Membership - changes

Sorry to say, but I predict that the days of the DBC (me) mailing printed copies of the newsletter “Changing Gears” are over.  Yes, like some of you, I liked receiving the newsletter in the snail mail and posting the ride calendar on my bulletin board.  But times change and that’s probably not going to happen again.

This has an impact on DBC Membership cards.  The address label of the mailed newsletter was very cleverly organized to list the membership expiration date.

Because of the lack of a newsletter and associated address label/Membership card, a couple times a month I get an email from someone asking “when does my membership expire?”.  I look up the record in the database and provide an answer.  In addition, I have been trying to send expiration notices (that sounds weird to me) slightly in advance of expiration.  This doesn’t address the lack of a Membership Card, but it does serve to notice folks of their membership status.  Less frequently, I get requests form folks for proof of DBC Membership.  For those, I type up a notice that says “This certifies that xxx is a  member of the Davis Bike Club, with an expiration date of yyy”.

I am very interested in a couple new twists to DBC Membership.  One is an online system that folks could use to A) join.  B) pay dues, C) check their own membership status and D) print a membership card. Unfortunately, I do have a day job, so time is an issue.  So, my fall back plan would be to send out a post card to all DBC Members and use as the address label, a print out from the database that lists the expiration date.  This is a possibility for 2012.  In the meantime, in the next week (beginning of October), I will email out notices of impending Membership Expiration and I will also send out an email to everyone whose membership expires in 2012.  I don’t think I can include the expiration date in the email, but I’ll investigate.

John Hess, your friendly DBC Membership Director