NEWSLETTER NO. 1 OF 2009
AXIS OF EVIL MAPPING NEWSLETTER # 1, February, 2009
NEW TITLES THIS MONTH
Argentina 5th Ed. Waterproof, Marrakesh/Northern Morocco 1st Ed. waterproof Panama 5th Ed. waterproof Thailand 6th Ed. waterproof – details below
The Axis of Evil Mapping Newsletter is released irregularly. If you are not interested in receiving this newsletter, please email jack@itmb.com. Any opinions expressed are strictly those of myself and are not intended to provoke anything more than the intellect.
INTRODUCTION
So, we begin 2009. Happy New Year, Chinese, Tet, or Western. I think I’ll settle for a reasonably stable year after the roller coaster ride we had in 2008. What a doozy! We now have a new US president in the States and, while only American citizens voted, this election galvanized the world and everyone has high expectations of a super-human performance. It won’t be possible for one man to meet all hopes, so let’s focus on restoring confidence in America’s ability to manage its affairs (both economic and political) after eight disastrous years of governance by a well-intentioned but bungling super-religious nonentity.
ITMB, the world’s largest publisher of international travel maps, enters 2009 with modest hopes of improved sales. I do believe that the worst is over and that America is coming to terms with its mismanaged affairs, and this is the key to recovery. The war in Iraq does seem to be ending, at last; the attacks by Israel on Gaza are likely to be short term, and a concentrated effort to deal with the root causes of dissent in Afghanistan seems to be underway. However, the collapse of the map distribution network in the USA gives me the willies. We enter the year with Map Link struggling with Chapter 11, Treaty Oak moribund, and B&N reducing map coverage to a fraction of what they carried in the past. I don’t see any light at the end of that particular tunnel at the moment.
A LAST STAB AT HUMOUR FROM OUR CRUISE BEFORE WE HIT THE HEAVY STUFF
Cruise ships offer a lot of advantages. If one shops around, they are surprisingly affordable. Accommodation is usually very good, food is of good quality and abundantly available, shipboard activity is never-ending, and shore excursions in exotic ports of call give one the flavour of something different, with the ship nearby in case things get out of hand. They are also great sources of humour.
1. As I was in an elevator, the door opened and a puzzled older person outside asked if this elevator went to the front of the ship. Unable to think of anything appropriate to say, I shook my head and the doors slowly closed, as I continued upwards towards Deck 10 and chocolate chip cookies by the pool. A horizontal elevator – makes on think, doesn’t it! I still wonder if the person ever made it to the bow of the liner.
2. Overheard in the photo section, where pictures of guests are posted in their thousands, from first entering the liner to dinner to each port of call to formal portraits: one woman wailed ‘Ohmygod! Which ones are mine?’ ( Hint: the ones with you in the picture, lady).
3. Upon bumping into someone in Christchurch, NZ, with whom we’d dined on board the previous evening (but who apparently suffers from short-term memory loss): ‘Are you on the Milleneum too?’ (Hint: it’s the only cruise liner in town)
4. I heard one lady ask an attendant if the water in the swimming pool was fresh water or salt. Upon being advised that it was salt water, the lady nodded and said ‘Well, that would explain its being so wavy’. The ship was traversing the choppy Tasman Sea at the time, and the pool was, well, choppy.
5. Finally, there are the hoary old questions that people ask. Do the crew sleep on board as well? (No, they fly to land each night). Does the ship generate its own power? (No, it trails a long electric cord from Sydney to Auckland.) At what altitude are we sailing? (That’s a tough one. It varies, but frequently, at sea level). Do the toilets use fresh water or salt water? (Do you really care?) Where are the icebergs? (We’re a thousand miles north of Antarctica. Bergs melt before they can travel so far). Heard upon bumping into the Captain in a corridor: Goodness, who’s driving the boat? (Captain just grimaces and smiles.)
SLUMP IN VALUE OF THE BRITISH POUND
The British currency has been declining in value fairly steadily over the past year in relation to the Euro and to the $CDN. This helps UK exports, but makes imports more expensive. ITMB revised upwards its UK listed prices to 7.50GBP for country/regional maps and to 6.99GBP for city/recreational maps six months ago to deal with the slump. For the moment, we have no plans for a further revaluation, but we are monitoring the situation closely. You know, this would be an excellent time for Britain to adopt the Euro as its future currency.
MAILING COSTS UP, AGAIN
What’s with the post office? Each January, the cost of mailing a letter increases. No wonder fewer and fewer people mail items! We have just been advised that Canada Post rates inside Canada will increase in by two cents for a letter within Canada, but international rates will jump by up to forty cents. Guess what? We’ll be sending less and less by Canada Post.
2010 OLYMPICS and VANCOUVER/WHISTLER
This is the build-up year to the Winter Olympics 2010 and the ParaOlympic Olympic Games, which are being held in Vancouver and Whistler in early 2010. As this is an event of more than local interest, and, as many of you may be receiving queries from customers about these events, I’d like to spend a moment to note some of the highlights. The Skiing and ‘sliding’ (bobsledding) events will take place Whistler, about 80km north of Vancouver. ITMB has published two maps of particular interest for those attending or participating. Vancouver and Whistler shows all of the Olympic venues in both areas. Whistler/Sea to Sky Highway covers both localities at 1:250,000 scale to show all the Olympic venues, as well as a detailed map of Whistler. The athletes, their supporting organizations, and interested individuals are all going to want such maps before they leave home. Athletes are here now, practicing. The Jamaican bobsled team (no joke, they exist) are finding it difficult to find practice time on the sled run, as so many other national teams are here already. All Olympic venues are now complete, although several practice rinks are still under construction, as well as the new housing for athletes.
TRAVEL TRIVIA
The oldest continuously operating inn in North America is the Old Angel Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Ontario (close to Niagara Falls), dating from 1789. During the American Revolution (1775-1983), the British forces gradually left the rebellious colonies, retaining what is now western New York State until 1796. In 1789, Governor Simcoe moved his headquarters from Fort Niagara on the ‘American’ side of the Niagara River to Fort George, in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake. The inn was started to house visitors to the then-capital of British North America.
RETURNS POLICY WITH ITMB
In 2008, we were presented with a new and, to me, utterly bewildering phenomenon – customers wanting to return fifteen-year-old ITM maps for credit. Barnes & Noble started clearing their shelves in the spring and had the nerve to return to Map Link maps that had been printed as long ago as 1993 and actually expected ML to pass on their credit demand to us as the originating publisher. Sorry, but that’s absurd. We received two other similarly inappropriate requests from two European distributors who apparently expect us to credit them for any titles returned to them from retailers for any reason, no matter how old. Sorry, it ain’t gonna happen.
ITMB has a simple returns policy: any title received in damaged condition can be reported to us within 10 days of receipt and a credit will be issued and the damaged maps destroyed. Any ITMB title replaced by a new edition will be eligible for a credit if returned to us within one year of the date of release of the new edition. Credits are issued by ITMB against the firm’s account, and can be used at any time within the following twelve months. Credits will only be considered for titles replaced by newer editions during 2008, at this point, and only from customers who ordered the original material from ITMB.
To me, that seems pretty clear. The following are not eligible for credits: current editions, editions for which ITMB has run out of copies but has not released a new edition, and titles for which ITMB has not issued a new edition within the past twelve months. We also will only accept claims for short-shipments made known to us within ten days of receipt of the shipment by our customer. We also will not accept back inventory that is shop-worn or unsaleable, under any conditions, and will not accept claims from distributors who have accepted back dated returns from retailers.
It is the responsibility of retailers to sell what they purchase and to maintain in saleable condition what is on their shelves. It is the responsibility of distributors to notify retailers about new releases and to work with retailers to ensure that obsolete editions are removed from sale in a reasonable fashion, and to ensure that obsolete editions in their warehouses are removed from sale and sent back to ITMB in a timely fashion.
This has been our policy since we began publishing in the mid-1980s, so is not a change. This is a re-iteration of existing policy, as there appears to be a growing mis-understanding of the rights of customers to return merchandise or expect credit no matter what. I would be pleased to discuss our policy with anyone, but this policy is being passed on to staff and will be adhered to in the future. A complete list of titles eligible for credit consideration is available upon request.
ITMB Titles Out of Stock at the moment
We are quite well inventoried, if such a word exists. All 340 ITMB titles are available with two exceptions: Peru South and Lima, which we re-introduced for a brief time period in 2008 as a result of a return of 200 copies from B&N, has sold out again. We hope to update it and re-issue an improved edition in 2009. Our city map of Quito, Ecuador, has just today sold out. It not only needs updating, but a fresh approach, so will be unavailable for a few months. Sabah has 13 copies left in stock.
NEW TITLES January/February, 2009
Argentina Travel Reference Map 5th Ed. 2009 1:2,200,000, waterproof, ISBN 9781553411147 UPC 815534111456 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – The road network of South American countries continues to become more sophisticated, and we have done our best to reflect the expanding network of improved roads. I’m afraid we got a bit carried away in southern Chile and showed the improved highway to Puerto Montt as a motorway. One can but wish that someday it will be. Parts are expressway; other parts are twinned. The map is an excellent and useful map for Argentina and includes a very good inset map of Buenos Aires. Most of Uruguay and a fair amount of Paraguay are also included, due to the shape of Argentina. AVAILABLE.
Marrakesh/Northern Morocco Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:7,400/1:400,000 waterproof, ISBN 9781553416678 UPC 815534166784 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – This is our first title to arrive in 2009. The fabled city of Marrakesh (also can be spelled Marrakech), with its enormous Medina (old town) and its souks and mosques, is one of the most visited cities in Africa. This map is double-sided, with a very large-scale and detailed map of the city occupying one side, showing both the older Medina and the newer ‘French quarter’. Hotels, markets, squares, souks, palaces, and mosques are well-portrayed. The other side covers the northern half of Morocco and will assist drivers and those exploring Morocco as part of a tour. Insets of Rabat/Sale and Tangier are included. Printed on ITM plastic paper; AVAILABLE.
Panama Travel Reference Map 5th Ed. 2009 1:300,000 waterproof, ISBN 9781553413585 UPC 815534135858 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – I like Panama. In recent years, tourism has bloomed, and the country is actually investing a fair chunk of its tax revenue in improving its infrastructure. New roads, new schools, and improved medical services are evident. It is also a country of friendly, smiling faces. This edition is a minor update, as our previous edition sold out in record time. Printed on ITM plastic paper; AVAILABLE.
Thailand Travel Reference Map 6th Ed. 2009 1:900,000 waterproof, ISBN 9781553414339 UPC 815534143303 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – This was quite an extensive updating, to add many more urban areas and an entire classification of more modest roads. In spite of its political instability, Thailand is a wonderful country to visit, and this map shows road and rail connections, distances, and touristic attractions. We have added an inset map of Chiang Mai, as well as revising our Bangkok inset. Printed on ITM plastic paper; AVAILABLE.
NEW TITLES December, 2008
Chad Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:1,500,000 ISBN 9781553411635 UPC 815534116338 $12.95cdn/us E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
China West Half Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:3,000,000 ISBN 9781553410744 UPC 815534107428 $12.95cdn/us E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
Egypt Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:1,650,000 waterproof, ISBN 9781553411956 UPC 815534119513 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
Greece Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:650,000 waterproof ISBN 9781553412250 UPC 815534122575 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
India Travel Reference Map 5th Ed. 2009 1:2,100,000 5th Ed. 2009 1:2,100,000 waterproof ISBN 9781553412564 UPC 815534125675 – AVAILABLE.
India North and West Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:1,900,000 ISBN 9781553415497 UPC 815534154934 $12.95cdn/us E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
Mexico Border States Northeast Travel Reference Maps 1st Ed. 2009 1:1,000,000 ISBN 9781553415992 UPC 815534159908 $12.95cdn/us E8.95 7.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2009 1:400,000 ISBN 9781553418337 UPC 81553418361 $9.95cdn/us E7.95 6.50GBP – AVAILABLE.
Tokyo and Central Japan Travel Reference Map 3rd/1st Ed. 2009 1:15,000/1:850,000 ISBN 9781553417323 UPC 815534173218 $10.95cdn/us E7.95 6.50GBP – AVAILABLE.