Airsoft Action June 2020 | Page 46

AA SPECIAL REAPER OPS TV AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY BILL WAS INVITED TO TAKE PART IN EPISODE 2 OF “REAPER OPS TV” TO TALK ABOUT OUR RECENT CHANGE TO DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ALTHOUGH THE SHOW RAN TO NEARLY TWO HOURS, THERE WERE STILL QUESTIONS UNANSWERED AND THINGS LEFT TO SAY, SO HERE HE BRINGS YOU A ROUND-UP OF THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW! I ’ve always shied away from “online TV” before as I’m a firm believer that any enterprise is a sum of all those involved and not just a single individual. That’s said, when my old mate Jim from the airsoft and tactical shop Platoon Stores suggested I join him, along with Dan and Alex from local site Reaper Ops, on their new channel (Reaper Ops Airsoft TV, or ROATV for short) to talk about the changes at Airsoft Action, I felt that the time for me to speak up had come! I’ve been a customer with Pete and Jim at Platoon Stores on and off for some considerable time and always enjoy a visit to see them and played at the Reaper Ops site earlier this year, coming away very impressed both by the site and the gameplay. So, what better group to spend a Sunday evening talking airsoft with …albeit “virtually”? Jim had suggested possible topics for conversation before the broadcast but as always, a plan never survives first contact and we all ended up having way too much fun, talking about a whole diversity of airsoft topics which I hope that those who tuned in enjoyed. Nige and I thought though, that you might like to hear more about what has happened at Airsoft Action recently and how we REALLY view things. I’ll base this article on the questions Jim gave me prior to broadcast! ROATV: “Aren’t Magazines Dead? “ AA: “It depends on what you class as a “magazine”. If you mean the traditional paper publishing style of magazine, then I would definitely say that for niche interest areas then yes. Sadly, the circulation numbers alone will dictate that (economically) a paper publication with a smaller circulation is going to fall away as it will simply not be viable. I’ll come onto exactly why later but no airsoft publication in paper format can really ever have a global reach. “If by a magazine you mean a focused “product” utilising multiple channels and formats of communication, where a group of knowledgeable individuals join forces to produce something that is useful, informative and entertaining, that appears in a set format on a regular basis and that is free and available to all, then I believe that format is still very valid. “As one such “product”, we now have many ways of putting what Airsoft Action does in front of that huge global audience and Nige and I just made a simple decision to maximise our readership and reach by placing everything online and making it freely accessible. Greater reach and “…WHEN IT COMES TO AIR POLLUTION, THE PRINT INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTES BY RELEASING VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS) INTO THE AIR FROM USING SOLVENTS. IN CANADA, AS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS, THE PRINT INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE MAIN (STATIONARY) SOURCES OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND EMISSIONS!” 46 JUNE 2020