Are you currently a member of ITEA?

[bigbob]

I wrote down I didn't know what ITEA was...BUT now that I know it was T.U.B.A ..I belonged in '88 I just loved the serpent they had on the front cover and the quality of the printing and paper used ..it was very informative I was a member untill 91" when I moved..I thought it went down the tubes..I'm glad to hear that it is still thriving!..........BB

[bort]

Remember when you would have 50 page journal show up in the mailbox and half of it was in Japanese? What a colossal waste of money. There were like 15 members in Japan - never understood this.

My parents got me a membership my senior year of high school. I got a few journals at irregular intervals, and yep, half was in Japanese and French. I thought that was weird, so I didn't re-up.

Funny enough though, I'm sitting here at my home office, and the one copy I kept of the TUBA Journal is within arms reach. It's the Arnold Jacobs memorial edition. When I got it, I had never heard of him and had never seen a BAT tuba. I *did* learn a lot from the journal!

[Mark]

I vacillate between cancelling my membership and buying a life-time membership, depending on what ITEA has done most recently. Although the journal has improved, it is still hit-or-miss on the articles; so I’m neutral on this. After the questionable vote on the name change, I let my membership lapse. Dave Zerkel brought me back and made me seriously consider a life-time membership. But, this latest insanity of forcing family members to pay for memberships before they can attend a conference is making me think I will let my membership lapse again.

[Michael Bush]

I vacillate between cancelling my membership and buying a life-time membership, depending on what ITEA has done most recently.

Is there any other membership or subscription you decide on like that? I subscribe to quite a few cooking magazines, for a random example, but I don't decide whether to renew each year depending on what the recipes and interviews were like in the most recent issue before the decision has to be made. I don't know, maybe other people do.

[Wyvern]

I was a member last year, but I never received any type of renewal notice, which is pretty normal practice for almost any organization. It took several complaints to every get my ITEA Journals. That's no way to run a railroad.

I used to be member, but no renewal notice was received - and therefore my membership just lapsed without any intention to leave. I have not bothered to rejoin as I felt I was not getting much for my money anyway living in UK

[J.c. Sherman]

I was a member last year, but I never received any type of renewal notice, which is pretty normal practice for almost any organization. It took several complaints to every get my ITEA Journals. That's no way to run a railroad.

I used to be member, but no renewal notice was received - and therefore my membership just lapsed without any intention to leave. I have not bothered to rejoin as I felt I was not getting much for my money anyway living in UK

+1 on renewal notices; in this day and age of spreadsheets and email-signups, it seams weird that something so easy isn't done.

Then again, my union wasn't proficient on that for a long time...

J.c.S.

[Rick Oakes]

For a non-college/university, non-military band amateur there was little to stimulate maintenance of a continuing membership.

----From a former member

[Tom]

For a non-college/university, non-military band amateur there was little to stimulate maintenance of a continuing membership.

----From a former member

Same for me.

[UDELBR]

For a non-college/university, non-military band amateur there was little to stimulate maintenance of a continuing membership.

----From a former member

That's also true for professionals. The main attraction seems to be for academics, who like (read: "need") to get stuff published.

[bill]

Yes, why do you ask? I am a life member.

[Jay Bertolet]

It's just that I see a lot of complaining, but not many offers to pitch in.

Mostly, professors (who need this for resume-building and tenure reinforcement) try to take care of all of the tasks, but - at the same time - un-tenured professors, typically, are the same professors who tend to be overloaded in their "real" jobs.

It's a good point, one that came up recently as the organization was attempting to make a better connection and involvement with all the life members. I also am a life member so I saw some of the communication, spearheaded by Dr. Jerry Young. To be honest, I purchased my life membership because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I was just starting my new job as a professional orchestral player and it seemed like being a member of the professional society for my instrument was a good way to stay in touch with all that happens in our field. That was back in the 80s, well before a well traveled internet and the globalization of communication. Clearly, the easy communication we all now enjoy has hampered the organization by taking away some of its core mission. There are simply better ways now for members to keep abreast of activities than a printed, quarterly journal.

Lately I have noticed a concerted effort on the part of the ITEA leadership to evolve the organization. There is far more electronic communication than even in the recent past and the effort started by Dr. Young is a well thought out venture. ITEA has a wealth of folks that are life members, who are completely uninvolved in the organization. The idea of actively getting those folks connected to the organization is a great one, in my opinion. Recent leadership has done an outstanding job as well (kudos Dave Zerkel!) and I see an organization that is clearly on the upswing. My hope is that we, the membership, will support the efforts of the leadership to keep moving ITEA forward and get more of the membership involved in that effort.

I'm a member of a few clubs and the one lesson that always seems true about these groups is that you only get out of them what you're willing to put in. For too long ITEA has not involved the vast majority of its members. That seems to be changing and I think the group can only benefit from that effort. I think we all have to be ready to pitch in and do our part to make the ITEA exactly what we want it to be.