Tangible Benefits of MUG Membership
Tangible Benefits of MUG Membership
- Subject: Tangible Benefits of MUG Membership
- From: Jim Foster <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 21:18:01 -0400
Sometimes, a member or even some of our Execs ask the question,
"Exactly what does a member get for their annual membership fee, that
isn't also available to non-members?".
I have provided a list of 13 items below, applicable to our MUG. I
wondered if anyone else could add additional items from your
experience. This might help me realize that we are doing the same
thing, or it might give us some food for thought about developing a
similar benefit.
One of the things I want to do is work this material up into a "Member
Services" section on our MUG web site. Putting this information there
should not only be a way to persuade non-members to join but also a
place to provide the nitty-gritty of how these services work to our
existing members.
These items have not been placed in any prioritization sequence .. they
are just in the order in which they poured out of me.
Thanks for any feedback.
Jim Foster
President
Macintosh Users East [MaUsE]
http://www.mause.ca
Tangible Benefits of MUG Membership:
1) Free Monthly CD:
These are the CD's I have been burning and bringing to meetings for the
past six or seven months.
These CD's are not available to people who are not members of our MUG,
because some of the software provided on the CD is licensed to User
Groups with exactly this stipulation.
2) Monthly Vendor Specials:
Offered through the Apple User Group Advisory Board, and in most cases
available only to paid up MUG members.
3) Free Raffle Prizes at Meetings:
Our practice to date has been to provide free raffle tickets to ALL
attendees to our meetings, but we have had the odd raffle in the past
where we have restricted eligibility to actual paid up members of the
MUG. We could make this the default procedure rather than the
exception. There is no guarantee that there will be raffles at EVERY
member meeting, but we do have the ability to restrict eligibility to
actual club members when we are holding one.
4) Free Support Migrating Files to New Mac:
People who purchase a new Ethernet enabled Mac may need help in
transferring their files from their older computer to their new Mac.
The club has the hardware to connect AppleTalk to Ethernet enabled
Macs, and we believe that we can also be of help to someone who needs
to move files from a Windows PC to a Macintosh.
5) Free MaUsE Help Resource:
This is the free email list which allows members to leave email asking
questions or for support which will then for forwarded to all other
club members who have registered themselves on this service. Through
this mechanism, people get to solicit the advice from over 40 club
members at one time rather than sending an email or phone call to just
one person at a time. This service is only available to paid up members
of the club.
6) One-on-One Support from other Members:
A primary service of MaUsE is to provide one-on-one support to people
who have problems or questions related to their Mac. This can be
accomplished in a number of ways. This is a wide ranging topic but the
point is simply that our MUG members are willing to go quite a bit
farther to assist a fellow club member than they might be to assist a
member of the general public0 .There is admittedly some overlap between
this item and items number 4 and 9.
7) Free Classified Ads to/from Other MUG Members:
Club members are allowed to post business card sized advertisements in
our newsletter at no charge, and in the future will be able to enjoy
similar privileges on our MUG web site.
8) Group Purchase Discounts:
Upon occasion, the club encounters the opportunity to make a bulk
purchase of Macintosh accessories, software, books, or hardware at a
substantial discount to normal retail prices. When such instances
occur, the opportunity to participate in such lower pricing is offered
to club members but not to members of the general public.
9) New User Help Sessions and SIG's:
Our MUG provides the opportunity for sub-groups of members to organize
specific initiatives or Special Interest Groups which may be of
interest to just a limited number of club members. The club can
cooperate with such sub-groups in such ways as publicizing their
activities to the rest of the membership in our newsletter or emails or
in helping the SIG people find suitable venues for their activities.
Once again, only people who are already members of MaUsE can
participate in such activities.
10) Regular Monthly Member Meetings:
We do not bar members of the general public from attending our monthly
member meetings, nor do we charge such people for attending.
Nevertheless, there is a real and substantial financial cost involved
in putting on these meetings. This expense represents a significant
portion of each member's annual dues.
In general, the number of non-members in attendance at any given
monthly member meeting is quite small and is viewed as an opportunity
for MaUsE to prove its value to a potential new member, NOT as giving
away for free what members have to pay for. If and when the club
Executives notice someone who is not a club member coming to meetings
on a frequent basis, we do take steps to discuss this one on one with
the individual in hopes of persuading them to sign up as a member. In
all my years of attending meetings, this has occurred on only a very
few occasions.
In summary, then, I think it could and should be argued that the
monthly meetings are a significant tangible benefit of MUG membership,
in spite of the fact that each meeting may have a small number of
non-paying guests.
11) Monthly Double-Click Newsletter:
The vast majority of people who read our newsletter each month do so by
downloading a copy from our MUG web site or by picking up a paper copy
at a regular member meeting. There is no attempt to restrict delivery
of Double-Click only to MaUsE members, EXCEPT to the extent that paid
up members of MaUsE can request that their copy be mailed to them via
Canada Post. There are several disadvantages to choosing this process,
but nonetheless this postal mail service represents a benefit available
to MUG members which is not available to non-members.
Club members also have the opportunity to influence the content of
Double-Click each month, whereas non-members have virtually no input or
say in the editorial direction of Double-Click.
12) Members Welcomed at Other User Group Meetings & Events
Once you join a Macintosh User Group in one locality, your membership
card will make you welcome at other Mac User Group events in other
locales. Some other User Groups charge members of the general public to
attend their meetings, but virtually all will admit card carrying
members from other MUG's at no charge.
13) Eligible for Free Macworld Expo Exhibit Hall Passes
For many years, User Group members have been offered free Exhibit Hall
passes to the annual Macworld Expo events traditionally held in San
Francisco and major east coast U.S. cities each year. This item could
perhaps be folded into Item 2 above.
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