PDGA Membership?

[smyith]

Local clubs vs. the PDGA are apples and oranges. They serve different purposes. I know plenty of people who are PDGA members, but not dues-paying club members. Including some who are former club members but quit renewing.

oh i know their apples and oranges. but what if the PDGA was a orapple? would it be able to have better retention? all i am trying to get at is there are examples within our community that work and everyone agrees are the real spearheads of the sport....the PDGA is not on that list except as a piggybacker. so maybe instead of this overwhelming drive of humanity to maintain a crappy status quo, there could be some effort to reform for the better. but lets give it that old "american" (far from it in actuality) motto, "dont love then leave it" right? :wall::wall::wall:

its no secret that alot of people don't agree nor like the direction of the PDGA or the way it is run. alot of those people leave and don't come back. (same with clubs as well). But with a club there is usually another option near by....not with the PDGA tho.

raising/lowering the fee is a band-aid on a greater issue. people have no problem forking over money to someone or something they agree with. i'd really like to know the statistic of people who join and then dont renew again after say a year/2years/3years/etc.

I'm actually on the fence about a membership (would be first time). I don't know how many tournaments I'd play...but I would like to see what kind of ranking I could muster. That's a pretty big benefit of membership, in my opinion.

and once the elation from a having a rating wears off, what do you think the value of a membership is going to be then?
(for some reason i feel like i am coming off dickheadish even tho thats not my intent, i am truly curious)

 

[NPCTour]

Should the membership fee go to a payment plan? Once signed up you get all benefits as a paying member.....or would that cause more headache?

 

[bradharris]

once the elation from a having a rating wears off, what do you think the value of a membership is going to be then?
(for some reason i feel like i am coming off dickheadish even tho thats not my intent, i am truly curious)

It doesn't wear off, at least not for me. I like being able to see my rating change. It's a good way to measure your progression.

 

[scarpfish]

Should the membership fee go to a payment plan? Once signed up you get all benefits as a paying member.....or would that cause more headache?

Umm, that's what they have now.

 

[Stardoggy]

and once the elation from a having a rating wears off, what do you think the value of a membership is going to be then?

I get pretty jazzed about that kind of thing, and my hope is that it would work as a motivational tool going forward. If it stopped being fun, and I wasn't playing 5 tournies a year, I'd probably lose the membership.

It doesn't wear off, at least not for me. I like being able to see my rating change. It's a good way to measure your progression.

I'd like it, until my rating goes down.

 

[smyith]

The Directors' Cup, October 26-27, 2013 - free to TDs, coordinators and other volunteers. They handed us ~$50-60 worth of stuff when we checked in, gave us a day's worth of seminars and discussions (ranging from sneak peeks at the new website and behind the scenes tours of the offices to idea-sharing regarding running better tournaments and growing local clubs/courses), five meals, and two rounds of competitive golf. The plan is to not only to make it an annual event at the IDGC, but also do auxiliary events in various regions around the country. I drove 1000 miles to attend and would do it again. There was also international representation as two fellows from Sweden were also in attendance.

good glad to know they do but...are regular members not-invited then? and then people have to travel how great of distances at their own expense? (no i dont think the PDGA should pay). its a great start but it still alienates the majority of the supporting cast.

i mean it could even be as simple as doing something to the Worlds Biggest Tournament, Ace Race, Birdie Bash, etc and just make it a free fun tournament sponsored by the PDGA for all of its members. i dont really know i am just throwing ideas out there

 

[Cgkdisc]

It's not just getting a rating has value because the PDGA was growing just as fast on a percentage basis from 1983 to 1999 before ratings. I think the unheralded benefit of PDGA membership is being part of the recorded history of the sport. Your tournament history including ratings since 2002 is tracked online and will eventually go back to the beginning in the early 80s. You were there, you existed in the sport and perhaps you made contributions that were also recorded in disc golf history like running events, building courses, building products and perhaps contributing as an administrator whether local club, Board member, PDGA employee or committee member.

 

[Discslinger12]

i'd really like to know the statistic of people who join and then dont renew again after say a year/2years/3years/etc.

From my earlier post:

- 38% of first-year active members do not renew, 17% more go after the second year, 10% more after the third - then it settles down to 2-3% per year thereafter.

 

[Future_Primitive]

It doesn't wear off, at least not for me. I like being able to see my rating change. It's a good way to measure your progression.

Agree with Brad on this one. :hfive:

Became a PDGA member last year for the first time and just re-upped my membership for 2014. I have played in enough tournies to easily justify the expense and it is mandatory for A-Tier events like DGLO.

But it is fun to challenge yourself and see if you can improve the rating. I have really noticed an uptick in my rating over the last couple of months, with my last tourney posting my best ever rated round.

 

[DavidSauls]

oh i know their apples and oranges. but what if the PDGA was a orapple? would it be able to have better retention? all i am trying to get at is there are examples within our community that work and everyone agrees are the real spearheads of the sport....the PDGA is not on that list except as a piggybacker. so maybe instead of this overwhelming drive of humanity to maintain a crappy status quo, there could be some effort to reform for the better. but lets give it that old "american" (far from it in actuality) motto, "dont love then leave it" right? :wall::wall::wall:

I'm happy to be a PDGA member, yet I bet I could roll off about 50 things I wish they'd do differently. Probably most members feel the same.

But getting involved on the local level isn't really among them. It's hard to think of much they can do that, spread among a thousand communities, wouldn't either cost a fortune at their end, or amount to a pittance at the receiving end.

 

[smyith]

But getting involved on the local level isn't really among them. It's hard to think of much they can do that, spread among a thousand communities, wouldn't either cost a fortune at their end, or amount to a pittance at the receiving end.

thats the status quo thought that i am challenging. a 38% non renew rate after one year tells me that the PDGA is doing something to turn over 1/3 of new comers away. and in 3 years 2/3 of those people have left. the status quo as is, only hurts the PDGA. I'm not saying any of my random food for thoughts are the answer but maintaining the current course of action is not helping. and honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with the membership fees (DGCR is not a good sample to pull from btw...imo).

 

[Kodachrome]

and once the elation from a having a rating wears off, what do you think the value of a membership is going to be then?
(for some reason i feel like i am coming off dickheadish even tho thats not my intent, i am truly curious)

i'm pretty damn competitive. i always want to know how i stack up - it gives me fuel to improve even when i'm playing well.

 

[bradharris]

thats the status quo thought that i am challenging. a 38% non renew rate after one year tells me that the PDGA is doing something to turn over 1/3 of new comers away. and in 3 years 2/3 of those people have left. the status quo as is, only hurts the PDGA. I'm not saying any of my random food for thoughts are the answer but maintaining the current course of action is not helping. and honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with the membership fees (DGCR is not a good sample to pull from btw...imo).

That's really not a terrible retention rate. And you have to be careful about trying to shift focus, potentially alienating the currently loyal membership base. If the focus of the org shifted to building the sport locally, there would be sacrifices to the support they can give for the competitive side. Increasing membership of club players likely comes at the expensive of membership from tournament players.

 

[ru4por]

I think sometimes politics and agendas get in the way of simpler thought. I join to help support a sport I love. I play a couple tournaments each year and save a couple bucks. I enjoy the magazine and silly key chain swag. I will soon get a rating as well, I don't know if that will get old, it might. I honestly could care less about the direction or focus of the PDGA. I am not a touring player, looking to make a living off the game and really am not interested in growing the sport beyond a positive attitude and introduction of the game to new players I meet. I give 50 buck a year to a lot of people, companies and organizations where I get far less back.

 

[iacas]

I played in one tournament. I paid the $50 last year and paid it again this year (minus I think $5 as I'm a lifetime member of the PFDS). I don't care about the extras (they're nice, and I'm glad we get them, but they're not a deciding factor). I don't agree with all the PDGA does.

But $50 isn't much, even though our joint USGA membership costs less ($35/year for the wife and I). Heck, technically I was an Ace level member last year too just for the heck of it. I have a Metal mini around here somewhere…

 

[smyith]

brad you are absolutely right about shifting the focus. I'm not experienced enough in club organization to provide any real helpful ideas and how to meet the demands of multiple parties. Nor do I know much about what is a good retention rate for a club/organization....but 1/3 to 2/3 in 3 years just seems awful to me....and a comment like "not terrible" is just to hide the obvious that is is bad just not really bad.

 

[scarpfish]

thats the status quo thought that i am challenging. a 38% non renew rate after one year tells me that the PDGA is doing something to turn over 1/3 of new comers away. and in 3 years 2/3 of those people have left. the status quo as is, only hurts the PDGA. I'm not saying any of my random food for thoughts are the answer but maintaining the current course of action is not helping.

They're going to have a 38% non renew rate no matter what they do. A lot of those first year members are flash in the pan folks who jump from hobby to hobby, get bored and drop off the map for whatever reason. God knows I've seen a lot of those in the last five years.

The primary reason for non-renewals involves matters that the PDGA can't do much about. In other sports, I'm sure the same thing goes on.

 

[Discslinger12]

In the strategic planning activity, focusing on improving the renewal rate was not ranked as a priority for the board, staff or membership, as Scarpfish points out many agree there is not much that can be done about the natural progression there. The organization measures overall membership growth - i.e. new members less non-renewing members. This number grows robustly year over year. IMO should or when the growth rate slows, addressing the renewal rate becomes more important.

 

[Pureedemise]

Quick question for everyone here. Since I was born in 1996, and can sign up as junior, should I? I want to participate in amateur tournaments, but I'm not sure if I can if I only have a junior membership.

 

[JedV]

I'll finally sign up this year, given that there are enough sanctioned, local tournaments in my area that I intend to play in. I only intend to renew as long as there are enough tournaments to justify.