Wow…. What a question…. I have been thinking about joining but I have not as of yet. I’ve been collecting for about a year… Went to the Convention. I collect casino chips, But I’m not sure about joining the club or not… That may sound weird.. Why would I not join…I have tried to figure it out… and can’t quite figure it out. It is not the money obligation. One thing is that I’m not sure if it is a good fit for me. From a lot of the Member posts on this board it seems like some members are comfortable being really negative toward others because they are in fact club members. Almost as if a person will yell at a family member before a neighbor. I do enjoy reading a lot of the informative dialogue however some of the back and forth posts on this site have been lets say uneighborly to say the least. A lot more funny as a non-member reading them. (please don’t make me site examples) It also seems like the “club” is the “hobby”. That is dangerous. I must say that I got involved in collecting because it seemed interesting. Not just the collectibles but the infancy of the organized collecting of such things. The early collectors will get a chuckle out that but as time goes on I think the infancy of even today will be more apparent.
I think that there are a lot of key issues that many Club Members are diametrically apposed on. When Members discussed these issues they become totally politicized and that gets boring fast. Change is a hot topic with members. I don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to chime in on a debate regarding “change” between a dueling pair of heated Members on this board. Not to add anything sensible, but just to remind them that other people are actually reading their posts. If an organization is to grow it will require change, at this point the club should expect to see exponential growth and change. In short… I’m still trying to figure out if it is for me or not. I guess the first job is to figure if I agree with the clubs vision… however, if the Club is still trying to decide itself, it becomes more difficult, Besides, joining a club that would actually have me as a member would require deep introspection.
Westen