Kirby wrote: You only need to do one thing: do another go world promotion.
To be clear, once I again live in a city where tournaments are happening more often, I will be a member for the tournaments, even if you don't do the go world promotion.
And if I were single, I may even join just to go to congress. But in my current situation, the go world promotion would make me join (or something similar).
I never used the word selfish in my post, and shapenaji claims that Kirby is not being selfish, and ultimately there is nothing wrong with being selfish, but how is this not simply making a decision based soley on its impact to the self, it is, at minimum, self-ish.
But, lets face it, if responding to xed over's Kennedyeque call makes you feel good, then that is selfish too, and indeed, some would argue, if the AGA is a mess, then you are stupidly feeling good and wasting your money.
Look, go is a hobby, a pastime. People swim in an out of it. Sometimes they are focused on spawning and lose interest. Sometimes they get really hooked, but the hook slips, and they swim away. The AGA needs to find better ways to set that hook, and reel players in. This is more and more difficult as more and more online ways of swimming develop.
So, my comments are not directed to the new players, the casual players, the occaisional players. If Go is not important enough for them to spend $30 a year, I completly get that, and the AGA is failing, too often, to reach out to this initial and tentative interest and bring these folks into the fold. I am in no way suggesting that the key to AGA growth is leading with the line "Give us $30 - you owe it to us" Before the internet, while there were less players, it was easier to get them and easier to keep them. Now this is a real problem.
My comments were reacting to Kirby's remarks and I certainly do not mean to attack him. Indeed, I praise his interest and enthusiasm. To me, he is someone who gets Go, who is hooked. This is all to the good. I simply disagree with him.
He is not a casual player, in my view. He seems pretty committed to the game, I would assume he loves the game in fact. He cares enough to belong and interact with go players that he has posted over 3,000 times here. He has a child, as I do, for whom this game is a part of the child's culture. He wishes there were more tournaments in his area. He loves reading about go events in the ejournal, he attends go events when he visits Korea.
Apparently, he believes that in the future, there will simply be tournaments in his area, spontaneously. That opportunities for his child to play and learn go with other children will appear serendiptiously and at his convenience. That the go activities he loves to read about online for free organize themselves - both here and in Asia - without the financial support of sponsors and fans. That when he and his family are ready to go to a Go Congress in eight or ten or twelve years, Paul Barchilon will still be there ready to entertain and teach as only he can.
I do not see Kirby as someone who is just trying out go. I think he sees it as part of his future, and perhaps hopes his child's future. He cares deeply about the game and is not shy to share his opinions about go, and the AGA in particular - and he has even made the effort to volunteer to do things for it.
It seems to me, that Kirby understands what go is all about, he is commited to having this game be a part of his life and a part of his future.
It seems to me that Kirby should realize that supporting the AGA does, selfishly, support his future hopes for this game. I think most of the serious posters here should be able to see that $30, a forgettable dinner for two without alcholol, is a small price to pay for the future.
It is right to criticize and suggest better ways of doing things - but for those of us who care about this game, it is foolish to assume that tournaments and congresses will be there in the future and only care about a few Go Worlds.
