HEADQUARTERS REPORT 11/1/00 -
2/28/01
MEMBERSHIP
Member
Statistics
As of 2/28/01 we have recruited 256 new members. This
number includes 175 new regular members, 37 reinstated members and 44
graduating students who transferred their student memberships to full
memberships. Additionally, the Society welcomed 342 new student members. Total
ASAE membership is 8,791 which includes 7,039 regular members and 1,752
student/preprofessional members. We were proud to post our highest new and
reinstating member total ever in January with 90 members. We have set a
recruitment goal of 700 new members (not including students/preprofessionals)
for 2001 and hope to exceed that.
Recruitment
Over 14,200 new member recruitment packets have been mailed
to qualified leads from November - February. These lists were gathered from a
variety of sources from both inside and outside the Society and include lists
from the Irrigation Association; the Animal Waste and Diary Science Societies;
non-member ASAE conference attendees from the Trio, Irrigation and Sewage
conferences; non-member ASAE committee members; non-member structures &
environment and soil & water publications buyers and meeting attendees; and
leads who requested membership information, but have not yet joined.
Retention
Of the 8,056 invoices that were mailed for dues year 2001
in October, 6,167 members have paid their dues as of 2/28/01. Retention of
regular members to date is 81% while the student/preprofessional retention rate
is 51%. Second dues invoices were mailed 1/15/01 and third invoices will be
mailed the first few days of March. E-mail reminders to pay dues were sent on
12/4/00 and 2/13/01, which brought in considerably more dues payments than in
years past.
International Membership Promotion
The Membership Development
Council agreed to undertake an International Membership Promotion through at
least the first half of 2001 to gauge interest and the benefits or
repercussions of such a promotion. The promotion offers membership at rates
tied to the World Bank income classifications. Countries are divided into the
following categories: low-income, lower-middle income and upper-middle income.
To be eligible for these rates, a person must be a national living and working
in their home country. Members will receive all materials and information
electronically to avoid postal and shipping costs. The promotional rates being
offered are $55 for upper-middle income countries, $35 for lower-middle income
countries, and $15 for low-income countries.
If, after evaluation, this promotion does meet the goals
and objectives expected, the Membership Development Council may request a
permanent dues structure for members living and working in lesser-developed
countries. To date, approximately ten ASAE members are taking advantage of the
promotion.
Sections
Between Harmon Towne, Wayne Skaggs, Larry Huggins and Mark
Crossley, the following sections and events have been visited since November:
Alabama, Central Illinois, Rocky Mountain, the Southern Region Tractor Pull,
and the Southeast Region Student Rally. Plans have been made to attend the
Florida and Tennessee/Kentucky sections as well as the Mid-Central conference
over the next few months. We continue to receive great feedback from members on
how to better serve sections.
We developed and
distributed electronically a 2001 ASAE
Master Calendar with specific dates and deadlines of importance. While the
calendar is not exhaustive, we felt these dates were significantly important
for section awareness. As items of interested are added throughout the year,
periodic updates will be sent.
To keep sections better informed of
new ASAE members coming into their section, we have begun e-mailing a list each
month of new regular members, new student members and reinstating members who have
come back to the Society. The list includes contact information and e-mail
address if available. Sections are encouraged to take the time to welcome these
new members by giving them a welcome call or e-mail message and listing them in
section newsletters.
New Member Benefits on the
Horizon
BrassRing
Services
The
ASAE Membership Development Council has voted to provide the services of
BrassRing as a new member benefit. Through a mix of electronic databases and
web products, BrassRing provides a number of recruiting tools such as resume
database systems; job posting services; career fairs; and executive searches.
They have 250 highly selective, targeted resume database and job posting
systems that help connect employers with candidates. They are the leading
resume distributor of 20 of the top engineering societies as well. We hope to
have the services of BrassRing in place by the middle of April.
E-Mail
Alias
We
are on the verge of offering members an e-mail alias option for their primary
e-mail address. The alias allows members to have an e-mail address with an
asae.org suffix as long as they remain an ASAE member. It provides a pass
through function that directs all mail to a specified e-mail address. If your
e-mail address changes, you only have to update your address once with ASAE.
This will be a great tool for keeping in contact with members, especially
students/preprofessionals, as they tend to be very transient.
Hertz
Car Rental
We
have recently signed on with Hertz Car Rental to give our members another
option for discounted car rental. We are waiting for Hertz member cards, which
will provide a membership number specifically for ASAE members.
Quarter Scale Tractor
Student Design Competition
The forth annual Quarter
Scale Tractor Student Design Competition is set for June 1-3 in East Moline,
IL. A record number of teams (35) are registered this year including our first
ever overseas entry from the University of Putra in Malaysia. Also, the Second
Annual Past Presidents Tractor Pull will be held once again at the Annual
International Meeting in Sacramento, July 29 - August 1, 2001.