Greetings all and Happy New Year!
We are getting an increasing number of renewals and some from those who haven't renewed for several years which raises a number of questions being asked about procedure. I thought it would be helpful to explain a bit how this needs to be done given how the 'system' works.
Very little of this is done manually these days. Nobody really can commit the time it would require and it doesn't make too much sense in the age in which we live to not take advantage of the technology we have.
Firstly, memberships ARE NOT based upon a specific expiration date, ie, December 31st or January 31st (like your AMA license). YOUR expiration date is exactly 365 days from WHENEVER YOU signed up. If that was April 12th 2023 then you are due again April 12th 2024. If all goes as it's supposed to and if you are a renewing active member, the website will send out an automatic renewal notice to your EMAIL. In some cases a few of these go to YOUR spam file and are not seen-we don't have a way to fix that. We do have a Membership Secretary, Jim Barry, who endeavors to 'catch the strays' and send out notices. He is picking up on quite a few who have been away for some time and are unknown by the computer system.
When it comes to the actual renew process two main issues come to my attention regularly:
1. Our bank (BOA) will NOT accept OFF-SHORE credit cards under any circumstances. If you are not within the continental US you will need to sign up by either snail mailing me a cashiers check (mailing addy to follow) OR sending the $40.00 to my personal PayPal account and I will transfer the funds and enter you on the system manually. Come your next renewal date you WILL get the email notice BUT you will still have to renew the same way. It is very helpful to me to send me an email so I know what is coming.
2. The other issue we get are those who either aren't computer users at all or are afraid to use their credit cards on the web. First I can assure those we HAVE NEVER had any security issues on our website. Nothing to fear! But if that doesn't work for you then you will have to follow the same procedure as if you are an off shore member (see above). I CAN take your personal checks if you use a stateside bank. I have no ability to take phone payments. I am out of that loop-thats all Bank of America.
So as further explanation why we do things this way, when you join or renew through the website your payment goes directly to the PAMPA bank account with no human handling. I do immediately receive an email making me aware of the transaction and I get a daily summary from the bank each night. This info is also automatically transmitted to our CPAs system so they are up to date minute by minute. He can pull reports and do all our tax work from that info with total accuracy. From my daily notices I do manually transmit or relay renewal info to our newsletter editor David Shorts and adds those members to his mailing list. We DON'T have a way to communicate info to him about EXPIRED members so he has to rely on our webmaster Chris Rud for an occasional full roster update to check his list against. That is why some may continue to get an issue or two of the newsletter after they are actually expired. We hope you get renewed on time and it all flows seamlessly. Occasionally someone seems to fall through the cracks and don't show on the roster or are not getting the quarterly newsletter. We don't always understand why but we do correct any issues we become aware of. Automated systems aren't infallible but do save needing any full time staff which we don't have and have no takers for free labor. The last one who tried found this to be a full time job and not only left PAMPA but left the hobby entirely. We don't want to burn anybody out. When you have tools-use the tools.
I think that sums up most of the renewal procedure. We are seeing some long-lost members from years past return and gladly welcome those.
Contact info:
Email and PayPal : VegasDave4@gmail.com
Snail mail: 21505 W. 52nd St.
Shawnee, Kansas 66226
Be aware our OLD ADDRESS is still showing up in places. Please do not use it. I am past the mail forwarding time frame at the post office.
Phone: please don't. Not much time or patience. Hearing aids aren't too phone-friendly.
Dave Trible
PAMPA Sec/Tres.
Topic: PAMPA member renewal info.... (Read 473 times)