Tweet
I belonged (past tense) to another organization that was an enthusiasts driven org. You paid "dues" to belong and for that you got a card and number, a certificate and a subscription to a monthly magazine. When I joined I had no illusions that the org was anything but a business, intended to foster a sport for the betterment of the principals who owned the org. In time I learned that I really had nothing to gain by belonging and felt the principals who ran it were really only intersted in making themselves wealthy. I still participated in the sport, just gave up the few extra priviledges I had by being a "member".
You could take the complaints, comments, etc that have been voiced about this other "club" and just change the name and the offending or hot topic and the rest would all be the same.
For some reason, having the word club in the name of the org, a number of people seem to think this is a club in the true form where dues gives the member rights to vote on any and all actions of the org. I've said this before and so have others in this thread. But will say it again. IT'S A BUSINESS. Your dues are really a subscription fee. It buys you a magazine a card and number and some priviledges. Other than that you have no rights or say-so in how the org operates. I'll give you a another example. If you subscribe to American Iron, do you feel you have the right to tell Buzz Kanter how to spend the money he makes after paying the costs of publishing a magazine? This is the same thing. Arguing about how the club spends "members' money" is a waste of energy. It's not your money. You spent it with the org. It is their money. You got what you paid for and they own you nothing else. Whining about where the money goes is plain silly. It's really nobody's business but the guys who are in charge of the business.
The value of orgs like the AMCA is they bring consistency to things like hobbies, sports, etc. If you drag race, you probably belong to the NHRA. If you flat track you probably belong to the AMA. If you competively shoot, you probably belong to the NRA. None of those orgs let the member tell them what to do with the money they pay to belong. As a matter of fact, most of those orgs tell the members how to behave when participating in their particular sport. That's what the AMCA does. It sets standards for judges, judging rules, etc. It also provides a central focus for members to congregate to discuss their common interests.
I'm not saying you should or should not start a new club. That's up to you. But if you do, and you want it to be truly a club, with everyone in charge an elected official by the vote of the membership, and membership say-so in how the club money is spent, then be ready to do a lot of volunteering, filling in for people who get tired of working their butts off for no pay, lots of complainers and folks with suggestions and very few true workers. That is the nature of clubs in general. Not that you could not find a group of folks who would all work equally hard at first. But eventually, in time, the work will fall to a few dedicated individuals while the rest just "belong". I'm sure this is true in most if not all of the local AMCA chapters, which are indeed clubs.
I would offer up that you accept the AMCA for what it is, a business that keeps everyone sort of focused. That's a service and you should pay for that service. If you don't want to pay for scans of literature, then get together, set up a website and share literature for free. But keep in mind that there will be folks who will take that free stuff and turn around and sell it on ebay. So do you block them out? Maybe you charge dues to belong to the website. But that kinda defeats the purpose. Maybe you put a watermark on all scans so it ruins it for others to use for profit. I asked if anyone had any '47 knuck literature they would share with me, like a sales brochure. Somebody suggested I go to ebay. Nobody offered up anything. So if within this very forum where we are all supposed to be buds and helping each other out, why was nobody willing to scan something and send it to me? Why would you expect anyone else to do it on a global basis for free?
The only thing the AMCA should do, in my humble, opinion is listen to their subcribers and try to suit the needs of the majority. I say they "should" because it is just good business to listen to your customers. Because dissatisfied customers stop doing business with you. They should solicit sponsors for the website so more could be done with it. I still think a Gallery would be the place to put literature and photos for all the share. Since this is a member only site, it would be limited to AMCA members.
If the AMCA does not make a return on the investment for the library, my guess is it will just die a natural death, or they might sell the contents to some other entity that specializes in reprints of old literature like this. Personally, I'd love to see a place where we can all put whatever we have for others to share and hang the consequences. If someone wants to sell it, best of luck to them. Sometimes you have to pay a price to live in a free society, even when free means "no charge".
You could take the complaints, comments, etc that have been voiced about this other "club" and just change the name and the offending or hot topic and the rest would all be the same.
For some reason, having the word club in the name of the org, a number of people seem to think this is a club in the true form where dues gives the member rights to vote on any and all actions of the org. I've said this before and so have others in this thread. But will say it again. IT'S A BUSINESS. Your dues are really a subscription fee. It buys you a magazine a card and number and some priviledges. Other than that you have no rights or say-so in how the org operates. I'll give you a another example. If you subscribe to American Iron, do you feel you have the right to tell Buzz Kanter how to spend the money he makes after paying the costs of publishing a magazine? This is the same thing. Arguing about how the club spends "members' money" is a waste of energy. It's not your money. You spent it with the org. It is their money. You got what you paid for and they own you nothing else. Whining about where the money goes is plain silly. It's really nobody's business but the guys who are in charge of the business.
The value of orgs like the AMCA is they bring consistency to things like hobbies, sports, etc. If you drag race, you probably belong to the NHRA. If you flat track you probably belong to the AMA. If you competively shoot, you probably belong to the NRA. None of those orgs let the member tell them what to do with the money they pay to belong. As a matter of fact, most of those orgs tell the members how to behave when participating in their particular sport. That's what the AMCA does. It sets standards for judges, judging rules, etc. It also provides a central focus for members to congregate to discuss their common interests.
I'm not saying you should or should not start a new club. That's up to you. But if you do, and you want it to be truly a club, with everyone in charge an elected official by the vote of the membership, and membership say-so in how the club money is spent, then be ready to do a lot of volunteering, filling in for people who get tired of working their butts off for no pay, lots of complainers and folks with suggestions and very few true workers. That is the nature of clubs in general. Not that you could not find a group of folks who would all work equally hard at first. But eventually, in time, the work will fall to a few dedicated individuals while the rest just "belong". I'm sure this is true in most if not all of the local AMCA chapters, which are indeed clubs.
I would offer up that you accept the AMCA for what it is, a business that keeps everyone sort of focused. That's a service and you should pay for that service. If you don't want to pay for scans of literature, then get together, set up a website and share literature for free. But keep in mind that there will be folks who will take that free stuff and turn around and sell it on ebay. So do you block them out? Maybe you charge dues to belong to the website. But that kinda defeats the purpose. Maybe you put a watermark on all scans so it ruins it for others to use for profit. I asked if anyone had any '47 knuck literature they would share with me, like a sales brochure. Somebody suggested I go to ebay. Nobody offered up anything. So if within this very forum where we are all supposed to be buds and helping each other out, why was nobody willing to scan something and send it to me? Why would you expect anyone else to do it on a global basis for free?
The only thing the AMCA should do, in my humble, opinion is listen to their subcribers and try to suit the needs of the majority. I say they "should" because it is just good business to listen to your customers. Because dissatisfied customers stop doing business with you. They should solicit sponsors for the website so more could be done with it. I still think a Gallery would be the place to put literature and photos for all the share. Since this is a member only site, it would be limited to AMCA members.
If the AMCA does not make a return on the investment for the library, my guess is it will just die a natural death, or they might sell the contents to some other entity that specializes in reprints of old literature like this. Personally, I'd love to see a place where we can all put whatever we have for others to share and hang the consequences. If someone wants to sell it, best of luck to them. Sometimes you have to pay a price to live in a free society, even when free means "no charge".
Comment