I have been following this thread through the day, and am enjoying the good healthy discussion. It's refreshing... <grins>
I think the membership fees are a matter of perspective. I for one do not consider the fees as "buying the right to vote". I consider it as a way of showing my support for CLUG, but expect to have some input into how the money is handled. The only real way we have to provide that input, at this time, is either through open discussion or through votes. The discussion is available to anyone with an interest, or what we refer to as Tier 1 members. Voting - whether for executive positions, or special votes - is a way of saying what to do with the money, or at least who we are going to trust with our money. A member who has paid the membership fee has the right to select who they want to manage the fees. A non paying member, cannot reasonably expect a right to choose such a role. (There's always room for discussion, but please read this as the objective statement it is intended as.) CLUG does have some expenses to manage, as pointed out very well in previous messages. However, I see no need for us to be making a profit on membership fees. The money we do bring in covers our expenses, with a little left over for a rainy day fund (for lack of better terms right now). A choice was made at last year's AGM to take some of the left over money and put into a GIC. So, we continue to build our rainy day fund, but not with additional expenses to our members. If we wanted to be making a profit, we would just need to bump the cost of membership - not something I would vote for at this time. Now, one of the questions that has been asked is something along the lines of "Why doesn't CLUG do that?", in response to bringing in big name speakers. I agree, why not? BUT, doing so takes a lot of planning. Your current executive is already trying to bring in more presentations from companies in related fields (Novell, IBM, etc), but we do have bills to pay as well, so understandably need to put CLUG's interests aside for at least some part of each work day <grins>. (Disclaimer: two of us have much more flexible schedules though, so hopefully this will help.) If anyone really feels strongly on this topic and want's to bring in the big names, please take some time to get the ball rolling, but please keep the exec notified. That's not to say the executive won't be doing so as well, but our current focus is to address some immediate needs. A big name speaker probably is something we'll be better prepared to look at ourselves sometime in the near future (month or two or three???) With regards to future plans for cash, let me ask you this: Is it better to collect money for some big, but undertermined thing/event in the future? Or to first decide what we want the money for, then make an effort to collect the necessary funds to meet that goal? For me, I'd rather know in advance what the money is for. Then, when we ask for money, I don't feel so much like we are begging. I am not comfortable "asking" for donatations, without a pre-determined goal. But, this is YOUR club - I just get to stand at the helm for a little while... :) So I'll not take any action until I have a feeling for the club's desires, at least for larger issues like this.. :) However, Ian and others have raised a great point. Anyone can make a donation anytime they'd like. We are not currently a charity, so cannot offer a tax receipt, but that doesn't mean a donatation would be turned away. I will not ask for donations from our members, but will thank them nonetheless if they do decide to make one. Instead of "passing the hat" at our meetings, how about we simply set up a collection pot/penguin near the door, explain what it is for, and where it is, and leave it at that? If there's anything in there at the end of the night, we're a little better off. This will allow for semi-anonymous donations. If someone want's to make a public donation, they can let us know, and we'll set aside a few minutes to say thank you to them and make note of the donation on our website (unless the donor does not want their name publicized like that). Finally, with regards to the BBQ, this has traditionally been a summer activity (to the best of my knowledge - I've only attended one...). So isn't it a little soon to be planning one?? <grins> Besides, this IS Calgary - I expect 6 feet of snow to arrive anytime in the next month.. :) My thoughts. Shawn On Thursday 07 April 2005 14:48, Travis Rousseau wrote: > On Apr 7, 2005 2:17 PM, Ian Wormsbecker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Robert Campbell wrote: > > > I support the idea of a membership, and I'll be signing up at the next > > > meeting for my tier 2 membership. > > > > > > However, I do think that the idea of $2 dues at monthly meetings is a > > > great idea. It will build up the kitty that much faster and allow us > > > to do different things. > > > > I personally am not suggesting 'dues'. I am suggesting voluntary > > donations. > > I consider my membership fee just a little donation to clug but thats > just a diffrent way to look at it. > > Travis R. _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
