Dear SJAA Member,
The San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) has been in existence for 60 years now. For many of those years, the club has offered its members the benefit of subscribing to Sky & Telescope magazine when they join or renew their membership. Due to the significant growth of the club, and issues beyond our control, we have determined that the club can no longer continue this service.
We are facing a number of challenges that directly affect our ability to offer this service. For example:
– Long lead times – the process is very manual which also involves sending a letter via US Mail to the publisher on the east coast.
– Renewal offers – the publisher begins sending renewal notices soon after receiving the subscription, which can be confusing to the subscriber.
– Better offers – many times, the renewal offers are a better deal for the subscriber than the rates the SJAA can offer.
– Manual process – processing the subscriptions is a manual process, which takes quite a bit of valuable volunteer time, especially when there are hiccups in the process.
– Not a fundraiser – the SJAA usually loses a little bit of money with each subscription, which not only makes this service not a fundraiser, but a slight drain on resources.
Many of our members have reported that it is actually better to subscribe/renew directly with S&T as they receive a lower price and significantly faster service. One outside service that offers a deeper discount is via the Astronomy Society of the Pacific. You can subscribe to S&T, Astronomy Magazine, and StarDate Magazine from this page:
http://www.astrosociety.org/magazine/
Another publication that out members are finding of great interest is Astronomy Technology Today. This magazine focuses on astronomy equipment, gear and technology, more so than S&T or Astronomy magazines. ATT offers a discount to SJAA members.
https://www.astronomytechnologytoday.com/
Please email Ed Wong, the Membership Coordinator, at sjaamemberships@gmail.com for the discount code.
The many downsides listed above, along with the available alternatives, have helped us make the decision to suspend offering the S&T subscription service. For those of you who have taken advantage of this service over the years, we regret not being able to continue, but we are confident you can get a better variety, better service, and at a better price, by going with the alternatives mentioned above.
Our club relies on volunteers who generously donate their time in support of all club activities, and the board thanks all of them for the most valuable contributions they can make, which is their time.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Regards,
Dave Ittner
President
SJAA