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RRCA Launches On-line FOOTNOTES
Contact:
Jean Knaack
410-290-3890
Since its inception, the RRCA has been on the cutting edge of the development and promotion of grassroots running. Since 1960, the RRCA has utilized available technologies from mimeographed copies to glossy magazines to communicate and promote grassroots running to our membership. Between 1973 and 1992, the organization was producing a quarterly newspaper ranging in size from ten to twenty-four pages. In 1993, the newspaper converted from black and white to color. Between 1996-2002,
Footnotes was again converted from a newspaper into a twenty-eight page black and white magazine which was mailed to over 100,000 households.
In 2000, to keep pace with market trends and the competitive advertising business,
Footnotes underwent yet another conversion from a black and white magazine to a full color magazine ranging in size from thirty-two to fifty-four pages. By 2002, over 140,000 copies of
Footnotes were being published and circulated.
In 2002, faced with an ever competitive publishing market, a slowing economy, and significant organizational challenges, the decision was made to halt the print publication of
Footnotes.
Between 2003 and 2005, the RRCA has communicated with members through the RRCA website, the National Convention, and the smaller newsletter, Inside Track, which is mailed to club and event presidents.
On January 21, 2006, the Board of Directors of the RRCA resolved to capitalize on available technologies and approved the development of
Footnotes as an on-line publication. To that end, the RRCA is pleased to announce the re-establishment of
Footnotes on our website. This direction is the result of a one-year exploratory process that included an extensive look into the financial performance of Footnotes over the years and a business analysis of producing a magazine with a large circulation.
This approach to reaching out to runners will accomplish several goals. The publication remains the cornerstone of the RRCA communication strategy to our 750 running clubs and events and 175,000 individual members, it is financially feasible, and it will reach a broader audience including RRCA members as well the general running community. The number of individual visits to our website per month rivals our household mailing list meaning our members are utilizing the RRCA website to gather information about running and the organization. RRCA dues will continue to support the production of the on-line publication, and in the coming months, members will have the option to have the publication emailed directly to their in-box.
The inaugural issue of the Road Runners Club of America’s on-line membership magazine,
Footnotes, was posted on the homepage of our website at www.RRCA.org
on March 1, 2006. The magazine is designed to educate the running community and promote national, regional and state level running events and activities of RRCA members.
The RRCA boast 100,000 hits per month to our website and web traffic has grown by 30% from 2004 to 2005. Over 68% of American homes had internet access, as of December 31, 2005. The rate is accelerating, up from 55% in 2003 and 50% in 2001. At the current rate of expansion, over 80% of U.S. homes will have internet access by the end of 2007. Based on the RRCA’s web survey, a significant number of our visitors use a national website for training and race information. To this end, the RRCA will produce the quarterly on-line magazine that is accessible to everyone in the running community.
We are pleased to bring you the March 2006 issue of Footnotes: FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE RRCA BY THE MEMBERS. We encourage everyone to visit the RRCA website and read the publication on-line, download and print the file to read on the go, or you can order a black and white magazine from the RRCA store at
http://www.cafepress.com/rrca .
Footnotes, http://www.rrca.org/publicat/footnotes0306.pdf.
