I think you'll have better luck getting people who are new to taxidermy to join, rather than trying to get some of the veterans to join. That being the case, to me it's the seminars that are so appealing. To have the opporitunity to learn from some of the great names in taxidermy is worth more than the annual dues. The freebies and discountsmay appeal to some folks, but probably not enough to sway many into joining for that reason only. Folks who have been taxidermists for years, yet have never joined, may already have made up their minds that they can't gain anything from joining. I think most of us would agree that they're wrong, but it may be tough to change their mind. I think one of the biggest keys to getting new members would be to make it more known that these associations are available. When I started, I had no idea that they even existed. If it weren't for some randon internet searches, I still wouldn't know, and and the PTO championships were only 5 miles from me! Not everybody uses the internet like we do, so not everyone knows about the state associations. If there were some way to make it more known, I think there would be an increase in member numbers. That's my thoughts anyhow.