I don't think we can look at the membership as a depletable base where in 10 years our 1,100 will go the zero. One thing we haven't considered is that perhaps the Club is settling into the correct number of members. I think Steve said it when he said you cannot create collectors. Maybe 1,000 people is the right number of true casino collectors and this bleeding away of members is inevitable.

15 years ago in the club's hayday it was bloated with people who had no intention of being longtime collectors. I had two Vegas buddies who thought chipping was neat and I bought them memberships. They never read a magazine and when their membership came due they let it pass.

Then there were people who saw the incredible rise in chip prices and they tried to make money. These speculators played hot potato with the chips until the economy crashed and suddenly chips weren't a good investment anymore. They bailed out leaving a giant hole in membership.

Then there are the people who just grow tired and moved on. How many of us have boxes and boxes of things (i.e. baseball cards, coins, beanie babies, etc) that we were passionate about once but now have no interest? At least twice a year I have to convince my mom to keep storing my old collectibles in her house (I don't want it in my house!)

Maybe we are still finding our core base where we finally reach equilibrium (incoming = outgoing).

I'm not sure I made my point in my original response, I don't think the CCGTCC needs to be loaded down with people who are not interested in the club. If they want to collect chips, but don't care about the organization, let them continue doing their own thing. I think people who want to be members probably already are. I don't agree that a publicity campaign is going to stimulate people into collecting casino collectibles. It might bring some into the club temporarily, but unless they are serious it's not going to last.

If the Club shrinks to 1,000, or 800 or 500, then we'll have to find a way to make it work financially in that environment.