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One Last Thought
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Abline, Robert (Bob), CFCTR
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May 01, 2005 13:19 PDT
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MPC members,
Friday nights' discussion was in many regards a very good thing. People got to voice their opinions about things and, in my judgment, allowing people to speak their minds is always a good thing. It's not always easy or at times pleasant to hear, but nevertheless a good thing.
As you, if you attended, recall one member brought up the heretical idea that we might consider NOT meeting every Friday and I know there was considerable feelings against that and that's ok. However, I'd just like to present a wee bit of factual information into that discussion (and yes I know that some people just hate facts because it flies in the face of their opinions, but sometimes it's necessary to check out facts.)
If you go online and look at the NJFCC Member Clubs page you'll discover that they list 26 clubs. Of those 26 only 5 have scheduled meetings every week. That's about 20%. About 9 clubs meet ONCE a month, while 10 or so meet twice a month with a few meeting about 3 times a month. Interesting point is that about 75% of the clubs listed meet either once a month of twice a month. AND - very important point - NO other club in the state meets on FRIDAY night! One of the points made Friday was that the members would be confused and not know when meetings were held. It would appear that some feel that the MPC members are somehow less bright than the members in 75% of the other clubs in the state and would be unable to coordinate a calendar and schedule... not very complementary.
If you want to see MPC continue ( and I think we all do) into the future you have to ask why we get a number of people in the doors but very very few who return. You may decide that meeting every Friday night is NOT something a lot of people are willing to do. Nearly everyone agrees that in order for the club to sustain itself, new members are key. Last year we made the "radical" change to include prints into competitions during the year. That has not proven to be the solution to the membership problem. One needs to ask WHAT IS the solution, IF ANY? Maybe, just maybe, it's that every Friday night thing!
That's one person's opinion.
Regards,
Bob
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