Good News! ROMP Membership decline is real and fast - ROMP threatened

"Mountain biking is about the American Dream - the rugged
individualist, man against the odds overcoming nature, cruising his
territory under his own power. It is not about joining a club. Look at
the names of bikes - Maverick, Nomad, Heckler, Enduro, Uzzi, Epic,
Racer X, El Conquistador de Montanas. Why aren't bikes called
Advocate, Political Action, Harmony, Peace, Co-operation, Flock, Herd,
Sea Breeze, Poppies, Druid, or Nature Boy?"

So much for caring about nature....

Mike


This is from Josh's report in the first quarter 2007 newsletter:

18 months ago
we had about 350 members and now
we are down to about 250.
. . . So
membership has declined about 40%. This rate and depth of decline is
usually fatal for organizations. ROMP has something like a 20% chance of
survival.


We are over 300 now. Where do you pull numbers like 20% out of? Funny
how the job market improves and our membership goes up. And yes, we
are doing things to raise our membership. I'd like to see it above
1000. As you say, without hard evidence it is hard to say what the
drivers are.

Sure, issues drive membership, but why isn't
membership going up if issues alone are the drivers?


There are no impending trail closures to rally around. New multi-use
trails are being built, bike parks are being planned and opened. We
have lots of trail open in this area and we are richly blessed becuase
of it. There are plenty of people happy to ride on the paved trails
and along the bay. There is great technical riding in SDF and Santa
Cruz. There are opportunities for all day rides in the Skyline area
preserves and Henry Coe. Unfortunately, there are not miles and miles
and miles of contour line singletrack.

Jim, what issues are there right now that should be driving our
membership?


There were 7 attendees at the June meeting. Am I alone in thinking that the
membership isn't engaged and motivated.

The location is a new one, hoping to engage people in San Mateo
County. One member who has not ever been to a ROMP meeting showed up.
He is a new member to the club, less than a year. Seems like it is
working. Getting people actively involved can take a year or more, in
my experience.

Here is a poll about where and how our meetings should take place.
http://www.romp.org/modules.php?op=m...index&pollID=5

The ROMP IMBA Epic brought 10+ new members to the club, and we have
had dozens? sign up using the new online membership form. Does your
membership need renewal?
http://www.romp.org/membership.php

We also did a mailing to SVBC members and former ROMP members. I agree
it would be good to know what is effective.

As I've said, I've been trying to sell this club on the trails around this
valley for something like four years and it is a hard sell. I've never seen
anything like it since I started recruiting in 1962.


Mountain biking is about the American Dream - the rugged
individualist, man against the odds overcoming nature, cruising his
territory under his own power. It is not about joining a club. Look at
the names of bikes - Maverick, Nomad, Heckler, Enduro, Uzzi, Epic,
Racer X, El Conquistador de Montanas. Why aren't bikes called
Advocate, Political Action, Harmony, Peace, Co-operation, Flock, Herd,
Sea Breeze, Poppies, Druid, or Nature Boy?

Every IMBA / advocacy summit I have been to has had a session on
raising membership and involvement. The best suggestion I have heard
is to have fun. We are going to have a picnic on 9/22 and anybody who
wants to help make that fun, please contact me.

The president's job should be very different than what I've seen in ROMP.
This role provides functions such as planning, organizing, controlling, and
coordinating. The details about how this would work in ROMP is too much for
a list serv so I won't get into them. However, the membership should be
aware that a very different and more effective approach to club leadership
is possible and is needed soon. The qualifications for president is not who
does the most work but who can fulfill the management functions best.

I whole heartedly agree. I would love to spend more time doing
strategic stuff. In order to do that we need a web master and a
newsletter layout person, an events planner and more people creating
content for the newsletter. These are the things I spend most of my
time on, which I agree is not what I had in mind for my presidency.



So who with organizational and leadership skills is lined up to replace Josh
next year?


Do I need replacing? Maybe that should be a poll. I encourage people
to run for the presidency. I will certainly consider doing another
year if no one else does. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to
digging dirt, newsletter layout and web development. . .
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande