Jonathan M Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Our club has a fairly small membership (circa 50), with numbers shrinking very slightly rather than growing year on year - not enough to prejudice survival in the short-term but certainly a longer-term concern, especially due to the average (older) age of most members. One of our problems in attracting new members who need basic training is the relative lack of instructors. Also, although close to a growing town in Middle England, we simply don't have the skills or inclination of the already busy committee to deal with child-protection, so that seems to rule out attracting family people, let alone youngsters. I'm prompted to post this, having read the editorial in this month's RCM&E - where David Ashby notes the significant uptake in new applications to his club a couple of years' ago after their new website went up. We're lucky to have a good site with no noise or time restrictions. So, what aren't we doing right, what's the recipe for moderately growing members? Cheers Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 A good Summer Jonathan, will bring them out again. So many recent years of generally poor weather has stunted membership growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Feed em 3 times a day n water occasionally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glyn44 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Have more to offer than the club next door Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low pass Pete Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Our club has 160 senior members and 9 juniors. We have a waiting list I understand of 29. Growing the club is not an issue for us. We do have a great site and can fly everyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 I suspect that Jonathan was hoping that you might be able to share some of the secrets of your club's success in attracting members, Pete. What does your club offer that makes yours the club of choice - or are you the only club in the area? I do think that Denis has a good point in that the weather has been unkind to the hobby over the period which seems to have coincided with a general decline in many clubs' membership. The hard core will carry on regardless but it appears that many of the slightly less committed simply get out of the habit of going to the club and gradually drop out of the hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 There is no easy answer. Our club warmly welcomes new members, offers free advice and lots of help. There are fun club competitions and cake on Saturdays. Club fees are only £22/ year.. We have lost about 15 members through natural causes and others not rejoining.........I have no answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 My club in the middle of France, has fewer than twenty members. We lost three last year. One moved back to Holland, his mate decided not to rejoin, he was constantly crashing anyway, and the third we lost to the Grim Reaper. In July we put on a flying display in a village about twenty miles away which is "local" in the French countryside! We gave people a go on the buddy box and attracted six new members who didn't even know we existed. Two were experienced modellers who dragged their battered old aircraft out of the attic much to the amusement of their wives and the other four were two father-and-son pairs who were novices. Needless to say the lads picked up the flying technique much more quickly than their dads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy G. Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Perhaps what really matters is the QUALITY of members rather than the QUANTITY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 one good dose of flu--would wipe out 2/3 of our membership ..... I'm afraid that the majority of kids nower days have a lot of choice for hobby's etc...and most take the electronic route and stay in their cave's..... why stand in the middle of a muddy field ...? ken Anderson...ne...1...muddy field dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Hi Jon, Why not give a presentation to some of your local youth organisations.. ernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 If you take a look at recent Airprox reports, the scale of people 'doing their own thing' must be considerable - although I've yet to see many people using the open spaces around where I live. Ready to go foamies and drones mean that you can experience model flying cheaply, on your own and without the bother of clubs, inevitably moving onto something else when boredom sets in. Both the clubs that I fly with are experiencing a slow but steady decline in numbers, with only a handful of juniors on the books, although the clubs remain sustainable in the medium term. I really can't predict where we'll be in 10-15 years time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangster Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Totally agree with Andy G. Surely it is better to have a smaller group who interact well with each other and respect the neighbours and landlord As for the point about the trainers and phones well there are many modellers with the same sort of attitude to their models engines and radios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 Thanks folks for the helpful input. Yes 'quality' is important (and we've got some great members, plus many regulars who drive from up to an hour away to enjoy flying from our site, as well as the odd divot), but the question will eventually be one of a viable minimum of numbers. I'd love to be able to muster some interest from the local secondary school (1,800 kids plus 140 staff - if only 1 in a 100 showed any interest that would still be 20 people!) but the issues surrounding child protection are way too much for us to handle. Yes, the ironic thing is that cheap RTF electric trainers makes getting into the hobby so much easier than ever before (no kit building or IC to worry about), but most people would still need the training, friendship and support that a club offers if they are to get anywhere beyond a bin-liner full of smashed foam. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 9 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I think in this day and age a good website is essential and is often the first place potential new members will look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 There certainly are Gangster, i prefer a variety of people myself who fly a variety of models, more the merrier for me. Our numbers are down at present, weathers been pretty good this year but previous two were dreadful and that affected us, also lost quite a few of our older members in recent years sadly. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 9 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Posted by Percy Verance on 18/12/2016 11:53:15: C8 Sadly it isn't hard to predict where we'll be in 15 years time. I think there will be fewer flyers in far fewer clubs. And probably only those whom can build models, along with making and fabricating items such as undercarriages, engine mounts, pushrods and control horns etc will remain active. It will probably be well nigh impossible to source these items by then, so I predict we'll see a return to "engineer" type modelling, but on a much smaller scale than in the past. The *instant fix* foam models may be here for while, and will keep the "let's have a go at that" brigade happy, but sadly they don't provide complete modelling satisfaction for die hard modellers. The artf market will most likely go too, with insufficient takers to sustain it. Apart from that, everything should be fine........ I've been wrong before though, so I guess we'll see........ Edited By Percy Verance on 18/12/2016 12:02:32 I think artfs are led by the US market. But is it my imagination or is there availability here already starting to dwindle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I would suggest the most important element to clubs retaining their relevance is not being closed minded to the changing face of the hobby. Multirotors and FPV are here to stay, and are probably orders of magnitude more popular amongst newcomers under 40 than traditional LOS fixed wing or heli. If your club is not welcoming to the full spectrum of RC flying you may find it's very hard to recruit those crucial new members who will cut the grass and fill the committee positions in future years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 As someone who has joined and left three clubs, and has been mostly a country flier for 35 years I think I am fairly well qualified to comment. Imho, clubs need to be as flexible as possible. 1. Little restriction on flying times 2. Nice flying site 3. Not too strict on noise 4. Allow flying alone - I think this is a big issue for a lot of country fliers 5. Allow flying without A cert, just check flying ability, and there are clubs that work in this way 6. No restriction to number of fliers Those are the most important for me, and not in any particular order. With a family life that takes up most of my time, I like to be able to just turn up and fly for an hour, and then go home. A lot of club rules make that difficult, not being able if fly alone for instance. Obviously a website is important these days. Edited By Rich2 on 18/12/2016 13:46:32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 1. No restriction 2. Superb site 3. Pretty lucky with our location, so no real strict policy 4. Do as you choose 5. Fly safe, go enjoy yourself 6. We have a 6 limit, it's flexible Clubs n their rules eh John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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