekends the internet is not an option to me.

So the internet world is not available to everyone all of the time.

Actually the only thing it dosen't have is the trackwork or all of it. Why don't you just log on and keep clicking the links.

In the online world there are always solutions to every problem including if you live in the "country".

[Peter M 2]

But Peter don't you enjoy sitting down and reading something like the Informant ? And if you are going to the races or the pub, or are just away from the computer and want a bet do you carry around hundreds of pages of printouts from various websites ?

Don't get me wrong I spend hours on the computer each week, and also do most of my betting via the web. But I like having a good formguide in front of me (+ the Informant colours are great while watching races)

So thats why you need a lightweight tablet computer e.g. IPAD with access to online and off line material. No keyboard just touch the screen you get complete form, photos, online and off line videos, books magazines etc etc. On a quality decent size screen not a mobile phone screen. Also use it for betting. Take it to the toilet if need be.

Thats the future for racing information not some minute pint sized printed publication that gives you eye strain.

[Properispomenon 1]

I take John's point that not everyone has access to high-speed (well, as high-speed as they get in New Zealand!) internet.

And I also take chelseacol's point that there is nothing like sitting down, feet up, small-bordering-on-ginormous glass of Bailey's at hand, to read a good newspaper/magazine/book...

You can now get books online - i.e. you can read them off your computer screen - but that doesn't much interest me...

But I'll disagree with John about my being a guinea-pig for marketing simply because I live in a market-driven society, lol. I am famous, when the 'Fair Go' Best & Worst Ads show comes around, for being genuinely surprised at the winners/losers simply because those tend to be the only times I actually watch ads.

An ad break comes up in this house and I am channel-surfing as fast as my little fingers will manage. (That's if I am even watching a channel that carries advertisements.) Or I am obeying The Boss and getting her her next cup of coffee or biscuit fix...

Similarly, putting up one of those 'No Junk Mail Please' signs on the letterbox means that I don't, either, tend to come face-to-face with the tonnes of printed advertising material that the marketers circulate...

[chelseacol 2,488]

So thats why you need a lightweight tablet computer e.g. IPAD with access to online and off line material. No keyboard just touch the screen you get complete form, photos, online and off line videos, books magazines etc etc. On a quality decent size screen not a mobile phone screen. Also use it for betting. Take it to the toilet if need be.

Thats the future for racing information not some minute pint sized printed publication that gives you eye strain.

I have an Ipad Peter - brilliant bit of kit and great for sitting down on the couch punting with the tv on.

BUT even with the Ipad it is easier (for me) putting bets on with my selections/ratings marked in a formguide , particularly if doing quaddies/pick 6 etc.

Also I don't know what your local pub or racetrack is like but I'm not taking an ipad there !

[STRAIGHT STRIKE 37]

183266 mate !

[von Smallhaussen 3,226]

http://www.trackwork.co.nz is a very good site - however if you do not know it exists it is as useful as a completely blank Best Bets! I have asked around a few people interested in racing and not one knew of this site. Yet they all knew to look in the paper or go to a shop and buy a form guide.

[John Clydesdale 229]

As passionate as we obviously are, and no matter where we gain our information, do you consider that the value equation I raise in my information is worthwhile......?

Given the head of our industry is a numbers man, I would have thought those numbers are worth a review, perhaps even entertaining a second thought about advertising in the Informant could look appealing on a value for money basis, ie. expense versus return!

[Peter M 2]

As passionate as we obviously are, and no matter where we gain our information, do you consider that the value equation I raise in my information is worthwhile......?

Given the head of our industry is a numbers man, I would have thought those numbers are worth a review, perhaps even entertaining a second thought about advertising in the Informant could look appealing on a value for money basis, ie. expense versus return!

John are you connected with the Informant?

The greatest advertising value to NZ Racing was the ability of publications such a Best Bets and Turf Digest to be sitting on local dairy counters or in a rack near the cash register. That meant exposure to all sorts of people. Nowadays its hard enough to get the shop minders to tell you if they even stock the publications or explain to them what they are. If I was a TAB marketing person I would organise these shop owners into a day or night at the races and educate them a bit about racing.

John your figures would look even better if sale life of the Informant was the whole week and not just one or two days.

[Peter Jenkins 2,120]

The lead story in this thread is extremely bad news for the industry for the reasons John C. and some others have pointed out.

It echoes the belief that many of us have formed over the past few years that the Racing Board works in a business vacuum with no real knowledge or "feel" for the industry and it's participants.

It seems we are approaching a time when I can buy a comprehensive formguide from my corner newsagent in Sydney with Saturday's form for the feature meeting in NZ (and a dozen other Australasian meetings) but Kiwis at home will have to rely solely on a slimmed down version of Best Bets.

Peter Francis and Gus Wigley and the team at TPL have worked their butts off over the past few years just to get The Informant started (about 2 years negotiations) and then to keep it going. Like many have said, most of us bet through the net, phone, ipad, TV, etc but there is nothing that beats having a well organized paper formguide on the table in front of you with comprehensive information. It's a vital and vibrant publication for many.

The distribution issue is symptomatic of modern logistics where the providers (couriers, freight companies) structure their entire operation around making the most cost-savings rather than providing superior customer service. It's the same reason that a letter mailed in Auckland can take 3 to 4 days to be delivered across town and yet 35 years ago a parcel mailed in New Plymouth at 4.00pm would arrive on someone's desk in Auckland by mid-morning the next day. As an aside I will tell you this little story. While still managing Stoney Bridge at Karaka a three years ago I urgently needed a DVD from the UK. The company in the UK used DHL to deliver. It arrived at Auckland Airport 24 hours after it was uplifted - impressive ! It took another 4 days to reach Stoney Bridge even though I could look out my office window and SEE the airport. DHL needed a day to deliver it to their "sorting depot". They needed a further day for their South Auckalnd contractor to uplift it and deliver it to their "sorting depot". A further day ensued while the parcel was delivered to a rural contractor - "NZ Post" as it happens. Even though the parcel arrived at NZ Post's sorting depot 2 hours prior to the NZ Post contractor arriving for the next day's delivery he refused to take it as he insists that his parcels are all sorted the night before and won't take anything that arrives that morning. I finally received the DVD very late the following afternoon 4 days after the package arrived in NZ. My complaints no doubt relegated me to the bottom of the delivery schedule. This is why The Informant can't be delivered on time. Because it doesn't fit the contractors logistics structure.

The only longterm solution I can envisage is for the Racing Board to begin making appointments of people who understand the industry at all levels - ownership, professionals, bettors, clubs, and sponsors. Their failure to do so will hasten the devolution of Racing in NZ to it's eventual commercial death. I am not exaggerating.

Stakeholders (and that includes punters) have little or no voice and therefore have to suffer the decisions of disinterested career executives who will be working at the Apple and Pear Marketing Board, the Tourist Board or Vodafone in 12 or 18 months time and therefore have no moral compass to help them make the right calls.

The board's quest for "PRODUCT" at the cheapest possible price will one day see them prioritize virtual reality racing on a computer screen with a new "pretend" race in dazzling CGI run every 5 minutes and no overheads over a REAL industry with it's inherent wage earners and stakeholders (not to mention major investment in chattels, property and supply), who have spent their lives working to make it a success.

Don't think it won't happen. Decisions like this are a wake-up call about where the RB believes it's real destiny lies.

[Peter Jenkins 2,120]

I should have added a word about Peter Francis. He runs a very successful publication business and had no need to take on The Informant and has probably made precious little out of it over the term of it's existence. So why did he do it you might ask? Peter is an industry stakeholder. He is a breeder and an owner and likes a bet too. Gus Wigley has a similar profile and comes from one of NZ's oldest racing families. These guys try so hard because they love racing and want to see it succeed. They go that extra mile and sometimes do things that have no immediate return or benefit to them. Without people like this, and there are many throughout the industry in various roles, from high-profile to grass roots, there would be no industry. The RB is pushing hard to make sure there won't be one soon....

[hedley 1,900]

:y:Peter

[Leggy 4,093]

:y:Peter ]

I echo that. Thank-you Peter. You speak for many of us but perhaps more eloquently than I could.

[meomy 971]

For those whom still enjoy reading a hardcopy of upto the minute racing news there is a couple of pages in the Truthweekender which is available at most supermarkets on a Thursday & online.

Add to that a mix of sporting & fishing stories as well as other stuff which often doesn't feature in other media until several days later.

http://www.racecafe.co.nz/forum/showthread.php?t=40981

http://www.truthweekender.co.nz/

[kmhood 1]

I echo that. Thank-you Peter. You speak for many of us but perhaps more eloquently than I could.

I would be very upset not to get the Informant - just love the breeding pages and the statistics on sires in various countries, the black type producers etc, all topped up with a great suppliment on the races, showing jockies silks colours which one can take to the races as not too big.

I hope we don't lose it - was bad enough losing the Friday Flash for the very same reason.

[Mardy 475]

I enjoyed getting the Informant every Friday,tho i never brought it in the early day's..my way of protesting that the Friday Flash got replaced.But i found it a very informative paper,and i definitely thought it was a good thing when they made the racing publication a smaller booklet.If it is indeed the end of the Informant then i shall miss it.I suppose i will go back to buying the TD on a Thursday.Yes i know there is lots of info online,but i seriously don't have the energy nor the inclination to print out tons of racing form every day.

[tuffy 1]

Totally agree with you Peter. It is obvious reading the article in the informant that the NZRB have screwed the informant over. The informant is an outstanding formguide and i will certainly miss it...I haven't bought a best bets or turf digest for years. and won't be starting now...in the end it just means i will spend less through the NZTAB. I have already set up an account with a well known International betting agency so I could bet on races in Aussie that the TAB wouldn't take. This saddens and hurts me as an owner, breeder and punter i want the NZ industry to succeed but with the idiots that are leading us at present as Peter says we are quickly heading to oblivion!

[hedley 1,900]

...with the feigned and enacted,..."management~by~crisis"

..create it., . .'Manage' it, introduce 'thuh change'...and onforth we vertigoeth...down th'Plugghole.

CareerCOMMIES...th'Lot of 'em, agents for the corporately owned governance of global commerce.,..All on 'don't Give a toss, Salaries'., ABLE to move right on to the next 'suit' slot of corporate accommodation.

This is Who'n'what STIASSNY is 'receiving' our industry Unto., 'blessed' by KEY and CARTER whom similarly govern aligned to, Too:eek:

[Leggy 4,093]

John are you connected with the Informant?

The greatest advertising value to NZ Racing was the ability of publications such a Best Bets and Turf Digest to be sitting on local dairy counters or in a rack near the cash register. That meant exposure to all sorts of people. Nowadays its hard enough to get the shop minders to tell you if they even stock the publications or explain to them what they are. If I was a TAB marketing person I would organise these shop owners into a day or night at the races and educate them a bit about racing.

John your figures would look even better if sale life of the Informant was the whole week and not just one or two days.

Good point Peter. I think I saw somewhere some figures suggesting that in an area where a community based track had been closed (maybe Nelson?) there was disproportionate decline in racing and punting investment from the area. Likewise, the days when every corner dairy, newsagent etc. had a racing publication or two on the counter and the related signs outside were a part of maintaining the generational culture and investment in racing and punting. Community tracks and racing publications on counters may be historic and dated drivers, however they don't seem to have been replaced by anything. When I go online to TradeMe for example, I'm not confronted with a similar link to the weeks betting form or made aware that there is a meeting at my local track on Saturday.