John, It is not about technology, or price (to print), or keeping the list in a form to make printing easy (of course the NASG keeps a membership roster/database). Sadly it is about the NASG's liability, the resulting risks to members, and the world we live in these days.
In my opinion (I am just one member), the NASG can no longer afford the liability that comes with printing and distributing such a directory, and many members may not want the risk of such a publication (I know I personally do not). In a world where there are such rampant issues as identity theft and targeted home invasions/theft, who really wants to be identified as a collector or having a home layout with their name, address and phone published? Many people have unlisted phones or use cell phones these days, and who wants those published, or even their home phones? Remember that with today's technology that printed directory can be in electronic form and added to telemarketing databases within about 5-10 minutes. It is a sad commentary of the world we live in. Identify theft is real - both my son and parents (who do not even use the Internet) have been hacked. And I can personally vouch from personal experience that member data from other organizations that I have belonged to and published such a directory has made it into telemarketing databases, as I used to code my address to see where all it ended up. Quite frankly it is scary some time. As just one member, I strongly support the NASG discontinuing the printed membership directory. Perhaps the people who would like to have their information distributed should just get together, select a volunteer from within the group, and collect, print and publish such a directory. I will also note that the NASG is not the only organization adopting this policy -- the NMRA has under the leadership of their legal counsel also done a much more in depth review of this area, and also decided to discontinue a member directory. And many other organizations are doing so as well... Regards Michael Greene Sent from my iPad On Mar 23, 2013, at 11:17 PM, John METZGER <[email protected]> wrote: > My dad, John W. Metzger, was the data base person for the NASG group in the > early 1990's for about 8 years. He kept a list of who was ever in the NASG at > that time. When the membership expired, it was placed in an inactive file, > but kept so that a reminder post card was sent to remind of past due dues. > All it took was to run a copy of the membership list, give it to Pete at > Goelner Printing, and it was printed in the Dispatch. Are we as a group not > keeping a membership roster? The data base roster is what was used to print > the August issue. > > Sent from my iPhone > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
