On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 11:05 AM, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:

So what did they these members do? Just pay their fees?

Gordo

-- "Think Feynman"///////// http://pobox.com/~gordo/ gordon.joly@pobox.com///

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It was a real mix - some members saw the membership fee as a kind of donation and didn't ask for anything much in return. We sent out useful information, as well as information on what we were doing, and some members joined mostly for that. We also gave advice (not something the chapter will be doing), and a lot of members joined for that - but they didn't usually need ongoing advice, so it was important that they began having some other involvement.

Only a minority of members - probably a small minority - joined with the intention of getting involved in the governance of the organisation, but it was good that the others had the opportunity. Plenty of members, over time, decided to get involved with proposing activities or policies, standing for the board, and attending AGMs. If people join us as friends, that introduces an extra hurdle in getting them involved in the chapter in this way.

Best Wishes Mickey