NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => General Firearm Discussion => Topic started by: bullit on July 06, 2019, 02:01:07 PM
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Musings of an old man ....
Does it bother anyone else that the NFOA FB page has just under 20,000 "Likes", yet we commonly have less than 100 in attendance at our annual meeting, and less than a half dozen who show up at any state or local gun legislation hearings?
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More musing of an equally old man.........Apathy indeed. "We must all hang together, or assuredly hang separately" Ben Franklin.
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when is this years Annual meeting?
(ill get to my point after a reply)
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We are planning it for September. Feel free to suggest a location.
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IMHO.... the annual meeting needs to be finalized several months in advance, not a couple of weeks. they need to know this in advance instead of knowing just a few weeks ahead. plus its already July. if its in Sept, it should have been finalized months ago. when its finalized it leads to people allowing to be prepared and to advertise (meaning social media posts and paid avenues).
in the summer you are battling family trips, baseball, holidays, weddings, vacations and shooting events. after the summer you are battling Husker football and high school. it needs to be a winter project.
basically, i've always said we need to get our members meeting finalized months in advance and in the winter.
is there any way we could have the members meeting associated with something else like a gun show, Zombies in the Heartland (yes i know its June) or some other attraction?
but its just my opinion.
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I like your thinking, and spot on. In fact, earlier planning is something I've pushed since being on the board. Last year's was planned in May, but I'd still like to see even earlier finalized plans.
One issue to is locale. Our plan for Lincoln was thwarted due to the controversy that I will not mention in this forum, and we had to scramble to Omaha. I've also seen ideas (and tend to agree), it may not need to be some big blow out like the past with different offerings, shooting, etc.
Maybe something as simple as a William Aprill type speaker, and a report to the members, and lunch.
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One thing that bugged me last year, is that you brought in some great speakers and then scheduled a members "brainstorming" session at the exact same time as one of the speakers I wanted to hear. I was forced to choose between that speaker and helping the group plan ahead (I chose the speaker because it was something I really wanted to hear). Next time, I'd suggest that when you have another session like that, the only other thing that should be going on is some free time to shoot at the range (or just shoot the breeze) for those who aren't interested.
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here's what i think would be a good schedule...
0800 - 1000 - open shooting, chit chat, donuts, coffee, time with sponsors/tables
1000 - 1045 - Session 1 (ex Self Defense)
Break
1100 - 1145 - Session 2 (ex Holster options, advanced CHP stuff) - could be put on by a sponsor
Break
1200 - 1345 - Lunch, shooting, chit chat, time with sponsors/tables
1400 - 1445 - Session 3 (NFOA meeting/questions) - could start earlier and have meeting while people are eating, which leaves plenty of time for questions.
Break
1500 - 1545 - Session 4 (ex How to contact State/local reps, what NFOA needs from members, etc, etc)
1500 - 1700 - Open shooting, chit chat, clean up, time with sponsors/table
basically, make it a short day. if people can come and go as they please, they will probably show up. making it an 8 hour day limits people's willingness to spend all day there.
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We are planning it for September. Feel free to suggest a location.
Actually it's in October. Date TBD because we are trying to nail down a location.
Member feedback indicated summer time was busy and conflicted with everyone's activities.
Member feedback indicated they wanted more social time and a less complicated schedule for the event.
So the format we will try this year is a dinner, catered, cash bar maybe, with a presentation by the Board for the formal member meeting portion of the night (which is a requirement), hopefully some raffles/door prizes and maybe an auction of some type. Anyone think we should bring in a guest speaker or should we just keep it casual?
I will be honest, I put in a ton of time into the last 2 member meetings, tried different schedules, speakers/topics. I was happy to have who showed up, show up. But I think the format was getting old and repetitive and was way too time consuming to plan (especially with your selected venue falls apart weeks before the event)
The team is trying something different this year and we will see how it works.
If folks would like more, or are willing to make something they want happen, they are absolutely welcome to join the team and help think through and plan this. I work 3 jobs and volunteer a lot so yeah, you can only get so much out of me.
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Id be willing to pay more to go to the meeting for better food!. a lot of it!
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Sounds good. Wanna volunteer in the menu selection?
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IMHO.... the annual meeting needs to be finalized several months in advance, not a couple of weeks. they need to know this in advance instead of knowing just a few weeks ahead. plus its already July. if its in Sept, it should have been finalized months ago. when its finalized it leads to people allowing to be prepared and to advertise (meaning social media posts and paid avenues).
in the summer you are battling family trips, baseball, holidays, weddings, vacations and shooting events. after the summer you are battling Husker football and high school. it needs to be a winter project.
basically, i've always said we need to get our members meeting finalized months in advance and in the winter.
is there any way we could have the members meeting associated with something else like a gun show, Zombies in the Heartland (yes i know its June) or some other attraction?
but its just my opinion.
Not sure I agree with all that planning ahead bidness.
I'm usually a last minute sort of fella and have done well by it.
BUTT..... I've been pushed to plan ahead for events recently, Like: Ladyseed and Women On Target. LadySeed was planned and open for registration in like January. promoted the hell outta it- with a week to go we had to cancel because it wasn't worth flying instructors in for ONE Shooter!
WOT was on the books last year, shortly after the prior event, and registrations opened early in the spring. We set a break point this year for 50 registrants by July- 2 months before event. Again Promoted the hell outta it thru Social Media and LGSs, etc. As of last Friday we had 16 registrations- which included a handful of comped spots. Sadly we had to cancel that event, too. :(
I feel the current political atmosphere have folks too comfortable and / or have become so apathetic that there is always something more important than securing our heritage. I have spoke to a few instructors and industry folks and they are seeing the same softening.
You can plan all you want, but it still comes down to finding enough folks that truly Give A Damn!
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Although I am frequently working on the "last minute seat of my pants" process, planning ahead and getting the information out to the members is good operational procedure and a courtesy to the members.
I have always felt that we needed to get more information out earlier and then keep reminding everyone that we have an event coming. Not just for the annual meeting, but for ANY event we are working on. We also have to work on how we get that information out as well because we are either dealing with a great deal of people who don't care to get involved, we aren't doing things they want to participate in, or we aren't getting the message out sufficiently. My guess it is a little of all but a lot of #3. At least I would like to believe that our members want to do something to learn more and defend their rights.
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I am a planner by nature. When I was on the board, I pushed for a strategic plan to guide our decision-making. I also pushed for starting sooner to plan for more significant events. The challenge, with every all-volunteer organization of which I have been a part, is that it typically is noone's first priority. Most of us have to work to pay the bills. We have families that demand and deserve our attention. The trick is balancing the work required to operate a volunteer organization with the expectations of the membership. That is pretty much impossible without regular, frequent and transparent (transparency being one of our core values ... according to the strategic plan developed while I served on the board).
For those who have not seen, or don't remember, our strategic guidance:
Vision: Firearms Freedom
Mission: Promote a consistent and unified voice for Nebraska firearms owners
Values:
• Natural Rights
• Member Commitment
• Transparency
• Responsiveness
• Inclusiveness
• Frugality
One of the other challenges of volunteer organizations is that, while we may value member commitment, only members can make that commitment. This organization, like most volunteer organizations, has a tiny fraction of a percent of members who are committed to the work necessary to achieve our mission and vision. That leaves a heavy burden on the shoulders of those who do make the commitment which often leads to burnout.
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More social time is needed, we might find more resources than we knew we had. In this political climate, need all the help we can get.
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Musings of an old man ....
Does it bother anyone else that the NFOA FB page has just under 20,000 "Likes", yet we commonly have less than 100 in attendance at our annual meeting, and less than a half dozen who show up at any state or local gun legislation hearings?
I actually agree with you. But I get it. I want to go to meetings, rallies, etc. But I work 50 plus a week. Every other minute I'm try to be a decent father and husband. I realize I'm making excuses. But, I am trying to explain why I can see both sides of the coin.
One thing we can do is call and write our reps, both on the state and federal levels. Become the squeaky wheel.
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As an organization, if we want to further organize, might want to have a social event to help consolidate. Maybe a board idea? I might be able to provide some pulled pork. I've been told it's a Nebraska favorite. :P
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I replied earlier. I am going to try to start making the meetings in Gretna on Saturday mornings. Like I said, it is often difficult with a6 month old kiddo, but I want to try to be involved.
Also I think another good thing would be to pay in the NFOA Facebook page. Larger reach. And share. Social media is too we can use like the other side uses it. Don't post smear campaigns and spin news. Post fact based, real news and articles.
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As an organization, if we want to further organize, might want to have a social event to help consolidate. Maybe a board idea? I might be able to provide some pulled pork. I've been told it's a Nebraska favorite. :P
we have been having a social event every month for years,, first sat of the month, Billys cafe in Gretna, 9 am, its usually the same people, mabye a hour and a half. have breakfast and talk about events happening, stop on by ..
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These events are on the eastern side of the state. It's unlikely I'll attend any of them. On occasion, I do contact legislators to give them my thoughts (on a variety of subjects).
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the breakfast once a month isnt a offical event, just a bunch decided to get together, start one in your area, just pick a place and contact people in your area, mabye post on here that you want to get together with local to your area people. it might work
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I attended the 'pheasants forever' banquet and, while it was a good thing for a good cause, it wasn't a terribly "complex" event, i.e. there were no big-name keynote speakers like a college football coach or our district's US Congressman, and there were no break-out training sessions or anything like that. Basically a couple people spoke on national and chapter / local issues, there was food, and then just a whole night of gambling for guns and gear via raffle tickets. There were alcoholic drink options, but they weren't exactly sophisticated either: beer from a can or well drinks -- both for a hefty fee. There were some vendor tables set up. (I do not recall if the NFOA was present there or not.)
Yet, the Lancaster County Event Center hall was packed, and attendees were throwing their money at the raffle ticket girls like they had stacks of $20 bills to burn. And that's on top of a fairly substantial charge just to get in the door. And many of the same group of people will show up and do the same for the Whitetails forever (etc. etc.) events.
I'm not saying the NFOA could or should emulate those events exactly, but I'm saying that there is a huge demand and interest in firearms rights out there, to the point where people will show up for a good cause, and beer and raffles, if (repeat if) the organization is established and recognized.
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Feel free to contact me with your ideas and how you would like to help out. We'll make it happen.
I attended the 'pheasants forever' banquet and, while it was a good thing for a good cause, it wasn't a terribly "complex" event, i.e. there were no big-name keynote speakers like a college football coach or our district's US Congressman, and there were no break-out training sessions or anything like that. Basically a couple people spoke on national and chapter / local issues, there was food, and then just a whole night of gambling for guns and gear via raffle tickets. There were alcoholic drink options, but they weren't exactly sophisticated either: beer from a can or well drinks -- both for a hefty fee. There were some vendor tables set up. (I do not recall if the NFOA was present there or not.)
Yet, the Lancaster County Event Center hall was packed, and attendees were throwing their money at the raffle ticket girls like they had stacks of $20 bills to burn. And that's on top of a fairly substantial charge just to get in the door. And many of the same group of people will show up and do the same for the Whitetails forever (etc. etc.) events.
I'm not saying the NFOA could or should emulate those events exactly, but I'm saying that there is a huge demand and interest in firearms rights out there, to the point where people will show up for a good cause, and beer and raffles, if (repeat if) the organization is established and recognized.