<snip>
I do appreciate the dilemna. I have been involved in other organizations that have had a similar (or same) dilemna. Some made the same decision as CLUG, others have not. I guess I was just voicing that there are alternatives, or more importantly, additions to the current funding model that could provide perks to those willing to pay, as well as more benefits to those who choose not to.
I have to say that additions may be a good idea, however I do think the Tiered system works well, mainly because it only allows people with an investment, and therefore a larger interest in CLUG, to vote.
Besides, $20/yr is $1.66 a month, 5.4 cents a day. Even less on a leap year. If you were as concerned about having a voice as you claim to be, it'd be a small price. I bet the average Joe spends a lot more than that on things that are much more frivilous.
I am taking a more idealistic / philosophical approach. I can afford the $20 per year.
I think you are underestimating the power of donations. When I was attending the OCLUG meetings in Ottawa, the donation system caused a different problem. Too much money. The club was carrying huge amounts of money forward every year (thousands of dollars) due to donations at meetings and larger donations by individuals. I believe the hall rental was costing around $75 a night, and the donations from the 'pass the hat campaign' at the meetings were often resulting in two or three times as much 'income'. The typical body count for meetings was 30 (assuming snow) to 100 (assuming nice day). The meetings I attended at CLUG all had at least 30 people. Perhaps this is another avenue of revenue generation for the club.
Thats great, but Aaron already stated the donation system didn't work for CLUG.
At the admittedly few meetings I have been to, I have not seen any mention of requiring funds beyond the 'please pay $20 for a Tier 2 membership if you would like to vote in the upcoming election'.
What I am suggesting is that rather than large donations, the club look at the option of what seems to work well in the open source world in general. As apposed to large donations, the group asks for many small donations (say the change in your pocket) from everyone in attendance at a given meeting / event. Much like most open source software where if you find a bug and can fix it (or even inform the appropriate people), your small contribution goes far towards contributing to a good product.
I will again pull an example from OCLUG (as it is the most relevant org I have been involved in). A typical meeting started with someone saying "Welcome to the LUG, <insert general greeting>. Our meeting facilities cost us $75 in order to hold this get together tonight. In order to fund this, we will be passing around our pengiun bank (Yes, it was a penguin piggy bank), and ask that you make a small monetary donation to paying for these facilities. Any extra money will be put in the LUGs account and used for future events / functions". Often a comment about bittorrent or peer-to-peer programs would be mentioned :)
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the Tier One is not less of a
member than a Tier Two. I now understand the decisions that have been
made and why, but the only way you can convince me is by allowing Tier
One members to vote :)
I truly think this view is flawed. There is no way to know really who the Tier 1 members are. Basically this means anyone who felt like showing up to the AGM could choose our executive.
We agree to disagree :) If you wish to discuss this further, I am happy to offlist, but I do not wish to burden other members with that debate.
Ian.
This discussion has reminded me I keep forgetting to get my T-2 mebership. Where do I sign up?
Nick
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