[FARC] Revenue Ideas

[Bob Moroney]

Kirk,
.
You make some valid points.  Truth is, clubs like ours are almost always 
at a crossroads, so reinvention is the name of the game.  About all we 
can do is follow Yogi Berra's sage advice: "When you come to the fork in 
the road, take it."  Time will tell where we wind up.
.
Perhaps what we need is a JFK-like figure to challenge us all with a 
stirring, "/Ask not what your club/ can do for you--/ask/ what you can 
do for /your club!"  (Doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it?)/ 

In any case, when the dust has settled, /at least we can all say, 
"//I/ch bin ein FARCer"
.
73, Bob K9CMR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kirk Talbott wrote:
> *Jus*t wanted to see if anyone was listening. They weren't. The fact 
> is I can see a lesser want of participation in picking-up and hauling 
> trash to raise club revenue. An admirable and worthy cause no doubt 
> but nonetheless a tad undesirable for participants.
>
> As for the pot luck I was thinking of the same thing you were about 
> 15-20 bags of chips, no cups, 1 liter of diet Jolt, and 500 lbs of 
> ice. "We've all been there done that," is the trite cliché that is 
> illustrative of what the club is going through right now. I really 
> think we're at a club, no club, crossroads. Seriously, I really think 
> it is coming down to that. Perhaps a general re-think of what the club 
> should be, or whether it should be, is in order. A clean sheet of 
> paper approach.
>
> We face several problems as I see it, but there's one that seems 
> insurmountable. This problem is the obvious one, that raising club 
> revenue requires lots of participation and hard work as only you know 
> and there are no takers, it's toxic. The job is big and requires 
> interest, skills, energy, and the will. When I look at club members 
> whom obviously have all these attributes I find that these people are 
> few and have already given their due, in some cases many many years of 
> it. When I analyze myself under this microscope, I feel that I don't 
> have any of these attributes. I don't want to lead, I don't want to 
> direct, I just want to enjoy the fellowship of other hams and learn 
> more about ham radio. I know it sounds like a cop-out and it probably 
> is but nonetheless true. Is this necessarily a bad thing?
>
> I think generally a lot of the membership are going to feel this way 
> to a more or lesser degree. We have a lot of elderly members, we have 
> folks with family and job responsibilities, we have people whom want 
> to follow and not lead (myself), and we have the movers and shakers 
> like yourself and a few others over the years whom have already given 
> enough. You can almost hear the football coach giving a speech to the 
> whole team but targeting the non-leaders and non-doers with, "Decide 
> now whether you want to be a member of this team...."
>
> But we can't really do this in our club because everybody joined the 
> club for different reasons and may have different expectations. Plus 
> we're not an army with a hill to take. It seems logical that the club 
> should be able to accommodate varying levels of participation and 
> still be able to raise some revenue, but we just can't seem to get 
> there, what is expected seems so much larger than most members can or 
> are willing to give.
>
> >From my short-time observations as a club member, the call for 
> volunteers for the planning work involved in revenue generating 
> projects is like turning the lights on in a roach infested house, and 
> yes admittedly I am one of these roaches. But my insectivorous simile 
> speaks volumes about the club that something is inherently wrong, the 
> membership is trying to say something en mass but can't seem to 
> articulate it.
>
> So are we at the crossroads? Is it time for the club to disband for 
> awhile so perhaps club elders can give it a re-think or redesign and 
> have the club arise anew with a different agenda and smaller goals and 
> priorities that the membership can accommodate?
>
> Hurtful or helpful we have to get it out in the open. Just some food 
> for thought, but leave the lights on.
>
> 73
> KB3ONM
> Kirk