Re: PSUBS Organization

["Sean Walinga" <swalinga@telusplanet.net>]

Hi Jon,

>I have concerns about "just anyone" representing PSUBS and
>have been wondering if we should start thinking about organizing a
>bit more officially.  In other words, without structure, what exactly
>does having a PSUBS business card mean?  Anyone who wants to can go
>out and make up their own cards right now without permission from
>anyone.  In fact, everyone could have their own "version" of a psubs
>business card.  We have no organization or structure, we only have
>the mailing list to bind us.  Is that all we need?
>
>For discussion purposes, I thought we might be able to talk about
>structure by differentiating between "Members" and "participants".
>
>Participants would continue status quo, and have full access to the
>web site and mailing list.
>
>Members would "register" and be trackable.  So when "Joe Member"
>went someplace and that place tried to contact the organization
>for whatever reason to see if "Joe" was legit, we could say
>"Yes, Joe Member is an official member of the PSUBS organization.".

Following the same line of thought, why wouldn't everyone simply become a member? Are you thinking about screening members or does membership consist of being willing to provide personal info? 

>
>We could provide members with a "yourname@psubs.org" email address
>that they could put on the "official" PSUBS business card as well
>as "Participating Member since 199X" wording or something similar.
>
>I don't want to create a politicized organization with a bunch of
>red-tape crap and dictators.  We don't need that and it would doom
>what has been built up now from a handful of people to a group 
>that now reaches around the world.  Our simplicity is our greatest
>asset, but at the same time, disorganization can be a liability.
>
>What do you all think?

How much image is everyone interested in? To have the type of membership described above, it means more than just business cards would supply. I would certainly be interested but this type of organization implies fees and time. Neither of which I (or others) have an abundance of. Trackable information is a good idea in my opinion to increase the validity of the image. 

ttfn
Sean