Gosh, Bill, I said almost the exact same thing in the letter I sent to the BOG an hour or so ago. Just did not post it. For us, though, we do not go to conventions outside of Texas for many reasons, and have never gotten life memberships. So the NSS News is our only tangible benefit!
Jim thinks if they need to save on printing something, let them quit printing the members manual and make it on line only. Done properly, it could be an amazing, digital tool for finding and contacting cavers all over. Mimi Jasek Sent from my iPhone On Mar 19, 2013, at 11:06 PM, Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com> wrote: > The NSS News is _the_ tangible benefit that most NSS members get. If I > stopped getting it on paper, I might just drop my membership, if I wasn't in > the ~ 10 percent of members who attend the convention and get a registration > discount equal to dues (and if I wasn't a life member). Has the overhead in > the society's budget (mainly the office) decreased as the membership has > dropped? The society has just appeased its edifice complex by buying a big > new "headquarters." While the cost of the property will no doubt be paid for > by donations for the purpose, I suspect that overhead will increase when it > ought to be decreasing. Work expands to fill the space available. > > Cutting the most visible member service is not the way to grow the > membership. I think board members are, perhaps naturally, prone to > overestimate how interested most members of the NSS are in intangible > services such as promoting cave conservation and, to a minor extent, cave > science. That so few regular members have opted to continue to get the > journal on paper is not an indication of interest in a paper News. The > journal is (too) specialized, and anyway, the membership renewal form on the > web _still_, almost two years after the change to make the paper journal > optional at extra cost, has no notice of that and no way to pay that cost. > (Talk about spectacular administrative incompetence!) -- Mixon > ---------------------------------------- > Don't be led astray into the paths of virtue. > ---------------------------------------- > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: a...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
