Another Membership Card Poll

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I am probably going to order a Membership Card.

  • Yes

    Votes: 80 72.7%

  • Yes

    Votes: 30 27.3%
  • Total voters
    110
mbroberg

mbroberg

IAP Activities Manager, Emeritus
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
6,067
Location
Columbus, OH
Technically it is a poll but I am going to use it to determine how many membership cards will be ordered once we get up and running. They will probably be in the neighborhood of $5 - $10, hopefully closer to $5 but it all depends on how many are ordered.

As a reminder, the front of the membership card is shown in the attached image. The back of the membership card will be a white vinyl label that will contain the member's real first and last name, IAP screen name, date joined, membership number, etc.


If you think you will probably be ordering a Membership Card please vote either "Yes" or "Yes". :biggrin: If you think you will probably NOT be ordering a Membership Card, don't vote. :cool: The number of votes cast will give me an idea of how many cards will be initially needed.


Thanks!
 

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So what does my $10.00 get me? Are there discounts associated with the card?
Or is it just a colorful piece of plastic with our info and the IAP front? Is this simply an advertising opportunity that comes at a cost to the members? It should include a coupon for a free doughnut and cup of coffee.
 
Woodcraft in the Dallas area will give you a 10% discount if your a member of a woodworking club. They don't care which one or what the dues are but they do want to see a card. I believe Rocker's the same way. I don't know about online but the 3 local stores I use give the discount.
 
Ha I see the first or top yes has more votes! Is that because most people will choose the first one they come to or too lazy to drop the 1/2" to click on the bottom one?
 
requal said:
So what does my $10.00 get me? Are there discounts associated with the card?
Or is it just a colorful piece of plastic with our info and the IAP front? Is this simply an advertising opportunity that comes at a cost to the members? It should include a coupon for a free doughnut and cup of coffee.
Click to expand...


It is something that the membership has asked for for quite awhile now. I just did a quick search for "Membership Cards" and found that this has been discussed since 2010. The IAP will be making NO profit from these. There are stores that give discounts to members of clubs. I do not believe that there is an organized effort to solicit any stores for member discounts at this time.
 
requal said:
So what does my $10.00 get me? Are there discounts associated with the card?
Or is it just a colorful piece of plastic with our info and the IAP front? Is this simply an advertising opportunity that comes at a cost to the members? It should include a coupon for a free doughnut and cup of coffee.
Click to expand...
What do you get? Pride in belonging to a worthy group of wonderful people.

Hint: I bet it is more about fund raising for the website. "Here is a small reward for your donation. Something you can show to your woodworking friends."

... and yes, you can show it at your local Rockler or Woodcraft store to get a "guild member" discount on your purchases.
 
penicillin said:
Hint: I bet it is more about fund raising for the website.
Click to expand...


This is no more a fundraiser than a Group Buy is. The cards will be priced to as close to the actual cost of the cards and the additional expenses that go into producing the cards as we can make it. Keep in mind that this project requires the purchase of the plastic cards, the vinyl labels, a laser printer to print the labels, mailing supplies and postage. No charge for the time spent laying the ground work, placing the orders for the supplies, taking the orders for the cards from the membership, printing the labels, adhereing the labels to the cards, packageing and shipping completed cards to the members or the bookkeeping involved. I am not complaining, I volunteered to do this. I just want it to be crystal clear. The intent of this project is to give the membership something they have been asking for. It is not intended to be a fundraiser for the IAP.
 
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penicillin said:
requal said:
So what does my $10.00 get me? Are there discounts associated with the card?
Or is it just a colorful piece of plastic with our info and the IAP front? Is this simply an advertising opportunity that comes at a cost to the members? It should include a coupon for a free doughnut and cup of coffee.
Click to expand...
What do you get? Pride in belonging to a worthy group of wonderful people.

Hint: I bet it is more about fund raising for the website. "Here is a small reward for your donation. Something you can show to your woodworking friends."

... and yes, you can show it at your local Rockler or Woodcraft store to get a "guild member" discount on your purchases.
Click to expand...

I have no involvement with the evolution of this activity, but...

- It has been clearly stated that IAP (Website) will not be making money from this activity. No, it's not a fund raising activity.

- Your "quoted statement" - "Here is a small reward for your donation. Something you can show to your woodworking friends", I'm not sure where that came from???

If it is a statement you are making, that's fine, but then it is not reflective of the efforts of the activities' current members - it is your opinion.

Folks can order one, or not. It may get a discount, or not. Many members will like to have one, many will not care. And that is all good - but try not to denigrate an effort to respond to members' request for an ID card just because you don't see a monetary recoup for the card.

This started out at the suggestion of the membership. Thanks to the folks who stuck their necks out to respond.

(Mike typed quicker than me).
 
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Well I must say something because I have been in favor of this since 2010 or whenever it was brought up for discussion. Weather it can be used for discounts as of now or in the future if there happens to be a vendor that wants to include discounts because of the card or use it as game thing for drawings. It can never hurt to ask any dealer if they take club cards.

Now Mike has taken the steps to take this idea further than at any other time it has been discussed. And this has come up a few times during those years. There was not only his time put into it and also the designers time to come up with some great designs which we had a vote and chose this one. It shows that we are above a standard piece of paper and that there are people here who can design something we all can be proud to call our own. If you do not want to buy one then do not but do not disparage the work of our members who put the effort into this. What the end value of this card is anyone's guess at this time. At this time Mike said there is no kickback to the site for this purchase but I would not have mind if there were a small stipend toward the site for running this place. When people buy the window stickers for their cars, why do they do that?? Because they are proud of being a member. Maybe try them at the next pen show you go to and maybe you can get a discount for entry.

Anyway thanks Mike for taking this and running with it. Thanks to all who also supplied the designs and to who else is behind the scenes to get this done. I do want mine. :smile::smile:
 
Clarifications noted. I made an incorrect assumption, and apologize for that. The quoted statement was my own, based on the wrong assumption. I take full responsibility for that too.

It should now be clear that this is NOT a donation, but recovering actual costs. Thanks to those who volunteered their time.
 
Now there is a need to develop a secret handshake us old codgers will remember. ;)

Thanks for all your work in this Mark. I'm still pondering whether I'll get one though.
 
mark james said:
Curly said:
Now there is a need to develop a secret handshake us old codgers will remember. ;)

Thanks for all your work in this Mark. I'm still pondering whether I'll get one though.
Click to expand...

I suspect you meant MIKE. :smile:
Click to expand...

Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean for my goof up to take anything away from Mike. Can't keep people straight so a secret hand shake won't be easy. :)
 
pshrynk said:
Since I'm forced to vote yes, I will. I would much prefer to have the option to vote "The blue one, next to the fish", however.
Click to expand...


There's a blue one? And a fish? I missed those so I voted the 2nd yes.

I figure that since I have been around here in one way, shape, or form since a year after IAP came into being, I'd like a card if for nothing more than the memories!
 
I hate to ask but think it must be asked, do we proceed in light of the newly acquired circumstances involving the designer of the card in choice??? :confused::confused::confused:

[Edit: the comments in this post refer to a situation discussed in another thread related to a membership issue with the designer of the card artwork. That discussion has been closed.]
 
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The designer and his/her alter egos put it together under their own free will/duress and the circumstances just came to light. Would the cards be revoked if the circumstances came to light in three months or next year? It was picked fair and square by the membership and the exit of the designer/s did not come with any demands to reclaim past designs or to pull past posts et cetera. Unless there is an overwhelming movement by the members to sanitize the past and find another design then I say keep it.

[Edit: the comments in this post refer to a situation discussed in another thread related to a membership issue with the designer of the card artwork. That discussion has been closed.]
 
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I see no reason to scrap the card just because the designer has some sort of issues. The membership was presented with a variety of good designs and this one was chosen by an open vote. Unless convinced or instructed to do differently I intend to use this design.


But what THIS thread is about is determing how many cards should be initially produced. The poll is only two days old, but I hope things pick-up soon. So far only 59 people have indicated that they would probably purchase one.
 
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Shameless Bump.


If you believe that you would probably want to get a membership card, please so indicate by voting yes, or yes. So far there are less than 100 interested, far fewer than I thought were interested. I don't know how many interested members it would take to justify the commitment of time and money into making it happen, but it is going to take more than what we have now.
 
mbroberg said:
Shameless Bump.


If you believe that you would probably want to get a membership card, please so indicate by voting yes, or yes. So far there are less than 100 interested, far fewer than I thought were interested. I don't know how many interested members it would take to justify the commitment of time and money into making it happen, but it is going to take more than what we have now.
Click to expand...

I am back to greeting our new members regularly and I usually post a link to our Library for info. I will add in a link to this thread. I don't know how much that will help, but if we get 5% to 10%, that will help some.

I agree with you that I would have thought more would be involved and would want a membership card.
 
leehljp said:
mbroberg said:
Shameless Bump.


If you believe that you would probably want to get a membership card, please so indicate by voting yes, or yes. So far there are less than 100 interested, far fewer than I thought were interested. I don't know how many interested members it would take to justify the commitment of time and money into making it happen, but it is going to take more than what we have now.
Click to expand...

I am back to greeting our new members regularly and I usually post a link to our Library for info. I will add in a link to this thread. I don't know how much that will help, but if we get 5% to 10%, that will help some.

I agree with you that I would have thought more would be involved and would want a membership card.
Click to expand...

I am NOT surprised at the potentially low request for membership cards. Might be beneficial if it was presented as to what the benefits derived might be in having such a card. What "value" derived? Just expressing a personal opinion here.
 
wood-of-1kind said:
leehljp said:
mbroberg said:
Shameless Bump.


If you believe that you would probably want to get a membership card, please so indicate by voting yes, or yes. So far there are less than 100 interested, far fewer than I thought were interested. I don't know how many interested members it would take to justify the commitment of time and money into making it happen, but it is going to take more than what we have now.
Click to expand...

I am back to greeting our new members regularly and I usually post a link to our Library for info. I will add in a link to this thread. I don't know how much that will help, but if we get 5% to 10%, that will help some.

I agree with you that I would have thought more would be involved and would want a membership card.
Click to expand...

I am NOT surprised at the potentially low request for membership cards. Might be beneficial if it was presented as to what the benefits derived might be in having such a card. What "value" derived? Just expressing a personal opinion here.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is we do not know for sure. I mentioned some potentials in my post and will again. There are some vendors right now out there that accept club cards and will give discounts because of it. Others may follow in the future we do not know. They maybe walk-ups only but maybe vendors on line may also join in.

Then there is vendors that sell here all the time and they may become involved with that process too or they may make some kind of contest with the use of names or card numbers in some way.

All these pen gatherings maybe able to incorporate some contest at the door by showing the card.

Then there is the factor of presenting the card at pen shows or other stores that are not pen related and see if they accept club cards. Not saying this happens but it can never hurt to ask. Maybe other ways that can benefit and I have not listed such as just showing support.

What would be nice is when someone gets a card and does use it for a discount or other option to mention it here and let others know and this can grow. Grass roots ideas have to start somewhere.
 
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Given that we have many vendors here on IAP, I would think that they might step up to the bar and say offer a 10% discount for card members. I am willing to do this for any tools that I sell. Any other vendors here that will accept this suggestion or another.? We at IAP are member driven and it's always nice to reap the benefits with membership rewards. I repeat, this is only my suggestion and as always the participants may do as it pleases them within the rules of civilty.

-Peter-
 
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