Re: Re(2): AUGD: Free Ride for Board Members?
Re: Re(2): AUGD: Free Ride for Board Members?
- Subject: Re: Re(2): AUGD: Free Ride for Board Members?
- From: Michael Horton <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 01 May 2010 02:00:23 -0700
- Thread-topic: Re(2): AUGD: Free Ride for Board Members?
Well, since Chuck has brought this up and since I am one of the leaders of
the FCP Groups that run their orgs for profit, I should chime in.
I've been running the Los Angeles final Cut Pro User Group (lafcpug) since
2000. We began with about 40 members and now have over 6000 worldwide with
attendance at each meeting of between 150-300 people depending on agenda.
Our web site gets about 8-9000 unique visitors a day. We continue to add
about 100 members per month from around the world. Membership is free. Cost
to attend a meeting is $5.00
The group and web site is run by me and me alone.
I began this group just like all of you, with the idea of doing a 501c3,
BOD, membership dues, Volunteers, becoming an "official Apple User Group"
etc. It was the model I had known as I was a member of the MacValley User
Group and also the LA Macintosh Group and both of those groups were
successful at one time. Well, LAMG fell apart, but MacValley is still going.
Anyway, within 6 months all that enthusiasm for non profit status, BODs,
membership dues, volunteers, etc quickly fell apart. It became clear to me
that if this organization was to really work it had to be run like a
business and if I was going to run it, damn if I wasn't going to be
compensated for it. Well OK, my wife and bank account had much to do with
that decision, and I thank them both
Some of you seem to feel that the idea of getting paid to run an
organization that serves others, is somehow anathema. That's kind of like
saying the executive staff at the Red Cross should be doing their jobs for
food and blankets. What I do, and what others who run some of the other FCP
User Groups do is the same thing you do. One difference is some of us get
paid for it. Another BIG difference is, it is a LOT less hassle, because we
have eliminated much of the paperwork, personal conflicts, egos and yes, the
sometimes wacky democratic process that goes along with having to work
within a structure that says you must do this and you cant do that and you
need to do it now and you better do it this way.
Like Chuck says below, the "common cry" that permeates this list and has for
years is "we can't get volunteers" and "how to grow the membership." Several
years ago it wasn't that way. With the growth of the internet it IS that way
so you need to change just as the world has changed. That does not mean you
need to run your group as a for-profit. That might not work for you. But
there is no rule that says you have to run a Mac group as a non profit with
a BOD and membership dues and official Apple status and all that other stuff
that goes along with calling yourself a Macintosh User Group.
You can make a strong argument for non profit status if and only if it
allows you access to a certain venue at a reduced rent. Other than that,
what's the point? And why membership dues? What's that for? To pay for the
venue and a few pizzas and prizes? Is the hassle of the year after year
reminders you send out to all your members to renew their membership worth
it? Or the hassle of trying to read the membership cards people with bad
handwriting filled out worth it? Why not charge money at the door and use
that? Well, what if no one or not enough people show up at the door to pay
for the venue? Well, to be blunt, that's your fault. You are not giving the
community what they need or want. If you do, they will come. Well,
Mister-live-in-Los-Angeles with your huge population and nice venue and show
biz personality, I live in Dirttown USA with a population of 267 and we only
got a John Deer tractor with a tarp to meet under, so what do I do? Same
thing I do. Doesn't matter your population or where you live or where you
meet. Put on a show that people want to see with stuff they need to have and
need and want to learn to use. Supplement your meetings with a killer web
site dedicated to not only building community, but educating your community
on how to use what they need to use. Trust me, if its a killer web site and
has information people want, then you've just gone global and you are out
from under that tarp.
This is the age of the internet. There is nothing you cannot do in Dirttown
that we do here in LA as long as you have electricity. It is all up to how
committed you are to making your organization work and grow and how
committed you are to serving the needs of others. And you can't grow unless
you change. Just like your Dad told you along time ago.
This all may come off as lecturing and I apologize if any of the above may
come off as arrogant. I have tremendous respect for anyone who gives back to
this world, and all of you do just that. What you do is bridge the divide
between the "can's" and "cannots," and in this age of computers and the
internet, it is vitally important to help those who cannot. So bless you
all.
So now go think about getting paid for what you do.
:-)
Michael Horton
Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group
http://www.lafcpug.org
>
> Going to whack the beehive here, just for the fun of it.
>
> What are your thoughts about a user group being run on a for-profit model?
>
> That would make the leadership responsible for delivering whatever they
> represent they would deliver, but also is an incentive to do so.
>
> No, it isn't what we have known as the traditional model, but with a
> common cry of "we can't get volunteers" going up everywhere, it is time
> to contemplate new things. No question of free rides, who is and isn't
> responsible for what, etc.
>
> And before you dismiss it out of hand, consider that several of the
> Final Cut Pro groups are doing this successfully.
>
> Comments?
>
> ---Chuck
> _____________
>
> Chuck Joiner
> Editor-In-Chief
> The MUG Center
> http://www.mugcenter.com
>
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