One Family Shared Values One Brand Value and visibility in a cross-generational world Paul Brayford chair Spencer Carter editor

Aims today  Overview of web and publication presence  Identify wins, risks, opportunities  Share ideas, best practices, needs  Create a debate Paul  Web and social media Spence  To print or not to print?

Web presence Social media  143 Facebook followers  >2400 Twitter followers

Print history Annual bulletin  A4 stapled, pages  Spot “archaeology”?  Inconsistent branding  Mixed content, partial coverage Periodic newsletters by post  Onerous to produce, costly to post  Out of date almost immediately  Gap since 2010  Superseded by Social Media? | , Facebook, Twitter  Leverage e-Campaign freeware e.g. Mailchimp?

To print or not to print? Pros  Tangible value by weight! People still love paper?  Only 47% ordinary members are “online”  Support 2013 increased subscription rates  Many funded projects require publishing Cons  Print and postage costs  Editorial resource and time Questions  Alternatives to print without eroding value? (e.g. e-magazines, issu, etc.)  Where do we fit it? Competition? Trends? Uniqueness?  Can we get subsidies? Leverage economies of scale?

Where do we fit? County journals  Peer-reviewed, backlog queues (2+ years)  Multi-subject content trending away from archaeology  Limited community project coverage  Expensive, open access for a fee Local and specialist bulletins  Sometimes struggle for content, periodic gaps  No economies of scale, sometimes subsidised  Thematic or local coverage  Paper still rules E-journals and student press  Increasing popularity with students  Web-enabled audience, print on demand  Academic focus, limited local coverage

Decision to “up the game” Where we fit  Semi-peer review (assisted authoring) as a service: broaden the contributor community, build confidence  Shorter lead-times, “agile” publishing  Archaeology focus Cost and quality  Increase the spec, “spice it up”, attract quality content  Wider audience appeal and visibility (marketing vehicle)  Leverage CBA National re-brand/image  Consolidate CBAY Regional brand and identity Questions and challenges  E-copy availability policy, fee or free? Mechanisms?  Sustainable content? Affordable cost?

Results Cost  120pp, 750 run, £50 graphics, £3.20 ea, £1.20 postage  Set-up is main cost, run volume is main driver  E-copy free (PDFs)  However! >150 hrs editorial time, need proofers Coverage  14 papers avg 8pp (2 up to 18 pgs)  Comprehensive coverage: regions, methods, periods  Academic, Commercial, Community, Education Volume 2  Seeding programme is yielding results (quality wins?)  Back copy for new members “offer”  Asking, not mandating, £20pp subsidy

Opportunities and needs Cost  FORUM as an umbrella publication for smaller “partner” societies, at cost, capitation fee? Enough differentiation?  Economies of scale, run-ons, co-branding?  Any scope for collaboration across CBA Regions?  Advertising? Retail presence e.g. Museums? Coverage  More on best practices and methodology (Community)  Younger contributors, community groups and students  More comprehensive archaeology “register”? (cf. Grey Lit) Needs  Hard-copy and E-copy payment and distribution mechanism  Web platform that allows e-bus and consistent branding

Thanks for listening! Research, Fieldwork and Excavation CBA Yorkshire Annual Review Education, Community and Commercial