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  #1  
Old April 26th 2005, 00:06
721302 721302 is offline
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what happened to vw trends

i know they are out of print now but what led to that? was it something from Volkswagen that made them go out of print or some financial reason? I hate to see them go and my coffee table will look so bare without VW Trends laying on it anymore.
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Old April 26th 2005, 08:07
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vujade vujade is offline
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IF you have been reading trends for more then the last 5 or 6 years
you can see what led to its demise. It was a much better magazine
in thruout 80's and early 90's. From the late 90s until now it had poor
leadership and even some of the contributors were not up to par
with previous contributors. Once Dave Cormack left and went over
to HotVWs Im sure that was another nail in the coffin for Trends.

You could also see over the last few years that they were loosing
advertisers left and right and the magazine was getting thinner over
time. They even had to resort to adding Penis Enlargement ads in
the last year just to sustain themselves. It was only a matter of time
before their Publisher dropped them as a non-profitable mag.
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Old April 26th 2005, 10:40
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I agree that I'll miss Trends. They had such pretty pictures!

Seriously, the market for Trends just died off. With the advent of the internet Forum as the major dispenser of technical information, magazines have lost a bit of their niche. You can follow the build up of a car in 15 minutes, not 15 monthly installments. And your questions can be answered in hours, not months.

That's not to say there's not a market for magazines. HVW's is doing okay still, and the new German Addiction looks promising. But when a magazine loses it's "base" or direction as Trends did, it won't take long for it to die off.
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Old April 26th 2005, 10:45
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vujade vujade is offline
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I think the key to a magazines success these days if to have it interactive
as well as in print... here is what the German Addiction plans to do with
the internet inconjunction with the printed page...

The German Addiction Forums

The Readers Ride Forum: This will be there for readers to post pics
of their rides, so that other readers can evaluate and then vote on them.
Each issue of the magazine will feature one readers ride that has been
voted on via the website by other readers.

The Feedback Forum: Used for gathering feedback from readers instantly.
We are able to make adjustments to magazine based on readers suggestions
and are able to fine tune it in months rather then much longer periods as
with other mags.

The Classifieds Forum: Most magazines have classifieds in them.
These classifieds are usually in the back of the magazine, but do to the
magazines lead times, these ads are usually a few months old. We
decided, that it was in the best interest of our readers to have our
classifieds on the website, instead of in the magazine. This way they
would be able to post their ads and sell their vehicles right now when
they need to sell them and not in a few months when when the magazine
comes out.

The Tech Forum: This will be for readers to ask tech questions.
Unlike other VW magazines where readers had to write into the magazine
to get their tech questions answered, our readers will be able to so on
our website. We will also answer some of those questions in the mag.
Imagine that, a magazine using the web, for something other then just
promoting itself. Actually using the web to help their readers. Now that
truly is a novel idea!

The General Chat Forum: Every website with forums, needs a
General Chat Forum so that members have a place to talk about things
that may not relate to the other 3 forums. You know as well as I do that
people will post questions and/or comments that are unrelated to the
other 3 forums in one of those other 3 forums if there is no General Chat Forum to post in.



We are trying to be more progressive then other magazines. As I
mentioned earlier, most mags only use the web to promote themselves.
We on the other hand, see the web as a useful tool. We want to make
our magazine interactive! As you can see in my replies about each
individual forum and its purpose, you can see how these forums are
necessary to fit in with our plan.

If you would like to be involved in the magazine in any way, such
as having your car featured, selling a car, having a tech question anwered
in the mag, or possibly just offering us a suggestion on what you would
like to see in the magazine, please sign up and join our forums.

Sicerely,
Joe A.
The German Addiction
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  #5  
Old April 26th 2005, 17:18
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Scotts73SB Scotts73SB is offline
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Exclamation

Be sure to call VW Trends circulation dept to get you refund. I did about a week ago (I had 12 months left) and they were going to replace it with "Euro Tuner" ....scuse me while i barf uke: <-- spozed to be the puke guy..but its not working

I said "I dont want that...take me off that list right now..i want my full 12 month refund!"
She said "Well lemme check if i can do that"
6 minutes later im being sent a full one year refund with no free copy of Euro Tuner
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  #6  
Old April 27th 2005, 09:47
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Ha!

Several weeks ago when the news broke on VW Trends, I couldn't get through to request my refund. Just around that time, I received a renewal notice for european car. (I think it was european car and not eurotuner with which I have a subscription. It was definitely a Primedia publication.)

I wrote back in severe Sharpie, "Why should I renew? How do I know you won't stop publication and steal my money like you did with VW Trends?"

I didn't really expect anything. My butt was still chapped by not being able to reach anyone, and it made me feel better.

A week later as I was thinking about trying to reach the automotons from Primedia again, I received my refund -- paltry as it was. I actually thought it was for the balance of european car as they were really going to show me. The very next day and the following next month, I received the next issues, however.

I'm still letting the subscription run out.
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