RENEWAL LETTER Correction & C34IA Membership Dues

[Stu Jackson]

Many of you have received renewal letters from me for return by April 1, 2009.

Many of you have already noted to me by email that the amount of the C34IA membership dues appears nowhere on that letter!

Woops, I goofed.    We redid the letter and left it out.  So much for improvements!!!   

Dues are:  $25 for one year       $45 for two years

[Roger Blake]

Would it be possible to post the date our subscribtion will be up in our profile section? Also, I'd be happy to receive an email notifying me that my dues are, well, due, instead of a letter...save the postage and envelope costs. ---RAB

[Stu Jackson]

We're all for good ideas, and please keep 'em coming.  I thought I'd respond to yours, Roger, with reasons that would preclude its immediate implementation and with real explanations of why not.  We owe it to you all.

Not all members of the Association have email addresses.  Oh, really?  Yup, only about 68%.  So, we don't want to miss anything or anyone when renewal time comes around.  Many people change their edresses, and not everyone lets everybody else know: that does happen.  I think many of you wouldn't be surprised at how many quarterly snail mail address changes we get back from the Mainsheet publisher, and how disappointed members are when they miss their Mainsheet magazines after they move...

The user names and electronic addresses used on this MB, in many cases, bear no relationship whatsoever to actual C34 owner's real names and sometimes their edresses because of work Internet connections and multiple home email addresses.  That's one of the reasons why we continue to recommend that you use your real names on this board.  There are twice as many Message Board REGISTRANTS than there are C34IA Members.  Many Registrants on this board are still "here" on this Board even though they are inactive or have sold their boats.  Many Registrants own C34s but have not yet joined the C34IA.  We encourage them to do so to support the activities of the C34IA, which provides this very service.  See: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2768.0.html  There are lots of folks who read and register for this board because of the knowledge available and aren't C34 owners.  See the Clarifications thread here for the difference between Message Board "Registrants" and "C34IA Members" discussion:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4782.0.html

The C34IA Membership database is maintained on a File Maker Pro database, and has been almost ever since the inception of the Association in 1987, and we maintain the records of everyone who ever joined the C34IA.  We develop the mailing list for Mainsheet magazine from that database for Nanosec, who mails the magazines to you all.

Keeping track of the written paper renewal system is part of our process and has worked well for the past ten years I've been doing it and during the many years before that.  Duplicating that effort by email, while perhaps saving some small amount of our budgeted postage, would be cumbersome, repetitive and time consuming.  It's not like we haven't thought about it, Roger, but the technology just isn't there yet, and this Board is not the place to do so because of the reasons discussed here.

Please also note that this is a standalone Message Board, and is not linked to any other databases or C34IA records.  This Message Board was selected for use as an ongoing search-able list of data: messages and pictures, beyond the "static" portions of the C34IA main website.  See: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2629.0.html  The purpose of the Message Board and the Forum with the local Fleets is to maintain communication between interested C34IA members and Message Board registrants (AND other boat owners who don't own C34s) who wish to share their interests.  Feeding electronic data to or from this Forum or into and out of our C34IA membership database was NOT what this Message Board was designed for.  This interactive Message Board works extremely well on its own for its intended purpose.

Your Officers last year (2008) developed a Website Subcommittee which, with a tremendous amount of help from a very small handful of volunteers, has migrated the entire content of the huge FAQs and Projects to the new and interactive wiki.  It is but one step of many, indicating that we're always open to suggestions.

Another important improvement developed by your Officers this past year has been the introduction of the PayPal system for C34IA dues.  The written renewal letters trigger C34IA members for their renewal payments and they now have two choices for payment: snail mail with checks or PayPal.  PayPal will make it easier for everyone: C34IA members to renew, new owners to join, and our overseas brethren to join or renew.

We're not adverse to changes, and are continually looking for ways to streamline our process.  Until an "automation" system is available for membership, given this discussion, and electronically linked where it needs to be, we'll keep what works working.  And we'll keep looking for those computer savvy individuals and computer programs and programmers that will help us out.  We are doing so on an ongoing basis.

You may also not be aware that most other associations farm their membership records and renewals out to Nanosec, the company that mails the Mainsheet magazines.  That "outsourcing" costs three or four times what we invest in our efforts, and we decided to continue to do that ourselves to keep your C34IA  membership costs low and competitive.

Thanks again for your idea, and please let me know if there is anything we can do, and if you or others have any comments on this or anything else.

[prh77]

How do I know the status of my membership? I can't remember if I did a one or two year, also I misplaced the paperwork and would like the # for the BoatUS discount.

[Stu Jackson]

1.  We send out renewal notices, twice, by snail mail, so you don't have to keep records of that.  You could check your check book register to find out when you last paid, but we try to do it for you.

2.  You could email me to the email address for me in your Mainsheet magazine and ask.  It's mraquaq [at] aol [dot] com.  Please, everyone, don't ask - it'll just create more unnecessary work for us - we'll let you know -- see #1.

3.  phr77 - I looked you up on our database and you do not appear.  That's because all I have to search for you is your email address from this MB.  See the text of my long discussion above on this very thread as to how email addresses may change and may not be the same on this board as what you use for signing up for the C34IA.  That's also why we suggest you use real names but that's your choice.

So, please, help us to help you and take the time to implement what we continue to request in this "Identification" thread, because the more info you give us the better we can help you.  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,1506.0.html

As far as we know our information is secure, so you're not exposing yourselves to any spam.  Please see the thread "Email Addresses", too, here: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4883.0.html

See my avatar and my signature for an example of the helpful information you can provide.