Hi all,
I've been on holiday so missed this thread to begin with. On the question of committee membership I think there are 2 distinct types , those that do and those that don't and this probably applies to any type of club. Those that do are not necessarily the best people to have all the time, from experience some should never be allowed to sit on committee but you can end up stuck with them due to no one else coming forward. I am lucky in my club that we have a good comte that has sat from the start. For those that don't there may be many reasons why not, of course apathy could be one but imagine if you sat in meetings all day for living, the last thing you would want to do in your leisure time is attend more meetings. I had never chaired a meeting before forming the club and found the idea of it quite daunting and I do wonder if there is a need for some sort of committee training just to give advice about these things.
As far as membership goes ,again from experience, it doesn't matter how much publicity you get there will always be some one who turns up and says "I never knew you existed" and there will be those that do not read magazines so we will never succeed in reaching every turner in the country.
So this brings me on to the title subject. In common with a lot of turners I am an ex-serviceman, as a turner I still wanted the comrade ship and cameraderie of days(years) gone by. I didn't get if from the AWGB but I certainly got it and still get it from their members, ex service or not. I wanted to improve my woodturning skills but could not afford lessons but due to the ever giving nature of turners I was allowed to pick up bits of help and advice, similar to what happens here on the forum, free of charge. I am now a professional turner but judging by the questions asked of me when demonstrating at clubs or shows other turners are in the same boat , now because I was given the help when I needed it most I feel compelled to help others out now, as an adult educator I needed to teach and the AWGB has given me the platform on which to do it ie. youth training. So I echo whoever said "ask not what the AWGB can do for you "etc. but actually when you are in a position to put something back I have to say it makes you feel good.
Not sure if I've lost the plot here or not but I'll post it anyway.
Regards
John BHT