Membership report, September 2006
3 October 2006
From the February 2006 membership report:
As of the morning of 18 February I counted 211 members, paid and unpaid for 2006. 10 of these do not pay full dues (1 student, 8 emeritus and 1 administration).
Chapter membership now counts 197 members, 187 paying. 149 are “three tier” members with National and Continental Europe, such that our chapter is their local AIA affiliation. While this appears to be a reduction from the start of the year it is in fact a better set of numbers — all those counted are paid. Indeed, with help from the Section Directors and Karl Hartnack, Membership Committee Chair, the membership is stronger after the gentle prodding last Spring.
47 members are “local only” — 35 being AIA members who have joined our chapter as a supplement to a different local chapter (typically the US but also UK). Some of these members join to qualify for a reduced conference rate. Some stay with us each year.
While we appear, by AIA National standards, to have a weak rate of member retention, the usual ebb and flow of membership is consistent. The nature of the chapter is such that we have an (almost) yearly 20% (±5%) turnover. This year’s influx witnessed the addition of 9 new members from Ukraine.
The membership renewal process starts in earnest in October. Full AIA members (FAIA, AIA, Int’l. Assoc. AIA, Assoc. AIA — i.e. not Prof. Aff.) who call Continental Europe their local chapter can again complete this process easily* online.
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It is my sincere hope before I leave my post as Chapter Secretary at the end of 2007 that I accomplish two things. Each of these also tie into my work with the website.
- Move our Chapter membership records to a true database. Benefits sought are the establishment of relational databases with conferences and membership payments and tighter integration (possibly automated) with our online membership directory.
- Some of this is tied directly into changes I would like to see with the website — in particular the ability to, if not directly process, allow a secure form creation for online form completion.
*A few members have not had an easy time renewing online. A typical problem is incorrect login information. Contact infocentral@aia.org if you have difficulties accessing aia.org as a member or paying online.