Some Basic Aspects of being QMUG/LA’s Membership Chair:

(1) Rainbow Sign-In Sheets.
    • Announcing their availability & briefly explaining their purpose
    • Distributing them
    • Collecting them

(2) Filemaker Database.
    • Entering Sign-In Sheet information
    • Updating per member-sent e-mail
    • Updating from bounced monthly meeting reminder e-mail
    • Deleting per member request
    • Deleting from lack of valid current contact information

(3) E-mail.
    • Sending out “Thanks for attending!” welcome msgs

Notes: You’ve seen the sign-in sheets. The biggest challenge is collecting them. I know that half of the new attendees walk out w/o turning one in. You’ve probably *not* seen the database, but even if you’ve never used FileMaker, it’s *totally* easy, and fun.

Lastly, sending out welcome e-mail helps confirm to you that the e-mail address you’ve entered into the database (and distibution list) is correct, and reinforces to first-time attendees that they are always welcome to contact QMUG/LA w/ questions, etc.

Some Advanced Aspects of being QMUG/LA’s Membership Chair:

(1) Rainbow Sign-In Sheets.
    • Printing them up

(2) FileMaker Database.
    • Actively contacting members to update demographics information

(3) E-mail.
    • Sending out monthly meeting reminders

Notes: You don’t have to print up the rainbow sign-in sheets, but if you could, that would be great. You don’t have to periodically contact everyone via e-mail or phone to verify the database’s demographics information is correct/complete, but if you wanted to, that’d be great, too.

Lastly, I don’t mind creating the monthly meeting e-mail reminders, but if you could send them out (I’d show you how), that’d be great, because the bulk of database updates is from bounced e-mail addresses from them for people I then have to call to find out their current, correct e-mail address.

A General Definition of QMUG/LA’s Membership:

(1) Definition.
    • “Membership” is currently defined as anyone who has physically attended a QMUG/LA meeting and filled out and turned in a Rainbow Sign-In Sheet.
    • Membership does not include anyone who has sent QMUG/LA e-mail or left us voicemail requesting information or requesting to be added to our monthly meeting reminder list, or anyone who has only presented and not attended a meeting at which they weren’t presenting.
    • Membership is terminated when members request to be removed or when we no longer have any valid e-mail address, phone number or USPS mailing address for them, and their records are deleted from our database.

(2) Perks.
    • “Members” w/ e-mail receive monthly meeting reminders.
    • Members receive special user group member discount codes at general meetings, or via e-mail upon request.
    • Members are not charged any kind of membership dues or fees, do not receive any kind of membership card, and do not receive any kind of traditional printed newsletter.