Would you pay $5.00 to be a member of MCC (read first, then answer)

I joined MCC as a way to network and connect with people while in transition and searching for a new job.  I have met a lot of great people and attended a lot of great events while "paying as I go".  There is a fee to attend lunches and seminars.  For the most part, those have been very reasonable.  It seems to me there may be two missions for this group:

1.  Networking to expand business contacts and grow business opportunities

2.  Networking for job seekers

I have a feeling those seeking to expand and grow their businesses will have no problem paying a monthly fee, however, you may lose the folks seeking jobs.  I guess you will have to determine if the mission of the group is more geared towards entrepreneurs and less towards the job seekers.

I have to disagree with the fee.  Strongly.

You have 4000+ members.  So what. You've already indicated that you will bounce people who haven't filled out the profile, which is reasonable.  After all, you can't network with just a name.

Also, people already pay a fee to MCC when they attend the meetings.  Paying another fee on top of that seems a bit absurd.

What benefit would a member have to paying a monthly fee?  None that I can see, plus you open yourself up to tracking all this for everyone.  It's more headache than it's worth. 

I feel that your post about the $5 fee and limiting the size of your group is rather arrogant. It illustrates to me that you're more interested in making a buck off those interested in social networking rather than helping them - nice public service. I didn't join a fraternity in college, and I won't join one now. I'll just wait until August 1 for you and "five-buck Chuck" to kick me off the site. Gotta go now and update my FREE LinkedIn.com profile ... 

This is an online group, so you would always find lurkers. The biggest issue I would find with charging to be part of the group is it could cause worthwhile members not to join. I know you hate hearing about the downsides of Michigan, but there are folks out there that are forced to watch their dollar and $5.00 may be too much for them. Though you may find those same people become very active after joining and even pay for membership after they find a new job.

I think the best thing you could do, granted it would be more work, is give people 30 days from joining to fill out their profile. If they don't do so, you can kick them. You could even promote some veteran members to an admin position to help you with this.

You all ready have the paid membership option, but as you have said. This group is about helping Detroit succeed. Would a mandatory $5.00 membership fee really help the group to help Detroit succeed?

Although I would support a $5 fee, I think posts by Kelly and Charles have made some solid and valid points...definitely thought provoking.  Thank you for being constructive and not confrontational in the sharing of your opinions.  Last I checked, this discussion was posted to see how people felt about it not notifying members that the policy was going to take effect.

I am surprised at some of the venomous responses.  Let's remember that we are all in this together in Michigan folks.  We are all trying to find new ways to expand our networks and resources and there are a lot of different avenues for us to do so.  Some groups work better than others for some people...what works for you, your personality, the services you offer, etc. may make one group work better for you than it would for me.

I have been involved in many different groups and organizations over the years and I for one am glad that this was put up to discussion instead of sent down the pipeline as this is new policy everyone "like it or not."  Let's try to keep this constructive... 

I like the idea of culling the group, cleaning up the list, and currating the content, etc. ... and I'm working on updating my profile, however, I'm NOT very happy about the $5 per month charge.

I can tell who is serious about MCC by how active they are on MCC, and if they participate (and update their profile) so the $5 only makes another barrier, not an enabler.

Terry,

I would not support a $5 fee for the following reasons:

1) People who would participate in MCC may choose not to get involved

2) Creating some type of charter or policy spelling out basic expected behavior of participation in MCC might provide the means to more proactively keep "non participators" out, and not place a financial barrier (albeit small) on entry.

3) Treatment activities such as the "culling" you are proposing will certainly eliminate "non participants", and/or provide some incentive for people on the fence to jump into the activities.

4) I like the idea of improving value, however people right now are tending to be very careful about every nickel they spend. and would appreciate being involved in a professional organization that does not charge a fee.

5) MCC does charge a fee for other events.

Hope this helps in your decision making

Regards,

Dale

I have a completed profile, read the newsletters, check the book club forum and go to events when I have time.

I was fairly active 8 months ago, haven't had time anymore but I now have an employee who is active and attends events and participates on the website.  If the site charges a fee I'd probably drop my account because there would be no reason for us both to have accounts on the site.

So I would probably NOT pay $5.00 a month.

I feel that a five dollar fee is more than fair. Discount for a year in advance? I have been to one event with my son who became more involved with M.C.C. I have a hard time attending meetings scheduled in the middle of the day because of work. I also need to come to a training to better understand M.C.C. and social networking. My fault not yours. Please keep up the good work and do not get disccouraged.

I am glad I followed this after seeing Brad Johson's post. He's right. Let's keep it upbeat and constructive, not destructive. As your Grandmother used to say, "You get what you pay for". Well, if its free....you get the idea. $5 to "get some skin in the game" is not too much skin in the game to be honest. No one expects the MCC board to play "Ghandi" forever do they?

Again, Terry and group are putting it out there for discussion in a democratic way before taking the autocratic, "$5 starting on Monday, like it or leave it".

Thanks for putting it there for discussion. I'm sure this $5 is fully tax dedcutible also so the real investment's probably closer to $3.25. 

Yes - give a new member a 60-90 day trial and if it doesn't feel right, then no one's any worse the wear!

My Chamber memberships are 4X this amount per each one.  My Rotary membership more like 6X.

Whatever you decide, kudos on growing this to 4000 members from nothing!

No, I would not.

I restate my opposition to a $5 fee.  It serves no good purpose.

My view of MCC is this:

It consists of an internet site, weekly break bread meetings, other social events, seminars and charity events.

Right now, besides the charity work and internet site, MCC charges for everything on a per attendance/event basis.  Yes, there may be fees for a charity event but I presume 100% is diverted to the charity and none taken by MCC.

The weekly meeting fees of $20 are usually $13 for food and $7 to MCC (last I heard).  That's a pretty good fee to pay for a meeting and people pay it gladly because of the value provided.

Seminars are also charged a varying amount and get good value for the money.  No complaints here.

But a $5 fee just to be a member is basically saying it's $5 just to participate in the internet site.  I just don't see the value.

Plus charging a fee limits membership.  Who cares if out of 4000 members you have 3500 lurkers or non-posters.  I've know people who have 'lurked' for over a year before making a contact or post.  Personally I'd say let's have 10,000 members with 8000 lurkers. 

Sure, it'd be great to have higher participation but it doesn't work that way.  Some good MCC people may join the board and do nothing but they do attend meetings or help a charity event.  Does that mean they should be booted?

You never know when a 'lurker' will suddenly become active or may notice a post that they assist a person with.  In the online forum I think that limiting or restricting membership is a poor idea.

I know that CollectiveX is not free. It's a monthly charge or annually a flat $500 plus storage. I'm not sure if additional charges are levied due to group size. Hosting costs are the only valid argument to limiting the group size or charging a fee for online registration, but it would still be counterproductive.  I'd be willing to wager you'd lose 80-90% of your membership, especially since there are so many free online networking sites.

If hosting costs with CollectiveX are an issue then just say so and maybe add some banner ads to defer costs.  If you explain it then people will understand, but since we already pay fees for meetings an addition $5 monthly fee is not really justified.

Thanks to those who have weighed in on both sides of the issue.

Most of you have been clear in your points and have been nice about it. The one who wasn't, strangely is no longer here (not by my doing).

It's very interesting to note that both sides are evenly represented. There are notes supporting each side from people I see often and those I have never met. Very cool. By my count I have 10 for and 11 against (one of you against folks posted twice so I will be charging you $5 next time I see you for having to read both of those haha).

I want to be very clear about a few things:

1. Charging $ as an idea came through the group, not through Charlie or I.

2. We are very passionate about doing what is right for the future of Detroit and MCC members.

3. MCC is designed for business professionals. We acknowledge that some of these professionals are currently in between opportunities and support their efforts. But we were not designed as an unemployment support group, just like MI isn't designed to have 14% unemployment. We will continue to do what we can to share opportunities and keep people upbeat during this less than up time.

I want to thank Brad Johnson for suggesting we keep it clean and productive. Great advice Brad.

I also want to say Hi to Paul. Paul, I am not sure how you know how many people have visited your profile, but I can assure you if you had a photo, it would help tremendously. And I disagree that the idea is pathetic, but appreciate your point. I for one am happy to be a part of a group where we can have a conversation about it.

One last thing, Charlie sent a video out that you may have seen the message about. You will have to come back to the site to see it. It talks about how people read tone into e-mail.

I had lots of messages today supporting the fact that people do indeed read tone into my note. I can assure you that I have one tone...

Making this group and Detroit the best place they can be.

Be Connected-

Terry

this is just stating facts:  There are many people that pay for things but still don't participate. You will still have members not doing or participating even though they pay a certain amount.  (one example is a gym membership)

Maybe have two levels of membership - one of them free for members that are laid-off and can't afford $60, because only getting $300 some dollars a week from unemployment.