Forum: Minnesota Dirt Track Racing Forum (go)
Moderators: StanM

I might have forgot to mention in my last blog post that I'm planning on leaving the gotomn.com website online as it has been since 1999 and to continue to monitor this board as admin.  The gotomn.com website represents over 15 years of work and contributions of historic information from generous contributors who were willing to share their treasures.  I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without your help.  True, it's not the flashiest site or the most frequently updated anymore but it's still jam packed with content that I want to continue to make available and that is my plan going forward. 

I found out that I will be able to upgrade my camera so I do plan on getting out to the tracks again this season.  It's not going to be a big numbers season but I'll get to as many shows as I can manage.  At this point the only "media" contributions I'll be doing are probably an occasional photo when I manage to catch a unique shot and I'll continue to post my thoughts on the blog as time permits.  Most of the tracks and series do not recognize gotomn.com as a stand alone valid media source so I expect that will increase my expenses from $25 to $45 per race due to having to cover the pit passes.  I don't have a problem paying my way as it was a personal decision to cut back on my media contributions due to budget and family obligations.  The downside is that those additional expenses will limit my ability to attend more than a half dozen races.  In the past the $25 to $45 per race that I saved at the pit gate freed up hundreds of dollars over the course of the season and those savings allowed me to attend more races.

As I type this message board post I'm getting ready to go pickup a photo order and send it out in the mail.  This is my first photo order since the middle of last summer and I probably didn't clear $50 after processing costs for the entire 2013 season.  People compliment me on my photography and the general concensus is that my work is good quality.  Unfortunately due to the increased amount of competition for photo sales during the past few seasons and me having to limit the number of races I attend compared to what I was doing five years ago I got "left in the dust" as far as covering expenses by selling.  Again that is my choice, my circumstances won't allow me to attend the number of races required to compete with the other photographers.  I don't chase hero card sales nor do I produce event photos so as a result my sales are limited to prints. 

On account of those circumstances I'm going to make a request, if it works for you I thank you and if it doesn't you're not under any obligation.  All I'm asking everyone who reads this post going into the 2014 season is if you see photos that you like in my gallery do me a huge favor and buy a couple prints if possible.  Like I said, gotomn.com has been out there since 1999 and is one of the first racing sites to come online in the upper Midwest.  If that means something to you and you can spare a few bucks for some photos I guarantee you won't be dissapointed in the quality and it will help me to put together a more complete season.  This isn't a plea to get something for nothing, I'm just asking that when you want a print to keep the "granddaddy" of Minnesota racing wesites in mind and show some love. 

Peace and happy New Year!

Stan Meissner

P.S.  By way of accuracy I did make $10 in December that I didn't think of when writing the original post.

Stan Meissner

P.P. S.  I would have made these supplementary notes as an edit to the original post but I cannot perform an edit in Firefox or Chromium.  I suspect that if I was running MSIE I would be able to use all of the features of this board but I don't think I can install MSIE using the Windows emulator platform.  Consequently I'll be making multiple posts whenever it's necessary to add or edit.  I beleive that the delete function still works in case I totally hose up a post.

Anyways I wanted to emphasise again that nobody is under any obligation and I'm not begging to get something for nothing.  All I'm saying is that if you're looking for decent quality prints and you appreciate the work I have put into gotomn.com and the various media outlets I have contributed to and you'd like to have a print of one of my photos then keep me in mind. 

I'm not posting to argue the pros and cons of media passes or whether or not writers/photographers should or should not have hospitality extended to them.  I put that behind me and walked away from the reporting at least for this season and possibly longer.  As I mentioned in the blog post I'd like to get back into contributing again in the future and you never know, I might still write a couple articles this season if the opportunity arises and I have the time to do so.

On another note, I haven't heard anything about the Trivia Contest so I'm not sure if they're having it this year or if it will be hosted on gotomn.com.  I'll let you know if I hear anything.  Also, things got extremely busy with the home project and holidays so I have not purchased a UMSS banquet ticket yet and don't know if they'll still be available by the time payday rolls around.  I obtained a larger resolution copy of the Barry Kettering shot I had provided to the UMSS champion in the past so if I'm asked to supply a framed copy then you might see that by the trophy. 

LOL, I guess I'm really out of the loop as I'm not even sure where or when the banquet is taking place this year.

Stan Meissner

OK, I found that the deadline for ordering banquet tickets is January 11.  Payday is on the 10th so I won't be able to get the check mailed in time to make it by the 11th.  I'll have the photo printed and get a frame and make sure that I get it to somone who is going so the champion gets one.  Nobody mentioned it last year but we had a repeat champion so he got one the previous year so technically we haven't missed a beat. 

Stan Meissner

Got an extension on the banquet deadline so we'll see you all at the banquet.

Stan Meissner

Stan,  you are always welcomed as a VIP Media source at my track, Ogilvie.  Not only that, your money will not be accepted for food or drink, that's the least I can do.  I hope to see you there, Glen.

Thanks Glen.  I'll give you a call.

Stan Meissner