MCBA REGISTRATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLY ONLINE

Executive Summary:
NEW MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM: Saves MCBA money and volunteer hours
MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION IS NOW PAPER-FREE: Everything is done online. No paper forms, no lost mail, no checks, no cash, no printed directories.
EVERYONE WHO JOINED/RENEWED IN 2017 ALREADY HAS AN ONLINE ACCOUNT: If you joined or renewed in 2017 before our online system was available, we have set-up your online account for you.
MEMBERSHIP PERIODS: The new system gives you a full 12-month membership, regardless of when you initially joined. E.g. Join in June, renew the next June. (System keeps track and will notify you for renewal)

DETAILS:

NEW MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM:

In April, 2017, MCBA computerized our entire membership-joining process and member-directory. The new system makes becoming and staying a member far easier. It updates our MCBA Member directory daily instead of yearly, saves many hundreds of dollars in printing and postage, and saves an enormous amount of volunteer work. Under the old system, each membership (new and renewed) had to be coordinated and processed by 4 MCBA members. With the new system, 95% of the process is automated. Countless volunteer days are now spent beekeeping instead of bookkeeping. No more lost checks, no typos in members’ email addresses, no members having to wait a year to be in the printed directory (which required 5000 pages to be printed, collated and distributed).

MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION IS NOW PAPER-FREE:

Every registration transaction is done online with a credit card (Visa, American Express, Mastercard, Discover, Diner's Card) This has several advantages to members. 1) You’ll get an instant receipt via email, so you’ll know you are good to go 2) When you renew your membership, you don’t have to re-submit all your contact info, since it’s already in the password protected online directory 3) Our online payment system is much more secure than paying by check or cash. We now use the same credit card processing company as Target, Under Armour, Facebook, Lyft, Unicef, Habitat for Humanity, NPR, Open Table, Warby Parker, SAP, etc., etc. It has built-in fraud detection and uses powerful encryption protection. Even though your transactions are conveniently accessed from our own website, the MCBA website doesn’t ‘see’ or store your credit card information. If you do not own a credit card, or do not know how to use a computer, Peter Soukup ( peter.soukup@gmail.com) has volunteered to help you register online.

EVERYONE WHO JOINED/RENEWED IN 2017 HAS AN ONLINE ACCOUNT:

If you haven’t already, you can go to our website MontgomeryCountyBeekeepers.com and create a password (click login and then click that you forgot your password. Then enter the email you used to join MCBA and click ‘Get New Password’. You’ll receive an email that guides you through the next steps.) When you login, you’ll be able to access Members-Only sections of the website, including the Member Directory. You can search the directory to find other beekeepers in your zipcode, see which members are Certified Master Beekeepers, look-up other member’s emails, etc., or just scroll through the directory to ‘meet’ your MCBA community. You can check your profile info and add details like how many hives you have. On your profile page, if you checkmark the box “I have honey to sell right now” your info will appear on our website’s “Local Honey for Sale” page. (Be sure to uncheck it when you are not actively selling honey.) We are constantly adding content to the website to help beekeepers. If you would like to research a topic and write up your findings, contact Phil Frank Phil@FrankTV.net or Dara Ballow-Giffen dara.ballow@gmail.com

12-MONTH MEMBERSHIP PERIODS:

Previously, the membership period started in January and ended in December… so if you joined in June, your membership would expire in December - six months for the price of 12. Now you get a full year regardless of what time of year you join. For example, if you joined in June, you won’t need to renew your membership until the next June. You’ll get personalized, timely email reminders when it’s time to renew. If you renew early, your membership is extended a year from when it would have expired - so if in the above example you renewed in May, 12 months would be tacked on to the end of your current membership - so you’d be paid up through the next July. There is also a new option many new members are choosing… When you sign up, you can select MCBA’s ‘No Hassle Option’ that automatically renews your membership each year - you can ‘set it, and forget it’. (You can cancel the auto renew anytime by going to that same drop down menu and selecting ‘cancel auto renewal’). And of course, “Lifetime Memberships” are also available, and we’ve had several members choose that option .