Looking for Mother Earth News (Ogden Publications) Feedback

 I've been having interesting and at times bizarre phone/e-mail
conversations with some editorial folks from The Mother Earth News.
I've had no dealings with the magazine since its (original?) change of
ownership; but received a phone call asking for donation of a solar
heating panel for evaluation and presentation (along with donated
panels from other sources) in a forthcoming issue.

The gentleman who first contacted me (by phone) said that he'd been
made aware of my solar heating panel efforts by someone who'd worked
with me during development. That remark set me on edge for the simple
reason that there isn't anyone who could make that claim.

The most recent contact (by e-mail) strongly resembled a
contract/agreement which stipulated that by shipping the requested
(gratis) panel for review, DeSoto Solar accepted an obligation to
provide the author with additional panels "at cost".

This prompts me to look for feedback from anyone here on
alt.solar.thermal who might have had any recent business dealings with
Ogden Publications (the owners) or with The Mother Earth News
magazine.

It'd be much appreciated. If anyone has info that they'd prefer not to
post publicly, my e-mail address is real and I'd still like to have
the comments.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

 

If you smell a rat, there's probably at least a rodent there.

Strike out any section of any contract that you disagree with;
furthermore, I'd not "donate" them a panel nor agree to provide any "at
cost" - at most, I might consider _loaning_ them a panel, for a
reasonable period to do their testing. Given the smell of rat, I'd think
you might want them to provide a security deposit for the full retail
value of the panel up front, since rats have a way of pulling things
into their nests and not letting you get them back, unless you have them
by the tail from the start.

IMHO the magazine is a farce these days. It was a bit of a farce in the
old days, too, but then it was an ernest farce - now it's a farce
without an noticeable ernestness, except perhaps in parting gullible
granolas from dollars, while laughing up the corporate SUV.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

 Ecnerwal (in LawrenceSMITH-BDE3F9.12503722022006@news.verizon.net)
said:

|
|| The gentleman who first contacted me (by phone) said that he'd been
|| made aware of my solar heating panel efforts by someone who'd
|| worked with me during development. That remark set me on edge for
|| the simple reason that there isn't anyone who could make that
|| claim.
|
| If you smell a rat, there's probably at least a rodent there.

That was my assumption; but it seemed reasonable to see if my paranoia
was (or wasn't) borne out by anyone else's experience.

| Strike out any section of any contract that you disagree with;
| furthermore, I'd not "donate" them a panel nor agree to provide any
| "at cost" - at most, I might consider _loaning_ them a panel, for a
| reasonable period to do their testing. Given the smell of rat, I'd
| think you might want them to provide a security deposit for the
| full retail value of the panel up front, since rats have a way of
| pulling things into their nests and not letting you get them back,
| unless you have them by the tail from the start.

I could probably afford to part with a small panel - but I'd feel
better about doing that if I felt better about the beneficiary. I
think you've offered some good advice here - thanks!

| IMHO the magazine is a farce these days. It was a bit of a farce in
| the old days, too, but then it was an ernest farce - now it's a
| farce without an noticeable ernestness, except perhaps in parting
| gullible granolas from dollars, while laughing up the corporate SUV.

The original crew were actually focused on making worthwhile things
happen at the grass (no pun intended) roots level. There was enough
useful info in the mag to motivate me to buy a lifetime subscription.
I'm a little wary now because the new owners elected to not honor
those subscriptions.

Thanks.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

 Mother Earth News used to be a good magazine. When my parents went to
homesteading in rural West Virginia in the  80's on their 500 acre farm,
they subscribed to them and others of the like. When I would visit them,
they would give me the old copies they had read.
Have not read the publication since my parents moved off the homestead and
sold it because of their age.
From the way they have contacted you and their offer, It does not seem like
the new publishers are what they used to be.
Strange requests in their contract they are proposing to you. I think I
would ask them for more information such as when they are going to
tentatively publish the article and additional information as to the tests
they are planning. Also with the come-on that you were referred by someone
that worked there, I think I'd want to know who the reference came from.
I agree that I would strike out anything in it that was not to your liking
and proceed from there.

For information, I had an air solar panel installed on my house in 1985 (
there were tax concessions then) and it has worked flawless since installed.
Last year the blower in it quit and I finally found one that matched from
Granger. More information on this unit later. I have some questions about
the controller installed on it to the group, soon as I get the information
together.
CC

 
This may be silly questions:
  Have they always contacted you?
  If you have contacted them, have you done so with a phone number of email
address they gave you?

It sounds like it might not be Mother Earth News, but sombody scamming for
free merchandise.
I would suggest verifying the source of the requests (if you haven't
already).

The world has taught be to be a little paranoid.

Steve

"Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean there's not someone out to
get you"