[Phono-L] MAPS going strong -

[Ron L]

What I'm reading here seems to echo what I see in local (to me)
organizations, our historical society, of which I am a member, for instance.
Our annual meeting was attended by the board of trustees and one or two
other members.  We get maybe 20 people at our monthly meetings, some of whom
are non members and we have 150 or so who are members ( at one time it was
over 200).  We have trouble finding people to serve on the board.  Our
treasurer has wanted to step down for a couple of years now.   Our
membership is aging.   We'd be overjoyed to see people in their 40s join.
They'd be youngsters compared to most of us who are on the board.    I don't
have a solution or suggestions but I will be following the thread closely.

Ron L
(twice, past-president of the North Attleborough Historical Society)



-----Original Message-----
From: phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org] On
Behalf Of Srsells1 at aol.com
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:20 AM
To: phono-l at oldcrank.org
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] MAPS going strong - 

In a message dated 6/20/2009 6:30:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
cdh041 at earthlink.net writes:

Good  message, Steve. Are you asking me, or telling me? 
 
 
Asking. BTW, maybe it's a senior moment (and I don't get on Phono-L a lot)  
but I can't remember who you are by name. (Sorry but you haven't signed 
your  last postings and your email doesn't give me a clue. Did I miss it?)

I've  been a member of MAPS since about 1981, so I do have an idea what's 
going on  with the group here in Michigan. I've even written articles on 
occasiion. I  did the presentation for, I believe, three of the
phonoventions. 
You're in  Philly, 600 miles from here,  and I'm  in Michigan, where this  
outfit is based. I don't think that you've seen any of what went on here. We

see your articles, but we've never seen you. 
My guess is that MAPS is based in MI but has regional chapters. The meeting 
 in I are really the regional meetings. We don't have a regional group here 
- and  I don't think we will either. I did come to one Phonovention and 
made a trip of  it but I have other alliances for my travel time and I
choose 
to go to ARSC's  Conference every year - for the last 20 years. I'm also 
their volunteer  Treasurer (8th term). Anthony Sinclair in Australia and
Rond D 
in CA aren't  coming to meetings in MI but they, like me, sure contribute a 
lot of time to  input on ITG. From the emails I get thanking me, I guess 
folks appreciate my  efforts as well. MAPS is more than monthly meeting in
MI, 
as I said before. At  least I think that's what those members outside MI 
(the majority) feel. (Hey, I  could be wrong. <g>)



My claim that MAPS is falling apart in Michigan is based on the  fact that 
there are no monthly meetings, hosted by members who are collecters.  I have

a lot of radios (about 600), and probably 20 phonographs, many of them,  
part of the radios but there's no space here for hosting a meeting. Also,
I'm  
no longer the kid that I was, and that's a factor as well. I enjoy sharing 
my  chatter with the other members in the meetings. Don't get the idea for a

 second that I'm a freeloader. I sort of read that in your copy. We've lost 
the  cohesion that we once had. Phil Stewart has wanted to pass the 
editorial torch  to someone else, and there have been no takers. That's a
thankless 
job that  has to be done. The publication is the foundation of any 
organization, and you  don't find  editors, standing around on some street
corner. 
In the  absence of a new taker, Phil consented to stay on for a while
longer. 
How much  longer will it be reasonable for Phil to hang on? Like all of us, 
he's going  to 
need a rest. 
 
I can't help with the local meeting issue. Maybe you folks want to go  
bi-monthly (every two months). I thought I saw a local meeting listed each  
month. Yes, Phil wanted to retire but they wanted an Editor in Mich), Maybe

someone outside Michigan could be editor (NO, I'm not volunteering). But
it's  
the members OUTSIDE MI who pay their dues - really a subscription - which 
allow  the high quality offset graphics and layout. (Guess you may not have 
seen the  earliest mimeographed issues. (I have them!). Again, I have no 
answers  here.



The interest is here, but it has to be re-kindled, and  hopefully to the 
pitch that it once was. That's going to take imagination,  dedication, and 
just plain leadership. It isn't there now. Somebody has to  take the reins,
and 
get this rig back in motion. The monthly (or nearly so)  meetings were 
something to liook forward to, and to remember afterwards. That  getting 
together once made a strong, and enviable organization. It's  somewhere,
asleep, 
and needs to be awakened. I hope to live long enough to see  it.  None of
that 
is going to be easy, but it will be rewarding, once it  gets thing going 
again. 

Then maybe new younger members need to be found. That's all I can think of. 
 I feel your pain. Until he died about 5 years ago, Dave Heitz would hold 
an  annual gathering at his house (a more generous man I have yet to meet.) 
These  are now long gone and miss seeing the fellow collectors. But, here in

the east,  no one is taking the reins.
 
I hope my comments don't sound harsh. They are not meant to be. I'm not  
sure anyone here has the answer but I hope all realize that without members 
(or  subscribers, if you wish) MAPS and ITG cannot grow. So spread the word 
(this is  to all Phono-Lers) and get new members or subscribers. It's still
a 
great  bargain.
 
Steve Ramm
 
 
 




**************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the 
grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000004)
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