ok, to show i'm trying to help, here's another idea i had to help grow the pdga.

Hold a membership drive and offer some kind of cool patch or sticker to every course member at a course that can get 20 members. Think up a cool name like maybe "PDGA Premier Course" and put the course name on the patch or sticker...

for example, rockburn gets 20 members to join under their drive as regular rockburn players.

the patch or sticker says:

Rockburn Disc Golf Course
{insert pdga logo here}
PDGA Premier Course(or whatever)

the goal would be to get 20 members per course. you could even have different name for larger levels, like 50 members could be a charter course, etc....

Introduce another level of membership, Maybe "associate" or something that is like 10$/year but doesn't include the fee to play in events. If they play in a pdga event they would have to pay the non-member fee. We would still send them stickers, etc. and keep track of ratings and allow them to use the message board. eventually may of these members may choose to become full members.

Other levels of membership can't be handled yet but they're getting closer. Until the software gets updated, which is being done this year, those ideas which have been there for several years have to remain on the sidelines for the moment.

Other levels of membership can't be handled yet but they're getting closer. Until the software gets updated, which is being done this year, those ideas which have been there for several years have to remain on the sidelines for the moment.



Actually, I think they could be handled, but it might involve keeping a second database containing only the non-playing members. The non-playing members might get the magazine also, and the mail lists can always be combined between the 2 databases. That's an easy job in Excel, or your favorite spreadsheet program.

Of course there is the problem of giving a non-playing member a PDGA# for such a membership. I'd think that there's probably an elegant solution to that as well. Perhaps adding a N (non-playing) or H (honorary) to the front of the PDGA number, making it easy to tell if someone's such a member. It might involve a little bit of extra work until the software gets updated, but it might be worth it.

Chap

When you say grow and PDGA in the same sentence something else naturally comes to mind first...

Give a membership to the top finishing non-member at events. Perhaps they'll be foolish enough to renew on their own in the future, and tell their other black t-shirt/three disc toting buddies about the cool benefits like ratings, and ummm...well I'm sure there's something else.

"Other levels of membership can't be handled yet "

let's not use "can't" on this thread. i'm sure anything is possible if we think outside the box. This is an idea thread, not a criticism thread. let's not shoot down the ideas prematurely.

I'm saying those ideas are already there and have been there for quite a while. The execution can potentially happen within the next year.

When you say grow and PDGA in the same sentence something else naturally comes to mind first...

Give a membership to the top finishing non-member at events. Perhaps they'll be foolish enough to renew on their own in the future, and tell their other black t-shirt/three disc toting buddies about the cool benefits like ratings, and ummm...well I'm sure there's something else.



Somewhere in all the TD info it is suggested that TDs issue memberships as prizes to ams. I think it would be much better to mandate that the first $50 of added or sponsor cash be used to raffle a new membership. I did this at both PDGA events I ran last year & I could see excitement on some of the nonmember's faces. I don't think payout is the place for memberships.

Mandates aren't necessary, IMO. There are enough rules, as-is.

I'd suggest that the PDGA offer to all TDs a "two for one" Am Membership offer for each tournament. The TD can return to the PDGA (rolled into their overall spreadsheet) one full membership fee, along with membership info for two players. Essentially this would be a "matching" program. If a TD cares not to exercise this option, that would be fine.

I'm not sure where this would breakdown financially, but it probably wouldn't cost much overall. This sort of membership could also be modified if the finances don't work out, like no magazine etc.

Joe

Everyone,

Thanks for the ideas and please keep them coming. As you know, the PDGA underwent quite a bit of change last year and there is a new Executive Director and Memberships Manager. Our first priority in the office, and one that we are currently working on, is to streamline our internal processes so that we can become more efficient. Our goal is to free up more time for Addie Isbell, our memberships manager, so that she can devote it to the development of membership drives and membership benefits. One of the cool features on our new website will be a dedicated member benefits page, which Addie is already busy working on. Addie and I will also be presenting a plan to the BOD, possibly at the Spring Summit, for the creation of a new low cost membership level for recreational players who do not necessarily want to compete in sanctioned events. Grassroots growth is where we need to concentrate. I like a lot of the ideas that are being presented on this thread. Many have been considered previously and there are also some new ones. You can rest assured that the growth of our Association is something we are committed to.

We sincerely appreciate your input and I encourage you to send any membership ideas you may have to Addie at aisbell@pdga.com.

Regards,
Brian Graham
PDGA Executive Director

I too think mandating that would be the wrong way to go. Better to make it a highly popular or lucrative choice available to the TD.

Regarding PDGA memberships awarded as prizes:

I run an event in November and I award PDGA memberships for the following year as prizes. When I set the payout, I have no way of knowing if a member or non-member will win the membership. If current members win, they can simply use the membership to renew for the following year.

Since So Cal DGA is an affiliate club (and runs the event) we get a $5.00 discount on the PDGA Memberships we award.

Here is a suggestion to help encourage TD's to award memberships at tournaments throughout the year: The PDGA could offer TD's a $5.00 discount on memberships awarded as prizes. Then, Affiliate Club TD's could purchase memberships at a $10.00 discount. This discount could be the extra incentive TD's need to award more memberships. The $5.00 TD discount won't cost the PDGA a whole lot of extra money and would helpfully grow the org.


I have a question:
If current member won a PDGA membership in June, could they renew that early for the following year?

Perhaps a new logo would help...

http://barbarak.com/assets/company_photo.jpg

The stapler to hang flyers for a tourney. Tape measure to ensure you're no more than 30cm behind your mini marker. Scissors to trim up some sticky buds to get the round started right!!!!
Good logo!!!

IMO the BIGGEST thing is in the news, advertsing, and marketing - STOP COMPARING TO BALL GOLF!

It's like we're treating ourselves as the ugly stepchild. Get out of the shadow, stand your ground, and be proud of the sport. It is SO much more complicated that simply flinging a frisbee. Talk more about how discs fade, turn, stability, etc. All the stupid news shows that cover disc golf waste half the time saying "uh, so I throw the 'disc' into the 'basket'?" and making comparisons to ball golf. Get more short clips out highlighting some of our top players making outsanding throws, closeups of a disc gliding down o mountain on a wind. Make these available to news stations to use rather than the same old stupid comaprison to ball golf that wastes half our coverage!

ace or birdie club memberships (and swag) for TDs that raise the appropriate amount of money for the pdga by filling a sanctioned event.

Ummm...you could go to four ratings based divisions where everyone was playing against equally rated players for money.

Ummm...you could go to four ratings based divisions where everyone was playing against equally rated players for money.



Or four ratings based divisions where everyone was playing against equally rated players, with only the top two divisions playing for money. All added cash would only go to the top division, which has a higher entry fee, and the second cash division would play for the small purse generated only by their low entry fees.

Ummm...you could go to four ratings based divisions where everyone was playing against equally rated players for money.



Or four ratings based divisions where everyone was playing against equally rated players, with only the top two divisions playing for money. All added cash would only go to the top division, which has a higher entry fee, and the second cash division would play for the small purse generated only by their low entry fees.



Better than what we have now.