The Joy of Bocce Weekly
 In This Issue: Vol. I, Issue 49 - December 30, 2002 
•   Notes from the publisher
•   We need FEEDBACK
•   The year in review
•   What's new for 2003?
•   The ezine format
•   Bocce product of the week
 Notes from the publisher
The Joy of Bocce Weekly
The FREE weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume #1, Issue #50 December 30, 2002
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2002 http://www.joyofbocce.com

Come visit us often at joyofbocce.com. We have bocce info, merchandise, links to other great bocce sites, and the best selling bocce instructional book in the USA.

Order Now @ just $12.95 by clicking on the book image to the right. {Price hike to $13.95 after the first of the year!}

Order America's best-selling bocce instruction book

 The year in review
Happy New Year to all!

Well, we made it through a year of publishing The Joy of Bocce Weekly. I thought a little reflection was in order…on the ezine, and on bocce in general.

When first launched, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make this a true weekly, but we made it. One reader, a weekly ezine publisher himself, wrote early on cautioning me about how ambitious an undertaking a weekly would become. He was right of course. But it has been a labor of love.

The primary goal was to promote the game we love and to be a voice for unifying the game. It really irritates me that horseshoes (a good game, but one that can't hold a candle to ours) is so well standardized while bocce suffers from what appears to be in-fighting and petty jealousies.

I've met some "characters" on the bocce circuit, but in the final analysis, I just have a hard time disliking anybody who loves bocce.

Here's hoping that The Joy of Bocce Weekly can continue to grow and perhaps help make a difference in unifying the game. Just by serving as a sounding board for ideas might help us make big strides this year.

 The ezine format
We started with plain text for the first 18 issues (and had a few formatting problems which still appear in the archived issues - which you can find at Back Issues on www.joyofbocce.com). Then we switched to HTML templates and experimented with several layouts and color schemes before settling on the current "Natural" style. Readers seem to like it as feedback has been largely favorable both for the content and the format.

Sal Fauci of Endicott, NY's comment summed things up nicely...

"I think your weekly e-mag is a wonderful idea and will go a long way to further popularize this excellent sport that combines social as well as athletic skills. I look forward to the next edition."

View Back Issues of Joy of Bocce Weekly

 We need FEEDBACK
My job as publisher is a great deal easier when readers submit questions, comments, feedback, and especially photos. It makes things simpler for me when readers REPLY to the questions posed or to the requests for FEEDBACK. For those who have done so, thank you and please continue to contribute.

Those who haven't yet, please considering tapping that REPLY link and giving us your two-cents worth. You'll be helping us all get a clearer picture of bocce in the USA and you'll be doing your part to help the ezine grow, which will in turn (I hope), help the game to grow.

"Photos of the week" has consistently been the biggest attraction. Readers love viewing courts and pictures of families enjoying the game. Thanks to all those who were kind enough to submit photos. Please continue to do so. Bocce court pics and action shots are preferable to posed photos of trophy winners. If possible, please include a little background to serve as a caption.

Five questions I'd like Feedback on...Please REPLY...

Is the Joy of Bocce Weekly too long?

Too frequent? (Should it be bi-weekly or monthly instead of weekly?)

Are you OK with me pitching a bocce product and a non-bocce product every issue?

What do you think about me taking on paid ads for bocce products or even non-bocce products?

What kinds of articles do you want to see this year?

 What's new for 2003?
New bocce logo – I've commissioned award-winning graphic artist Stephanie Karley of Salem, NH to create a Joy of Bocce logo (that's a first draft of it to the right).

Hey, an easily identifiable image is important – maybe I’ll put it on t-shirts and caps. It will definitely grace the cover of the second edition of The Joy Of Bocce which I hope I can produce by the summer of 2003. Originally published by Masters Press which was bought out by McGraw-Hill, the new owners thought bocce too obscure to keep in print. Anybody out there have any clout with book acquisitions editors?

This weekly has leveled off at about 5000 subscribers and we hope to approach 10,000 in 2003. Your word-of-mouth advertising will help. Also, I hope to free-lance some bocce articles in mass market periodicals which should help add subscribers.

I intend to find more good products at better prices for readers (both bocce products and non-bocce products). The ezine generates more bocce product sales than non-bocce ones because people are here for bocce.

Also, they don’t know me well enough to trust that I know about these other excellent products and would not recommend them if I wasn’t sure of their safety and effectiveness (for example OPC-3 is absolutely the best product I have ever come across – right now there are placebo controlled, double blind studies going on that I am sure will verify its effectiveness as an anti-oxidant and its benefits to sufferers of arthritis, joint pain, allergies, and a host of other maladies).

Check out OPC-3, the Super Anti-Oxidant

 Bocce product of the week
I hadn't intended a bocce product of the week this issue but this was too good to overlook.

Rico Daniele has brokered a deal with a Keene, NH bottler to create soft drinks, tea, and water with his bocce character logos on the label.

Daniele has worked tirelessly to get bocce into the public parks and school systems in the East. He commissioned an artist to relate the planets of our solar system to bocce characters. For example, the character Mars is #47 because he is 4th from the sun and 9th largest.

His private label, 12-oz. "Bocce Planetary Drinks" include Bocce Ball Orange, Bocce Brew Root Beer, Bocce Vanilla Cream Soda, Bocce Brew Sarsaparilla, Bocce Brewed Lemon Iced Tea, Bocce Natural Sparkling Water, Bocce Bottled Spring Water and other flavors.

Call Rico at 1-800-BOCCE54 for details or to order. Or email him at BOCCE54@aol.com. Liven up your New Year's party with these 12-oz. bocce drinks!

Last week's photos held over - Shady Oak Cellars Winery & Bocce Club

Merchandise still available at joyofbocce.com

Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.
 Check out the merchandise