At 10:15 AM 10/10/2005, Glenn Ellingson wrote:
>I am just looking to loosen the "5 guests per event" and "1 guest
>apppearance and then you must join SCCA" requirements, not to throw things
>wide open.
The reason behind instituting the guest program was so that members could
introduce non-members to the sport. Without the program, a non-member
would have to pay over a hundred dollars (entry fee + membership) to attend
their first event. This program was designed to allow people to "try
before they buy" - thus the "1 guest appearance" clause.
If we remove the "1 guest appearance" restriction, then what incentive do
people have to join our club? What do we do if a non-member trophies in
one of our series? Is that fair to our members?
Many years ago, when we allowed non-members at our events, we charged
non-members a higher entry fee, which is a pretty good incentive for
non-members to join. I'm not sure if we can still do that - the last time
that came up at a steering committee meeting, it appeared to cause problems
with our non-profit tax status. However, other clubs seem to do this -
maybe it's time to revisit this.
When we originally put in place the guest program, I could have sworn that
we had set the limit to 15 guests per event. Guess that changed over the
years. So, what sort of demand are we seeing? How many people are being
turned away at registration because we've reached the guest limit? Or are
we even enforcing the limit? Anyway, I think there are insurance
ramifications if we allow too many non-members at our events. Once again,
maybe this needs to be revisited by the steering committee...
Jim
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