It is my thought that for our national convention, there are only two types
of attendees: members of the national club and non-members...if we decide
to charge for attending the convention, national members would be charged
one fee and everyone else would be charged a different fee.

The point of local chapter membership not having to join the national was
discussed at the convention board meeting and it was on the agenda due to
the discussions after the 1999 convention when the topic was very hot and
lengthy posts were all over this bb. The board, at that time, said that
it would take the matter under advisement and discuss it at its next board
meeting. We followed through with our promise to the membership to review
this matter...the board felt that there are local collectors who are interested in the local chapter but do not, at this time, have the interest in joining
the national...we believe that the national must bring something to the table...give folks a reason to join.

The convention gets better every year, the magazine has shown constant improvement (and will continue to get better)...we must continue to give
our membership reasons to join.