Membership Poll, Part II. Dues Increase Related

[Bill Basler]

First read the last posts on this thread:

http://www.chris-craft.org/discussion/v ... &start=121

Please give me your thoughts relative to dues.

[dpetty]

Bill, I'm probably preaching to the choir, but have you looked into putting an extreme limit on information availability of the club to non-members?

I seldom have time in the middle of the day to log on, but when I do there are 1-3 members and 15-30 non-members on line. Not sure how the system works now and the amount of information non-members are allowed to see, but it is obvious to me they would not be on the site if they were not benefiting in some way.

Limit information and and force them to join or charge a one time fee to access and keep prices down.

My 2 cents
D Petty

[Bill Basler]

Non-members can view Boat Buzz posts, but they cannot respond, nor can they post new topics. This is a privilege of membership. As for the Hull Registry, non-members can view boat info—this helps grow interest via education. A non-member cannot, however, see anything relating to who owns the boat, where it is located, or any other contact info such as email address or phone. As for the Archive, a non-member can search, and get a text snippet and a thumbnail view of the search results. A non-member cannot, however, see a full page PDF view.

As with all online initiatives, we try to walk a fair balance between offering enough, without undermining membership. Our hope, of course, is that more join, as they find the information of value.

The Guests that you see online at any given time are just that....lurkers, who may hopefully join us at some point.

[kcupido]

My 2 cents... and that is all I've got.
Over the past 3 years my financial situation has changed dramatically. No need for the sorry details, but my Connie is on the hard with no funds to complete her repairs. She's up for sale, some interest, but thankfully hasn't sold (as I hold out hope to turn things around.)
I'm not on the CCABC site as much, but still enjoy the chatter when I do get to log on.
As for The Brass Bell, I look forward to it's arrival in my mail box each time. The quality of the publication, the pictures, the articles are top-notch!
Looking at the computer and holding a real magazine are two entirely different things. Don't discontinue it's paper format, PLEASE.
I live in Canada and pay $50.00 annually. I shouldn't continue my membership for financial reasons, but I do. And probably will continue to do so.
A rate increase wouldn't be good for me and I don't know what I'd do then. As dpetty pointed out, non-members can cruise this site and never pay. I pay because I want the full privileges of this great organization and the Bell.
Just my 2 cents....

[Oberon01]

I think that we should know what sort of membership benefits are available at each prospective dues level. What is the difference that a member can expect between paying $50 and $75? There must be some as that is a 50% difference in dues. A doubling of the dues must be clearly explained and the value proposition communciated. I think anyone holding an opinion on the subject should do so from a fully informed persepctive. WE can't be expected to say yes or no without any idea of what to expect from any of the three options.

Clearly some members are not economically bothered by any of the proposed dues levels but some are and this has to be a serious consideration. I very much value the CCABC and I believe it is very important to the hobby. I hope it can thrive and regain the footing and membership it enjoyed a few years back. I think improved deliverables will certainly help, but both the dues and level of expectations must be aligned with membership expectations.

[farupp]

So far, 65% of those responding have voted to "Keep the Bell in print AND provide each issue electronically." And, 64% have voted for a dues increase to $50 US.

Bill, is it possible to "Keep the Bell in print AND provide each issue electronically" with a dues increase to only $50 US, and still print and deliver The Brass Bell quarterly at the same level of quality and content?

Personally I voted for a dues increase to $75 annually and both versions of the Brass Bell. I now pay $95 annually for my ACBS national and regional chapter memberships and I get a much better value from my CCABC membership.

Frank

[Ollon]

Bill,

First off thank you for all you do. This club proved itself priceless to me since I joined in 2010 during the restoration of my 1938 19' Custom Runabout. The advice I garnered from Boat Buzz as well as the advertisers in the Brass Bell made life a lot easier for me during a project that at times made me feel under water. From what I've read so far, here's my two cents:
At 45 I guess I'm on the younger end of the clubs age spectrum, however most of my employees are in their 20's and consider me old school because I still read the newspaper and I don't text them back... I call them. I enjoy reading the printed Brass Bell but I would also enjoy being able to access it online.

I think raising dues is a no brainer. While these are tough times, it seems everyone else is still raising their prices anyway and people will pay for what they want or need. For example, my homeowners insurance went up 400 dollars this year with no claims or increase in coverage, but I'm paying it. No other companies will insure a cabin in the woods in CA. It cost me $50 to take my kids to the movie this weekend. Heck we spent $400 in groceries to host Thanksgiving dinner, and my buddy who complained about paying $4.00 a gallon at the pump had no problem dumping $40 on a liter of Scotch. I would easily pay more to help keep this club and its benefits going.

As for non-members reaping the benefits of the club. I have to admit I always looked at the trading dock before I was a member. I bought my boat from one of its ads so at least it benefitted a member and I joined immediately after the puchase. I'm sure I'm not the only person who ended up joining this way. Also, there are many times that I am on the site but don't take the time to log in. Again I'm sure I'm not the only one so I think we should all make an effort to log in every time so we can get an accurate headcount so to speak.

Well, I guess that was about a nickles worth but I hope it helps and thanks again.

Ollon

[Al Benton]

ACBS dues are $45.00 annually. The additional $50.00 that you paid is for multiple Chapter memberships within the ACBS. Just thought it would be fair to point this out to CCABC members that may not be ACBS members at this time.

Without any idea of the financial picture of the CCABC none of us are fully aware of the annual budget. Bill reviewed the costs relating to the quarterly publication but what are the other annual budget line items that our dues and ad sales are expected to cover? Realizing that it's a moving target, I still would have to believe that we could be given some idea of the annual operating cost for CCABC.

[Al Benton]

Well, I'm sure that Bill is flattered that 26% of Boat Buzz regulars are so willing to offer more than doubling dues when an increase hasn't been suggested by our leadership at all until just recently.

When all of this discussion started back in August it was about a momentary "cash-flow" problem that Bill was trying to get through. The club needed immediate assistance to get beyond it but it very obviously didn't come. If it had, the Spring 2011 Brass Bell would have been printed and delivered in August and the Summer issue may have been in our mail boxed by now as well. Also, progress on a Fall issue could have been the subject of discussion now.

Instead, Bill still needs immediate help to get beyond the initial problem that a dues increase in the future isn't going to fix. Bill clearly stated that he hopes to keep the books in the black after mailing the Spring & Summer issues and also hopes that membership renewals flow in quick enough to produce the Fall issue and mail it. I will add that if renewals don't flow in close to normal we may not see the Fall issue until next spring even if dues are tripled or quadrupled.

The truth is that, if the "cash-flow" situation would have been resolved in August (or sooner) there may not have been a discussion regarding a dues increase at all, or at least not until Brass Bell delivery was back in sync with the season.

I feel compelled to say that if dues were to be increased to $75.00 that membership would diminish to a level that the $75.00 per year would not cover even half of present CCABC expenses. Do the math. An increase of nearly 45% ($50.00) will indeed affect the number of renewals. If we could believe the percentages in this poll we may be a club of less than 3,000 members to begin the new year with, with such an increase.

And, to throw it out again, a "cash-flow" still exists that may have a serious effect on delivery of of the Fall 2011 Brass Bell, and very possibly the combined Spring & Summer packaged issues that haven't been mailed yet. Their delivery will depend on the quantity of renewals this week and how many times members use the "Donate" key at the top of the Club Home page.

A lot more could and should be said but I'll shut up.

[farupp]

Al, I understand your point. However, please remember that the title of the poll is "Benefits of this Club warrant annual dues of": $35, $50, or $75.

I voted based on the wording of the poll and I, as well as 26% of those voting, felt the benefits offered by CCABC are worth annual dues of $75. They most likely are worth much more.

That's what I voted for. Not an annual budget or anything else. It is of concern, though, that only 42 people have voted.

It is a valid question to ask what the club's budget is now and should be in the future and then to determine how the club won't lose money. Just because CCABC is a non-profit organization doesn't mean that CCABC can't make a profit.

Frank

[Al Benton]

Frank,

Thanks for the clarification. You are saying that the poll isn't intended to establish an actual dues increase level, that it's just an opinion poll to determine how much we value the club benefits using dollar signs as a means of expressing it. Well, that's different!!!???

I'm no tax expert but I would think that being a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization may have some limits on "making a profit". I would think that having cash reserves may need to be designated in some way to keep the tax exempt status valid.

[farupp]

Al, that is how I viewed the poll but that doesn't mean everyone read it or voted that way. None of us will be able to actually determine what the dues should be without knowing what it cost to operate the club.

One point I have wondered about is whether the club actually has a Board of Directors, and if not, shouldn't we have one? I operate a IRS designated 501-c-3 non-profit organization which is what I believe CCABC is also.

If I am correct, I believe it is a legal requirement for a 501-c-3 to have a Board of Directors who actually run the organization. I am sure that we have some lawyers reading this and I hope they can provide their view(s) on this question. I am not a lawyer.

Frank

[Al Benton]

Frank,

I think that varies from state to state. Wilson incorporated the club as a not-for-profit organization in Florida and established the 501(c)3 tax exempt status with the IRS years ago. This may not have been changed. Florida didn't require by-laws or other documents defining its form of governance so a board as such wasn't required, just 3 officers to manage it and file returns.

Wilson is still a Boat Buzz member but can't get logged in. If he could I'm sure he would be happy to answer your questions and participate in this discussion. (Bill, can you please fix this?).

Bill can also answer the questions regarding CCABC governance structure.

[farupp]

Thanks, Al. I do now recall that organizational description in another thread as an answer to whether CCABC had a Board of Directors, and who they were.

If there was a Board running the organization it would take a lot of pressure off of Bill to make so many decisions apparently on his own, although I am sure he asks advice of, and receives input from, others.

Frank

[mfine]

Al,

The cash crisis occured because dues were not raised soon enough. It continues because dues have not been raised and other sources of revenue have not been found. We are STILL talking about getting the cash for Spring and Summer and that means we have already built a cash deficit for Fall and Winter. Calling it a short term problem is like puting lipstick on a pig, no one is fooled when you constantly move from one one-time short term problem to the next identical one-time short term problem. As soon as you raise dues, the cash coming in from new members and renewals goes up as long as you don't hit the threshold were people will no longer pay. That, and billing people every 12 months instead of every 4 issues of the Bell will quickly deal with any immediate cash issue. Next the club can do a better job of forcasting expenses and building and maintaining both reserves and also accounts for lumpy expenses like server upgrades that will not happen every year. Yes this is perfectly legal for even charitable organizations. This is finance 101, not rocket science.

As for your coment on ACBS, you cannot join a single local ACBS club anywhere I know of for $50 or less. You need to also pay the national club their share so the total is what is relevant. This club offers way more value to members than a membership in any of my local ACBS chapters can offer. You may feel differently, but there is overwhelming evidence that many people in this hobby will happily pay more than $35 a year for a club membership.

Finally, wether required by law or not, a board of directors that provides oversight is a darn good idea. The lack of one in this case is a bit disturbing. If you are going to ask for more from members monetarily, perhaps now would be a good time to give members more input by introduce a BoD with at least some of the directors member elected. EVERY organization that touches more than a few hundred dollars should have an independant audit committee and all clubs should have at least one member elected rep (with term limits) on the that committee. One of the other clubs I have been a member of lost several hundred thousand dollars a few years ago because the oversight failed, and theirs was 1000X better than what this club seems to have. I am not saying anything bad has happened yet and we may have very good honest people running things now, but I think most of us hope this club lasts longer than we do, so the outlook should be for the very long term.

[Al Benton]

Frank,

I think the biggest problem is the time element involved in getting Brass Bell content together (besides the cash-flow situation). Bill spoke of addressing this problem (and others) soon in a separate E-Newsletter to all of the CCABC membership. He may be concentrating on finishing that as we speak in fact.

Boat Buzz has its following by some of us on a daily basis. Others may not see these new posts for days or weeks, depending on their interests. Although it is a great benefit to many members it isn't a consistent resource for all. The E-Newsletter seems to be the better means to address the largest number of members.

Seeing only 43 responses to the poll in the 30 hours it's been available may seem low and disappointing but it may be par for the course for this media.

[Bill Basler]

I will respond quickly (??) here, with a more in-depth response this evening.

1. The Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club is a 501(c)(3) organization. Nothing has changed on this status for many years,.
2. The Club does have a board of directors. Modifications to this board are being made at this time.
3. Al, I will call Wilson soon about lots of issues...getting him logged on is on the list. FYI, his login has not changed. He can visits Boat Buzz via his browser at any time. Wilson used to interface with the forum via the email digest which he is no longer receiving. Without that digest, his perception is that Boat Buzz has been down. I will take this up with him.
4. Paul H brings up some good questions, relative to what an increase in dues money would do for this organization. I have some thoughts on that that I will share when I return to this topic.

Honestly, though, this was not what I was trying to determine via this specific poll. I was looking at this specifically from farupp's vantage point.

Some have made comments that Boat Buzz is their most revered benefit. Brass Bell second.
Some have made comments that the club offers no benefit outside of the Brass Bell.
Others have said that the printed Brass Bell is their most coveted benefit.
Sidebar conversations have been had about these benefits, and what one would expect them to cost. For example, if I truly care only about Boat Buzz as my benefit, what should that cost me annually?
To the contrary, if I strongly believed in Boat Buzz, the Brass Bell, the Archive, the Wiki, the Hull Registry, and so on...what is that suite of benefits worth to me?

The absolute flip side to the above is that I have heard from many, that our dues are way too low, relative to the benefits received. OK...if so, what annual dues amount accurately reflects what benefits you are receiving?

There's a declaimer that needs to be made here. The Brass Bell has to get on a timely delivery schedule. Brass Bells delivered in a timely fashion is a more significant benefit than Brass Bells that are three quarters behind.

Let's take this a step at a time. Based on the benefits that are important to you today...and assuming the Brass Bell can be delivered in a timely fashion....what is the annual fee that is in keeping with this?

Here's where I am going with this...Some of our members who are not computer literate (a very small number) see no value in Boat Buzz...or the Archive....or the Wiki....or the Hull Registry...or the Member Directory. They view their club membership as a $35.00 magazine subscription.

Others value everything. And use it often. They may be the ones saying the dues are far too low for the benefits received.

My poll question was not intended to say we are thinking about raising dues to $100.00 per year. I can tell you honestly that that would never happen.

But, I need to get a clearer understanding of what needs to happen. If we do nothing, we are going to have a difficult time funding the Brass Bell as it continues to get more expensive. This is one issue that is not going to go away...ever. This itself would imply a continual need to increase dues cost every so often to cover the increases in printing and mailing.

How much we go above "just breaking even" becomes another conversation entirely.

I need to remind all of our members, this club does not own a computer, a building, a phone system, file servers, or web servers. It does not pay annual salaries. It does not have it's own copy machine. Or postage machines, scales, etc. It has never paid fair market rate in any region...Tallahassee, Florida, or Cedar Rapids, Iowa...for rent and utilities. It does not pay it's own insurance relative to a its physical space.

As we are inclined to think about the "what will the money get us" question, we need to be conscious about building a club that can stand the test of time.

I am advocating getting this club to stand on its own two feet. It is not viable over the long term if it cannot. This club has always attached itself to a "donor" organism, in order to operate. For many years, this was Wilson Wright. And I know for a fact, that we paid very little rent,paid little or nothing for usage of a copy machine, paid no prorated utilities, etc....for over 20 years.

We need to fund the Brass Bell properly to continue publishing into the future. As I mentioned in a prior post, we are currently losing money on all of Canada, and all International members based on current pricing. The US is not far behind. That is the mandatory "part one" of this question. Paying for other stuff, and adding member benefits is another discussion.

As soon as I get a chance I will post a an overview of finances...those that have been reported on annual IRS returns. This will be pretty revealing.

Until then...I guess we all have to look at the poll question from our own unique position. Again...if only the Brass Bell is important to me, then what am I willing to pay for it. If only Boat Buzz is important to me, then what am I will willing to pay for it.

As Al suggests, we are not trying to create the perfect storm for a mass exodus...and I don't think we will.

Membership has continued to grow recently. New member activity has been good to excellent in the past month. But, we still have 305 members on the past due list and this is given this extremely long renewal cycle. We have targeted those members heavily and are seeing little movement. And I will feel we are beating this horse hard at this point. I am content to move ahead full speed, with a little more input from all of you.

[Al Benton]

Matt,

I am no more than just another concerned member of CCABC. Don't direct those confusing remarks to me in reply to my own comments. Direct them to our leadership. I'm not saying that many things you say are wrong but review all of the posts since August and earlier and show me where our leaders mentioned that a dues increase was necessary. Was it needed? Probably! But did anyone in a leadership role ask for one? NO!!!!!! Was (and is) there a cash-flow issue? Bill Basler just indicated that there still is one. He stated his concern just about the same way that I just did.

The ACBS is an entirely different type of organization that hardly compares in operation or existence to the CCABC. Their Annual membership dues are $45.00 per year. That amount supports real estate, 2 full time employees and many budget line items to fulfill their goals that are carried out by many committees. Many of its members elect not to join a local Chapter. Chapter dues for those who want to participate in a local group are around $25.00 more or less. I belong to 2 Chapters and I am assessed $25.00 for each. This is about average.

The ACBS and the local Chapters is indeed worth every dime that I pay. The benefits are quite different than those of CCABC. With the ACBS I participate in 15 to 20 actual events each year, most with local Chapters and some ACBS sanctioned shows and symposiums. It's a wonderful organization that I wholeheartedly support and enjoy the heck out of.

CCABC is another wonderful organization that I enjoy the heck out of. It operates on an entirely different platform than the ACBS but I like it just the way it is. I look forward to receiving the Brass Bell, I enjoy participating on Boat Buzz, I often visit the On-Line Archive and the On-Line Hull Registry and the other things available only here. We don't have local groups but that doesn't take away from its value to me. The ACBS fulfills that need well and the CCABC would have a hard time competing with that and probably shouldn't try to.

[farupp]

Bill, thank you for the input and all you are doing for us. Your description of what we are facing points out why an active, involved, Board is needed.

And, never say never!

Frank

p.s. How do you find time to run your own business?

[Al Benton]

Thanks, Bill,

When Wilson was receiving the email digest it must have been set up to log him in automatically so he could leave replies. He doesn't know his user name or password and couldn't log on. Unfortunately I couldn't help with that. He will appreciate your call.

Thanks for your post.

[gbraker]

So ACBS has no problem funding a building and several employees but CCABC can't manage to get 4 issues of the Brass Bell out without having cash flow issues.

So why is ACBS so better. The dues are similar.

Makes me wonder.

[steve bunda]

Thinking out of the box , It is possible to raise money with a stock offering? My country Club did it to build a golf course, the Green Bay Packers do it all the time. I would be proud to be a stock holder in the ccabc . steve and laurie

[Oberon01]

The ACBS has roughly 7600 memberships at the moment, at $45 per year. Annual chapter memberships are separate and do not flow to the national organization. Membership revenues are therefore about $344,000 - quite a bit more than CCABC. With this, they pay for salaries, run the website, operate and maintain the HQ building (which was largely purchased through fund raising/donations about 15 years ago)and publish the Rudder on a regular quarterly basis. The ACBS may have issues, but money is not one of them - they have considerable surpluses and a contingency fund as well. Although I am now an ACBS BOD member, I feel only marginally qualified to speak to the ecnomic picture of the ACBS as it presently exists, as my experience in the hobby and the organization is barely 4 years.

That said, as a veteran of precisely 1 ACBS board meeting, I can speak to the VERY clearly defined corporate governance that I see there. It is not a large organization but it is run with a very clear and formal executive board, a non-executive board and there are very clear lines of accountability, decision making and authority. Financial matters are attended to with scrupulous clarity and committee oversight. None of this is a bad thing in a volunteer organization which takes the stewardship and use of its' members dues seriously. The ACBS may not be everyone's cup of tea, but regardless - they do set a very high standard of operational clarity.

[gbraker]

it looks to me like its an issue of accountability.

This is a club, there should be no secrets. every dollar should be accounted for. Despite several suggestions, we don't have that accountability.

What should be the next step?

We only exist on hard drives, and Bill has moved everything to new servers, we are at his mercy. Where is the accountability?

[knotty48]

All,
After reading from a very very small percentage of our membership on this thread it seems that either most of the other members want to ignore this issue the club is having, don't understand what is really going on here or maybe they really don't login to the Buzz.

Maybe those members are truly looking for the beautiful hardcopy of the Brass Bell for their annual membership fee.

Tell the truth I do enjoy the Buzz but I rarely go into anything except the actual restoration/preservation topic's. I usually avoid topics like this... Don't get me wrong it is important to give feedback to the club but it seems that the club is run by Bill. Maybe we should hear from our BOD, vote on the BOD, post the financials of the club on the website for membership access only and offer those who don't use a computer a mailed copy of the financials. How often does our BOD meet? Maybe all this is happening and I just don't know..

I really enjoy sharing information that helps someone through a process they are having trouble finding info on. I enjoy receiving the same from this group. I would rather get all this type of communication off our site and stick to what the site was intended as I am sure most of you would.

Bill please do not feel you need to respond to this message I am only sharing my comments. To end I will say this again as I said in a previous message. Please think of the dated material that is in the spring Brass Bell like shows or other items dated that have since past. Think about the sponsors and vendors that have paid for advertising.. We may lose this revenue if things don't change.

Thanks Bill for you help!
Pete

[jfrprops]

Nice summary by Bill, thanks, John in Va

[mattwells]

I voted for $75. My income bracket is probably along the low end of the spectrum among the folks in this hobby.

The timing is never great to part with money to renew with ACBS.

I'm also looking into joining the U.S. chapter of the Riva Club (it's $125/year and I don't personally own a Riva). That pays for four magazines a year. Pretty extravagant for me right now. But I love the magazine and you can't get it anywhere else. There simply isn't content like that. Anywhere!

Kind of like content about Chris Crafts. What alternatives exist?

The current rate to join the Chris Craft Antique Boat Club is a pittance. I've quite never understood the seeming disparity between dues and the over-the-top quality of the Brass Bell. I've certainly appreciated it as a paying customer. But I have certainly also felt an almost guilt over how cheap it is. As a member with a vested interest in seeing this club survive, it frustrates me that any hesitation in raising prices exists.

There are a lot of off-the-wall, thinking-outside-the-box ideas for raising money here. But the bottom line is dues are too low.

Either raise the prices or start publishing a black-and-white newsletter that is more on par with the subscription rate.

[mattwells]

The Guests that you see online at any given time are just that....lurkers, who may hopefully join us at some point.

Or, they will just obtain the information they want and go about their business. I do appreciate this gesture, Bill, and understand the balance that must be struck. However, as a paying member who has spent a fair amount of his free time contributing to this knowledge base, it actually angers me that non-paying visitors have almost full access.

So they can't reply to messages, or see who actually owns the boats in the archive. So what? They already have 95% of everything they were looking for when they came; free information and restoration advice from people who were dumb enough to pay money to type it out for freeloaders. What's wrong with this picture?

For the most part, I only log in to hear myself talk. Asking a question or replying is rarely critical to finding the answer on Boat Buzz. I can use the search function and find most of the answers I need without logging in.

We've simply missed the mark here.

If a non-member wanted info on how to assemble his CC 283, and was absolutely stuck, and desperate to get it finished for Spring, and NO information was available as a non-member? If it were me, and I knew that inside this club were a bunch of people who knew the answer, I'd spring for the $35 so I could finish my motor. What's my alternative? Buy a manual on eBay for maybe as much money, knowing it may not have the exact info I need.

Again, I appreciate and understand the sentiment, but we are giving away the proverbial milk for free in this scenario.

[parroteyes]

I suppose I should be flattered by the apparent interest in my opinion and solicitation of my ideas

BUT

This has been going on too long, too redundantly, and too indecisively.

Let me be blunt.

Leaders: Step up, decide what to do and do it!

If this is an example of how decisions are made it is no wonder the schedules can't be met, the members do not have any real understanding of finances and we discuss stuff ad nauseum.

Denying that the poll is a vote for dues level and claiming it is an effort to estimate the "value" of membership is absolute non-sense.

It seems to me that the web site is run very well. Someone is making decisions that seem good to me. Why there is reluctance to take charge of the business end of the club is unknown. I've seen this kind of paralysis in other organizations. Could be undisclosed friction among the leaders. Could be lack of confidence in running the business, I don't know or care what the problem is. The leaders must deal with it.

[RRGadow]

The Guests that you see online at any given time are just that....lurkers, who may hopefully join us at some point.

Or, they will just obtain the information they want and go about their business. I do appreciate this gesture, Bill, and understand the balance that must be struck. However, as a paying member who has spent a fair amount of his free time contributing to this knowledge base, it actually angers me that non-paying visitors have almost full access.

So they can't reply to messages, or see who actually owns the boats in the archive. So what? They already have 95% of everything they were looking for when they came; free information and restoration advice from people who were dumb enough to pay money to type it out for freeloaders. What's wrong with this picture?

For the most part, I only log in to hear myself talk. Asking a question or replying is rarely critical to finding the answer on Boat Buzz. I can use the search function and find most of the answers I need without logging in.

We've simply missed the mark here.

If a non-member wanted info on how to assemble his CC 283, and was absolutely stuck, and desperate to get it finished for Spring, and NO information was available as a non-member? If it were me, and I knew that inside this club were a bunch of people who knew the answer, I'd spring for the $35 so I could finish my motor. What's my alternative? Buy a manual on eBay for maybe as much money, knowing it may not have the exact info I need.

Again, I appreciate and understand the sentiment, but we are giving away the proverbial milk for free in this scenario.

Im with you on this...I dont think having free access peaks interest. I would believe that the interest in the hobby would already be there for someone, then they come looking for info. I was one of those lurkers for a long time a few years ago, because I got the info I wanted by just looking....the only reason I ended up joining was because of the Bell.

There isn't a reason why anyone should be able to access anything for free on this site....that in its self will peak interest and make another paying member.