Looking Ahead (Part One)
All KHC members should have received an email regarding future policies and practices of the Club. Some additional information is provided here:
- In 2014, the Board set a cap of 200 members; the goal was to match the number of members to the number of spaces available for events
- The number 200 was a “best-guess”; it could be 250 or 150; with the interest in the club, if we applied no cap, we would be over 300 by now
- There were not enough spaces open at the start of the snowshoe season, but this was mostly because a number of key leaders were not available; it was corrected by mid March and right now we have more leaders, more events, and there are more open spaces
- If the Board were to reduce the number of members, there would be more spaces open for upcoming hikes
- The Board will review the cap in the fall and reset a number for 2016
- The Board has reviewed the number of active members; we can mine the website for these statistics
- Of the 200 members, 17% have never logged in and should be considered inactive
- 7% have not been active since January
- A small number have logged in, but have never participated in an event; from the review, the Board has concluded that about 72% of our members have been active
- Do some people join for the store discounts? Do they join without observing how the club conducts the business of setting up and signing up for hikes? Is the process of matching personal calendars to posted event openings not compatible with their lifestyle(s)? Did some members just give up since they tried to find openings but couldn’t find any at a few “logjams” (periods of too few events)? Were there personal circumstances that came into play? Probably it is all of these.
- The goal of the Board has always been to have active members, not just names on a list. Processing the new members (registration, waiver, fees, user accounts, and support) is a fair amount of work so doing this, but seeing no activity is a waste of volunteer time.
- What does KHC offer? Guided, organized events in the outdoors. Our capital is human resources. Leaders are needed and leaders only come from active involvement.
- How do we ensure that our membership is active? We need more event spaces throughout the year, for sure. We currently are on a path to have hosted about 200 events, with an average number of spaces of 12-13 per event. About 2500 spaces for 200 members.
- We can also manage the number of active members by introducing policies and practices.
- All current active members will get a month’s head start to register for 2016. Inactive members (less than 3 events for the year) will have to wait until the first phase is over. This is really just an incentive for active members.
- Inactive members will likely not want to join the club again, but if they still do, they can do so after the month’s lead time for renewing members, prior to the club reaching its cap. Since there are other people also wanting to join the club, whoever wants in will have to be diligent with registration, fees, and waivers.
- Any current member who has had special circumstances that has limited his/her ability to participate in events can contact the Board (membership@kamloopshikingclub.net). Otherwise, 3 events (including posted social events, the AGM, clinics, etc.) will be needed for renewal privileges.
- We know we will never satisfy everyone. Most people want to plan a hike a couple of days out, not a month out. We don’t currently have the capacity to do this so we are looking for active members who can plan and commit ahead. Over time, we hope to have grown our leadership potential to provide more short term spaces, more easy events, and a good mix of events for all of our members.
- Our goal for 2016 is to grow active membership from 72% to over 85%, hence the adjustment in renewal policies and the membership cap.
- A forum topic on this website has been created for members to discuss the issues brought forward here. See you on the trails.
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