Re: July AIS Bulletin for Emembers

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

You said They used the word cheat, I only note that if you choose to use that word there is real questions as to whom is getting the short end of the stick. 
The bottom line is that to support all the services we would need a membership cost of $40 for full membership. We are providing two discounted memberships $25 for print only and $15 for Electronic only. Some of us are willing to pay for both. It is possible that the real costs should be $10 for electronic alone and $30 for print alone. Unfortunately we do not have a good handle on what the sustainable costs of electronic is. Perhaps the real answer is to raise all memberships to $40 but I would suggest that would cause the membership to drop through the floor. 

I agree with you that we need better transparency of the costs. If it turned out that electronic was really even cheaper then maybe we could afford to have a discounted combined price. I have spent the last 7 years trying to find ways to get costs down. My efforts have helped bring the costs that were present when I came to the board down more than 40%. But many of the gains I created were eaten away in the last two years that I have not been on the board. The perception by some may be that they are getting cheated, but they now recieve more for less money than they ever had recieved before. AIS services continue to improve. They must improve if we want new members. Hopefully we can find ways to make that happen without increasing costs. One way of making that happen is through other revenue sources. The PR committee has been investigating ways of bringing money in from outside. The answer to give people is if they do not want to pay for what they get, then suggest other way!
 s to pay for it. But there is no free lunch.

----- Original Message -----
So Bob, you want my answer to these folks to be that you think they are trying
to cheat AIS?  That ought to drive our membership numbers right through
the....floor!

Dana
 
Dana Brown
ddbro@sbcglobal.net
Malevil Iris Gardens &
Kennels
www.malevil-iris.com

 I own a dog and I vote!!
________________________________
From: Robert Pries
<robertpries@embarqmail.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Mon, July 30,
2012 12:32:32 PM
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] July AIS Bulletin for Emembers

I
am delighted that members should want e-membership. Perhaps we have created
something of value. But apparently it is not enough value to pay for it. I am
a 
life member. When I joined with life there was no e-membership. There was
no 
Iris Encyclopedia and there was no Iris Register.  The amount I paid did
nothing 
to provide for these services. Even though there was a period of high
interest 
rates after I joined as a life member these were not enough to pay
for all the 
bulletins I now enjoy. In fact presently AIS looses money on Life
members with 
interest rates as low as they are at present. It is
disappointing that Life 
members would feel cheated. They are receiving
services now that their 
membership did not pay for. To think they cannot help
to pay for new services is 
discouraging. I guess we all want something for
nothing. I do not mind paying 
for things I use. I am sure there are life
members who have no internet 
connections and perhaps cannot afford them. They
are proba!
bly perfectly happy with the bulletin. Originally it was believed
that e-members 
would help to subsidize, at least a little, the costs of
regular print 
membership. Although with the amount we spent on e-membership
from, grants, 
donations, etc. I am not sure it has turned out to help much.
But e-members are 
helping to pay the costs of what print members are getting,
but the print 
members are crying foul that they should get what e-members get
all for free. 
Who is trying to cheat whom.

----- Original Message -----
Gerry,
    I think we should have listened closer to what you were saying
because that 
is what I am hearing now.  Most of the folks that are unhappy
feel like they are 
getting cheated.  They bought and paid for "full"
memberships and now, there are 
things they can't get to unless they pay
again, and again, and again, every 
year.
    I go back to my previous
question and I'll add a few more that I have been 
asked.  

    * What do
these
electronic services cost us?  
    * Is the cost covered by our
e-members dues?  
* How many e-members do we have?  
    * How much do we need
to charge our
regular members for this service?  
    Since my first post, I
have received
several additional emails from folks 
thanking me for bringing
it up and
stating that they feel the same way.  I 
think there are a lot of
people
unhappy about this that just haven't spoken out.

Thanks,

Dana
  
Dana
Brown
ddbro@sbcglobal.net
Malevil Iris Gardens & Kennels
www.malevil-iris.com
I
own a dog and I vote!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To
sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To
sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/