In message <[log in to unmask]> on Tue, 12 Jul 2005, gedson <[log in to unmask]> wrote > > >ICOM Colleagues: > >I have been asked to discuss the option of granting additional membership >cards to larger institutional members. > >The value of providing additional cards for institutional members based on >the number of employees, at least in this one experimental case, is >positive. However, the question remains, should this become an inclusive >practice for ICOM? When I was Membership Secretary for ICOM UK (1998-2004) I found that several potential institutional members worked out that it was cheaper to pay the subscriptions of several individual members than to take out institutional membership. For example, the 2005 fees payable to ICOM (not including any national adjustments) are 56 EUR for a regular individual member and 288 EUR for a regular category A institutional member (up to 5 professional staff). Such an institution can pay the ICOM fees of all five staff for less than the cost of institutional membership, so there is no incentive for the institution to join, even if they were to be given five cards. The disincentive is even greater for those small museums with less than five professional staff; some are staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers, who may nevertheless be professionally experienced or qualified, and they find the Regular A institutional rate unaffordable from their limited budgets. I think that a revision of the subscription rates for institutional membership would do more to encourage them to join than just distributing more cards. The two could be linked, though, with a basic subscription and then a cost per additional card that was lower than the individual subscription. Leonard Will -- Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will) Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092 27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)870 051 7276 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] ---------------- <URL:http://www.willpowerinfo.co.uk/> ----------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html