[plug] Plug membership drive?

[Russell Hobman]

I second this question. what are the benefits for country members??

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Ben Jensz [SMTP:jensz at wn.com.au]
> Sent:	Thursday, January 10, 2002 3:24 PM
> To:	plug at plug.linux.org.au
> Subject:	Re: [plug] Plug membership drive?
> 
> Talking about PLUG membership, how much does it cost, and how would one go
> about joining if they weren't located in Perth?
> 
> 
> / Ben
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "skribe" <skribe at amber.com.au>
> To: <plug at plug.linux.org.au>
> Cc: "linux.conf.au" <conf at plug.linux.org.au>
> Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 2:02 PM
> Subject: [plug] Plug membership drive?
> 
> 
> At Harry's suggestion I've moved this thread to the plug list:
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> In the last episode....
> 
> Daniel started by saying:
> 
> I know Tony put something on the list recently about membership, however
> I discussed plug membership with someone else who is on the list today and
> I found out they didn't even know how much it cost.
> 
> Then skribe chimed in by saying:
> 
> IMHO a PLUG membership lack benefits.  Sure you get access to the library
> and
> you get a spark account, but if you don't need these then apart from being
> philantropic there is little reason to pay up.  The mailing list is free.
> The web site support is free.  I think both should stay that way.  But if
> we're after a membership drive (ie. money) we need to value add.
> 
> The first place I would start is introducing a membership card.  Then we
> could hopefully arrange discounts at shops/services.
> 
> To which Leon replied:
> 
> You might be able to do stuff like get movie houses to offer a small
> discount
> on sighting the card, there are many people who would give you a discount
> if
> you simply asked for it, but most people won't. OTOH, if you sell them a
> card
> and list people who'll offer discounts on sighting the card, there are a
> class of people who will go around making sure they get every discount,
> thus
> ``saving'' heaps of money - scratch, scratch, never quite been able to
> figure
> that one out. That's how shop-a-docket works.
> 
> And skribe reminisced:
> 
> We introduced a CIA (Curtin Imagination Association) card mid-way through
> 1988 (not sure if they still do it).  We got 10% discounts at all the sf
> bookstores and gaming shops (there were more back then).  For a struggling
> student with a horrendous gaming habit the membership cost ($5) usually
> paid
> for itself with the first purchase.  The shops benefited too. We were able
> to
> direct new members to those shops.  In fact there were many people that
> didn't know a specialised sf bookstore even existed.  As a result, the
> books
> got added custom and loads of goodwill.
> 
> Our membership for '88 was around 60 members, most of which signed up on
> O-day and we never saw again.  Active membership was around 20 (up from 4
> for
> 1987 =). Membership for '89 was around 300 with about 100 active.  A
> significant part of the increase was as a direct result of being able to
> demonstrate a benefit to joining the CIA (card = discounts).  That's what
> we
> need for PLUG.
> 
> Then Harry suggested:
> 
> I'm going to drop my alternative view on ppl and suggest that you've all
> fallen for the nineties  mememememe marketing hype.
> 
> It's ten bucks, folks, to _support_ all of that stuff that is free.
> 
> Why not simply ask people to show their support for PLUG by being
> financial
> members ?
> 
> For all the reasons already talked about; including Daniel's discussion
> about the club having credibility because of it's large formal membership.
> 
> Honestly, that's why I walked up to Tony a little while ago and said
> "Here's my $10, about time I joined since I get a lot out of PLUG". That
> should be promoted at the standard way of becoming involved.
> 
> My thoughts are for a simple solution:
> 
> 1. Ask ppl to support PLUG by becoming financial.
> 2. When you tell (new) ppl about PLUG tell them things are free but that
> there is a financial membership status that helps to support the goals and
> community that is PLUG. For $deity 's sake, _don't_emphasise_ that there
> is
> not many _additional_ benefits. John Singleton would be showing us the
> door
> on our first day :-)
> 
> And I don't mean that it is a con. The financial support will allow us to
> grow and do other things; including most importantly, the resources to
> commence conf2003 preparation when we are successful.
> 
> --------------------------------------
> 
> And now for today's exciting adventure.....ok, well maybe not.
> 
> Perhaps it is the level of my cynicism or a demonstration of my lack of
> maturity, but I believe just asking won't boost fee-paying member numbers
> by
> much.  Also I don't believe that suggesting that we introduce a membership
> card is catering to the mememememe mentality.  If anything it would help
> better develop the PLUG community.  Once we finalise a logo I'd also like
> to
> see t-shirts.  Sure, it will bring in some dosh to the club, but it will
> also
> mean I have something that says, "PLUGger and proud of it." YMMV.
> 
> skribe
> 
> PS: I hope the attributions and quotes are understandable.
> --
> Public key information available at:
> http://www.amber.com.au/~skribe/publickey.html
> Key fingerprint = A855 9CA3 953B 5195 C518  12F2 0E05 DCCD 5A88 E8A4
> 
> If voting could change the system, it would be illegal.  If not voting
> could change the system, it would be illegal.
>