That thread seems to have disappeared and I think it ought not.
Aside from the many hours webguy devotes to making it work, I imagine hosting this great website must have some cost, probably borne by him for a loooong time now. However many we are, we certainly should be paying for it plus the expenses with the Holiday party.
The regatta is more-or-less self sustaining, so no need to cover any of that.
Would 20 of us ponying up $25 each annually cover it? That enough? Do we need more to catch up with past expenses??
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I think more like $50... or more
Maybe $25 for 62 years old and older
I'm in. Where do I sign.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Because it was an email?
Okay, a little background for the rest of us:
Many years ago, we stopped taking dues as we had a few coins in the bank, no real expenses having stopped the newsletter and moving everything to the website. This, generally, has worked pretty well for us. Our website is an open door to whoever is interested in participating and we - I hope - have been very welcoming to anyone who windsurfs, kites or just wants to hang.
But, a few things have come up where having at least nominal dues for those interested may matter
A former Hatteras retailer who has gone virtual (internet only for the moment), has offered us, as a club, a discount. Well, since we don't collect dues, it means anyone can claim to be a member and get the discount which is really not fair to them who are trying to support the sport with their wallet.
As well, since we are a member of USWindsurfing, you can join and get a discount by being a member. Same kind of issue.
We also could probably have a bit more of social schedule if we had a kitty to dig in to every once in a while. The Holiday Party has become subsidized by a few kind souls the last couple of years so, long term, a better model would be to have more people participate.
The web site is not a significant expense as I've winnowed down the number of domains that point here and the physical part just piggy backs on my daytime gig. It's just a few gb on a server that has the room and capacity in a room full of servers.
So, I broached the topic to a few long-time members (apologies if you feel like you weren't part of the conversation but should have been) to see if I was on the right track suggesting something. The feedback has been positive.
My suggestion is to still keep "membership" open to all for free. As an option, we can have sponsorship level of membership which has a few extra benefits such as the shop discount, USWindsurfing discount, discount at the regatta, and a nice bit under your avatar when you post in the forums. If this stuff means nothing to you, no worries, just keep posting here and showing up at the lake. We don't need that much per year the number should be high enough to have some value but low enough where someone doesn't need to starve the kids a few days to join.
Twenty is a nice round number that a lot of us might have in the wallet if you see a "club member" at the lake. Twenty five might be enough so that the extra bit gets us soda pops at the lake some day or a club car sticker (Langdon's long-term project).
Last thing: we used to have a "learn to windsurf day" and used to charge a nominal fee as a fund raiser for the club. Then we tried a year or two with no fee. We actually got a smaller turnout when it was free and the attention span was a lot shorter. We then went back to charging a fee (like $20). Moral of the story - people tend to value something more when they actually have to pay for it.
Sign me up, especially if we can get a club discount on gear...
See, this is probably why Debi won't take me out in public... always with the inappropriate comments.
Oh well. So who wants to be the keeper of the moolah? Take my money!!
It would be nice to have a club Paypal account.
pay@windsurfatlanta.org exists (and has a small balance!). I created this years ago.
has been created and should work.
None of these have been linked to a bank account yet.
So paypal can be used to send $ with the first one? How much?
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Yes, but I hope to use the second one and make both a membership button and a donate button. Apparently, some of you are full of largesse so I want to take every opportunity to be as larcenous as possible.
Do we have a consensus on dues?
Let's make it $25 then. Let us know when the Pay Pal account is active and how to send a payment. Thanks for getting this organized.
Barrett
Join! https://windsportatlanta.com/join-the-abc
List of members: https://windsportatlanta.com/sponsoring-members (so far)
If you join, give me a few days to update the list as I have family stuff this weekend.
Is cash ok?
Gotcha covered, fam. Settle up with me next time you bear witness to my light air flights.
But if he going to say he saw your claimed flights, shouldn't you be paying him?
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.