Having been one of the original readers/subscribers of Modern Ferret I
feel the need to put in my five cents into this thing.
 
First, let's put to rest this whole thing about ferret owners having
compassion (or not).  I've read several messages for which the general
sentiment seems to be "if you were a REAL ferret owner then you'd have
more compassion and understanding".  Whoever made a statement to that
effect should feel ashamed of themselves and should apologize immediately.
There is no call for that type of personal accusation.
 
Look, Modern Ferret is a BUSINESS.  It doesn't matter if it's run by two
people or 2000 people.  MF opened their doors with a simple transaction
in mind: people will give them money, and they will give them a ferret
magazine.  Right now, Mary and Eric -- while they both have my sympathies
for their apparently long-running stretch of bad fortune -- are not
upholding their end of the deal.  They have taken subscribers' money and
have not given them their due value in return.  Subscribers have EVERY
RIGHT to complain about it.  Any rational person would feel slighted by
such an obvious breach of contract.  So I ask you all to lay off the
people who are RIGHTFULLY complaining about Mary, Eric, and the lack of
attention from Modern Ferret to their customers.
 
PERSONALLY, I am annoyed at Mary, Eric, and Modern Ferret because they
HAVE NOT been in contact with their customers.  If I didn't have a
computer and I didn't know exactly where to look, I would have no idea
what was going on with my subscription.  I have received no letter, email,
or phone call from Modern Ferret explaining the problem.  The emails,
faxes and phone calls I made where all completely ignored.  This is good
business?!?
 
I also subscribe to several other magazines -- Wired and Car Craft, for
example.  When Wired was acquired by Conde Nast I received a letter in the
mail telling me, basically, that all was well.  When Car Craft "slipped"
an issue a few years ago (due to the publication of a double-issue the
month before) I was notified via postal mail that my subscription would
be extended a month.  This is an example of a professional business
maintaining contact with their customers, something MF has NOT been doing.
 
I have also, on three occasions, offered my services to Modern Ferret.
I have about ten years of design and publishing experience to call upon
and I am an expert in QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, and related
publishing-type software.  (And yes, I most assuredly DO have experience
in magazine production.) I also have a few years of web design experience
and have coded a few web sites for friends and small businesses.  These
skills and experiences are, from what I have seen thus far, quite a bit
more than what MF has been exhibiting.  Modern Ferret magazine practically
SCREAMS "amateur publication" and the MF web site is a randomly assembled
mishmash of information with no discernable format or organizational
scheme.
 
I offered MF design and layout services for the magazine as well as a
redesign, upkeep and maintenance on their web site.  I have plenty of free
time as well as all of the tools and talent to devote to this.  And I made
the offer to do this for them WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION.  I figured at the
VERY least it would free up a fair amount of time that they could devote
to Eric's condition and their other unfortunate circumstances in their
lives.  I felt it was a useful gesture on all accounts; I would be helping
out someone in need, they would get their jobs done and have more time to
devote to their personal problems, and their subscribers would get their
magazines.  Once Mary and Eric were "back on their feet" they could pick
up where they left off, no harm done, good feelings all around.
 
Every last offer I made to Mary and Eric was IGNORED, never so much as a
"thanks, but no thanks" message from them.  And herein lies the problem:
Mary and Eric started a business and apparently Mary and Eric are so
enamored of their Creation that they would never THINK of handing it off
to someone else, even temporarily.  Their web site practically begs for
money but money isn't the problem here.  It's their attitude, and frankly
it sucks.
 
Mary finds the time to update her blog and apparently (I don't receive it)
their e-newsletter is maintained more regularly than the magazine.  So
these two free items are apparently more important to Mary and Eric than
the maintenance of their magazine.  That shows me how highly MF's
customers rate.  The amount of arrogance here overwhelms me.
 
Yes, I have sympathy for Mary and Eric.  I know what it's like to live in
a house with a loved one affected by a debilitating condition and I can
only imagine what it would be like to live in such a condition AND try to
maintain a business.  So don't think I'm totally heartless for expressing
these opinions.  But also don't think you're wholly justified in defending
Mary and Eric just because they've had problems.  We've ALL had problems.
But it's how you handle those problems that defines who you are, and right
now neither Eric nor Mary are handling things as well as they could be.
It's one thing to not have the resources available; it's entirely another
to refuse those resources when they've been offered to you.
 
Last paragraph: These are my opinions on the subject and I won't be saying
any more about it, so if you feel the need to flame me be aware that I
won't be responding to any of 'em.  Personally, I no longer care whether
another issue of Modern Ferret arrives.  I used to look forward to
receiving it and would read it cover to cover.  Now it's just a joke.
I'm ambivalent about it now and don't see that changing any time soon.
I used to overlook the amateur design of the magazine because it was a
fun and interesting read.  I used to overlook the increasingly-thinner
issues because it arrived generally on time and gave me something to read.
Now the magazine is not fun (several references to Eric's illness were
scattered through recent issues, not to mention a two page editorial
rant/whine in issue #27), it hasn't arrived on time in a VERY long time,
and Mary and Eric have given no obvious indication that they are
interested in maintaining it.  And while I honestly hope that Mary and
Eric are able to recover from their personal issues and that Modern Ferret
is able to make a "triumphant comeback", right now I see absolutely no
difference between the current status of the magazine and if Modern Ferret
had completely closed up shop.  We'd still be getting essentially the same
value for our money.
 
End of editorial.  Good day and best wishes.
[Posted in FML issue 3735]