My doctor has told me to quit reading "Volunteer."

[JohnKachenmeister]

My blood pressure goes up too much every time an issue comes out.

This is the showcase publication of our organization, and I wonder what thought goes into it.  Is the editor even a CAP member?

I was, in a former life, the PAO for a general officer-level Army Reserve command.  If I put out a publication with that low of a quality level, I would have been relieved.

I strongly suspect that the editor has never seen the Hallowed Halls of the Defense Information School.  If he or she did, we would not be treated to this month's irritants:

1.  Pictures of an aircrew, including one officer, a captain, wearing bright rank on a ball cap with an Air Force flight suit.  I'd spend some time discussing it, but his crew-mate was also wearing an Air Force flight suit...and a GOATEE!

2.  Why doesn't somebody tell people to take their silly neck-chain ID card holders off for the pictures?

3.  Can someone in CAP take pictures that are newsworthy?  All I see is:

a.  Cadets standing around with an important Old Person, and

b.  Grip and grins.

4.  Why is the bird-chasing story of greater importance than the Mississippi find?  Who is prioritizing these?

I give up!

[JC004]

You too?  I was just at an appointment on Friday, and mine told me the same thing.

We have a serious lack of internal coverage of stuff at times, a serious lack of good pictures, and an overabundance of bad uniforms.

[RiverAux]

Its always fun looking for uniform violations in the magazine/newsletter and I suspect that this will be keeping CAP members happily outraged for as long as the organization exists and has uniforms....

Regarding the news choice...

By my count we've had 15 issues of the CAP volunteer and on 11 (73%) of those covers there has been an ES-related story of some kind.  But, if you just look at the cover photos, I'd say that ES hasn't received as much attention as other aspects of the program.  

And while the MS ejection seat find certainly is interesting and is newsworthy, I suspect that it just didn't have a good photo along with it that was suitable for the cover.  Not that the cover photo they selected is all that great -- the sandbagging photo on page 32 is more action oriented, though sort of dark but is probably the only other photo in that issue that would have been better.  The photo of the person holding the radio on page 33 is actually better, but I'm not sure the story it is used to represent is cover-material --  important though.

Generally, I think the Volunteer has done a great job choosing cover photos with only one or two exceptions.  

As to interior photos -- you are right about there being WAY too many grip and grins, but who knows what else they're getting that we're not seeing.  It could be worse!

[NC CAP]

In my opinion there are always too many pictures of our National Commander in VOLUNTEER.  Not that I have anything against the National Commander; however, I think the magazine should showcase the membership and not just our top leadership.  As I quickly thumb through several issues of AIRMAN, the official magazine of the Air Force, I do not see the first picture of General Moseley, the former Air Force Chief of Staff, or any other general officer for that matter.   

[JohnKachenmeister]

If you are not getting good pictures from the field, YOU are not communicating your needs to the field.

It is the EDITOR's decision to use or not use a photo.  The photos are B-O-R-I-N-G!!

Grip and grins.  People standing next to airplanes, people holding certificates, people standing with important people.

If you are going to use photos, use a photo of someone doing their job.  Instead of a shot of 3 aircrewmen standing by a plane and violating 39-1, why not have a shot of them pointing out the location of the find on a chart to a debriefing officer?  Unless the debriefing officer's uniform looked worse.

I faced the same decision as editor of an Army newsmagazine.  I had to crop out my share of fat guys, guys in the background working without BDU shirts on, and in one case a full colonel whose ribbons were in the wrong order.  It was his retirement ceremony, and he put his ribbon rack on upside down.  He was either waiting to do a good deed, or a little late in deciding to retire!

[RiverAux]

I don't disagree with what you're saying, but sometimes you have to use what you've got.  All the CAP PA publications agree with you, so active PAOs should know what NHQ wants and what they should be sending up. 

I'm sure that if NHQ was provided with an action photo a newly minted Spaatz cadet doing something that they would use that instead of a photo of him holding a certificate in front of him (p. 22).

[JohnKachenmeister]

I don't disagree with what you're saying, but sometimes you have to use what you've got.  All the CAP PA publications agree with you, so active PAOs should know what NHQ wants and what they should be sending up. 

I'm sure that if NHQ was provided with an action photo a newly minted Spaatz cadet doing something that they would use that instead of a photo of him holding a certificate in front of him (p. 22).

That don't cut it with me, River.

I frequently had to call a unit and ask them for better pix.  Pretty soon, they learned what I wanted. 

Not to say I CAN'T use the certificate-holding picture.  I'd keep a photo file handy with the name of the guy, and I might crop it down to just head and shoulders  for some future event.  Sometimes even bad pix can be salvaged.  I can always use them as negative examples for classes.

But it is better to have NO picture than one showing guys who don't know how to dress themselves. 

Our image should be Steve Canyon.  Not "Larry the Cable Guy."

[lordmonar]

Well the answer is full time PAOs who are out there with the troops when the action is happening.

Often we just don't have it.

Then of course when we do have PAOs on the spot....we get photos of what CAP really looks like....and you end up with the fat and fuzzies/boonie hats/wrong shirts/no orange vest/hats on flight line and you still end up with people being upset.

[mikeylikey]

The Volunteer MAG is a marketing tool.  NHQ most likely hired a firm, or one whiz kid to layout the formula needed to recruit new members.  That formula taught to marketing geniuses in College follows:

1) The American people have the attention span that is one of the shortest among civilized nations.  You need to grab attention within .5 seconds, and have a message that can be skimmed over in under 5 seconds.  (Everyone does this when reading newspapers.

2) Touchy feely stories (and stories involving children) will always get an American Readers attention.

3) Pictures of children and Old people will always invoke a "aw feel good" response in most Americans.

4) Articles with more pictures will make the article seem shorter, thus more Americans will take the time to read it over say an article with no pictures.

5) Bright non-dark colors will attract the eyes attention more than dark colors (i.e. yellow, pink, orange, red)

6) Stories with the conclusion written first or either hinted at within the first three lines will cause an OCD mechanism making the reader wanting more detail about the things leading to the end result. 

7) strategically placed lead in advertisements will cause a smooth free flowing publication, that becomes a "must turn the page publication"

. Unless the target audience is Fat people, do not include pictures of fat people.  It causes a negative reactionary response where the reader associates what he or she is reading with fat people, becoming fat, or their own fat body. 

IT goes on and on.  If you want to learn more about strategic publication marketing, PENN State (go PENN STATE!!) has a terrific business school    

[cap235629]

the "Captain" in the photo is now a Lt. Colonel.  The picture is that old.  He was not wearing a hat when it was taken so the flight cap is photoshopped,  The pic is so old that the member with the Goatee was probably within regs at the time it was taken

[Mustang]

The Volunteer MAG is a marketing tool.  NHQ most likely hired a firm, or one whiz kid to layout the formula needed to recruit new members.

You were on-target right up until those last two words.

The mag is all about marketing CAP, but not to prospective members.  Its purpose is to market CAP to potential customers, corporate partners, donors and politicians at all levels -- none of whom would know (or care) that bright rank on a ball cap in a flight suit is not kosher. Big picture, uniform perfection in PA materials doesn't really matter, though I love seeing people get all wrapped around the axle over it.  All I care about is a professional appearance; whether someone's Encampment ribbon is upside down or their patrol cap has a "ranger roll" is absolutely irrelevant.

Back on topic...if you look at early editions of the Volunteer, the intent is very clear.  The addition of awards and regional news was to appease people who noticed and complained.

[jb512]

The Volunteer MAG is a marketing tool.  NHQ most likely hired a firm, or one whiz kid to layout the formula needed to recruit new members.

You were on-target right up until those last two words.

The mag is all about marketing CAP, but not to prospective members.  Its purpose is to market CAP to potential customers, corporate partners, donors and politicians at all levels -- none of whom would know (or care) that bright rank on a ball cap in a flight suit is not kosher. Big picture, uniform perfection in PA materials doesn't really matter, though I love seeing people get all wrapped around the axle over it.  All I care about is a professional appearance; whether someone's Encampment ribbon is upside down or their patrol cap has a "ranger roll" is absolutely irrelevant.

Wow, I couldn't disagree more.  I think that any publication should strive for accuracy not only in its articles, but also in the pictures representing the organization.

They should not allow anything that is not professional and correct.  To let things slide not only makes us look stupid to those who know better (in and out of CAP), it allows those people to continue to do whatever they want regardless of what the rules are.

[Al Sayre]

Perhaps the simplest solution is to have the Wing PAO's give a class to GTL's, IO's and Squadron PAO's every so often on how to take good pictures... 
Get the stuff out of their pockets, ditch the lanyards, make sure the uniforms are correct etc.  It only takes a minute or two to make a difference between a useable photo and one for your scrap book.  "Candid" photos really aren't the best thing to use for public distribution.

[Pylon]

I can say I know first hand that it's a challenge.  As the sole PR guy for a company with 37 sites, I can never be everywhere.  I wear a lot of hats which include graphics designer, writer, and photographer.  While I can occasionally get a volunteer photographer to help out, we don't have a budget for having one for every event.  As you can imagine, I can't be everywhere all the time.  Therefore, the events that end up in the magazine with pretty pictures are the ones that I was able to make it to and get great photos from; not always necessarily the story I could have made the most heart-warming.   Is the best story going to be my cover story?  Only if I have an awesome photo to accompany.   The other stories usually still make it to print, but no photos or one marginal photo means it gets tucked into the back in the "in other news..." section.   

However, a great story that had no/poor photo coverage for the actual event can still get a feature if you arrange a posed photoshoot after the fact of key participants.

As echoed above, National relies on the volunteer PAO's nationwide to anticipate the Volunteer's needs, take those photos or set up the appropriate shoots, and think to send in good quality, hi-res photos.  They don't have a staff they can simply assign to cover every event.   Perhaps, though, National could emphasize to the PAO's in the field what it's looking for in photos, and make a list of common events/missions/reasons when PAO's should take photos and submit them to the Volunteer staff.

[Smithsonia]

The State of Public Affairs Organs in nearly all military "organ" izations are alike. Talk to the converted. Preach to the choir. Don't rock the boat. Everybody gets 15 minutes of fame. For those of us that work both the media and the PA side of the street this attitude is OK. BUT, for the military it is stupid in triplicate.

Military PAO training to the lowest common denominator is a recent development. From WW2-Gulf War 1 there was a much more effective PAO cadre. Basically, in WW2 they drafted first rate journalists and craftsmen, were over 100,000 strong, came to the military PAOs and went back to the newspaper as reporters, then came back into the military as called up reservists, and in doing so instituted a level of editorial responsibility and craftsmanship that has now worn down to a badly scuffed no soled boot. There used to be lots of cross pollination. Lot's of cross cultural currency. The Media, during ownership consolidation, stopped running routine PAO releases as a public service. Military PAO competency didn't compensate for this change. To this day -- 20 years after the changes occured -- I still get mystified PAOs shrugging their shoulders and complaining about the media. PAOs haven't kept up. PAOs have gotten lazy, repetitive, and dumb.

Personally, I think that the Management by Objective concept doesn't work unless you have first-rate management, well trusted by senior ranks. Otherwise, as regards the PAO Objective - it is easy to corrupt, lower, or fail to react, which is where we are now. "Soft-Crafts" (advertising, public relations, media relations, marketing, etc) all have unique metrics which are easy to manipulate or let slide. The biggest problem with the way the military teaches PA in the modern world is: they don't know what to do, don't know what the media needs, and give themselves pats on the back for crap. Then PAOs complain that no one runs their press releases. CAP is just following the military's lead.

PA should be a big-darn-deal. It should be full of writers with the right stuff. It should lead from the front. It shouldn't be just a domesticated dog capable of only licking its own "paws". (I've got a more graphic word than "paws" in mind but you'll have to fill it in).

TO THIS POINT -- Right now, Middle East narrative meets Military PAO capsulized bullet points means the Military is getting killed because of PAO failures in the field, on the front pages, and in the American Political Debate. Jihadists are raised to kill American GIs and narrative control ( being on-message) is their first weapon of choice. I'm not talking propaganda. I'm talking first rate storytelling and writing to top-flight standards. The military doesn't practice the craft and so can't evaluate the condition. Satisfying a corrupt standard, less than up-to-speed boss, or lowered objective -- limits Public Affairs as an opinion shaper. CAP is just along on the same O-ride. Given that this polemic will provoke a bit of response... I'll wait to give specifics until later in the thread.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[Smokey]

the "Captain" in the photo is now a Lt. Colonel.  The picture is that old.  He was not wearing a hat when it was taken so the flight cap is photoshopped,  The pic is so old that the member with the Goatee was probably within regs at the time it was taken

How is it that the picture is so old the Capt is now a Lt Col?? Even if he made Major the next day, time in grade for Lt Col is 4 years. The story doesn't indicate it occurred more than 4 years ago.  Also...previously senior members could wear the green zoom bag if the didn't meet hgt/wgt or grooming standards , but it had to be without grade insignia and the guy with the goatee has 1st Lt bars on.

Plus the aircraft has the new empblem on the door which was only approved last year. So the photo can't be that old and those guys are in violation of 39-1.

[Brad]

I just wanted to add my two cents of an editor's note: in the article about communications, there is a picture of our very own SCWG Chief of Staff, Major Francis Smith, shown by his pickup truck. This is an old picture, as the Major was a Captain at the time that picture was taken. However the caption neglects to use "then-Captain", and it also reads like the radio he is using in the picture is the new technology spoken of in the article, yet this would be impossible owing to the age of the picture.

[JohnKachenmeister]

The Volunteer MAG is a marketing tool.  NHQ most likely hired a firm, or one whiz kid to layout the formula needed to recruit new members.

You were on-target right up until those last two words.

The mag is all about marketing CAP, but not to prospective members.  Its purpose is to market CAP to potential customers, corporate partners, donors and politicians at all levels -- none of whom would know (or care) that bright rank on a ball cap in a flight suit is not kosher. Big picture, uniform perfection in PA materials doesn't really matter, though I love seeing people get all wrapped around the axle over it.  All I care about is a professional appearance; whether someone's Encampment ribbon is upside down or their patrol cap has a "ranger roll" is absolutely irrelevant.

Back on topic...if you look at early editions of the Volunteer, the intent is very clear.  The addition of awards and regional news was to appease people who noticed and complained.

Swing and a miss, Mikey.

There are 3 public affairs missions, all interdependent.  The "Command Information" message to your own people is just as important as the public information and community relations missions.  You cannot send one message to your people and another to outsiders.  This will doom your program.

[JohnKachenmeister]

the "Captain" in the photo is now a Lt. Colonel.  The picture is that old.  He was not wearing a hat when it was taken so the flight cap is photoshopped,  The pic is so old that the member with the Goatee was probably within regs at the time it was taken

How is it that the picture is so old the Capt is now a Lt Col?? Even if he made Major the next day, time in grade for Lt Col is 4 years. The story doesn't indicate it occurred more than 4 years ago.  Also...previously senior members could wear the green zoom bag if the didn't meet hgt/wgt or grooming standards , but it had to be without grade insignia and the guy with the goatee has 1st Lt bars on.

Plus the aircraft has the new empblem on the door which was only approved last year. So the photo can't be that old and those guys are in violation of 39-1.

You still got that "Detective's Eye," Smokey.  And even if it IS old, if it does not reflect current reality it should not be in a newsmagazine.  PA's publish NEWS.  We have a historian for the old stuff.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Well the answer is full time PAOs who are out there with the troops when the action is happening.

Often we just don't have it.

Then of course when we do have PAOs on the spot....we get photos of what CAP really looks like....and you end up with the fat and fuzzies/boonie hats/wrong shirts/no orange vest/hats on flight line and you still end up with people being upset.

No, the answer is to have an editor of Volunteer with the brains and experience to make sound editing decisions.  Just because someone sends you a pic does not mean you have to use it.