[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Apollo1975 No offense taken Poocho... this is what a forum is for. Thanks for taking the time to respond so eloquently ;)[/quote] Sure, I know that, but many forum-goers don't. I'd rather go a little out of my way to express my lack of hostility than have some inexperienced forum member be offended. [quote]I think I understand what you're saying in your convention example and it's absolutely valid - individuality is the soul of the 7C - but I have to disagree with your analogies of [b]convention = chapter[/b] and [b]booths = databases/forums/etc.[/b]. As I see it, a convention is a gathering of people who share the same interest (i.e. Star Trek), and each exhibitor sets up his/her booth because he/she feels they have something unique to offer those attending the convention. So for my purposes, I'll say [color=green][b]convention = 7th Column[/b][/color] and [color=green][b]booths = chapters[/b][/color]. With that in mind...[/quote] *sigh* If you have to get that picky, fine. It served my purposes, so I guess it can serve yours. Well, we'll see... ;) [quote]You and your friends hear about a convention and you all agree to meet there when it opens. Everyone is excited because this convention is about something they really enjoy and know a lot about. In fact, you decide that you would like to set up your own booth at the convention so you can share you enjoyment and knowledge with others. This will be even better because now you and your friends will be able to hang out at your booth and talk to eachother. The big day finally arrives and you're setting up your booth at the convention and watching for your friends arrival (you've worked hard preparing your booth and you can't wait for them to see it). As you see one of your friends approaching, you notice that he has brought stuff for a booth of his own that he starts setting up a few spaces over. The same thing happens for each of your other friends. "No problem." you say to each other, "We'll visit eachother during the convention." But each of you is so busy putting finishing touches on his booth and waiting for visitors that you just can't find the time. About an hour goes by, and you wonder why nobody has come over to see you even though you have a great booth. Looking around, you realize that everyone at the convention has a booth of their own, and that they're all so busy tweeking things and waiting for visitors that they're not going to visit anyone else. [i]** Insert music from Twilight Zone here **[/i][/quote] Good points. However IMO, your analogy needs a bit of tweaking. Remember your idea was that chapters would be limited to one per state/province. If that is the case, then we need to first bump up the attendance of this convention to over 10,000 (the number of members in the 7th Column. I don't know how many states/provinces are currently represented by 7th Column members (let's say there's about 75), but if every one of them has one chapter, then the average attendance for each booth/chapter would be about 133. So you're gonna have each table (granted, you might be able to increase the size of the table a bit, but you can only go so far) surrounded by 133 people all milling about. Now, you and your friends show up at your state's booth in a crowd of strangers. Let's say the same conversation as what I first mentioned takes place ("This is fun...let's start our own booth just for us..." "You can't because... But that guy over there is gonna...so you can go to his... But no, sorry, you can't....Tough luck"). You still have the problem of not being able to do anything special with your friends because you only show up here once every couple of weeks. Sure, you can go to the other guy's new booth, but you and your friends will still have to be surrounded by, let's say, 30 other strangers when all you really want to do is have your own private booth where you and your friends get to be [b]behind[/b] the table for a change. I realize that my portrayal of things is the ideal actions of members and that in actuallity many members simply set up new booths only to abandon them after a short time of waiting. But this can be fixed. Read on... [quote]I suppose my initial post was more of a "thinking-out-loud" thing than an actual suggestion (yes, I'm back-pedaling a little) - because disbanding active chapters is pretty much contrary to what the 7th Column is about. I hope I didn't cheese off any senior members with that suggestion. I'm all for individuality and freedom of expression in the 7C, but I don't think it should come at the cost of the community it is intended to nurture. Maybe it would be enough to do something like limit each member to founding only one chapter ( I have 2 and I'm embarrassed to say neither one is doing well - but I'm working on that), or having prospective founders "apprentice" with a learned elder for a while before being given a chapter. I may be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but it seems to me that something needs to be done about [b]excessively[/b] fragmented membership if the 7th Column is to realize its full potential. [/quote] I agree at least with the first part. Individuallity is good, but you're definitely right in saying that it shouldn't hurt the 7C. So, I think we both agree that we need [b]balance[/b]. We need to find a happy medium between a 7C filled to the brim with thousands of empty chapter and a 7C with only a few big chapters. I think that we need to take a closer look at the option of disbanning. IMO, ambitious members should be able to create a new chapter whenever they want. Everyone should have a chance to set up their own booth. [i]However[/i], it should be clearly stated during the chapter creation process that if there ever occurs a period of complete inactivity in the chapter for 6 months straight, the chapter will be automatically disbanned. This should be a separate step in the process, and it should have it's own "I Agree" checkbox to make sure the new founder doesn't just skip over it. It should be separate from the Terms of Use statement because, honestly, who really reads that any way? [I'm not saying that it isn't important, but the ToU basically tells everyone to 'Be Nice.' Most know this, and they don't bother to read through 20 pages of cryptic rules and regulations and legal mumbo jumbo.] I think this policy should be just the right balance between harshness and leniency. I'd give 6 months because I know that sometimes things come up that prevent a person/people from being active. They should have a good-sized cushion. But I don't think it's too harsh, because all a person has to do to keep their chapter (for which they may have plans in the future) alive is to log on once and post a quick news item or forum entry. And yes, I think forum activity should be considered chapter activity, even if it wouldn't be considered by the Active-o-Meter. Furthermore, I think, as a professional courtesy, a warning email should be sent to the founder and staff members of the chapters after 5 months have elapsed. That shouldn't be too much trouble to do, and it may just remind those people of what they've forgotten about. This should work! As for the apprenticeship idea, that doesn't sound too bad! However, I would suggest that it be implemented as an option, rather than a requirement. If a founder knows they know what they're doing, they should be allowed to jump right in to creating a chapter. But if he/she feels it would help them, then they could opt to join the apprenticeship program. Also, there's the fact that each founder has his/her own style. One may love news, one my be highly involved in forums, one may scoff all options but events, and one may preach the saving power of databases! New founders should be allowed to develop their own style. So, really, what could these experienced founders/mentors do but keep saying "Stay active, in whatever way you want"? The idea could work, but it would need some tweaking. Once again, these are just my opinions. Feel free to disagree (but keep in mind that I don't like to "lose" ;) ). Just my thoughts, [b]Poocho[/b] :)