THE NEW WORLD ORDER
Iknow you’re all sick of hearing about Covid-19 by now, as am I, but as much as I don’t really want to bring it up again, I am — sorry. Hear me out, though, as there’s good reason for it, and it’s a reason that hopefully may benefit you.
As you’ll be aware, NZV8 normally reports on many events, but, with everyone being locked at home for a few months, no events took place during April or May. Thankfully, we were in a pretty good place content-wise and had a bunch of different articles we could bring you instead of event coverage. Here’s where the question comes in. Over the past few years, we’ve made a conscious effort to run less event coverage than we did before the internet became unstoppable, although we’ve still made sure to include a decent amount of it. The theory is that, while you may see photos online, you’re unlikely to get the full story, or the credit where it’s due. I also think print media is somewhat responsible for documenting history, and rewarding those who achieve, rightly or wrongly.
I digress … We’ve had some great articles over the past few months that are most easily described as special features. By that I mean they’re not about a car or an event, but something else that’s interesting and topical. In the last issue, that included a look at the various cars of Charlie Bailey, a post-Covid business survival guide, and a look at the evolution of Beach Hop. In this issue, we’ve included a look at cars as an investment, the life and times of Eric Livingstone, and what it’s like to sell a car at Barrett Jackson. I’ve always been a fan of these types of articles, because, from a reader perspective, while you never know what you’re going to get, you know it’ll always be something interesting.
So, we’d love to hear some feedback from you about what you think. Do we continue with even less event coverage than we have been running previously — but still, obviously, throwing in the odd one here or there, or maybe even one an issue, assuming they’re events that are either different or interesting? Or do we go with what’s become normal over the past few months and cut back on events completely in favour of special-featuretype articles?
I ask the question because I’ve always pushed that this is your magazine, and those of us who get to be involved in putting it together are simply the lucky ones; it’s not about us. So, we’re genuinely interested to hear what you have to say.
On the topic of events, we’re stoked that we can now all get back out and about and events such as Repco Beach Hop can go ahead once more. We’re hopeful that the threat of impending financial ruin as a result of Covid-19 turns out not to come to fruition. From what we’ve seen so far, everyone made the most of lockdown and the added shed time that it provided, as we’ve got a whole bunch of amazing cars we’re looking forward to bringing you over the next few months. What else will be in those coming issues? Well, that’s up to you. Email us on editor@v8.co.nz and let us know. Catch you next month.
Cheers,