How would you like to see the NHC evolve?

[brenmurph]

Flanagan:
Silken Thomas, Cunninghams, Browns Barn, and a few Others, their house staple is Tom Creans from Dingle brewing

[brenmurph]

And dosnt Porterhouse own Lilies bordello as well, dont be surprised who owns what, hotels included.

[Padraic]

There are several pub chains... but they just operate under different names. The B&C, the Brew Dock, L. Mulligan, the Lucan County, are all part of multi-pub companies.

And we all go to pubs for our pints too... but if you don't want any sort of discount that's fine. 

My point was that it's not a priority but any discounts we can get are very welcome!

[Padraic]

I am happy to do this but would not like to pressure pubs into a HBC discount scheme. Most craft beer pubs are probably not flush with spare cash at the moment.

They know we are home brewers and are not going to spend all our cash with them.

I would disagree that most of them aren't making money, all the figures say that the craft beer sector is where the money is at.

Just because one brews their own does not mean that they don't spend money on research. I'm sure I spend more money on craft beer than on homebrewing.

RE frugality:
If you were trying to bring in new customers who hated parting with their hard earned cash what better way than a small discount?

[Spud395]

I feel pretty strongly about this and would never ask for discount in a pub.
I dont see what it has to do with homebrewing and would be disapointed to see the NHC go ahead with this

[Spud395]

Woodie's or the like?

I dont deal with them anyway as I find them very overpriced, I support local plumber's merchants and ebay 

[Spud395]

A voucher scheme would be better than flashing a card, but it's something that doesnt really sit right with me.

I wouldnt be one to go redeaming vouchers in supermarkets either.

Maybe if it was to become a reality I might get used to it, but I dont know

[newToBrew]

How would you feel about a chain of hardware shops?

they're alright - but I wouldn't eat a full one !!

[MAF]

You've no objection?

So suppose you were coming up to the big smoke for a night, you'd not be keen on having a few "50c off a pint" vouchers in your pocket?

I can count on one hand the amount of times I've been in Love/Hateland for a pint in the last decade, so I am still failing to see the relevance of this for a "National" "Homebrew" Club

[MAF]

Never said object..... fail to see the relevance (to anything non-hombrew related).

[Will_D]

Sound idea Shane

Will

[Partridge9]

Had an idea today as regards membership pricing:

€10 membership gets you "discounts" (i.e. club margin is very small) on group buys and most other benefits.
€15 gets you Executive membership which will give you all of the above and voting rights and a place on the committee.
If in the previous 12 months you have: e.g. organised a group buy, written an article, organised a meet, done a demo, or anything that helps progress the club you get Executive membership for free for the following 12 months as a thank you.

Thoughts?

I think we need to be real careful about membership - I'd cool the jets until after the competition - money will scare people away.
The discounts in pubs is a little cheap / not homebrew related - however discounts on group buys is different -thats the tree i'd be barking up.

Its something we do have to address for sure - and I'd dont disagree with you at all - but I (like yourself) want to maximise the membership and the interest.

[Ruairi]

For what it's worth, I think that pubs that already serve the kind of beer we'd be looking to purchase, i.e. craft beer, already do enough.

I think the whole idea of buying a craft beer is that you know where your money is going. You know that even though it sometimes might be more expensive, your going to enjoy it that bit more (a)because it tastes better and (b)because you know you have helped the brewer first of all, and the publican who chose to go out on a limb and sell the beer in the first place.

Would have no objections to a nominal membership fee though.

[Richie71]

Had an idea today as regards membership pricing:

€10 membership gets you "discounts" (i.e. club margin is very small) on group buys and most other benefits.
€15 gets you Executive membership which will give you all of the above and voting rights and a place on the committee.
If in the previous 12 months you have: e.g. organised a group buy, written an article, organised a meet, done a demo, or anything that helps progress the club you get Executive membership for free for the following 12 months as a thank you.

Thoughts?

How about €0.00 to become a member, view and contribute to posts -that way you get more people signed up

€10 membership gets you access to NHC express, Group Buys, any of the Regional Communities plus what Tube said.

€15 gets you all of the above plus Executive membership