[TheForge] ABANA Dilema

[GRAF]

ries it seems simple enough then.
Is $55 too much for the magazines.?

As that consumes most of the dues money, it would seem a question for 
the board to consider and perhaps consult the membership on.
Perhaps, together, understanding  and perhaps reworking the allocation 
of funds might make that package more appealing to more people.

Mike Graf

ries wrote:
> If you go to the Abana website, you can look at the financial statements.
> The last one I found says it costs around $210,000 to publish the two 
> magazines.
> Then, they spend another $100,000 or so a year on scholarships, 
> insurance, office expenses, and paying the one full time employee.
> So at the end of the day, there is not some huge slush fund to waste 
> on girls, parties, and trips to the casino.
> Plus, due to whatever reasons (this is a giant subject for heated 
> discussion all on its own)
> the last conference in Seattle lost money.
> The University of Washington claims we still owe em something like 
> $60,000.
>
> The all volunteer board does the best they can- and we can all tell em 
> how to do it differently, I am sure.
> But there aint no padding of expenses or swindling going on here- it 
> costs money to be real today, to be legal, to file tax returns, to 
> host conferences and publish two magazines.
>
> Each of us is certainly free to decide that we dont want to support 
> abana, or that we arent getting enough back for our dues.
>
> Me, I send in my money strictly because I believe in the organisation- 
> the two magazines are strictly a bonus, if you ask me.
> I spend more on one halfway decent (not gourmet) meal for my family of 
> four at a restaurant.
>
> Toby Hickman put it quite nicely,  I, thought, over on the Poaba 
> discussion board-
> ""I don”t know about any one else but all I want from my blacksmithing 
> orginization is a good rag and a place to drink beer and talk to other 
> blacksmiths.""
>
> http://poaba.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/intro-to-poabas-blog-site/
>
> Me, I am in total agreement with him, and $55 seems like a mighty 
> small price to pay for that.
>
> Nomma, for example, costs a minimum of $300 a year- $415 for a 
> fabricator- and their parties are nowhere near as good as an Abana 
> conference.
>
> ries
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 22, 2007, at 10:54 AM, Phil wrote:
>
> I've been a member of ABANA since 1981.  I got my
> ABANA membership renewal in the mail the other day,
> $55 for the coming year.  I like reading the Hammer's
> Blow.  The Anvil's ring has gotten a bit too artsy for
> my taste, and it's hard to find the articles cause of
> all the advertisements.  But anyway, I was weighing
> whether I wanted to renew or not.  I was thinking $55
> a year is a lot for two quarterly publications.  Then
> it occurred to me that ABANA doesn't do conferences
> anymore.  The ABANA web-site is basically unchanged
> for the last few years.  Then I started thinking about
> the numbers, 5000 people spending $55 a year, that's
> $275,000.  Wow, that's a lot to publish two quarterly
> journals.  Then a friend of mine pointed out to me
> that the Anvil's Ring has ad revenue as well.  Where
> does all that money go anyway?
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>
> Ries Niemi
> Industrial Artist
> http://www.riesniemi.com/
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>