Thank you John.
Fellow Clubmakers
There seems to be some confusion in the clubmaking world about what the AGCP
is. Please allow me to tell you what it is as the founder and Executive
Director.
The AGCP is a professional organization dedicated to promoting custom
clubmaking and educating all clubmakers, either hobbyist or a professional.
Was it always this way? No, frankly the AGCP has gone through many changes
since the day I started trying to update my knowledge and educate myself
about what had changed since I left the clubmaking world in the mid 70s
until the time I returned in 2003. It started as a small elist with maybe 10
or 12 clubmakers swapping information and has grown and matured into an
organization that Tom Wishon thinks enough of to announce to his ETech list
to join the AGCP. You can be assured that Tom's goals and mine are aligned
or he would not have made that endorsement. Tom and I are in constant
contact and he has watched the AGCP grow from it's inception as a way to
chat for 10 or 12 clubmakers.
Just like when I was first born and only weighed about 5 or 6 pounds and I've
changed quite a bit and grown quite a bit in 61 years, the AGCP is bigger
and changed quite a bit since 2003. In the past 2 years since the AGCP began
charging for membership to offset the expense of operating, each year we
have lost half of our membership by increasing our dues at renewal time. We
went from a voluntary $39 per year to a mandatory $49 per year and lost half
of the membership. The next year we had grown past our previous high in
membership numbers and our web site had grown and we had an Annual
Educational event known as the AGCP Roundtable. Again to offset the expense
of operations and to offset some of the losses I had in my golf shop by
operating the AGCP I raised the dues from $49 to renew to $229 to renew.
Once again we lost about half of our membership. Now it is July and we are
back to our previous high in membership even with the dramatically increased
dues and we have 5 more months in the year. We are adding 5 to 10 members a
month and have been for the past few years. Even though, I suspect come
January our membership will drop once again as it has in the past. Also
again next year I expect our membership to increase over the previous year
once again. But, unlike the past two years there will no increase in the
renewal rate this year so I suspect the drop outs will be somewhat lower
than in previous years and the growth will be faster.
We have grown into a "one for all, all for one" organization with the goal
of making all members as good as our best members in club building, club
fitting, and business operations. We discuss not only the technical side of
club building for clubmakers, the technical side of club fitting for
clubfitters but we also discuss how to operate a successful business too.
The business part may have caused some confusion for some, but just because
we discuss business operations, operating ratios, mark up, profit margins,
pricing, marketing and advertising, does not mean we do not have plenty of
technical discussions about how to put the metal thingy on the round thingy
and which end to put the rubber thingy on too. We do not believe that there
is any such thing as a dumb question. If you don't know something and you
want to ask a question, your question will be answered respectfully. We
discuss every aspect of club building, club fitting and business operations.
If you are a hobbyist, we have some of the world's best clubmakers in our
organization and they answer questions every day from any member regardless
of the level of the question. If you can't learn in the AGCP, it isn't the
fault of the AGCP. Any clubmaker can join the AGCP. Only the vendors who
sell us products are not allowed to join. This to prevent being embarrassed
by a vendor because you don't do business like he thinks you should, to the
point you are afraid to post a question. This will happen once in the AGCP
and the offending party will be restricted so they can't do it again.
Insulting and demeaning comments will not be tolerated. They may be fine in
a debate or in politics, but we are a professional peer group organization
and we are all about clubmaking, clubfitting and business, we are not a
debate society. If a member wants to debate they can write me privately.
There is not need to waste the time of all members to have to read it.
I might suggest that if you are looking for a group to join to advance your
knowledge, please contact an AGCP member rather than asking someone who has
not been a member. A member knows what really goes on in the AGCP and no non
member can address what we do honestly because we are a dynamic organization
and we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our members, we are not a
static organization. The AGCP is not the same as it was a year ago and surly
not what it was 2 years ago.
Thank you for reading.
I would also like to let you know that our AGCP Roundtable is open to
anyone. You do not have to be a member to attend. Member rates are lower,
but anyone can register and attend until we fill up. We have a $100 Savings
until August 15th that was extended from July 15th for TWGT customers. I
will extend that to you and anyone else also.
Here is the schedule
http://www.agcpgolf.com/html/roundtable_schedule_of_events.html (there have
been some additions that have not been added yet but this basically it)
Here is a general information page with links to Hotels etc.
http://www.agcpgolf.com/html/agcp_roundtable_education_expo.html
We are about 60% full and have room left and you are welcome. If you are
considering joining the AGCP too, there is a special offer for becoming a
new member and registering that will save you an additional $50.
If you have questions I will be happy to answer them here or you can write
me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thank you all for reading,
AGCP - Greatest "Little" Club Clubfitters Organization in the World
Roy Nix
McNix Custom Golf
www.McNixGolf.com
Founder: Assoc. of Golf Clubfitting Professionals
www.agcpgolf.com
Certified Rifle Center
706-324-7490
On Time Printing
www.NixOnTimePrinting.com
"Some men see things as they are and say why... I dream of things that never
were and say why not."
- George Bernard Shaw
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 8:28 AM
Subject: ShopTalk: AGCP news
Roy Nix of the AGCP has some news about the upcoming clubmakers Roundtable
and also wanted to clear up some things that he's read online at other
discussion groups about the AGCP. I gave him the ok on this.
--
Thanks!
John Muir
shoptalk
http://clubmaker-online.com
http://gripscience.com
http://elevongolf.com
http://thedriverstudio.com
810.923.7396
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