Tom Dunlap
Addicted to ArboristSite
When I was looking up the reply to X-man's query about rigging the butt hitch on a
chunk I had a thought. Hmmm...that could be a problem. Not the butt hitch, me thinking.
A while ago I was with Stanley Longstaff and he had a three ring binder with a
number of articles about a variety of subjects. Some on ropes, rigging, etc. That is a
great idea. I went back through Arborist News, Tree Care Industry and Arbor Age
and photocopied any relevant articles for a reference book. As I come across a
page with good information I add it to the book. Now I have to start an Index to
keep track of all the information.
When I thumb through the binder I realize that about 90% of the information has
come from articles in Arborist News. Either Climbers Corner or full articles. I don't
have ANY from AA and only a little from TCI. The rest is info off the web.
Hmmmm...what is the message here? How valuable is my membership in ISA? If
you want to think of this as a rant about being a member of ISA, go ahead.
Membership is one aspect, the point is, that with the membership you get a lot of
good information. How do I put a dollar value on that? One way to do it is to try and
figure how much time it takes to learn something on your own. Trial and error is
expensive. Taking time off to attend seminars cuts into production. Besides, how
many of us have attended seminars that had little value? Unless you know the
presenter, you're clueless about the quality of the presentation.
By having these articles, I can sit at home and attend presentations by Mark
Chisholm, Stanley Longstaff, Norm Hall, Jeff Jepson, Paul Sisson, Kay-Olaf
Bussman, Tim Ard and others. The most treasured articles are those that were
written by my late friend Dr. Pete Donzelli. His voice echoes in my head along with
his huge, squinty smile, whenever I reference his work.
Several years ago I joined the ISA. When I was writing the check for the third year I
realized that a Life Membership was equal to ten years. Tear up the check and write
another one. Now, instead of being free in ten years it took be twelve years to get
into the "free" part. Actually, less since membership was raised. The membership fee
had stayed the same for MANY years so it wasn't like an adjustment for inflation.
A lot of the questions on this and other forums, are discussed in ISA publications.
Thoroughly too, not just in bits and bytes. No flames. Introduction, Body and
Conclusion.
By the way, how many of you are members of any professional trade organization? I
am amused when I attend local seminars and see bumper stickers for a lot of
sporting associations but few for professional associations. What is the value?
A few years ago I had the registration fees for any Minnesota Society of
Arboriculture seminars setup to reflect the advantage of membership. Anytime we
have a presentation that has a registration fee the non-member fee is $20 more than
the member fee. We give the non-member a free year's membership. That way we
don't "force" anyone to be a member. We offer a discount to our members. A slight
shell-game you might say, but so what. Since we started to do that the number of
renewing members has increased. They must have seen a value in membership. The
ISA has discounts for members that could equal your yearly fee depending on how
empty your bookshelves are.
Even if you don't save the amount of your membership, what is the value of the
information that you get for free? Now, the Journal of Arboriculture is online. Take a
look here:
http://joa.isa-arbor.com/
They are talking about putting all of the past JAs online. This, coupled with even a
low power search engine makes a lot of information available. The staff of the JA,
not the paid staff of the ISA, are trying to figure out if that information should be
accessible to everyone for free or have a membership password. As easy as it is to
get a password from a friend, "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" this security seems pretty
leaky. Besides, they didn't pay for the articles in the first place.
Tom
chunk I had a thought. Hmmm...that could be a problem. Not the butt hitch, me thinking.
A while ago I was with Stanley Longstaff and he had a three ring binder with a
number of articles about a variety of subjects. Some on ropes, rigging, etc. That is a
great idea. I went back through Arborist News, Tree Care Industry and Arbor Age
and photocopied any relevant articles for a reference book. As I come across a
page with good information I add it to the book. Now I have to start an Index to
keep track of all the information.
When I thumb through the binder I realize that about 90% of the information has
come from articles in Arborist News. Either Climbers Corner or full articles. I don't
have ANY from AA and only a little from TCI. The rest is info off the web.
Hmmmm...what is the message here? How valuable is my membership in ISA? If
you want to think of this as a rant about being a member of ISA, go ahead.
Membership is one aspect, the point is, that with the membership you get a lot of
good information. How do I put a dollar value on that? One way to do it is to try and
figure how much time it takes to learn something on your own. Trial and error is
expensive. Taking time off to attend seminars cuts into production. Besides, how
many of us have attended seminars that had little value? Unless you know the
presenter, you're clueless about the quality of the presentation.
By having these articles, I can sit at home and attend presentations by Mark
Chisholm, Stanley Longstaff, Norm Hall, Jeff Jepson, Paul Sisson, Kay-Olaf
Bussman, Tim Ard and others. The most treasured articles are those that were
written by my late friend Dr. Pete Donzelli. His voice echoes in my head along with
his huge, squinty smile, whenever I reference his work.
Several years ago I joined the ISA. When I was writing the check for the third year I
realized that a Life Membership was equal to ten years. Tear up the check and write
another one. Now, instead of being free in ten years it took be twelve years to get
into the "free" part. Actually, less since membership was raised. The membership fee
had stayed the same for MANY years so it wasn't like an adjustment for inflation.
A lot of the questions on this and other forums, are discussed in ISA publications.
Thoroughly too, not just in bits and bytes. No flames. Introduction, Body and
Conclusion.
By the way, how many of you are members of any professional trade organization? I
am amused when I attend local seminars and see bumper stickers for a lot of
sporting associations but few for professional associations. What is the value?
A few years ago I had the registration fees for any Minnesota Society of
Arboriculture seminars setup to reflect the advantage of membership. Anytime we
have a presentation that has a registration fee the non-member fee is $20 more than
the member fee. We give the non-member a free year's membership. That way we
don't "force" anyone to be a member. We offer a discount to our members. A slight
shell-game you might say, but so what. Since we started to do that the number of
renewing members has increased. They must have seen a value in membership. The
ISA has discounts for members that could equal your yearly fee depending on how
empty your bookshelves are.
Even if you don't save the amount of your membership, what is the value of the
information that you get for free? Now, the Journal of Arboriculture is online. Take a
look here:
http://joa.isa-arbor.com/
They are talking about putting all of the past JAs online. This, coupled with even a
low power search engine makes a lot of information available. The staff of the JA,
not the paid staff of the ISA, are trying to figure out if that information should be
accessible to everyone for free or have a membership password. As easy as it is to
get a password from a friend, "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" this security seems pretty
leaky. Besides, they didn't pay for the articles in the first place.
Tom
