I hear your point. I do also understand that if a club member wants to run a contest for other club members, that certainly is their right to be able to foster relationships with other club members and give away a free prize only to a club member. To me, that is a benefit of membership. I recently won a chip because I entered a contest I would not have been able to win as a non-member.

My thing isn't the contests, it's simply the attitude towards non-members who post here. I don't think they are given much respect. To ignore them or place restrictions on how they are addressed is not fair. As has been pointed out by others, this is not the CC>CC message board, so there should be no requirement to post here to get information or to be a part of the community. If someone likes it here, they will likely join. I really wish we would stop trying to push the club on people. I don't remember many posts where a non-member has posted where someone hasn't tried to push them to join the club on their first post. If they enjoy this community, they will join and they will refer those who are the nicest to them. I would never have joined if that had not been my experience.

I just hope the elder members amongst us look at the future of the club beyond their daily needs of their individual membership and what they may perceive as unwelomes violating their turf and their rules. As has been drilled into me in my short time here, apparently there are no rules except those the long time members decide to unilaterally impose and then the blue line forms behind them to back them up. That is wrong and must stop if anyone feels this club has a future worth looking towards. The attrition rate of this club is horrible and must be addressed here on the front lines where most club members meet and many newbies find us.

Just my humble 2 cents, although it may not be worth that much.

Steve