Revisiting declining membership

snoop wrote:
Looking through all the posts from earlier this year, regarding the
sliding membership in our US soaring activities, along with all the
other trailing bad news, i.e. SSA building in need of big repairs,
there is no soaring operation in Hobbs, I'm curious about thoughts of
"what if the SSA became a division of the EAA, similar to the
Vintage,
Classic, Warbird divisions of the EAA.

Two big airshow/conventions a year, EAA publishes all magazines, and
a
lot of members at those fly-ins and airshows to ask the question
"where
can I start". Plus lobbying power, and unlimited networking.
Just curious for thoughts.

About declining membership:
SSA Board and Hobbs staff have been working hard on reversing the
declining membership in SSA. This has been approached to a great extent
by working toward retention of members, including personal letters to
many lapsed members asking why they have left.
Dinner conversation with my director brought up that SSA has had some
success this year in this effort.
Membership as of 12/31/04 was 12,617 compared to 12,305.
It is a good sign when you can reverse a bad trend.
There are no simple answers, but hard work does pay off as shown above.
Let's go get some more folks involved and try to keep the ones we have.
UH

Keith,

I read your mesages about your club and I feel your pain. I went to a
particular club all one summer and got 20 minutes flying time due to
some "Catch 22" rules. Did it make me quit... no. Did it make me
appreciate a good club even more... YES!!! If you're not getting any
more than that out of it, maybe you need to change clubs.

I will say the soaring today in the U.S. would be nothing without
volunteer labor. I hate to continue to elevate Texas Soaring
Association to some plateau that others won't be able to achieve, but
as wealthy as the club is, there greatest asset is the membership. That
group, that I'm proud to say I was once a member of, has the talent to
do about anything they need to get done. Their Pawnees are stunning.
Their gliders are well maintained. Their facilities are wonderful.

I am very encouraged about the Soaring Club of Houston. I did quite a
bit of work since joining in July. I haven't flown much but that's
about to change, since I just got my own ship. I will continue to work
to build this club to one day match what I know is possible. Not
tooting my own horn, but just trying to encourage others, including
Keith, not to give up. If you're not getting what you think you need
out of it, examine your situation and fix it. If it means going to
another club, GO!

Tell others about soaring. Take them up if possible. You never know
where the next really great club member is going to come from. Our
average age is getting older, and our numbers are dwindling. It takes
someone special to be a glider pilot, in my opinion. Those folks are
out there, though, and we're not reaching them. Again, I think SSA and
local clubs should do an R/C day and invite the local R/C Soaring
groups out for a demo ride and a cookout. They already love soaring...
Lots of work for some... yep... it's worth it to continue this greatest
of aviation advantures... (hahaha, waxing poetic here... not bad for an
old West Texas Bumpkin.)
Chin up! GO FLY!!! TELL SOMEONE HOW TERRIFIC IT IS!!!!!!

Jack Womack

Practice what you preach...... OK, I will. I have proposed such a day
for my group and have polled the R/C club to see who's interested. I
want to have some numbers before I porpose this to the club. I'll see
how it goes and report back as this progresses.

Jack Womack