auda membership, ASK tim

[findtim]

on the back of a poll chris setup i am REALLY curious with so much discussion and less then 2 weeks to go to get a vote why someone with a portfolio would choose to not be a auda member.
"fly under the radar" would be the number 1 answer i suspect, but if its a anti belief in the system then PM me as i'd love to know your concerns and the same goes if you are a demand class eligable and totally disagree with many comments on dnt...... which ones? i'd love to know that side of the story.
everything private and conf of course
tim

 

[snoopy]

Here's a few ideas,

-It is a waste of $22
-The money goes to AUDA (they are already hoarding our money and do not deserve more)
-Disintrest in politics

The only reason I joined is to get domainer friendly board members voted in with all the .au stuff.

 

[findtim]

$22: if canada can do it for free why can't we, its such a tiny amount anyway but its just another hurdle, all your info is on your domain purchase.
they don't need the money and nobody wants a hat ! ( first year only LOL )
politics: thier disinterest or yours? then i'll answer that one.

domainer friendly: even being biased of course it was that a "daily" and not "election time" dnt member stood up to be counted that pushed me over the edge. every vote counts so thanks for joining and why i started this thread, lets air out now because after next week its all gone.

tim

 

[snoopy]

$22: if canada can do it for free why can't we, its such a tiny amount anyway but its just another hurdle, all your info is on your domain purchase.
they don't need the money and nobody wants a hat ! ( first year only LOL )
politics: thier disinterest or yours? then i'll answer that one.

domainer friendly: even being biased of course it was that a "daily" and not "election time" dnt member stood up to be counted that pushed me over the edge. every vote counts so thanks for joining and why i started this thread, lets air out now because after next week its all gone.

tim

I think there is an issue with AUDA charging for membership, they are also charging too much per registration. It should not have got to the point where they have $10million (millions of which would be domainer money), sitting in the bank.

 

[findtim]

everything i look at seems designed to reduce membership / keep it down.
i don't thinkits neccessarily how much is in the bank because its been accruing because they haven't been spending on brand awareness or attracting more members.
i'm not saying go blow 10mil on it today but there should be a strategic online strategy which obviousley there isn't based on the websites inactivity.
there is an obvious cost of maintaining records but from the outside its hard to say how much PER domain does that cost? i don't have an issue with an org like auda having a solid balance sheet but not at the neglect of stakeholders and thus becoming a secret society.
so , the commission on domain sales more then covers free membership.
tim

 

[snoopy]

everything i look at seems designed to reduce membership / keep it down.
i don't thinkits neccessarily how much is in the bank because its been accruing because they haven't been spending on brand awareness or attracting more members.
i'm not saying go blow 10mil on it today but there should be a strategic online strategy which obviousley there isn't based on the websites inactivity.
there is an obvious cost of maintaining records but from the outside its hard to say how much PER domain does that cost? i don't have an issue with an org like auda having a solid balance sheet but not at the neglect of stakeholders and thus becoming a secret society.
so , the commission on domain sales more then covers free membership.
tim

I have no idea how regulation could be worth that amount per domain that AUDA charges ($3.85 per registration/renewal). They also seem to be getting money from Ausregistry & registrars directly as well, that is another $1.8million per year which equates to an extra hidden cost that registrants are paying of 60 cents per domain per year.

Seems to me AUDA is making approx $5.05 on each 2 year registration.

I don't think their cash balance has growth due to frugality either, they seem to be spending a lot of money. $277,000 on "ANZIA Award & Australian IGF" (an awards ceremony?) & $700,000 on "communications" as examples.

 

[snoopy]

Just to put it another way, that $3.85 fee could be reduced to $2.85 tomorrow and AUDA still wouldn't be eating into its mountain of cash.

 

[Scott.L]

$277,000 on "ANZIA Award & Australian IGF" (an awards ceremony?) & $700,000 on "communications" as examples.

auDA Not for profit to make a profit;
wholesale fees, auDA wants the next 3 million registrations then DROP THE PRICE!
AusRegistry (GST inc) = $15.40
auDA fee (GST inc) = $3.85
Total "wholesale" price (GST inc) = $19.25

 

[findtim]

auDA wants the next 3 million registrations

interesting how you worded that, as thats how we all feel but in reality it should be the 1.7mil domain owners that should be deciding, as it stands its a federal election with only dubbo voting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tim ( poor dubbo )

 

[Scott.L]

what are the KPIs in relation to bonuses at auDA? why is that not clear? how is performance measured and what are they doing to get it?

 

[findtim]

what are the KPIs

good question, something that very few people would know as i'd assume thats up to the CEO and not really the board and every organisation works however they want to.
eg: stakeholders in telstra have no say in how it is run.

if you are asking "how do we change it, if it doesn't meet a standard " then once again thats the CEO and as we know CEO's change, some get sacked, some resign and go onto other jobs, some retire etc and there's the chain of command like any business.

if you are refering to domain sales/growth, commissions? maybe there are bonuses paid, they are being audited when they have to be
tim

 

[DomainNames]

auda membership should be FREE.

If Auda wants to keep using overseas as an example why do they still try to stop member numbers and enforce a $22 penalty for people to joining.
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[DomainNames]

FREE MEMBERSHIP - COME ON AUDA WHY CHARGE FOR MEMBERSHIPS??
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[Bacon Farmer]

Now that's a shot across auDA's bow!

The supply side directorships should be scrutinised too.

 

[DomainNames]

Now that's a shot across auDA's bow!
The supply side directorships should be scrutinised too.

100% agree.. but who is looking into this at all? It is time the government does.

 

[findtim]

domainNames thats really interesting stuff, why not start another thread for canada? it would be good to compare what seems to be avery successfully run organisation against the UK and NZ models to shorter extensions. i know ca didn't have to change but their membership practices have a lot of boxes ticked that we don't
"a .CA membership will give you an edge and a say in how it changes."
thats putting your money where your mouth is, ACCOUNTABILITY, good to see. Their active honest desire for more members is something they can see a benefit from, not hide from.
but to harp on, we'll only get this by being heard, and thus membership that votes this year and every year.
tim

 

[DomainNames]

domainNames thats really interesting stuff, why not start another thread for canada? it would be good to compare what seems to be avery successfully run organisation against the UK and NZ models to shorter extensions. i know ca didn't have to change but their membership practices have a lot of boxes ticked that we don't
"a .CA membership will give you an edge and a say in how it changes."
thats putting your money where your mouth is, ACCOUNTABILITY, good to see. Their active honest desire for more members is something they can see a benefit from, not hide from.
but to harp on, we'll only get this by being heard, and thus membership that votes this year and every year.
tim

I think Auda and some board members are very aware of this already in Canada.... but nothing has been done..... Does Auda the " not for profit" really need the $22 per member? Do they really want to encourage more members and more people having a say? From my years of AGM's what I have seen is a constant shut down of people voicing concerns to Auda or at the AGM. With the new CEO I hope that stops and feedback and input and facts are listened to and acted on.

Auda itself has expanded into roles and money giving which was never it's mandate or role. Auda is not here to promote the internet. 99.9% of autsrlian have no idea who auda is and do not need them to know about the benefits of the internet!

Auda;s current job is to manage Australian domain names simple.

The Auda Foundation also should be shut down. The extra money Auda makes needs to be used to reduce domain name fees. Pure and simple.

Many not for profits merely blow the money they receive to remain not for profits.... High ages, better offices, first class travel, more consultants.. more foundations and award nights to give away money to stay in good with people they may need to keep their own contracts etc. I see it all the time.

If it is true Auda has $10 million in the bank then things need to change asap. They need to be asked by the government why they are charging so much, Why Ausregistry makes so much, why there are charges for Change of Registrants etc.

Clearly domain name registration, renewal and COR fees are too high in Australia. Check out 1and1.com and godaddy.com and you can get .com.names for .99 cents !

Australia has been ripped off for too long

https://tld-list.com/tld/com

 

[findtim]

godaddy.com and you can get .com.names for .99 cents !

to be fair 99cents is a "loss leader" hoping to sell you some add-ons along the way and hope you can't be bothered moving the domain after 1 year so thats when they make money off you, its just a "cost of acquisition" , its the 2nd year and ongoing you should look at. the same is for .uk on some .co.uk sites.
also you may not know this but that 99cents is 1 per customer, tracked via your email address AND Credit Card and IP........... its a bloody sticky cookie that one.
i use a saying " if you know you have a problem, you don't have a problem, its when you don't know you have a problem is when you DO have a problem" meanig the things you said above is taking to the converted who are very few of us so WE need to get the message out and get more members, then when dnt based people number 4 on the board things start to change, but as snoopy and many others said " we need to be united".
best thing is to pick up the phone TODAY and contact just 2 people you know who should be concerned about whats happening and ask them to join, if we all did that we can make change.
it isn't going to happen overnight and certainly not with just 2 dnt on the board so this needs to be a long term strategy of information that doesn't begin each year in MAY but each day, get 4 loyal people who do care about every one who owns a domain and things will change, have them there for YEARS and you really start to get what you want.
this isn't "hit and run" , its "hit and hit and hit
tim

 

[Shane]

On the subject of free memberships, I am inclined to agree, but there is another side to it.

Financially of course auDA don't need to charge. 150-odd members x $22 membership fee is inconsequential for an organisation of its size.

But as Erhan has mentioned previously, be careful what you wish for...

Remember the email sent out by a certain registrar regarding the direct registration survey? They clearly had a lot of success getting people to complete that survey and heavily influence the result in their own favour.

What if they or another registrar did the same thing to try and get demand class member numbers up? With a $22 fee I imagine most of the email recipients would ignore it.

But if it was free... I'd say they'd be able to pick up a number of new members that would dwarf the current membership base.

If that registrar then has some sort of influence over that group of members and can discreetly promote registrar-friendly demand class members, well we can forget about ever having real representation on the board.

Okay, okay I realise that is really going down the paranoid conspiracy theory path, but due to the sheer volume of 'contacts' held by the registrars, free membership could certainly be to their advantage and not ours.

If nothing else it's another side to the argument...

 

[Bacon Farmer]

When all facts are presented the majority usually come to the right consensus.

Scare tactics are best dealt with by education.

So a rogue registry might pollute their emailed clients perceptions but auDA can and should ensure all sides or positions are considered in an open and transparent way.