Question of the year

[smthopr8r 24]

Who can honestly tell me what benefit the clubs or members have to gain, by joining the NHSA ? Ready... and go!!!

[rivercat 119]

Well I will try, but FIRST and FOREMOST I need to begin with my attendance as a County Director to Last Nights ( NHSA meeting) at the office.

I am at a bit of a loss as to how much or how little I need to say,,,,,  But here is my personal take on the evening,,, 

I walked into the office with MORE dread  about the meeting and fulfilling the second half of my term as any director EVER has,,,, I did my best to put on the face of "I'm happy to be here"  . I looked to my seat of last year,, only to see the room completely rearranged,,  my first thought was "WTF" , but  retained my composure as I searched for my seat,,,, 

Our new President,  opened the meeting and in the very beginning a multi page sheet was passed to the board , giving a CLEAR overview of how she feels the NHSA BOD needs to live and breath going forward,,, it was a VERY well though, clear, and positive list that is TOTALLY reasonable list of board objectives board goals, the plaque  at the head of the room was worded  "BE NICE"   and additionally my FAVORITE part of the added office equipment was a box with a lock and a slot,,,  it is titled "SOLUTIONS BOX" ,,,,,, 

I personally felt that the room is aware of  mis-communications,,  errors of the past,,,and acknowledging the process of the need to "right the ship" is not going to be a one step process,,  

 I very much FELT by the end of the evening that the changes tho will present MANY challenges,,,  I left seeing a major change in how I FELT about not only being a NHSA member, but working together with leadership that came across as looking to "mix it up, have fu, be nice, and work together to fix the things that need to be fixed  last night,,,, 

I am not a guy that settles on the bottom of the barrel very easy ,, it took them a year to get me there,,,,,,,,,, I don't resurface easy either once I am down,,,,,  but I actually left the NHSA meeting last night for the FIRST TIME EVER ,,,,, FEELING EXCITED with the changes, and  at the year ahead,,

So what does NHSA do,,,,,  I posted this list some time ago,,,,,,  This list is going to be revisited by the "office" and will be refined and likely placed on the NHSA website,,,  the improvements are forthcoming,,,,,,, our new ED is only 3 weeks into the job, she has a very pleasant energy  and is busy settling in on her position

• Work together with NH F&G and BOT 
• Teach proper trail signage. via the Trail Masters meeting
• Seek ways to improve safety on our trails.
• Maintain  a  lobbyist to keep NHSA apprised of all legislation that could affect our sport
• Act as a statewide spokesperson for snowmobile related issues.
• Organize and hold an annual Educational Forum for all  NH snowmobile clubs 
• Formally respond to reports regarding the snowmobile community.
• Oppose legislation that threatens the viability of the sport
• Recognize and call attention to those public officials who have supported the sport.
• Help ensure that snowmobiling receives it fair share of federal RTP grants.
• Provide college scholarships for selected NHSA family members.
• Coordinate with other state, Regional and National Snowmobile Associations on issues of importance to snowmobilers.
• Produce  the Snow -Traveler news paper and maintain the NHSA website
• Organize and run the Easter Seals Ride In  raising money for camp snow-mo  and bring great comradery to businesses and snowmobilers alike
• Organize and run the NH Grass Drags and Water Cross
• Organize the Groomer Rodeo
• Hold an annual Super Raffle with proceeds going to participating clubs
• Participate with assisting the mapping of the State Via the map and trails committee
• Encourage thru all County directors an information flow to all NH clubs
• Hold an annual Presidents meeting where club Presidents can bring their member concerns to be heard
• Provide an online system for club membership.
• Coordinate all clubs insurance for groomers, club liability and D&O (for clubs wishing to have D&O)
• Maintains a legal fund for it's member clubs

[rivercat 119]

The benefit is to SUPPORT the above activities for our sport via your $10 annual membership!! 

[slord 17]

Interesting question!  Over the last six months I have been polling snowmobilers that I run into across the state and have received responses that range from:

Who.

Never Heard of Them.

They groom the trails right?

Oh yes they maintain all the snowmobile trails in the State of NH.

Others I cannot mention.  Going forward educating the snowmobile community will be very important.

[rivercat 119]

I adamantly brought that VERY ISSUE to the BOD last night,,,,,,,,,   close to 24,000 members on a peak year,,,,,,,,,,,,

what percent KNOWS what NHSA "exists" 

Presence and image,,, is VERY VERY important,,,,,  I  feel this is where the changes will begin,,, time will tell,,,

[John Mercier 36]

The individuals get a discount on registration, and the clubs get more members.

 

[RK-SXViper 144]

12 minutes ago, John Mercier said:

The individuals get a discount on registration, and the clubs get more members.

 

Most people join a club to get a discount, but if a single membership is $35, then it's $5 cheaper to register as a non member. This backwards math will cause more people to join as non club members.

[John Mercier 36]

I understand the logic. But was answering a specific question.

What I would presume is that efforts are under way to change the discount from $30 to a larger amount. 

Behind the scenes, many increases to the system are being worked out in committee pretty much at all times.

Sometimes they are fought off... sometimes they find support within the Associations.

I tended to believe that based on demographics, that lower registrations costs were better... I still believe that... but I understand the various factors that push for higher registration costs.

[jhwentworth 307]

15 minutes ago, John Mercier said:

The individuals get a discount on registration, and the clubs get more members.

 

I agree with you, John, and that's the unfortunate result of the NHSA-State of NH deal to tie registration fees to NHSA/club membership. The goal was to increase riders involvement with the clubs, and to increase the number of volunteers in the clubs. The club memberships rose, but I'm not so sure that involvement or volunteerism increased. Maybe clubs with less membership, and no discount on registrations but the state forwards the additional fees as grants to the clubs. Without the NHSA registration discount, and the clubs receiving increased funds directly from the state,  the power relationship between the clubs and NHSA would be altered, and I believe that the NHSA would more fully align its interests with the clubs' interests.