Subject:
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Re: Request For Comments: Proposal to set up a club for UK Fans of LEGO
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.uk
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Date:
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Wed, 12 Jun 2002 08:50:26 GMT
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Viewed:
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1092 times
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> What would you like it to do?
I was wondering when someone would ask that very question :-)
> 'us' (AFOLs in the UK) and 'them' (any other organisation, but
> specifically TLC).
> 1. maintain a calendar of events
> 2. run a club website, which may include a discussion area
> 3. organise events
> 4. publicise events
> 5. negotiate corporate rates/deals for products/services
> 6. promote the club through a variety of channels, not just the internet
> 7. collect subscriptions (gulp!)
> 8. promote LEGO to general public
> 9. errm... have it's own Christmas cards?
A lot of these things can be done without formalising anything. A lot of these
things can be done on LUGnet already.
Formalising things has a price (in a number of ways). Subscriptions (as noted
above), plus a burden of administrivia to keep track of membership,
subscriptions paid, minutes of meetings, motions proposed and seconded, votes
taken, blah blah blah.
Basically it provides an opportunity to argue among yourselves over largely
irrelevant things, and generally create ill-feeling and unpleasantness. Before
long, you will inevitably be called upon to decide on such weighty topics as:
* should all members pay the same subscription or should children, students,
pensioners, seniors, members of the armed forces etc get a discount?
* should there be a special rate for couples, families, or members of the same
household?
* should meetings be held with equal regularity in all parts of the country or
only in the larger cities? If so, should people in other areas pay a lower
subscription as they get less benefit?
* should the president, secretary and treasurer and any other office bearer
receive reimbursement for their postage costs, phone bill, computer supplies,
ISP connection time, bus fares etc, required on behalf of the organisation
* being mindful of devolution, should separate subgroups be established in
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with their own charters and
rules?
* being mindful of the European Union, should reciprocal rights be established
with similar groups in other European countries?
* what are your obligations under the UK Data Protection Act? Will it be
necessary to host your WWW site off-shore as a consequence?
* are events open to non-members? At the same price? A higher price? What
about visiting members from similar organisations with reciprocal rights?
* will there be a joining fee to reflect the cost of administration of a new
membership? If a membership lapses due to non-payment of subscription, should
a new joining fee be payable on renewal of membership?
* will memberships be linked to the year or financial year? If so, will there
be pro-rata rate memberships for people who join part way through the year, or
will memberships run for a full 12/6/3/1 months from the date of joining?
* should the people who drink only black tea be expected to pay the same price
for refreshments at events as those who drink white coffee?
* should smoking be banned at events? should gum chewing be banned at events?
should mobile phones be banned at events? should children be banned at events?
should all bricks at events be individually labelled with the name, address
and membership number of their owner?
* and finally, where should we hold this year's Christmas party (not Legoland
again!)
You might think I am joking, but my experience of many "community groups" is
that they rapidly lose sight of their original common interest and get bogged
down over the administration of the group. Most of the issues above are all
real issues (or UK/Lego re-interpretations) that I have seen thrashed out at
great length at committee meetings (yes, people really do argue about the
fairness of charging the same price for black tea vs white coffee!). The end
result of this is usually a split of the group over the most ridiculous of
issues into two (or more) separate groups, who will then argue over who has
rights to the original group name and the original bank account. Before you
know it, there will be the Highlands Black Tea Lego Group, the Midlands
Bionicle-Hating Lego Group, the Inside-the-M25 Lego Alliance (No ZNAP Please),
the British Public Schools Lego Builders Group (No Oiks Please), and Lego
Lovers For A United Ireland (Green Bricks Only).
I would urge you to think seriously about why you want to formalise things,
and avoid it, if at all possible.
Kerry
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