RE: Non-Member Fees, also paying more to be single

["Thomas, Barb" <thomas@amgen.com>]

Gee Joe, 
You only had to pay $25 for your verification?  I had quite a shock when I
bought my condo in Ca.  $250 for the covenant/rules book and $100 for the
minutes of the past year's meetings and you didn't have the option to just
say no.  Guess what answer I got when I asked why so high??  You got
it..."that's what other associations charge"!! 

I guess we'll have to see how the non-member fee affects ride attendance
over the next year and if it's really bad, maybe we can encourage the board
to change the ruling.  Personally, $10 doesn't seem so bad and I've paid it
in the past riding 50's.  Heck, I pay it to the local rinky-dink dressage
club just to ride some training level tests and I ain't exactly rolling in
the dough.

My big peeve, though, is the unfair difference between what a "single"
member pays and what a "family" pays.  Look at the fee structure for the
convention speaker seminars.  $65 for a single and just $10 more for an AERC
family (2 people)!!  What's the deal here??  Now, $65 is not a bad price to
pay for the convention at all, but charging just $10 more for the second
person of an AERC "family" really gets my goat and is a slap in the face.
How is that fair and equitable?  Will the two person family only receive one
set of handouts and materials?  Will they only be allowed to consume
refreshments for 1.15 people since that's all they paid for??!!  Maybe the
fee structure needs some rethinking for the future?  Maybe, (novel idea!!) a
flat fee for each person!  Let's see, everyone has the chance to hear the
speakers, get the material, and learn the same thing at the same fee...fancy
that!!!!!  If a fee structure is reasonable and fair, I don't mind paying
but this "charge the single person more" stuff is a bunch of hooey.  Any
other single people out there feel the same way??  Any other single person
want to become a "convention couple" and save some bucks!!???  We could
start an underground "convention couples" connection!... a singles
revolution!... a voice to be reckoned with!... conquer the world!!!  Ok,
I'll settle for fair rates... 

Barb