The Modern Square
| Contents |
| Overview |
| Advertise In The Modern Square |
| Content Deadlines/Delivery |
| Donated Subscriptions |
| Subscription Dances |
| Contents |
| Overview |
| Advertise In The Modern Square |
| Content Deadlines/Delivery |
| Donated Subscriptions |
| Subscription Dances |
To SUBSCRIBE, or to RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION, print, and fill out this Subscription Form, or use the form that is in The Modern Square...and mail it, along with your check (DO NOT SEND CASH), payable to the ASSDF, for $15 per year, to Gary and Bonnie McClure, 12 Stone Ridge Drive, Pine Bluff, AR 71601. They are the 2013 ASSDF Treasurer; they will forward the subscription address information to the Circulation Manager via email, and the database will be updated accordingly. When a new Treasurer is elected, the information will be updated here, and in The Modern Square as soon as possible.
Please do NOT send the payment for your subscription to the Circulation Manager...as it will be DELAYED in getting to the Treasurer, and the database update may be DELAYED as well.
However, if you have an ADDRESS CHANGE (your subscription is NOT up for renewal), mail the form to Daryl Stout, P.O. Box 55655, Little Rock, AR 72215.
Also, please note that the ASSDF is NOT RESPONSIBLE for lost, stolen, or misdirected mail. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and/or print the Subscription Form, noted above.
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY the information on the Subscription Form, as some recent subscription forms have been TOO ILLEGIBLE TO READ (I nearly flunked handwriting in the first grade, because of sloppy penmanship). If the letters ''get wet'' in the course of delivery, and the form gets ''smudged'', I won't know where to send the subscription...let alone contact the dancer to verify the information.
NOTE: Due to costs, the Circulation Manager no longer has extra copies of The Modern Square to send out, in case you do
not receive your copy of The Modern Square, for whatever reason; or if you MISS the deadline to get the payment
to the ASSDF Treasurer, and the subscription information to the Circulation Manager. If you do NOT receive a copy, please
contact the ASSDF Presidents, or the ASSDF 3rd Vice President from the ASSDF Officers
page, to request a copy.
If data from a Subscription Dance is DELAYED in getting to me, because of Postal Service delays, if the Treasurer is out of town for a time on personal business, etc., it could take 2 months or more to restart your subscription.
I MUST send the data into the printer no later than the 10th of the month, preceding the month of issue (November 10 for the December issue). If you MISS THE DEADLINE, your subscription MUST WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT ISSUE. Data is usually emailed to the printer no later than 4pm Central Time on the required date noted below.
If the 10th falls on a Sunday, then, I MUST have the data by the 8th of the month, preceding the month of issue.
If the 10th falls on a Saturday, then, I MUST have the data by the 9th of the month, preceding the month of issue.
If the 10th falls on a holiday, then I MUST have the data by the last business day noted before the holiday.
If the 10th falls on a regular business day (Monday through Friday, except on a holiday), then I MUST have the data by 4pm Central Time that day, as that's when it is emailed to the printer.
If you have a question on your subscription, please CONTACT the Circulation Manager via information in The Modern Square, the ASSDF Officers page, or via this link. Ever since I became Circulation Manager, not even 15 people have contacted me with questions about their subscription. Basically, if they're unconcerned about their subscription, why should I be??
If a phone call to Little Rock is long distance for you, or if you do not have a computer/internet access, then please write your name, address, and contact information on a piece of paper, place it in an envelope, with proper postage, and mail it to the Circulation Manager at the address located on the ASSDF Officers page...you will be contacted as soon as possible.
Please do NOT have someone else contact the Circulation Manager, concerning YOUR subscription...as the information
then is ''second hand''. If the information they have is WRONG, it could take longer to fix the problem with your
subscription. The only exception to ''second hand data'' is for the next of kin of a dancer who has died,
to contact the Circulation Manager, to end the subscription, because of said dancers death. In rememberance of those
dancers who are gone, but not forgotten, a special recognition page is located here.
However, once their complimentary subscription EXPIRES, they are REMOVED from the database, unless they renew.
Please note that these subscriptions are NOT for dancers who have been through class before, graduated, danced a short time, dropped out of the hobby...and now want to get back in. If their name is already in the Subscriber Database Summary, they are NOT eligible to receive one of these subscriptions. Basically, you are a brand new dancer only once.
Half Page Ad Monthly Rate: $12.50 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $20 for non-ASSDF members.
Half Page Ad Yearly Rate:$150 for ASSDF Member Clubs: $240 for non-ASSDF members.
Back Cover Ad Monthly Rate: $35 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $50 for non-ASSDF members.
Back Cover Ad Yearly Rate: $420 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $600 for non-ASSDF members.
Two Center Pages Monthly Rate: $70 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $85 for non-ASSDF members.
Two Center Pages Yearly Rate: $840 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $1020 for non-ASSDF members.
All Other Ads Monthly Rate: $7 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $10 for non-ASSDF members.
All Other Ads Yearly Rate: $84 for ASSDF Member Clubs, $120 for non-ASSDF members.
Those taking out a one year ad will receive a one month insertion of their ad free of charge...basically, listing your ad for 13 times at the price of 12. A list of those businesses and individuals that advertise in The Modern Square is located here.
Unfortunately, with a lack of advertising in the publication, it is draining the resources of the ASSDF, because of associated printing and postage costs.
While some have discussed ''going online'' (as other publications have), that would leave many who can't get, don't have, or don't want, a computer or internet access, ''out in the cold''. There are a surprisingly large number of people who fit into this category...especially in the rural areas of Arkansas...and in some areas, it's difficult to even get to a public library, where a computer would be available for use.
Plus, the ASSDF may NOT have the funding available to provide refunds for subscriptions (especially considering all of the Donated Subscriptions by the Circulation Manager in recent years), if The Modern Square were to go to ''online only''.
Besides, except for the club reports, articles by ASSDF Officers, and selected ASSDF Callers And Cuers; practically everything else from The Modern Square is on the ASSDF Website.
The ASSDF has added Booster Ads to The Modern Square. The ads will be for non-square dance related announcements, and used to support The Modern Square. For details, click here. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view/print the file.
However, options of either REDUCING THE FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION or GOING ONLINE ONLY may have to be CONSIDERED at some point... especially if costs of postage and printing can NOT be met, due to a lack of advertising in the publication.
As a result, dancers will have to look on the mailing label of their copy of The Modern Square...or contact the Circulation Manager from the ASSDF Officers page...or via this link, if they have a question on their subscription expiration date.
If your subscription does EXPIRE, it could take 2 to 3 months for your subscription to restart, because of required deadlines.
Or, if your issue of The Modern Square is returned as UNDELIVERABLE, your name will be REMOVED from the Subscriber Database... no matter how many issues remain on your subscription. This applies to callers, cuers, and dancers alike.
One of my other hobbies, amateur radio, REQUIRES me to keep my mailing address current, as per Federal Law. Otherwise, if mail sent to me from the FCC is sent back as UNDELIVERABLE, I could risk loss of my amateur radio license, fines, and prison time. So, if I need to make address changes, I notify the appropriate party as soon as I am aware of the need for such change.
Basically, I'm sure that you wouldn't want a tax refund check, winnings from a sweepstakes/lottery ticket, etc. meant for you to go to someone else, because you failed to provide the correct address. So, it's greatly appreciated if you notify me as soon as possible if your address changes. In all the time I've been Circulation Manager for the ASSDF, not even 15 dancers have inquired to ask about their subscription.
Again, if I get the data too late, it may take 2 months or more before you get your Modern Square at the correct address, and it COSTS the ASSDF money (currently 55 cents as of Mar. 29, 2013) to take care of this. If a club does NOT get the list of new graduates to the Circulation Manager by the 5th of the month, the start of the complimentary 3 month new graduates subscription will likely be DELAYED.
The reason for the deadlines are that The Modern Square is handled under a ''bulk/periodicals rate'', which has LOWER PRIORITY than First Class Mail. Also, with recent changes to the Postal Service, mail delivery times may be slowed.
And, at times, because of schedule conflicts, the Editor may require an EARLIER date deadline for item submissions...
please check The Modern Square for these announcements. If the Club Report, ad, etc. does not make it to the Editor
prior to this deadline, it will NOT appear in the upcoming issue.
If your address in the database is
CORRECT, and your SUBSCRIPTION IS NOT EXPIRED...but you still are not getting your copy of The Modern Square by the first or second day of the month
of issue (not including Sundays or holidays), then you MUST contact the Post Office in your Zip Code area, to put a tracer on the
publication, and you must complain vociferously. I have heard instances of where certain carriers ''didn't feel like delivering the
publication'', and it came back to the Circulation Manager as UNDELIVERABLE, resulting in SUSPENSION of the subscription, until I was contacted by the
subscriber. The SUSPENSION for UNDELIVERABLE addresses applies to callers, cuers, and dancers alike.
As Circulation Manager, I have both an ASCII copy, and an Excel copy of the Subscriber Database as a crosscheck. In rare instances, address data can become corrupted for a subscription, or I can overlook an entry...all of us make a mistake at one time or another... on the dance floor or elsewhere. Note that this is more the RARE EXCEPTION, rather than the rule...and that can be fixed.
But, unless I am contacted that there is a glitch (by the person whose subscription is affected...NOT someone else)...I have no way of knowing.
However, if the subscribers address is CORRECT, and the printer is doing everything they should, then the problem is again with the Postal Carrier in that specific area. It costs over $6 to send an item Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested, and it would be COST PROHIBITIVE to do so...let alone sending subscriptions via First Class Postage.
The exact number of donated subscriptions will be a total of five (5) subscriptions for each event. With past dances, while I had dancers fill out a form, and mail it back to me, in a provided self addressed stamped envelope, with explicit instructions by a deadline (2 months after the dance), the majority of those forms either arrived well past the deadline, or not at all.
As a result, at any future dances where I donate subscriptions, dancers whose names or numbers are drawn for a complimentary one year subscription will be REQUIRED to get with me PERSONALLY that evening BEFORE they leave the dance, to provide their information for the subscriber database. If they fail to do so, they will forfeit the subscription...whether it is a new subscription, or a 1 year extension of their subscription...and the ASSDF then basically receives a donation.
The drawings will be done as one, with a LIMIT OF ONE SUBSCRIPTION PER DANCER. Note that Arkansas Callers And Cuers are NOT ELIGIBLE to win these donated subscriptions. Once the five (5) subscriptions have been drawn, the tickets will go back into the prize deal, for a chance to win other prizes, such as Split The Pot. For further details, click here. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and/or print the file.
Please try to schedule your dances at least three (3) months ahead...so sufficient time can be had to get it into The Modern Square, and onto the ASSDF website. You may schedule a Subscription Dance as far ahead as one year in advance.
If the Subscription Dance information below is incorrect, please contact me via this link, or from the information listed on the ASSDF Officers page...with the details. Again, this is taken DIRECTLY from The Modern Square; however, I sometimes unintentionally make typographical errors in transposing the information...or I may be delayed in getting it posted, if I have computer, internet, or weather issues.
