[Captain Bob]

John,

I can probably already guess the answer, but does PGCA have any kind of computer assistance for membership services? If they do, can't you pull a file and run it against the the site registrations.

If PGCA does not have a membership maintenance program, maybe this is one of the reasons for the complaints about slow issuance of new membership cards and services - also, how are they generating mailing labels for Parker Pages if they don't? Sooner or later you will be doing a merge and purge or mix and match - membership records are going to be much more accurate than site registrations

Or, maybe this is a logical and practical approach until you can get a handle on current and expired members - you can put in a set of member data fields where the site member can A) enter their PGCA membership number and B) Active? (paid up) yes/no radio buttons when they register or edit, then - 1) use if number and if yes, show "Active PGCA Member #XXXXX" or if number and if no, show "Past PGCA Member" of if no number, default to "Forum Member". You could also add a radio buttons option to C) "Include membership number?" yes/no to keep it hidden like birth date - Some might not like to publish their number - then the site member who is a PGCA member is totally in control of this information and gets to show or not show their PGCA membership status (y/n) and number (y/n) as they please.

Bob