Recruiting Y.L.A. Members at Shows by Alasdair Garrett MEMBERSHIP of the Yachtsmen's Life-boat Supporters' Association has now reached 4,700—an increase of 2,000 in the last seven months. Y.L.A. members and other supporters of the R.N.L.I, may be interested to know how this has been achieved.

Those who are familiar with The Hunting of the Snark will recall that one of the problems which faced the Bellman and his companions was that of identifica- tion. The ability to distinguish a Snark from a Boojum was the prerequisite of a successful Snark-hunter. A parallel exists for the Y.L.A. Although there is a huge number of potential recruits, the first problem is one of identification.

Can you for instance distinguish in your local shopping-centre a philatelist from a football-fan, a gardener from a golfer or a pigeon-fancier from a sailing enthusiast? It may help to solve the identification problem by considering possible 'concentrations' of potential recruits. These may be found among (i) readers of the yachting press, (ii) members of sailing clubs,(iii) the general public attending boat shows.

The first of these alternatives relies on the impersonal medium of the written word. While quite effective, this method is costly and the actual return in numbers of members recruited is small compared with the distribution of application forms. It requires a first year's subscription income of 250 members to cover the cost of distributing 100,000 application forms! The remaining two alternatives provide the great advantage of a personal confrontation between recruiting officer and potential recruit. The Y.L.A. is in the course of building up a nation-wide recruiting organisation by securing in every sailing club the appointment of a Y.L.A. representative (or recruiting officer) to promote Association membership among his fellow members. The success of this method depends on the enthusiasm and ability of the recruiting officer. It is too early to quote detailed results but it is encouraging to note that in some clubs Y.L.A. membership is being taken up by a significant number of club members.

A large well-organised boat show is a magnet for both boating people and members of the public who visit any show for a 'look-see'. In addition there are at every such exhibition thousands of children who suffer a mania for collecting pamphlets—enough paper waste, in fact, to buy at least one IRB! The children suffer this mania and the exhibitors the children.

MUST BE TALENT SPOTTER Effective recruiting at a boat show calls for a skilled recruiting officer. It is no good just sitting at a desk expecting people to form a queue for signing on. The recruiting officer must act as a talent-spotter and, having identified his quarry, engage him at close-quarters before the final surrender.

' You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care; You may hunt it with forks and hope; You may threaten its life with a railway share; You may charm it with smiles and soap' Such was the technique of the Snark-hunter and the Y.L.A. recruiting officer must use similar guile.

At a busy show a steady stream of men, women and children pass your stand.

Some pass in a hurry as though they were determined to reach the far end of the exhibition hall in 5 seconds flat; others stroll by at a more leisurely pace and yet others will stop to look at the exhibits on your stand. One recruiting officer may deal with the visitor to the stand, while his colleague is ready to pounce on passers-by. Is it a weather-beaten complexion and chipped fingernails, a rolling gait or a club tie or other emblem which give away the potential recruit ? This is where the recruiting officer's skill as a 'talent-spotter' counts! Occasionally someone will come straight to the point by saying with an apologetic smile, 'I have been meaning to do this for ages . . .', but the majority are unsuspecting victims. The oblique approach is often effective. Get them to talk to you—but how? Invite comments about the exhibits on your stand and follow up by asking about their sailing experience. Do they own a boat? If so, what type and where does she lie and so on, gradually leading up to the moment when you say 'You're just the person we would like to have as a member.

Wouldn't you like to join the Y.L.A. ?' In this way you lead your visitor to the signing-on desk.

He who hesitates is lost. So is the recruit who pockets the application form saying Til think it over'. In such cases I am often tempted to say 'By all means, think it over. The last impression we wish to make is that we are trying to rushyou into a decision, but may I make one small point ? Just supposing you ever had the misfortune to call for life-boat assistance, can you imagine your own reaction if the coxswain said he'd "think it over" ?' There may be cases in which the would-be recruit is inhibited by an inadequate supply of ready cash to cover payment of his subscription and purchase of insignia. Provided he had a bank account, the application form itself offers a way out of this dilemma.

To sum up, the two prerequisites of successful Y.L.A. activity at a Boat Show are (i) a steady flow of potential recruits, (ii) manning a station with a team of skilled recruiting officers.

When these conditions are obtained, successful recruiting follows, as instanced by the 500 new members recruited at the three larger boat shows in the U.K. and Ireland in 1970.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS Notices about renewal of Y.L.A. subscriptions are sent to those members who pay annually by cash or cheque. It will be greatly appreciated if these members would forward their remittances promptly on receipt of the renewal notice thus relieving the Y.L.A. administration of the necessity of sending out reminders. On the back of the renewal notice is printed a form of banker's order and members are invited to make use of this. In all communications with the Y.L.A. Office members are particularly asked to quote their membership number. This is of particular help in deciphering those signatures which are not easy to read! R.N.L.I. JOURNALS All Y.L.A. members are on the Y.L.A. mailing list for the R.N.L.I. Journal.

Members who receive a copy of the Journal through other channels which they do not wish to pass on to a friend are invited to let us know through which R.N.L.I. branch or other channel they receive the duplicate copy in order that arrangements can be made to stop the issue of the duplicate copy.

CLUB WINTER PROGRAMMES Some clubs may like to include in their programme for the winter 1970/71 a showing of R.N.L.I. films or to have a talk on the work of the Institution. Any club secretary who is interested in this suggestion is invited to get in touch with the Y.L.A. Office at 146 Bishopsgate, London, E.C.2.

ARE YOU YLA? Mr. Bernard Hayman, Editor of Yachting World, writes: 'As my new car has YLA as its registration letters, I am glad I am a member myself. If you know of anyone with similar registration letters on his car he should be persuaded to join the Y.L.A. at once. Picture(s) next issue of THE LIFE-BOAT..