| 191 White Oaks Road Williamstown, MA 01267 November 16, 1988 |
Marjorie Zelner
Executive Secretary
Institute of General Semantics
163 Engle Street
Englewood, NJ 07631
Dear Marjorie,
My thanks to the board of trustees for letting me sit in on the Institute board
meeting on Friday, November 11, 1988. I found the proceedings enlightening.
In regard to that meeting and its contents I have some thoughts regarding
concerns voiced at that meeting and am herewith submitting them for you to pass
on to the next board meeting.
In regard to the problem of soliciting to obtain new members I feel the
following comments are in order. To attract the attention of possible new
members we should have a clear and simple statement that addresses three points.
Any solicitation which fails to address these three questions with simple formulations of one to three sentences is bound to have marginal results. The answer to question one encapsulates our "product". [The answer "Modern open applied epistemology" probably won't do.] The answer to question two targets the marketing audience and shapes "sales" efforts. The answer to question three shapes the sales methods. Questions two and three need to be answered with some candid honesty so that we don't risk new members feeling "conned".
A second idea is that "Free" advertising can be had by sending
"product announcements" to the editors of journals and the officers of
organizations whose members might be interested in general semantics. I suggest
a "hook" in those announcements. First list the names of famous
general semanticists whose name recognition is high for the target audience.
Then ask the "hook" question "What do all these people have in
common?" Of course, the answer is "general semantics". Then
announce the general semantics event and invite inquiries. A cover letter
to the editor should ask that this "announcement" be included in their
forthcoming publications or announced at meetings.
Come join us and find out what it's all about.
The 1989 Seminar-workshop
in
General Semantics.
date, place etc.
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