Parker Memberships

[Jack Selman]

Just looking through the new Parker Pages and the membership roster and I was wondering what the membership count was by state. I suspect that there are far more members from the Northeast, closer to the sources, i.e. Conn and NY. Woe are we Southerners.

I bet John Dunkle has that data. Care to share. John? Anyone?

[Dean Romig]

Jack, as of Friday last our membership stands at 1273.

The majority of the PGCA reside in the Eastern third of the country but you would be surprised to know the actual numbers in each state.

I know it would be time-consuming but with the new membership roster, anyone can tabulate the actual numbers state by state.

[Jack Selman]

I am not THAT curious! Thanks, Dean.

[Richard Flanders]

If the roster is in a spreadsheet somewhere it wouldn't take long to tabulate it with the sorting function... If it's in a word processing format it could be pasted into a spreadsheet and parsed and quickly sorted.

[Dean Romig]

You're right Richard, and it is.

[Brush Buster]

Dean ,That is interesting to know there are in fact 1273 Members , How were we numbered ,have you any idea ,I figured Numerical order as we joined but apparently not ??? The Member #'s seem to be all over the place ,just curious ! Russ

[Dean Romig]

I think member numbers are assigned in numeric sequence. Hypothetically, if a new member is assigned number 5274 it would seem to indicate that since 1993, when the PGCA was first formed, we have lost 4,000 members in those twenty years. This is quite normal in any association, club, or organization of this age. Recently we have gained (and kept) more members each year than we have lost. Some people join the PGCA simply to be able to buy a research letter cheaper than not joining - after they get their letter they simply allow their membership to lapse. The good thing is that a larger number of new members like what they get with a membership and renew when they are reminded by Mary as their renewal date draws near.

John Dunkle and Mary Bowes can certainly explain it better than I but this my understanding of how it works.

[Brush Buster]

Dean ,I guess ,I should have thought of that ,I just can't imagine anyone dropping out !!

[Jack Selman]

Originally Posted by Richard Flanders

If the roster is in a spreadsheet somewhere it wouldn't take long to tabulate it with the sorting function... If it's in a word processing format it could be pasted into a spreadsheet and parsed and quickly sorted.

Therein lies the answer. Thank you, Richard.