We are making the formal switchover to the new website and I want to let you know what will happen and how it will affect you.
Executive Summary: If you are a paid member of the club you will receive an email with a temporary username and password. If you are not a member you will need to subscribe to get email updates in the future. Remember to check your spam folder! See below for details.
For Paid Members
As I mentioned in a previous email, this is more than a website - it is a full suite of functions to manage clubs and associations. I can provide more information later but what is important now is how it affects your relationship with the club. Basically, it means that now you will have an account to log into and your membership will be managed more formally with a personal annual expiration date. In the past all memberships expired on June 30 and everyone renewed for the next year in July.
To get this done we have updated our membership spreadsheet with the latest information and double-checked everyone's paid status. If you have paid dues in the last year you will have an account created and the system will send you an email with a temporary user name and password (you can change both if you want).
Also,what we have traditionally done is credit people for the next membership year if they paid in the first 6 months of the year. In other words, rather than have members who paid a full $20 in say, February, pay again in July, we just credited them until July of the following year. In this transition we will set your membership expiration date to the date you paid this year plus 365 days.
With any new system, and despite our best attempts at keeping our spreadsheet up-to-date, there will be glitches. When you sign into the system the first time it will check your expiration date and ask you to pay if you are due. If you think you have already paid this year select "Send Invoice" or "pay later" option and write to the treasurer (David, treasurer@bmwclubofhouston.com).
If you need to get current on your dues (or join for the first time) a big advantage now is you can pay online with a credit card. They have a formal payment gateway that manages that so it is safe. Of course you can request an invoice and still mail a check or pay at a club meeting as well.
For Non-Members
That's ok, you don't have to join, we are still just as welcoming an inclusive as before. Please come to our meetings and go on our rides. If you like what we do you can pay us $20 anytime to support the effort.
But in the meantime, if you want to get updates like meeting reminders, ride announcements, and club news, you will need to subscribe at the new website. We will be ending our paid subscription to MeetUp.com so all future ride information will come from the new website. Just click in the upper left corner on "Add Me To Your Mailing List" and enter your email address. We will be sending separate messages to all Meetup subscribers.
For The Less Interested
If your life circumstances have changed and you aren't interested in our club anymore but just haven't taken the time to let us know you can relax. We will just quietly leave your inbox alone and thank you for your interest in the past and wish you the best.
Put another way, if you don't proactively let us know you are still interested we aren't going to bother you anymore.
Remember to check your spam folder!
The new emails will come from an entirely different system. Depending on your email provider they may flag our new email as spam.
Conclusion
As a long time rider and president of the club now I understand there are different types of people: more socially engaged and less so. The club is here if you want to be engaged and ride and meet people. But if you are not-so-much then we don't want to spam you too often but keep you informed with one or two emails a month. Most people are really busy and I want to make this transition as painless as possible so I appreciate your patience and indulgence in the process. If you have some feedback or comments please take the time to complete the survey on the main page of the website (down at the bottom).
|
|