I absolutely agree that I voted on the Execom for this budget, as did you. I do believe the constituency needs to be more organized and have full time staff. There are groups organizing in this space that are doing a better job of advocacy than we are, and we need to step up our game. It has nothing to do with reducing members. Just the opposite, I think we need to increase our membership, but you do that by providing better service and benefits to being a member. I think you want to be able to tell potential members, and current members, why they should want to be part of the constituency. Rob. From: owner-registrars@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-registrars@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Robert F. Connelly Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 2:07 AM To: Registrars Constituency; RC Voting Members Subject: RE: [registrars] RE: [RC Voting] Dues of $750 with "forgiveness" for those who choose to pay $250. At 03:45 AM 7/30/2007 Monday +0000, Rob Hall wrote: As you may recall, all dues used to be 750, and we lowered them a few years back as we had built up a bit of cash. Dear Rob: You are incorrect. The original "joining fee" was $750. Later we decided that $500 was for joining and dues were $250. I could be wrong, but I don't think so, we never collected $750 again from any firm who had paid the original $750. What we did collect was an additional $250. You have been on this kick to raise the dues to $750 for several years. Some of us (perhaps Tom Barrett is one) see it as a way to reduce the number of members, thus making it easier for a small number of voters to control the votes of the Constituency. Regards, BobC, who is going to bed now.