Hi all,
I see that this topic has sparked some discussion. I think that I
should point out that, at present, there are only 59 participants in
this E-Group. That's only a little over a third of the membership of
the Association and not all of the E-Group participants are
members. With that in mind, I don't think that it is appropriate for
this issue to be decided here. I'm sure I'm not the only one that
has given away copies of the manual to non-members. I don't feel that
the information contained in it is any big secret and I am one of
those people who feels that access to information should should not
be restricted. It is, however, a resource compiled by the
Association for the benefit of the membership and the cost of
producing, copying and distributing it has been born by the members.
My position? FWIW I think we should concentrate on revitalizing the
Association by building the membership. In the context of the
current communications revolution, the web site is a key ingredient
in the recipe for achieving that goal (As is this forum)and deserves
some attention. I hope that someone will take up that challenge and
work with me to solidify the Association as an information exchange
medium for Vega owners in the Americas and around the world.
Membership should offer some things not available to non-members.
The Newsletter is one thing. Is it enough? Perhaps the manual is one
too, maybe not; certainly not if it is freely available on-line. In
the end, I don't think that freely sharing the manual will prevent
anyone frombecoming a member. In fact I know of one indidvidual that
became a member after I gave him my manual to copy. By all means,
share the wealth. By showing what we have to offer you provide the
best inducement to join that I can think of.
I will continue as Sidney did, to offer the manual to new members as
a membership inducement, though It looks to me like we may have to
raise the initial membership fee a buck or two to pay for it. I also
think that it is time for a new edition of the manual. As far as I
know it has not been updated in at least ten years (Any Volunteers?)
Aloha,
Chuck Rose
