[quote=“adam”]$20.00 for a year’s membership
$10.00 for full time students, for a year’s membership.[/quote]
Can people with mortgages and children get reduced membership rates as well? We actually have lower disposable income than students and we contribute more to society, so it seems unfair to penalise us.
Kinda unlikely. I reckon what students tend to have more of is time. And freedom to spend on themselves without guilt.
So that’s why they all have better mobile phones than I do.
Actually, thats something I’ve been menting to mention.
Adam stated in the first message that all memberships expire at the AGM, but membership fees state “for a years membership”.
I was going to join up at “Winterspite” but someone mentioned that the memberships would expire in Sep and I though "Why pay $20 for a years membership when it expires in a few months?
I noticed that there was no “1/2 year” or “1/4 year” membership options available. Talk about a dis-incentive to join anytime from February’ish onwards.
If you’re advertising “a years membership” then it HAS to be a year for date of joining. Otherwise you must advertise the membership period correctly eg: “From when you join until 13th September 06’”
Thats why I haven’t bothered joining up yet. If Im paying a years membership, I want a years membership.
Secondly, I take Dereks point about the student discount vs. mortgagee’s.
Are there any discount’s for Benificiaries? Retiree’s?
50% off for a student is pretty massive. I also think it sends the wrong message to outsiders thinking of joining. It makes NZ LARPS look like a student society.
May I suggest $15 for Students/Beneficiaries/Retirees (Actually you could probably get away with just stating $15 for Community Card Holders which would cover all those on lower incomes including students.)
There is a half-year membership, for half price after March. Check the membership page: nzlarps.org/membership.php
But personally, I agree that memberships should last a real year not a “membership year” and have argued it at committee meetings (from the pews, so to spreak). From what I understand the “membership year” approach has been taken for ease of administration, which I think is a poor reason.
[quote=“Scotty”]Secondly, I take Dereks point about the student discount vs. Mortgagee’s.
Are there any discount’s for Benificiaries? Retiree’s?[/quote]
Not that I know of. I agree that the same discount that’s used for students should apply to all beneficiaries.
[quote=“Scotty”]50% off for a student is pretty massive. I also think it sends the wrong message to outsiders thinking of joining. It makes NZ LARPS look like a student society.
May I suggest $15 for Students/Beneficiaries/Retirees (Actually you could probably get away with just stating $15 for community Card Holders which would cover all those on lower incomes including students.)[/quote]
I think this is a fair suggestion, but it depends whether the students would pay that amount or not.
The idea of discounts isn’t really to give some people a break, it’s to get people to join. The more people join, the more benefit there is to all the members of the society. If $15 won’t put off too many students, then it’s fair to charge it.
It would be nice to see these issues go to a vote again before the AGM.
In my opinion, yes. Students have less disposable money, but there’s no-one telling students the money would have been better spent on the kids or the nest. So they spend it on whatever the hell they want.
I agree with most of the above statements, but from what I can recall it was discussed and I was out-voted on in the past to keep the way it is, that is what committee’s do, discuss and vote.
If someone what to bring it up again they are welcome to, next committee meeting is this Wednesday with an agenda thread in the live action role playing section of the forum.
We could just make everyone $10.00
This is why we pity students.
I don’t want to pry the can of worms further open, but add to this:
So it’s good to give students a discount from a marketing perspective.
I don’t dispute that students should get a discount. I just disagree that it should be a 50% discount. I think $15 dollars is a perfectly reasonable amount and even then its a 25% discount.
Also that “student” should be expanded to mean “Community Services Card holders”.
[quote=“Exquire”]I don’t want to pry the can of worms further open, but add to this:
So it’s good to give students a discount from a marketing perspective.[/quote]
Really?
Does this include all of those politicians who got their degrees when tertiary education was free and then brought in tertiary fees?
We’re talking about DISPOSABLE Income. The money left over after Mortgage/Rent/Rates/Water/Power/Insurance etc. I still agree with Derek that students have a higher disposable income. I remember when I was at uni I certainly had more free money to spend than now.
I work more than fulltime but don’t get paid fulltime either…
Volunteer Union work, cleaning, lawnmowing, nappy changy and child rearing, toilet cleaning, washing dishes, painting the house etc etc
Neither do people who aren’t students.
Acutally, by deffinition, having a mortgage means I don’t own the property I live on. And its still just as shitty.
“we” being students?
So students pity students? Sounds about right…
BTW - I’m just playing devils advocate and trying to wind you up. 
This discussion highlights 2 things to me.
Currently the average discount to a larp as a member is $5.00, so 4 larps and you make your money back, not to mention other benefits such as 30 % off Paddywack weapons, so you can also make your money back pretty quick with a new expensive sword as well.
Also the society has created a number of new larps this year, Og, Stargate, Executive Decision, May Day not to mention more Mordavia games, plus upcoming larps of more Og, Stargate, May Day, Lost on an Island Larp, Craig’s Space Opera, Warhammer and Mordavia. More proof that $20.00 is damn cheap.
A lot of work has gone into the creating the society and getting more larps of different themes out there.
So, come to the AGM, and talk to the new Committee members about it! Easiest way to get your point across.
To vote in a committee, we have to be members.
To be members, we have to re-join using whatever the current membership system and price structure is.
People are raising this now so that it can be considered as a change before the critical date for memberships under the existing system. That critical date is the AGM.
The existing committee could re-structure memberships now, if it chose to.
This discussion highlights 2 things to me.
Currently the average discount to a larp as a member is $5.00, so 4 larps and you make your money back, not to mention other benefits such as 30 % off Paddywack weapons, so you can also make your money back pretty quick with a new expensive sword as well.
Also the society has created a number of new larps this year, Og, Stargate, Executive Decision, May Day not to mention more Mordavia games, plus upcoming larps of more Og, Stargate, May Day, Lost on an Island Larp, Craig’s Space Opera, Warhammer and Mordavia. More proof that $20.00 is damn cheap.
A lot of work has gone into the creating the society and getting more larps of different themes out there.[/quote]
I’m suggesting raising the discounted rate to $15.00. Again, to use your point - If $15.00 is too much for an entire year, then there is a serious problem here and it’s not the society, its you.
To vote in a committee, we have to be members.
To be members, we have to re-join using whatever the current membership system and price structure is.
People are raising this now so that it can be considered as a change before the critical date for memberships under the existing system. That critical date is the AGM.
The existing committee could re-structure memberships now, if it chose to.[/quote]
exactly the point I’ve been trying to get across. Don’t get me wrong - I’m happy to pay $20 for a years membership but I expect to get a years membership. Thats why I’ve delayed signing up over the last few months. The other point I’ve ben tryingto make is that if you want tihs society to haveany credibility you have to run memberships from date of joining OR explicitly specifiy the termination date with the fees.
Personally I think running the year from date of membership is the smart option. It doesn’t require much more book-keeping at all. A simple Excel spreadsheet would work fine.
[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]
To vote in a committee, we have to be members.
To be members, we have to re-join using whatever the current membership system and price structure is.
People are raising this now so that it can be considered as a change before the critical date for memberships under the existing system. That critical date is the AGM.
The existing committee could re-structure memberships now, if it chose to.[/quote]
Actually, according to the Constitution, we CAN’T change the membership structure now (as of one week before the AGM) because that would mean changing the constitution, and legally, to change the constitution, we have to broadcast our wishes to change the constitution at least two weeks in advance of a general meeting of a quorum of our members to vote Yes on changing the constitution in that way.
What we ARE doing is, we have fixed a date to have a Special General Meeting (first Wednesday night in October, at the Barracks) when this will be voted on and hopefully changed to ‘twelve months membership from month of joining’.
Technically, according to the due date for membership as written on the cards, the critical date is the 30th of September.