Letters to the HoD Leadership
E-mail to George Bole, in response to George’s poll of the Delegates :
George:
I have been pondering the issues raised in your poll ever since reading Jeannie’s editorial column in the Sept. 2006 issue of The Delegates’ Voice.
If you go to a ball game, aside from the employees, you will notice three groups of people there: the players and coaches, the die-hard fans, and the spectators. Win, lose, or draw, the players and coaches take the most out of the game, because they put the most into the game, they are out there doing their best to win. The die-hard fans also get a lot out of the game. They are emotionally invested in the game and do their best to cheer their team on to victory. Lastly you have the spectators. They watch the game waiting for something exciting to happen.
Now compare that to our AAPG members. You have the players and the coaches; those who actively serve on committees or hold offices. They get the most out of the game, they are networked, they use many of the services, and they are informed. The die-hard fans in AAPG are those who love our business. They cheer AAPG on because they love the industry. These “fans” will buy books and occasionally go to meetings, but usually do not become proactively involved. Lastly, there are the spectators. By and large, these are the individuals who see their career as a job, and the job ends at 5:00. The spectators will attend a convention when it is local, or if there is a direct business reason to do so. They will read the Explorer but rarely the Bulletin, except as it applies to their current project. In essence, the sole contribution made by the spectator is their dues money. And these will be the first to drop out.
So, the challenge before AAPG is how to encourage more spectators to be fans, and how do we get more fans to become players and coaches. The current strength of the industry will help. Finding programs that help keep our older members involved, ideally by interacting with younger members, will help us retain members. However, I think we need to convince companies that it is in their best interest to have their employees be die-hard fans or players and coaches. If the companies make it clear that they want their employees “in the game,” then many employees will get into the game.
Jeannie, as far as your friend on the bus goes. So long as he waits for AAPG or the DPA to score, he’ll always question his membership. Challenge him to join the game. If he does, let’s see what his opinion is in a few years.
Bob
Bob Shoup is a Houston Delegate, residing in Bangkok, and the current editor of the DPA’s newsletter, The Correlator