Hello Bob, For years there was no definition of what "being a member of MARCH/VCF" was. Starting with Steering Committee elections in 2020 we said being on the vcf-midatlantic discussion list meant that you were a member. Other organizations are clear in who is a member and who is not. So we wanted to do something a little more clear. The national board had been discussing how and what benefits for a membership for a few years before we decided in August 2022 to make a simple paid membership which had a simple benefit (for the time being). We also wanted membership to not just be a local (Wall, NJ) thing, but countrywide (worldwide?). Remember VCF isn't just a Wall, NJ thing. There is a VCF West show and a VCF Montreal show now. For your membership which is $25 a year or $100 for membership and you get 20% off events when paid through our vcf website. Does this mean that you can't participate in events? No Does it mean that you are excluded from anything? No. So to be very confusing there are paid members and non-paid members. If you are a non-paid member it means that you don't get 20% off VCF East tickets. Going forward this might change so that paid members get certain (additional) benefits and non-paid members don't get those benefits. Having paid membership brings us to the next level for our organization as well as funding to support all we do. If we were applying for a grant for example, how would we know how many members we have? How would we prove it? We are looking to renovate the 9010-B section to make a large museum space. How can we get $400,000 in funding? Through grants or corporate donations. The national board has a 5 year plan which includes a strategy to make us look like something that large corporations or grants would donate to us the money we need. Does that make sense? On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 10:42 AM Bob Aviles via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hi, I have been a member for 20 years, but now you have changed to a payment membership. I just want to know am I still a member or do I have to pay now to be a member. ThanksBobby On Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 04:13:19 PM EDT, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hello everyone,
Sorry for the confusion about the 20% discount with VCF East tickets. The system was set up by others 3 years ago with little understanding of all the functionality. I'm left to figure it out myself.
There is a code that I can give you after I verify that you are a memer and you will get the discount.
If you have any questions, concerns, comments or problems, then please let me know privately and I will take care of it.
Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner