response 17 of 90:

Oct 4 21:39 UTC 1999

Re resp:15 - Yes, that's correct.  I wanted to be clear, b/c the last time
I saw that analogy, someone had displayed it in such a manner that it was
clear that he was included in it.  He thought it was amusing, and so do I.

response 19 of 90:

Oct 5 15:41 UTC 1999

Er, actually I have to wait to do M-Net's monthly statements until
after the UM Credit Union statement comes because I don't know what
we will have earned in dividends (interest).  The UMCU statement
comes no earlier than the 7th of the month; it wasn't in the PO box
yesterday.  Then I do our monthly statement and post it ASAP.
        Aruba, could you please post the total Grex income for
each of the past six months in this item?  I am somewhat concerned
as well about declining income recently.  (Or tell me where to find
the income figures in your directory.)

response 21 of 90:

Oct 5 19:06 UTC 1999

Here are the figures for average monthly income into the general fund for
the year from September '98 through August '99: 

Member Dues    $456.92
Auction        $105.00
Miscellaneous  $208.88  ($71.77 without windfall income)
               -------
               $770.79  ($633.69 without windfall income)

We had two large windfalls in the period - the tax credit from Ameritech
and the donation of spare parts which resulted in most of the spare parts
fund being moved into the general fund.  I broke those out so it's clear
how we would have done without them.

Here were our average monthly operating expenses for the same period:

Phone lines         $272.32
ISDN connection      $95.74
Electricity          $66.09
Rent                 $63.30
Miscellaneous        $43.61
Bank service charges  $3.04
ICNET link            $1.67
                    -------
                    $545.77

Which means that our non-windfall income exceeded our expenses by an
average of $87.92 per month, for a total of $1055.03 on the year.  If
you're wondering just what I'm including up there and what I'm leaving
out, here's the overall balance sheet for the year.  For purposes of this
accounting, I've included the Silly Hat Fund in the General Fund.

 Amount         Description

 $2,537.18      General Fund balance on 9/1/98

   $675.00      Misc. Transfers from Spare Parts Fund
   $970.27      Ameritech Tax Refund
 $1,055.03      Operating Surplus
    $77.00      Grex Store sales
     $8.00      Sales of handbooks
    $35.32      Refund for erroneous long distance
   $(11.76)     Use Tax from '98
   $(56.00)     UPS ($119 came from UPS fund)
    $(5.80)     Temporal distortion in phone bills

 $5,284.24      General Fund balance on 8/31/99

The temporal distortion in the phone bills is caused by the fact that the
phone costs I reported were those we incurred in the period named, but
some things you pay for after the fact, like local calls and price hikes.

So I think it's fair to say that Grex had a teriffic year.  As for the
"trend" of the last 3 months, if I showed you my graph of income by month
you would see that it is very erratic.  At a glance, I see several periods
of 3 or more months in which income was slow; Jul-Sep of '95 is one,
Nov '95 - Jan '96 is another, Aug '98-Oct '98 would have been if not for
the auction.  We always bounced back.

Believe me, Dave & Don, if I thought we had a problem, I would be out
there agreeing with you.  But the data don't support anything but a robust
assessment of Grex's finances.

response 23 of 90:

Oct 6 04:12 UTC 1999

The number I would worry about is the slight sag in the membership numbers.

response 25 of 90:

Oct 6 07:18 UTC 1999

There is talk now and then about seeking memberships somewhat more
ardently, but nothing much ever seems to come of it. How about 
appointing a membership committee with the goal of doubling the 
membership in a year?

response 27 of 90:

Oct 6 12:33 UTC 1999

Getting someone to do it is always the problem.  I point this out because I
volunteered to work on getting more memberships some time ago and think I was
even appointed membership chairperson (or some such title) at a board meeting a
year or so ago.  Obviously, I haven't been working at it very hard.

Like any organization--non-profit or for-profit--Grex has to keep its PR
machine humming. You'd think that with all the resources of the Internet at our
disposal, we'd be able to attract more users.

Whatever happened to our ad on Arborweb?  Did they finally take it down? How
about the classified ad we had in the Food Co-op newsletter?  Maybe we should
put up some posters around campus and downtown again.  Any other ideas?

response 29 of 90:

Oct 6 15:58 UTC 1999

Clinton was membership chair? 

I decline, on grounds of already having too many volunteer obligations.
However such things as membership development are precisely the obligation
of the board. Until they can find a volunteer to do the job properly,
they should do it themselves. For starters, how about having the TV
ad on community television say how to *join*, not just how to log in?
All Grex publicity could be aimed at seeking members, not just users. 
"Support your local on-line conferencing system - GREX - by becoming a member
now", etc.

response 31 of 90:

Oct 6 20:12 UTC 1999

The Board is not obligated to pick up jobs like this.  If 
volunteers can't be found then the job doesn't get done.
Insisting the Board do it all is a great way to make certain
the only people who run for the Board are unemployable slugs
who live for television and Grex.

Nice try though. ;-)

response 33 of 90:

Oct 6 23:47 UTC 1999

I see no serious threat to grex's existence, nor any purpose in twisting
the boards' arms on the subject of increasing membership.

response 35 of 90:

Oct 7 04:25 UTC 1999

The board is *legally* responsible for the proper management of the
corporation - it is called fiduciary responsibility. The members have
*no* specific responsibilities except to elect the board. 

Your hypothesis has been disproven, Marcus, by the failure of member
volunteers to generate a functional membership program. 

response 37 of 90:

Oct 7 12:26 UTC 1999

re #36:  Ideally, the membership as a whole is responsible.  In practice, it
hardly ever works that way.  Just as you would not expect the membership as a
whole to run down to the Pumpkin to reboot the computer should it crash, you
can't expect the membership as a whole to take some action on membership
levels.  If the number of members is a problem--and I'm NOT saying it's a
critical problem--it is up to the board to raise this issue and to initiate
action to correct it.

Having said that, mdw does have some good ideas as to how to increase
membership.  I still think the idea of personally contacting non-members who
use Grex a lot, whether it be party, conferencing, or simply for email, might
be even more effective.

response 39 of 90:

Oct 7 18:00 UTC 1999

Well...a little finger pointing can do some good, too. It helps getting
people interested and involved. 

One thing missing from Marcus' list in #36 is the goal of obtaining
memberships in order to support the purposes and goals of Grex. That is,
to seek support for Grex on the basis of community spirit to support a
community resource. This is, admittedly, somewhat intangible, so we tend
to emphasize "services" and "benefits", but after all, most of the current
members don't join because of extra benefits offered by membership. This
is where leadership is needed to develop and express membership programs
based upon the charitable purposes of the organization. 

response 41 of 90:

Oct 7 20:17 UTC 1999

A, uh, special project, of sorts.   :)

re resp:35  It could be argued that volunteers have, in fact, created a 
functional membership program -- the one in place now.  The conjecture 
that it will not continue to be functional in the future is still a 
matter of opinion.  

I think one reason why more regular users don't become members is 
because of a lack of a sense of urgency.  There doesn't seem to be any 
overwhelming reason to become a member *now*, as opposed to, oh, say, 
next time I'm paying my bills and I happen to think of it.  I know I've 
been meaning to get around to sending in a check for at least three 
years, but it has never quite happened, for one reason or another.  And 
yet Grex continues to exist, without significant financial difficulty 
and with qualified leadership.  

I'll try to find that checkbook one of these days!  :)