This project

Peggy Wilkins mozart@lib.uchicago.edu
Fri, 25 Jul 2003 01:29:55 -0500


Dan brings up some interesting questions about any possible results of
this project; I will take this opportunity to make it clear what I
think about this, and why.

    Dan> Am I skeptical about the efficacy of this project?
    Dan> Unfortunately, yes.  There have been too many signals of
    Dan> indifference from PEI for me to hold out much hope.
    Dan> Personally, as much as I have apparently annoyed Donna and as
    Dan> much as she has in fact annoyed me, I am glad she is here.
    Dan> She is the only person "in the business" who has had the
    Dan> courage to speak her mind.  She is also the only one of cares
    Dan> enough to participate.  I admire her on both counts.

    Dan> But where were the people from PEI when we were in Chicago at
    Dan> Glamourcon?  For one weekend, some the the best minds and
    Dan> most loyal readers were gathered in Chicago--on their own per
    Dan> diem--and who from PEI cared?  As hard as you have tried to
    Dan> get PEI participation in this project you have been
    Dan> stonewalled.  Will your final report ever get into the hands
    Dan> of Mr. Hefner?  Or Mr. Kaminsky?  I hope so, but I certainly
    Dan> wouldn't bet my milk money on it.  To be honest, I hope so
    Dan> primarily for your sake.

I see PEI from a very different perspective than you do here.  You are
correct that I have been stonewalled in getting participation here,
and that is ultimately fine with me, though I am disappointed about
it.  I don't and can't know their reasons, and they are under uncommon
strain nowadays, so I simply deal with what I have been given.  But I
don't see them as unresponsive at all.  On the contrary, I have seen
time after time where they listened to comments and advice and acted
on it.  Much of this is from a few years back, but it does demonstrate
that somebody cares.

Actually, I will tell you exactly who cares -- Hugh Hefner cares.  I
have seen many comments I have made, either personally to him or in
the public forum of the PML, made a reality in the magazine.  I
commented how much I missed classical music reviews, and classical
music reviews returned to the magazine on a regular basis after an
absence of many years.  I commented on how I wanted to see more
attractive ads on the back cover of the magazine, and darned if that
didn't happen.  We let them know how much we cared about the Playmates
of the past, and I'll be willing to bet anything that those
discussions helped them decide to start the Playmate Revisited and
Playmate News features.  Playmate Revisited may not have lasted, but
they were willing to try it; and Playmate News is still ongoing.  I
think our conversations were an eye opener for them in that respect.
I remember talking about how Lisa Winters was an unacknowledged PMOY,
and soon thereafter she was acknowledged in the magazine (1/97) as the
first PMOY; they still repeat the information about the PMOY that I
wrote in their PMOY press kits (the last one I saw was Dalene Kurtis'
in 2002), and it's also been incorporated into their Playmate FAQ.  I
used to despair about the thin paper they were printing on circa
'94-'95, and they started printing on super thick paper after that.
It may have been temporary, but the problem was resolved and they have
never returned to paper so thin, thank heavens.  I complained about
the subscriber copies getting matte covers instead of the glossy ones
that newsstand readers got, and they stopped sending out the matte
ones.  Subscribers now get top quality issues just like the newsstand
buyers do; they have not gone back on this, even though it must cost
them more money.  Somebody cared; somebody was listening.

I know from the times that I have talked with Hugh Hefner that he is
always interested in hearing comments about the magazine, and he takes
them very seriously.

Last summer when I was at the Butterfield's auction, I talked briefly
to Bill Farley.  I told him that I was continually astounded at their
willingness to listen to comments and to do things about them.  He
responded to me that that interest came right from the top -- from
Hugh Hefner.

I don't expect PEI to listen to anything we say in this project.  They
are of course completely free to do anything they wish, including
throwing our comments in the trash unread.  If they don't read it,
fine.  If they read it but don't act on it, fine.  I have no problem
with that.

So why am I doing this?  Many reasons.  My primary reason is very
selfish, and I've admitted this openly before: I want PLAYBOY to be a
magazine that I want to read.  I want it to continue to have personal
meaning to me.  I want it to be *my* magazine.  This is of course very
personal.  This is also a creative endeavor for me.  Like most
creative endeavors, this is something I have no choice about: it found
me, took hold of me, and I am powerless to stop it.  I can't not do
this.  And finally there is my belief that what we say here can help
PLAYBOY, one way or another; it may even help them a lot.

I won't deign to predict in what way what we say here may help (or
not).  Anything could happen; the possibilities remain open.

Will Hugh Hefner see the final written product?  If I have anything to
say about it, he will; and I suspect he will find it to be very
interesting.  He has already expressed interest in it in the letter I
shared with you all.  I am only sorry this is taking so long; but
things will unfold at their own pace.  This time taken has been very
beneficial for me, and the fruits of it will be realized in the final
written product.

Whatever is going on with PLAYBOY right now, in the current issues,
keep a couple things in mind.  This is a time of flux, and things are
bound to be unstable.  I think they are trying different things, and
this is good; this is a time for them to judge response to what
they're doing (especially in newsstand sales -- that's where it
matters most).  And remember that Hugh Hefner is still Editor In
Chief, he is willing to listen, and if he can be convinced of
something, he absolutely has the power to make it so.  We are dealing
with ideas here, and ideas are very powerful.

If I can help in any small way, I have served my purpose.  If we can
help in a larger way, all the better.  I for one cannot ignore the
chance to be heard.

And now that I have said all this, I notice it is my birthday... and
I'm off for a little R&R.

Peggy Wilkins
mozart@lib.uchicago.edu