BVWS membership confusion?

[Murphyv310]

The Rover 75&ZT club is £10 per annum with 1700 + members all done via Pay Pal. You get some goodies on joining but insurance discounts and other useful ones too. The problem of course with our hobby is its rather specialised so not many places where you'd get cheap spares.
I did think at one time why not get discounts at RS or Justradios for example rather than the BVWS doing their own sales. It isn't cost effective for non UK members.

[Kalee20]

But is it a British Society for Vintage Wirelesses? Or a (possibly international) society for British Vintage Wirelesses?

Looking at the Bulletins, certainly foreign wirelesses are covered! Must be the former then, so no need to appeal to non-UK members.

JustRadios would be very unlikely to give a discount! RS even less so - the catalogue price is the catalogue price!

A successful Club or Society can easily become the victim of its own success, membership rises, demands on key officers such as Treasurer and Membership Secretary become more a way of life, and people become burned out. I'm not saying that has happened, but it could be one way of keeping numbers under control, to deliberately NOT appeal massively to non-UK members. (Some may join, nontheless!)

[Crackle]

But is it a British Society for Vintage Wirelesses? Or a (possibly international) society for British Vintage Wirelesses?

Looking at the Bulletins, certainly foreign wirelesses are covered! Must be the former then, so no need to appeal to non-UK members.

Why do you think it needs to be one or the other, I dont, it can be both.

Mike

[Murphyv310]

I'm sure it can be both.
The BVWS has flaws just like any club or organization, it has to appeal to a wide section of it's membership and has to also appeal to young and old also experienced and beginner. I do know of a couple of collectors up here who are members that have no technical knowledge, they just like looking at the pictures.
Like said previously a questionnaire on the website and in the magazine would be a good idea for perceived changes or improvements.

[ppppenguin]

The vast majority of members are in the UK. So naturally the majority of Bulletin articles are submitted by UK members and will be on UK subjects. There is nothing to exclude overseas members or articles relating to other countries.

There was a time when it was felt that TV was feeling excluded, hence the formation of 405 Alive. At a later time it has been felt that TV was dominating to the exclusion of radio. Basically you can't win The Bulletin content is largely determined by the members who submit articles. We have a new, young and enthusiastic editor who I'm sure will make positive changes. We've already got a new (and IMHO improved) cover design, a clearer contents page and other small tweaks.

[Kalee20]

But is it a British Society for Vintage Wirelesses? Or a (possibly international) society for British Vintage Wirelesses?

Looking at the Bulletins, certainly foreign wirelesses are covered! Must be the former then, so no need to appeal to non-UK members.

Why do you think it needs to be one or the other, I dont, it can be both.

I'm not quite sure what you mean there, Mike! By 'both' do you mean a British society for British vintage wireless (so memberships are restricted to Britons; and no discussions of Grundigs, Philipses, etc)? Or do you mean, an international society for vintage wirelesses (so scrub the 'British?')

I actually think it's about right, as it is.

The Bulletin will get better under its new Editor, but then he's building on the immense work done by his predecessor. Carl did a fantastic job. Alex has the benefit of all that, and coming in fresh and enthusiastic, he's bringing his own strengths into play!

[Crackle]

Hi Kalee20
I hope this helps. You gave 2 options as to the possible type of society, implying it had to be one or the other. I was simply saying it did not need to be one or the other, but could be both, a British society and still have worldwide membership and appeal and cover all makes of radios.
A motor car can be British, and still be sold worldwide.

Mike