Currently AERC membership is flat. Nevertheless, I believe there are far more people, not yet members, who would share our passion for the sport and our values and principles and thus benefit from being AERC members if they understand what we have to offer. We need to spread the word about our sport, including our educational program, and our trails program.

Each board of directors conference call starts with a comparison of the AERC membership with last year's at the same time. This year, AERC's membership is essentially the same as in 2005. Ride entries are down very slightly with smaller rides seeing the most decline in numbers. Given the high price of gasoline, the good news is there has not been the significant decline that many feared. The bad news is we have to work harder to retain and grow our membership.

Historically, we have grown at about 3% per year for the last decade or so with some flat years, some years of more growth. But, the overall rate of growth is declining. Fifteen years ago during President Maggy Price's "each one, add one" campaign, we were growing much more rapidly. Our current pattern is typical for mature organizations, which have to work harder to find new members. However, given that only about 1/10th of 1% of the trail riders in the U.S. are members of AERC, there is potentially a vast untapped pool of members that can lead to further healthy growth.

One of the keys to net growth is to retain new members as net growth is the difference between new members added and current members not renewing. Through the analysis of AERC Vice President and Technical Committee chair Mike Maul and others we are gaining an understanding of our attrition rate. While we add about 1,000 new members a year, less than half of these are still AERC members two years later. The most significant factor in whether somebody becomes a long-term member appears to be the experience at their first AERC ride.

I have charged the Marketing Group generally and the Membership Marketing Committee specifically with leading AERC in returning to healthy growth. Susan Horne, chair of the Membership Marketing Committee and Mountain Region board member, briefed the board of directors on the draft of a plan developed by her committee and others in the Marketing Group which focuses on membership growth. I am excited about the ideas in the draft plan. You will be hearing about this plan and how you can help as we move towards implementation over the next few months. Susan and the committee welcome your ideas and your help.

All of us as individuals can also take specific actions to find and retain new members. Here's my list:

-- Find a riding partner who is interested in trail riding. Share with them what our sport is all about. Give them a back issue of Endurance News. Send them to www.aerc.org for information. Get them hooked. Better still give them a one-year membership as a gift.

-- Seek out new riders at rides, ask how they are doing and if they have any questions. Share your riding tips with them. If you have a crew, offer your help. Make their initial experience a good one and they will keep coming back. A friendly face and a smile go a long way.

-- Put on a local seminar or clinic. The Ed­u­cation Committee provides a wealth of material towards this aim on the AERC website.

-- Write an article for a local horse magazine or newspaper. Jennifer Nice and the Marketing Communications Committee are placing more and more articles in equestrian publications. The committee is able and willing to help you with your local articles.

-- Most importantly, share your enthusiasm and passion for the sport. It's contagious!