Re: [AGA SC] Membership Committee Initiatives

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

--- Karen Randall <krandall@rdrcpa.biz> wrote:
> . . .  But 800-900
> was NOTY "critical
> mass for AGA until we went to color


I'm not talking about critical number of memberships to
readh fiancial breakeven. I mean critical mass like the
Pellia that won't grow until, like the forums that just
sort of languish until, like the organization whose
membership did not have a strong growth trend until
reaching a critical mass.

> . . . we
> decided to try to make
> the leap to color.  We felt like we needed to give more
> back to the members.


And I can't see how we could go back -- in an intensely
visual hobby, how could we be in black and white and expect
strong growth in membership? I don't think that's an option
anymore.

> 

> . . .Except for inflation, (whcih can be addressed
trhough
> dues increases)

Yes, and the weird thing about inflation is that everyone
expects rpices to keep going up. No one expect inflation to
end.

>  the
> marginal cost   . . . so the marginal
> cost per new member  . . .Still gives you a LOT of wiggle
room for
> "promotions".

Excellent!
> 
> What we need to watch carefully is that we are actually
> parlaying promotions
> into INCREASED membership, rather than ending up reducing
> membership costs
> for current members. 


This will be very easy to see -- either the number of
members is bigger or not. Rarely does as project have such
a clear and objective and quantifiable performance measure.

> . . . REPLACING about 20% of their membeship
> annually just to
> keep membership numbers stable, as people move on to new
> and different
> hobbies)

We might be doing that, hanging around 800-900 or we might
be replacing more or less. I don't think we know the
composition of memberships. We don't know how long each
member has been a member, do we? Only when their last
membership started.

> 
> > Note that I'm not at the other extreme. I'm not
> suggesting
> > that it would be prudent to do what, for exdample,
> Amazon
> > did and intentionally lose a large fortune for several
> > years just to build up market recognition and a
> customer
> > base.
> 
> Although, that's kinda what we did going to color TAG ;-)

Yes it was. But not nearly as extreme. The parallel would
be more like if we went to color with 50 pages and sold
memberships for $5 and put TAG out 12 times a year. I'm not
suggesting *that* kind of thing.

 
> While I agree completely that AGA can't rest on it's
> laurels, and needs to
> CONTINUE to grow along with the hobby, I think you
> "youngun's" might need a
> bit of a history lesson/-reminder, here.  AGA is _not_
> following on the
> coat-tails of the planted tank movement.  AGA STARTED the
> planted tank
> movement.  

The two are not mutually exclusive. Henry Ford might have
started "cars for the many," but eventually a model T just
didn't cut it anymore. Ford never lead the industry again.

> AGA started things. . . Before that, there were
> just a very few
> lonely, quirky aquarium hobbyists here and there that,
> for some reason,

And when did we stop being quirky? ;-)

> 
> Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been in the hobby long
> enough to remember
> the "good old days".<g>  When I think that 5 or 6 years
> ago, AGA was STILL a
> group of just FIVE individuals struggling to push this
> gigantic cart into
> motion, it takes my breath away to see how far we've come
> since then.  You
> may find it ammusing to know that there was a motion by
> one person to
> actually LIMIT memberships at one point because they
> thought the
> organization was getting too big.<g>  I think the
> misperception back then
> was that "THE AGA" was much bigger and more secure than
> it was.  We had
> money, but that's ALL we had.<g>  I often felt like we
> were "the man behind
> the curtian" in the Wizard or Oz.... Or don't you guys
> remember that one
> either? ;-)

I don't think anyone is questioning the importance AGA has
(and had). Rather questioning how it will maintain it's
role -- whether it will continue to be a major element 

WE could become as big as the ACA or as small as the
Anthracite Collectors Club*

> 
> OK, stern talking-to by Grandma is over now.<g>

I'd prefer a stern lesson from you to an awful lot of other
things ;-)  .



* The Anthracite Collectors Club is a couple of people who
think it's neat to collect pieces of low grade coal.
> 


sh

=====
-  -   -   -   -   -   -   -
AGA 2004 Annual Convention
Designing The Nature Aquarium -- demonstrated by Takashi Amano
Paludarium design  -- Mike Senske
Planted Aquarium Ecology  -- Diana Walstad
Cryptocorynes -- Jan D. Bastmeijer 
Field Trip, workshops and more, Nov 12, 13 & 14; 
Marriott Crystal Gateway, Arlington, VA, USA
Details & Registration at www.aquatic-gardeners.org  & www.gwapa.org

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