IN HIS OPINION ARTICLE "YOUth Can Make a Difference!" (Sept 13, 1999), Brett Keller made a very profound statement. He wrote:

"I'm not a member of any of the big national organizations, because they can offer very little to me until I turn 18 (in just under 3 years). Sure, I'll get the nifty magazine, but I can order that separately. Other than certification and supporting clubs I don't see that they are doing anything. Not that I am anti-NAR or anti-TRA, so don't take me wrong. It's just like one of the chatters said; 'the youth of today want something substantial, more bang for the buck'."

Brett is dead right. I got to thinking about this same thing earlier this year, and I came to the exact same conclusion. To a youngster, the value of joining the NAR does not equal the money spent. This should signal a problem, and is why I'd like to offer a radical alternative, or at least something to think about.

The NAR is set up as a "member focused" organization. That is, it tries to serve the needs of its individual members. This is a very worthy goal. But, unfortunately, with so many members that have so many different wants and needs, the NAR cannot satisfy everyone. So youth like Brett are left feeling that the money they spent joining isn't worth the benefits that they get in return. If they join one year, it is highly likely that they won't renew the following year.

What I see going on is that everyone is searching for some type of magic "benefit" that would be so incredibly valuable, that people like Brett would want to join and renew every year. Unfortunately, after many years of searching, nothing has been found. And it isn't likely that any "tangible" benefit will be found that will entice youngsters like Brett to join the NAR.

Does that mean the NAR should disband? Absolutely not! It does some very important things like motor certification, and lobbying for reduced regulations. But I think the NAR needs to change direction away from a "member focused" organization, so that it can do more for the hobby.

Whether he knew it or not, Brett also had the key to "what" the NAR should become. If you look in his statement, he mentioned that the NAR "supports clubs." How much does it do specifically for clubs? And can it do more? And if it did more, what would be the expected outcome?

I'd like to propose that the NAR should make "supporting clubs" its primary focus; instead of being focused on individual members and trying to find benefits that would satisfy everyone. If I were to come up with a mission statement for the NAR's constitution, the first sentence would be something like: "The purpose of the NAR is to promote rocketry clubs, and ..."

Why should the NAR do more to promote clubs? Let's look at this from Brett's perspective. When he joins a club, he gets an avalanche of benefits. Here are just a few examples:

1. Launch rockets with others and develop friendships with those people. Even though it costs nothing, this is a huge benefit, and even Brett mentioned in his opinion piece. He wrote: "My favorite rocketry experience ever was ... getting to meet other people who share my passion."
2. Share the club resources so that the individual doesn't have to buy lots of specialized equipment. For example: launch pads, tower launchers, piston launchers, high current launch control systems.
3. The club has established connections in the community, such as getting permission to use certain launch sites and obtaining waivers for high powered launches.
4. The club may have established good relationships with local hobby stores, allowing discounts to club members for their own rocketry purchases.
5. Free access to the club library of old newsletters.
6. Ability to make "group purchases" with others in the club to get discounted prices at rocket companies.
7. The club may have special outings and tours of places where typically the ordinary individual might not be able to see. For example, special tours of "behind the scenes" operations at some museums are possible for educational groups.
8. A subscription to the club's newsletter.

And there are probably hundreds of other benefits to joining a club. Unfortunately, the NAR couldn't ever afford to provide these to youngsters like Brett. So the ultimate goal of the NAR would be to get all of its members into a local club.

This is where things would change a bit more dramatically under this proposal.

Instead of a modeler taking his money ($35 for a basic membership fee for adults, and $20 for those under 20 years old), and sending it into the NAR, he'd pay the money directly to the local club along with the regular club dues. For argument's sake, let's say the regular club dues are $20. In young Brett's case, he'd pay a total of $40 to join his local club.

We are dealing in perceptions here; because where a person sends their money will affect what they expect in return.

Would youngters like Brett be willing to spend $40 to join his local club? I'd like to think that for the benefits listed above, and all those others that I didn't mention, that $40 is still a bargain. And on top of that, he'd get the Sport Rocketry magazine too.

What does the club get out of it? First off, it can now offer those benefits that were traditionally the domain of the NAR, as it's own. If someone wanted the Sport Rocketry magazine, he'd have to join the local club, or pay a higher rate at the newstand. The same would go for any other benefits traditionally associated with the NAR.

But, the whole purpose of the change in focus is for the NAR to put more effort into providing new, or changing existing programs, specifically geared for the local clubs.

For example, one existing program that might be changed would be NARTREK. It was originally set up to give kids that didn't belong to a club a way to learn more about rocketry. But if changed and was administered by clubs, it would be a wonderful way to reward younger members as a badge system (like used in the Boy Scouts).

Another existing program that could and should change is the flier packs that the NAR sends out to clubs. These fliers are taken down to local hobby stores by clubs to help promote the NAR. Basically, they say: "Join the NAR." Under the new "club focus," the NAR would still send out the fliers, but now they'd say: "Join our local rocketry club."

Other programs will stay the same; like motor certification, insurance, and the Sport Rocketry magazine. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't also be looked at to see if they can be improved to better support the needs of the individual clubs. Specifically how they can be used to increase recruitment possibilities?

As for new programs that focus on promoting clubs; how about some offerings for people that don't have a club nearby. For them, the NAR could offer a free membership; so instead of joining a club for $40, the club president would only have to pay his local club dues for the first year if he starts a new NAR section. This would be an excellent incentive for people to go out and start new NAR sections.

They could also develop a better "new member" packet that is delivered by the local club. I'd like to see something thick! Besides the manufacuturer coupons and copy of the pink book, I think it should contain lots of rocket plans, decals, and old publications of Sport Rocketry. But it needs to be delivered immediately when the new member joins the local club. So when he plops down his cash, he already gets the benefit of the new member packet. This delivery of the goodies would be perfect for the club! All they'd have to do is keep a stack of these packets handy for when a new member joins.

While the NAR is unable to offer a lot of benefits to individuals, it can be very cost effective in offering benefits to clubs. And as those benefits increase, the local clubs would find that the relationship with the new NAR very valuable, and worth the money they paid. The clubs will increase in number and get larger and stronger; because now they have the active help of the national organization. Hopefully, the clubs will be so strong that they have enough cash in their bank accounts to offer scholarships to new members like Brett to join the club at a reduced rate.

So, in the end, the overall membership of the NAR would increase dramatically; because clubs are far more effective in getting new members to join — because in reality, they already have all the benefits that people like Brett want.

This is pretty dramatic stuff! The individual gains because he's going to join a strong club that is able to offer him a lot of benefits for a reasonable price. The club gains because they have the active assistance of the NAR in helping them promote the club on the local level. And the NAR will gain because the number of modelers active in local clubs will increase, and they will likely renew every year.

I'm not sure if the new system would be perfect. But it would be something dramatic. That is what is needed. After all, the best thing that the NAR can offer to its members is strong clubs.