MODERATORS NOTE:
Museum newsletter and members has been converted from the pre-July 2008 WW&F Discussion Forum.
Some formatting may have been removed or modified from the original postings that appear quoted in this topic.
Information contained within this post may be superseded by more recent postings and conversations.
David Johnson wrote:We got our latest Museum newsletters last week and after reading the article on the present membership I started wondering about the 1100 members. I also noted that two of the states adjoining ours are among the handfull that don't have WW&F members and was rather suprised that with two major metropolitian areas in St. Louis and Kansas City, that Missouri was one of those states. It made me wonder if Brian and I were the only people keeping Kansas off of that list of states. Other groups that I belong to have published membership lists. Is that information available for the WW&F Museum or is it considered confidential? Through visits to the Museum and the opportunity to meet and work with folks up there, I know a lot of the people that post here and whose names show up regularly in the newsletter. I wonder about the others that include those 2000 miles away and further, that like us can't make it up to Maine as often as we would like.
Dave Johnson
James Patten replied:We don't release the membership/mailing list to other groups (or the general public) except by specific action of the Board (I think I can recall one time when it happened, for the Albion Historical Society). However to do what it sounds like you want to do (contact others in your state or area that also belong to the Museum), you should contact Allan Fisher, our membership sec'y.
Joe Fox replied:Last I knew, the museum had over 1200 members. Did 100 of them decide to not renew their membership, or what's the story behind the loss of 100 members?
Joe
James Patten replied:I don't think we've ever had 1200 members, I think the most we've had is 1100. There have been a sizable number of people that did not renew over the last two years, which may be because of the increased membership cost.
Allan Fisher replied:Our highest membership of 1098 was reached in December 2006.
As of today, our membership is 1078. More than half of our members are life members.
The biggest reason for the decline in membership this year is that our members are not twisting arms as hard as they did when our annual membership cost only $20.00.
Most of the loss of members is due to deaths that we receive no notification of, and members who joined as a lark in the last year or two , and have never returned to the museum.
Joe Fox replied:Oh. I thought I read in a newsletter last year that we had 1200 members. Maybe I miss read it. I spoke to somebody the other day, that has been in Wiscasset, driven on route 1 several times to Rockland, and has never even heard of the W, W, & F. And that is only five miles away. The further away from the museum you get, the less likely you are to meet someone who has heard of the W, W, & F. How far are the brochures being distributed?
Joe
Allan Fisher replied:The Museum uses 6 brochure distribution companies:
Here's Where - distributes our brochures from Freeport to Damariscotta and Lewiston/Auburn area at 110 establishments
A Bar Harbor firm distributes our Brochures at 70 establishments from just below Belfast to Thomaston and Union Maine
The Portland Convention Bureau distributes brochures at the Portland Airport, the Rail and Bus Station, and the downtown Visitor Center on Commercial St
The Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce distributes at visitor centers in that area
The Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce distributes in their visitor centers.
The Maine Tourist Association distributes at all 8 of their locations at visitor centers at various highway entrances to Maine.
We also advertise monthly in the Lincoln County News, the Wiscasset Newspaper,the Boothbay Harbor Register, and the Coastal Journal.
We advertise in various vacation booklets in Maine and in Trains Magazine.
Josh Botting replied:Allan,
Do you know if we have brochures at the new Bath tourist info center?
Allan Fisher replied:As you know - earlier this year the Visitor's Center that is now in the renovated Bath Train Station was located on the northbound side of Route One in West Bath. We were solicited by them to handle our brochures for $350 for the season. As our average brochure distribution at one site is 112 brochures, that would work out to over $3.00 per brochure. I told this contractor that he was a highway robber and notified the state contracting office of what I considered to be price scalping of non-profits. Never heard anything back.
We pay the other brochure distributors about $400 for 70 sites.
Josh Botting replied:Wow, Now that is expensive.....
