Your opinion matters | For the Good of the Order | Forum

Hey fellow blacksmiths.

I am Lynn Gledhill, the new President of the NWBA.  I will be steering this great organization for the next two years.

I've heard from a few who said they were not informed of the increased membership dues or the increased conference fees.  I don't know if that info was not well publicized or what, however I apologize for those mis-communications. I think the membership dues are now $60 a year and the conference fees are $100.  Yeah, seems like a lot of money... If you haven't noticed, everything is going up.  It is my understanding that prior to the recent dues increase, dues had not been increased in 5 years.  Still costs such as producing the Hot Iron News and all the hidden costs of running a large organization were going up.  So dues had to go up.  I think most blacksmiths might be cheap like I am... We delight in using "found" or "free" material rather than buying steel... I sometimes find myself jumping over a dollar to save a dime.

As far as the conference goes, where in the world can you attend a 3 day conference with 2 demonstrators and 4 or more classes for less than $250 to $350???  We have a 4 day conference coming in May and it sounds like it is going to be great for just $100!

I've heard lots of discussion about the format of our current website... Some folks don't have too much trouble with the new format, and others hate it.  I'm told we could go back to the old format by just flipping a switch, however, the current format has some benefits over the previous one.  What do you think?  Should we go back to what we had or should we learn how to use this format?

The best organizations are those that give their members what they want. There is only one way the leadership can know what their members want, and that is you have to tell us.  How can we help you?

Reply to this topic or contact any board member... Just click on "our association" and the board of directors tab comes down... Gives you all our contact info.  It's best to get me by email... gledhilllynn@gmail.com or get me through my profile.  Different email, but it all winds up here.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Lynn