I forgot to mention we had a new Bag member join at Bishops Stortford until the end of March, so welcome to Alicea Sillitoe.
hoping they and everyone else will re-join again for year three of "The Balloon Artistes Guild" as you never know what is just around the corner.

For this years entertainment at the Care & Share balloon days we have booked so far for this year,
Bishops Stortford, Roger Daws, Darren
Leeds, Shirley Ray
Birmingham, Deco day, Pam & Paul Pearce
Birmingham, "David Grist Memorial Lecture" Antonio Becares Rodriguez

"Let's Improve Our Art"

I think Darren was the first to mention about a monthly standing order/direct debit fee to tempt a few new BAG members to join and I have had a couple ask about this as well.
I'm a little reluctant as it would mean one more thing for me to do but then if it would help the club to grow one has to weigh up all the options.
Any thoughts?

If you set it up similar to Ken Stillman's balloonclick,  it shouldn't be too much headache.  People simply sign up for an automatic credit each month through PayPal, and you're done.  

I know it's mostly psychological, but $10/month sounds like less than $120/year.  You may get people who are willing to pay $10/month who wouldn't be able/willing to pay the $120/year.  

One last thing,  highly recommend that you sticky the thread that spells out what BAG or create a new one and sticky it to the top of the forum.  Most people who are just jumping onto this forum don't know what BAG is, how it works, what you get if you live in another country, etc. and don't know where to look for the answer.  If you have a sticky thread at the top of the forum, it may cut down on some of the confusion.

Yes it was me who suggested the monthly payment plan and I think it would work well but I do have concerns about Graham having to do the administration. Traditional direct debit would only work for UK residents or those who have a UK bank account, so paypal is the only way to include everyone.

Personally for this to work I feel it is fair to have two price levels; for example, £120 for those pay upfront and £135 for those who pay over 12 months (to cover paypal fees etc - need to work out exact charges so Graham does miss out.)

For the TBAG year running from 1st April 2013 to 31st March, payments should on or before the 1st of each month. Every member signs up with Graham and includes their email address and if a separate paypal account is created just for TBAG, then it is a simple method of just ticking off the payments each month.

It is simple for any member to setup an automatic payment plan at any chosen day of the month to match their own payday etc.

I feel this would encourage more people to join especially those who feel the lump sum is a little bit harder to swallow.

It looks like we will have in place a pay monthly scheme via PayPal. Darren, Nippy99 has agreed to be the accounts manager for this  
We are just working things out and coming up with a price, PayPal charges will have to be taken into account but we are hoping it encourages more people to join.

Graham/Darren

If this would to be set up I would join no problem. 135 seems more than reasonable so Graham is no left short. As I said to you on the balloon care and share day I pay monthly to balloon click and I don't even notice its going:-) £12 per month would be 144 and that sounds pretty reasonable also to me.

On a separate note I am thinking about joining for the rest of the year just to get the DVDs. I know this would be 120 so am curious, is there lots of good stuff tutorial wise on them.

Thanks

Rob

We are trying to set up a PayPal account for monthly payments and would like an email address such as www.tbag has gone

BalloonArtistsGuild.co.uk is still available!

 

theballoonartistesguild is also available, I was looking to see if we could get a shorter catchier name?

t-bag.org.uk is available

There was a little confusion at the last day in Bishops Stortford so I will be sending out this letter when people book onto the days from now on.
Is there anything else I should mention?

"CARE & SHARE" BALLOON FUN DAYS

Many thanks for booking onto the "Care & Share" balloon day course/workshop. We do hope you have a fun time attending and
learning from the day?
Here are hopefully a few useful tips to make the day go better for you.

Things to bring,

Camera, Pump, Cup, Bin Bag, Basic Balloons

As the days are exceptional value for money we do ask those attending to bring with them some basic balloon supplies and a pump.
There is not too much of a problem if you do not have any as we do sell product on the day at wholesale prices.

We supply tea, coffee and biscuits during the day but if you would like to bring along a cream cake or two that is greatly appreciated.

If you have never twisted before we do suggest you find a basic balloon modelling DVD to view and to try to make a few items from the instructions as this will help you greatly at the days. You will already be on the first rung of the ladder rather than starting from the bottom. There are also plenty of free instructions for you to view and try on the balloon forum, details below.

We also go out after for a meal locally, all are most welcome.

More details about the day can be viewed on the balloon forum,
http://www.balloonchat.co.uk

If you do need any balloon supplies our website shop is,
http://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk

We also run "The Balloon Artistes Guild"
For the yearly fee of £120 you can attend all 10 Care & Share days including the 3 "Star Lecture" days. Included in the price you receive
3 DVD's from the star lecture days that are recorded so if you are unable to make the days you can still catch up on all that is new in the twisting world. More details, http://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk/pages ... _club.html

I have just purchased, theballoonartistesguild.co.uk and tbaguk.co.uk

I am now up to owning 21 domain names.

I'm looking to see who to bring over for the star lecture day Oct/Nov time, anyone have some suggestions? We do need to work with Untited Twisters on this so we split the air fare.
Antonio is booked for June 2013 and then we also need someone for March 2014 next year.

What about the chap who just got best newcomer is pascal Grooten. I would love to see David brenion but I know he spoke 2 years ago. What about Beating?