January 2012 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

club growth
by RON VANDERHULE 31 Dec '11

31 Dec '11

Hi, Ron Vanderhule of OAS here. I am doing a survey of the local astro clubs in regards to their membership over the last ten years. Primarily in conjunction with their out reach efforts. OAS has been maintaining the same pace of public and school star parties ever since I joined the club 18 years ago. When I was first president in '99 and '00 we had peak membership of 63. We have since dwindled to about 35 or so. Initially I assumed it was a problem germaine to our club but an article in Astronomy last year, and a few other sources, seem to indicate the problem is with peoples attitude toward science nowdays. Actually our culture as a whole has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years. Anyway, feel free to express your thoughts and theories in regards to this. Ron Vanderhule

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31 Dec '11

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Club growth
by D P Pierce 31 Dec '11

31 Dec '11

Hi Ron. I remember Brent Watson did some analysis of SLAS membership and found 90% of new members drop out within 2 years. This is a typical dropout rate for new hobbies. When Karen and I were heavy into fresh water aquariums I read in an aquarium magazine the same 90% figure for that hobby. I worry about SLAS's failure to atract more young members. Many of our long term members have been in the club since they were teens. Many new members are retired or close to it and say they always wanted to do it but didn't have time. I think we have a geezer problem and that may make the club unattractive to young people. That's why I voted for David Hayes for board member hoping being 18 would give him insight into attracting young members. Ron, I think SLAS's Harmons SP's have attracted many new members over the years especially when they were the night before another one at a darker location. Most of the people that look through our scopes there stumble over us and would never have come to a remote location for the first time. I'm sure the internet is part of the problem but I think the younger generation (young whipper snappers) seems to be more fascinated with pop culture than ever. Deloy Pierce Large Board Member Star Geezer

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