Hey Chris,
We have a publisher, it is my opinion that issues such as printers, and industry contacts should be addressed by the publisher. I know you will catch the flak, but it is the publishers job to take your material, and get a magazine into the members hands. Since HPOCA is an association made up of members, and not a magazine to subscribe to, we pay dues, not subscribe, it is my opinion, that dealings with McMillian is the responibility of the Membership committee.
 In the past the editor has had a travel allowance, was this not included in your contract, if not, this should be addressed, I believe we have money for this. It is important to give coverage to events. One of the most memorable articles I can recall was one Sherry wrote, about the California Cletrac Oliver Club's Summer Show at Luke Rizzuto's farm. You may want to look that up, I can't remember for sure, but I think it was some time before Le Seuer. I was there, of course in those days money was tight. Luke put Sherry up in his house, and gave me a place to park my rolling motel room. We have good members, they are generous. It is important to give a personal touch to our magazine, and there is no better way to achieve this than personal contact between the editor and the members. If you look up the article I have mentioned, you will understand! There is no bias, the way the show was, is the way the article was written! There are 6 issues a year, 2 should cover HPOCA events, the other 4, I would like to see 1 or more chapter events, 1 would be sufficient, and it could be for any chapter event. Such as printing a summer event in the winter, but HPOCA support of chapters is important, with all the chapters do to make our events successful! It is a one hand washes the other thing! It is good to know that I am not the only one who is a member of many chapters!!!
 Lack of space;
Chris, your ability to crunch numbers is very impressive! Perhaps, you can crunch the numbers on advertising costs, vs. revenue generated by these ads. You can take the total cost of getting the magazine into the members hands, then divide that by the number of pages, then take that figure and break it down to the size of ad, or percentage of page. If these ads generate revenue in excess of costs, it would be beneficial to add another block of pages. Of course that will increase printing and mailing costs, but if the ads offset these costs, it is a benefit to our members. Ads are a good way to give resources to our members, we can often find the material needed to work on our projects thru ads. I don't know if a survey has ever been done to determine if ads carry their own weight or not, but with the varying costs, this should be looked at, I think it has been a ballpark figure, but, it can be firmed up. By doing this, it gives a rock solid basis for improvement. But, it is my opinion that ads should not be the basis of a publication, articles should be the meat and potatoes issue.
 I hope these suggestions help you!

Take care!!!
Andy