I just found out that the renewal dues is going up and if you want to pay BEFORE May 2007, you will pay last year's renewal fee. However, you will need to pay the new fee starting next year.

So if your annual fee is due anytime from May to December of 2007... Just pay before May and you will pay last year's fee amount for the last time.

Thanks for the heads up.

Mark.

Any clue what the new dues rates will be?

I am a single subscriber and the dues charge went from $40 to the new $50 per year.

What do you get?

Now that the I.B.M. is increasing its dues by $10.00 more I thought it would be appropriate to let you know why.

Here are few reasons.....first the over all cost of doing business for the I.B.M. has gone up some and this is the first raise in dues in over 7 years.

Notice that we are now offering $5,000.00 for both the Gold Cups and the Gold Medal for our contest. The chance of winning a bigger pot is much more appealing to contestants. This reward should draw a higher caliber of contestants.

You may not know this but the I.B.M. Website is about to go through a major overhaul. It will be a "Portal Web Design." This will make it much easier for you find what you want. Plus we will have a exciting "Members Only Area" with loads of extra benefits to our members. This project is not cheap but it will keep the I.B.M. on the cutting edge of magic and the Internet.

Meanwhile take advantage of renewing your membership on-line and save yourself $10.00.


Steve Hart
I.B.M. Membership Chair

Steve,
you say that we can renew through the internet and save $10.00?

The new I.B.M. membership applications already have the renew rate at $50.00 but if you renew your 2007 membership through the I.B.M. Website before the end of April you can still renew at the $40.00 price.


Steve Hart
I.B.M. Membership Chair

It said in the Linking Ring that the new prices are $65 dollars for Active members instead of $50.00

Don't get confused here...... Yes a new membership is $65.00.
My previous posting above is about renewing your membership. Renewal for regular active members has gone up to $50.00 but if you act now you can renew on-line through our I.B.M. Website for $40.00 for 2007. This offer is only good until the end of April.

The new application can be found on our Website under "Join the I.B.M." There you can print off the new application from a PDF file.

The details of the dues increase are printed on page 43 of the March Issue 2007 of the Linking Ring.


Steve Hart
I.B.M. Membership Chair

Instead of penalizing all the members, why not charge an entrance fee to contestants...or...raise the convention fee a few dollars to offset the "higher caliber" of a show they will see.

Ok I guess I need to make myself clear..... the contest prize money is not the only reason your membership fee went up. There are several reasons.

The main reason, as I mentioned, this is the first increase in over 7 years.....the cost of doing business in the last 7 years has gone up. I am referring to the operations of our headquarters, rent, mailings, phone, and so on. Read the March 2007 issue of the Linking Ring bottom of page 43.

It is my opinion that the I.B.M. contest is the best international contest in the world and by raising the prize money it will only raise the level of competition. In return it will raise the prestige of the I.B.M. I am proud that I belong to organization that provides the world of magic this type of competition.

The other major cost factor is something you have not seen yet....our new I.B.M. Website. Built within the new Website will be several new services to our members.

Your membership dues to the I.B.M. are still a good deal and we promise to keep it that way.


Steve Hart
I.B.M. Membership Chair

I wondered why my renewal application came a few months early? Thanks for clearing that up. Hence another reason why I like the Magic Café!

Question, and the answer may be obvious, but please bear with me? Do I Have to renew through the IBM website, or can I just send it in the mail and still only pay the $40.00?

Thanks for your answer, in advance.

Justin -

Greetings,

I'm the T.V.P. here in the Philippines and part of my responsibility is to see to it that membership of both ring remain healthy. I feel that with the increase of membership fees for new members and renewal of present members, will affect the health of membership status in my territory.

I'm trying hard to convince past members to renew their membership but some opted not to renew them. Only a chosen few remain loyal to the I.B.M.

Anyway, we are not for quantity but quality of members right? Just asking...

Sal

Maybe I'm out of line here, but $50 a year seems quite reasonable to me - I would pay that much just for the magazine. Part of the problem may be that IBM hasn't raised dues in 7 years, so people aren't used to having to fund the regular increases that IBM has probably had to deal with. Maybe IBM should start a policy of raising dues a few dollars every year, then it wouldn't be such a shock to the members!

Thanks for alerting us to this increase and giving us a chance to save $10

Vijay

Thanks for the heads up.

Steve. I never got an answer to my question reguarding renewing through the mail or web site? Did I miss something?