Update 1 for Long Range Committee

Jan 21, 2005

 

This committee has been busy since our first meeting in June of 2004; we would like to bring you up to date regarding what has been happening.  The information below addresses the following topics:

1-       Who Are We – The Statistics

2-       New events and activities for existing members

3-       OSC promotional events

4-       Membership drive & fund raiser

 

Read on for more details, and be sure to contact this committee with your ideas to meet the membership needs, and to grow the organization.  All ideas are good ones!!!!!

 

Who Are We? - Statistical Data
As of Jan. 2005 the OSC membership is about 550 people with an addition 32 commercial members.  Our recent collection of your input when you completed the 2005 membership application form is as follows:

1-       69% of you provided your date of birth on the form – Thank you!!  This will help us plan activities and promotions.  Although the average age of our club is 55 years old, we are not as old as we think we are.  Notice the numbers in the age groups from 40 to 49 – they account for 18.8% of the membership.

Age Range

%

13 to 19

2.7%

20 to 24

2.7%

25 to 29

1.6%

30 to 34

2.2%

35 to 39

3.3%

40 to 44

6.8%

45 to 49

12.0%

50 to 54

11.2%

55 to 59

17.2%

60 to 64

14.4%

65 to 69

12.5%

70 to 74

7.1%

75 to 79

4.6%

Over 80

2.2%

           

2-       22% of you would like to receive an electronic version of the Boomer in place of the paper version.  We are working on a plan to make this happen, and will keep you abreast of the progress.

3-       70% of our membership has an email address, and 40% of the membership desires to be notified through email about the dates and details for OSC events and activities.   For the rest of you – that 30% group – please contact Jack Lancette (454-0852), or jlancet@twcny.rr.com, and get on the email list.  This will help keep you informed about what is going on in our organization in a timely manner.

4-       69% of you want to have your name, telephone number, and email address listed on our Website to facilitate members communicating with each other. Again thanks to those of you for doing this!  And this committee urges the rest of you to also contact our Membership Chair, Jack Lancette and ask him to add your name to the Website list.

5-       11% of our membership resides outside New York State – some from as far away as Florida and Mississippi.

6-       48% of our membership has stayed at our Lodge in Vermont at least one time, and many have done so many times.  The Lodge is a great place to spend a few days skiing, hiking, biking, etc.  And, of those who have stayed at the Lodge, 73% reside in NY State – 27% reside outside NY State.

7-       Finally, 11% of our members reside outside New York State.

 

New Events and Activities for our Members:
Many people have stepped forward and offered to lead in the organization and execution of new club activities. The following are examples of this:

1-       Wednesday Night Happy Hour:
Thanks go to Mary Clay for putting in place a new monthly “Happy Hour” that rotates between restaurants.  The events have been well attended.  Watch your email, Website, and Boomer for future planned Happy Hours.

2-       X-C Skiing Training:
Thanks to Mary Clay and Jane McCarthy for pulling together a cross-country skiing training program.  The program design is well underway.  Watch the Boomer, email, and Website for announcements of where and when this is to take place.

3-       Club Skiing Party:
Thanks go to Tom Button for organizing the 1st of many club skiing parties.  The 1st event is a pizza party at Labrador of Feb 2nd at 6PM.  This event will circulate between mountains, so watch for details, and have fun skiing and partying at Song & Toggenberg, etc. as well.

4-       Club Night:
Tom Button is organizing a club night where members from all the CNY ski clubs will be invited to party and discuss our favorite topic – skiing.

5-       Highlight Spots at the OSC Monthly Meetings:
We are lining up guest speakers, demonstrations, etc. to broaden the interest and purpose of our monthly club meetings.  The wine tasting and speaker from the NYS conservation department (where to X-C ski on state lands) last month were the beginnings of this program.  Many people enjoyed the meeting, and we want to make all the meetings enjoyable.

 

OSC Promotional Events:
The following programs are under way in order to promote the OSC club to other organizations outside OSC and to different age groups:

1-       OSC Cup Race:
Thanks to Arley Morey. The cup race will take place Feb 26th at Labrador Mountain on the NASTAR course.  The event is being promoted to the CNY Edge, Spark, and many area colleges – including our traditional Syracuse University race team.  Tell everyone you know – the more teams the merrier.  Get a flyer from Arley (656-7933) or amorey@twcny.rr.com.

2-       Weekend at Lodge for CNY Edge and Spark leadership. 
Since many of these young professional like to ski, we want them to be aware of what our organization has to offer them.  We expect this March 2005 activity will increase our membership and use of the Lodge.

3-       Children at the Lodge:
Presently, junior members can stay at the Lodge.  In addition, Dick Butler and his Lodge committee is helping our club reach out to those members and potential members who have families with children 8 years or older by planning specific ski weekends at the Lodge, and summer dates for hiking, biking, etc.  Watch the club communications for details.

4-       Club Membership Benefits:
Arley Morey is pulling together a Website article listing the ski discounts an OSC member can receive at the local mountains by displaying his membership card.  The savings are substantial.  Watch the club communications for details.

In addition the Board of Directors is investigating a program where presentation of your membership OSC card will result in substantial ski lift ticket savings at major mountains like White Face, Sugarbush, Gore, etc.  More to come later.

5-       Family Ski Trip:
Scott Severance is working toward offering a ski trip oriented at families in order to encourage younger members to join our club.  Watch for details.

 

Membership Drive and Fund Raiser:
Our committee is pulling together an overall plan aimed at mentoring new members that have just joined OSC and at reaching out to new potential members.  There is great opportunity for you to serve in this endeavor – please contact us if you are interested.  The plan involves the following steps:

 

1-       Establish a Membership Committee to help Jack Lancette

2-       Create a Hosts committee to mentor new members and keep them in the organization.

3-       Conduct Host training.

4-       Train event and activity leaders to be sensitive and plan for the different skill levels of people attending, and standardize communications with the club.  An event guide, OSC business card, and training sessions will be provided to implement this thrust.

5-       Create a fund raiser committee aimed at identifying ways to replace the funds normally raised by the club’s annual ski sale.

 

As you can see, there are many programs under way to improve the experience of our present membership, and to reach out and grow our organization.  Our President, Scott Severance has been an enthusiastic driving force that has encouraged these new invigorating changes to our organization, and this committee would like to extend our thanks to him for his support and participation.

 

Finally, the above programs have come into existence because of ideas provided by members who wanted to get involved – great ideas that are becoming the fabric of our club.  This committee urges all of you to contact any of our committee members and express your thoughts and ideas that could help make OSC a better place to have fun in, and to help OSC grow its membership.  Also, everyone is welcome to attend any of our meetings.  They tend to be on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at Scott Severance’s office in Fayetteville.

 

OSC has been around for a good many years providing activity based fun and enjoyment to many people, and we want it to be around for many years to come.  With your help, this will be the case.

 

Long Range Committee Members:

Bill Beaudin                   469-4072                 Arley Morey               656-7933

Dick Butler                    655-9005                 Leo Naylor               339-3741

Tom Button                   687-5371                 Kurt Londhair                        678-2719

Mary Clay                     451-9014                 Sandra Sherwani            695-4758

Sallie Dannan                492-1125                 Scott Severance            682-9886

Judy Swanson               685-6096                 Karen Whedon                        963-1941

 

Respectfully submitted,

Long Range Planning Committee Chair

Marvin Patnode

Jan 21, 2005