i originally started the 5K x $20 = 100K back of the envelope
calculation. i ended up spending a reasonable time discussing
the issue by e-mail with some of the directors who are online.
they are concerned people that didn't want to do this but were
convinced of the real need for a dues increase.
the real figure for what the dues increase will bring depends
on the number of single members, family memberships, and additional
family(more than 2). if you do that calculation - add in the
losses expected from the dues increase(difficult to guess) - the
number does come down 30-40% from the 100K max.
there are a whole lot of factors involved in the dues increase.
i am not going to go into them here but i understand that there
will be more information available in the next EN. in my view -
the "books" presented with the announcement did a very poor
job of explaining the reasons for the increase. after listening
to a more complete set of reasons - i personally feel a lot better
about the dues increase in terms of a business perspective.
the software issue is only a part of the reason. we should not
focus on this as the "reason" because it really isn't. i do
believe the s/w ended up costing quite a bit more than anyone
anticipated - but thats standard for the course - especially
if you have not paid for a custom development before.
in any event - i believe the board of directors plan to present
a better discussion of what goes into the dues increase. i don't
plan to say anything else here other than i do feel that they
are a concerned group of people - just like us - that devote a lot
of their own personal time to the support of a sport we all like.
i am glad someone is willing to do it since most of us would not.
dues increase are a part of life - my professional society memberships
keep going up.
i just wish they had explained it better ther first time around.
if any one wants to continue the discussion with me - i can be reached
at the address below.
mike maul
mmaul@micro.ti.com
houston, tx