The State of the US Route 89 Appreciation Society
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by James Cowlin
Much of my time over the last couple of years has been occupied with publishing the results of our travels on US Route 89. The goal is to make Highway 89 a destination for travelers looking for an authentic western experience. As part of that effort I have also been working on improving the funding for the US Route 89 Appreciation Society to cover our on-going expenses.
Membership
 Membership in the US Route 89 Appreciation Society has grown to at total of 110--94 individuals, 8 businesses and 8 civic and cultural organizations. The biggest change in the last year has been the addition of new categories of membership and an increase in the benefits. The new categories accounted for 29 new members, nearly half of which are above the General Member level. See the chart below for details on membership and use the link to become a member if you are not already.
Trips
Our last border to border road trip was in the spring of 2010 when we spent 32 days on US Route 89. That trip was made possible by the generous support of a group of Society members through a special subscription. Since then we have made a number of trips along the Arizona part of 89 as part of the Arizona Centennial which was celebrated this year. I have to admit that I'm itching to do another road trip to the northern parts of the highway. Hopefully next year will see us back on the road.
Online
 In the last year the Society has dramatically increase its online presence. The blog, usroute89.com, that we started to record our 2010 road trip was transformed into our online magazine in early 2011. I am now posting to the blog at least twice a week and have instituted a couple of regular features. Every Friday, you can look forward to another Roadside Diversion article about a special place to visit. On Monday, I post an Event of the Week and a Website of the Week on the home page. Another on-going series is reviews of craft beer brewers who hand-craft fine beers for your enjoyment at the end of the days drive.
So how can you find out when a new article has been posted to the blog? You could check the blog every day and look for a new Featured Blog Post on the home page but that is rather tedious. The best way is to subscribe using RSS. Don't know what that is? Here is an article that answers the question What Is RSS? Be sure to watch the entertaining video at the bottom of the article.
The website for the US Route 89 Appreciation Society was offline for a few days earlier this year when our service provider went out of business without warning. We were able to recover and move the site to a new host. This prompted a review of the site and an upgrade in the content management system. My task now is to take advantage of new features and improve the usability of the site. I will let you know as these improvements come online.
Then there is Facebook. I do updates a couple of times a week and have been trying to improve our engagement with folks who "Like" us. If you are a Facebook user, you can join in the fun at facebook.com/usroute89
Affiliates
One of the ways that I have been exploring to provide benefits to visitors to our websites and to raise money for the Society is through affiliate marketing. As an affiliate, when products I recommend or advertise are purchased, the Society receives a commission. I am being very careful to become affiliated only with products that we use and believe will be useful to our visitors. I plan to slowly expand this program over the coming year and I promise to be as transparent about it as I can be. See the list below for details about our current affiliations.
Public Speaking
As you may recall, the US Route 89 Project was designated as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project. As part of the celebration of Arizona's 100th birthday, I created a presentation called Arizona's Main Street: Historic Highway 89. So far this year I have done the program eight times in cities ranging from Tucson to Wickenburg. I have been gratified by the response to the program and am looking for additional venues. If you know of an organization that would like to sponsor my talk, please let me know. I also put together a program especially for photographers which I have done for a couple of camera clubs.
The Future
As you can tell from the foregoing, we have been in a period of consolidation taking the photographs and research from our travels and getting them out to the public. Our time, energy and resources have gone into publishing in one form or another. It is important for us to continue in that vain and to build recognition for US Route 89 as a travel destination. At the same time we need to grow the Society and introduce new products and services. We have some exciting ideas in the planning stages. How about guided tours and photography workshops?
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| Affiliations | |
Teardrop 72
This is the company that built our teardrop trailer. It is located in Logan, Utah, and builds teardrops to order. Three people who have seen our trailer have purchased their own and we have received rave reviews from everyone. The Deal: members of the Society receive a 5% discount and the Society receives a 5% commission.
Digital Fusion
Digital Fusion is a dealer for Phase One medium format digital cameras and software. They have offered to support the Society with the following commissions on sales through our website:
- Purchase a Phase One medium format system or new Phase One Digital Back - DigitalFusion will donate 3% of the gross sale amount.
- Upgrade an existing Phase One Digital Back or trade-in from a competitive back to a new Phase One Digital Back - DigitalFusion will donate 1.5% of the gross sale.
- They also donate 20% of the gross profit for any Capture One 6 Pro, Capture 6 Express and Capture 6 upgrades.
Craft & Vision
Craft and Vision publishes books on photography in digital format. They are a great value at just $5 each and offer some of the best technical and aesthetic advice on photography that I have ever seen. I have learned much from these books. A new one comes out about once a month and is offered at a 25% discount for the first few days. I review each new book on the blog and publish the discount code. We receive a 30% commission on all sales when you use our affiliate link. To get acquainted with Craft and Vision ebooks, download 11 Ways to Improve Your Photography for free.
Amazon
I signed up as an Amazon Associate to provide specific books of interest to travelers such as map books and roadside guides. You'll find the appropriate books in the sidebar of the Road Trip Guides. I am also going to be reviewing products that we use on road trips and linking them for purchase on Amazon. Take a look at my review of the AeroPress coffee maker for instance. We receive a 4% to 10% advertising fee depending on the product and number of sales.
Do you have any suggestions for companies whose products would be beneficial to road trippers?
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| Phase One Digital Artist Series | |
Chris Benes from Digital Fusion emailed me about an upcoming workshop being conducted by PODAS in Monument Valley and the slot canyons near Page. From reading the description I'd have to say that this would be a fabulous experience for anyone interested in doing landscape photography with medium format cameras.
These are all-inclusive workshops with multiple instructors who are some of the finest photographers in our industry. The workshop fee includes everything, except the cost of getting to the pick up location. All your workshop transportation is provided, including room, all meals and beverages. In addition participants will have the use of a Phase One IQ160 camera with an 80mm LS lens.
For more information, go to the PODAS Monument Valley Workshop page on the Digital Fusion website.
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