Tag Archives: Dues

Hey folks, online dues payment is now open! If you didn't receive an email via the Google Group, here's your info.

Payment gets you a year of club membership.

Remember, you get access to parts of this site that non-paid users can't see, a 10% discount at Guild affiliated shops across Maryland, the right to vote on club business, and the right to take home club wort from collective brews.

One small caveat, if you'd like to pay as a couple, we'll ask you to go ahead and pay the individual rate so you both get a username, and then we'll reimburse you for the extra expense next time we see you. (Hoping to work that kink out before next year's re-ups.)

And just so you have some idea what we'll be using your hard-earned money for:

• Website upkeep expenses
• Beer Education events
• Supplies for style examinations
• Equipment
• Club parties
• General expenses to support Baltibrew's mission

Etc.

I've heard from a number of people who have expressed trepidation about meeting tonight when we will also be meeting to brew on Saturday, and just met a few weeks ago. Admittedly, this makes the week pretty Baltibrew-centric for some of us, but there are a number of reasons why meeting times should remain as regular as possible — and more importantly — as separate from brew days as possible.

So Why?

Regularity of meetings do a number of things for the club:

• They allow what we say on the website about meeting dates to remain mostly true, which means casual, prospective members who find us via the Internet are more likely to show up to a meeting without having to contact us, or us having to contact them.
• They help us to support Muggsy's which is important if we want to continue to have a regular meeting place at which we can bring our homebrewed efforts. Without a regular meeting place, we similarly affect the likelihood of new arrivals.
• They get us on a schedule. The more lax we are about meeting regularly, the more likely we are to just let them fall to the wayside in favor of lackadaisically doing business at brews when we should be focused on  brewing.

Doing business at brews breaks our focus on brewing at the brew, and reduces time at the brews that could be better spent instructing members about what we're doing. It also limits our ability to do style and technical presentations during down times at brews since we have decided not to do these at meetings.

There will be times when we have to move or cancel meetings to accommodate other events — like Opening Tap of BBW/Chilibrew II, this past year — but it makes sense to minimize this as much as possible moving forward to ensure that we don't lose the privilege to meet at Muggsy's, and to make certain we get the important business of running the club done.

So show up if you can. If you can't, comment on this post if there is business you want done at the meeting.

Current agenda after the jump. Updates if we see comments. Continue reading →