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        > Posted By: Chuckle – 1/26/02 – Some thoughts and numbers		 New Topic    Add Reply

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(1/27/02 8:47 am)
Reply 		Posted By: Chuckle – 1/26/02 – Some thoughts and numbers
Chuckle – 1/26/02 – Some thoughts and numbers
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The following is a message in response to some messages about layoffs at the Publications Center, growth, and the culture inside SRF for the employees.

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Survivor, you’ve given us a post that should end up in the “Stories” section. What a tale! Just out of curiosity, would those managers (or at least one of them) who were hired and later quit in apparent frustration happen to have been involved in Convo organization in previous years? Those of you who know may not wish to say, but my husband and I got to know one fellow who was involved in Convo organization and who had, shall we say, some previous experience in printing/publishing. He is a fabulous person and I would feel terrible knowing that he had to go through all this.

The question of growth comes up in this thread. It’s an interesting point. In what ways is SRF “growing?” Are the numbers of members, books being shipped, etc. increasing as we would like to believe? All I know for sure is that the magazine subscriptions are definitely decreasing.

When I was new on the path, I noticed the info at the back of the Winter edition of each magazine showing how many were printed and sent out to subscribers (the U.S. Postal service requires periodicals to publish this data annually). I thought it would be fun to keep track of this data as a way of watching the “millions” who would come. I post the numbers below. As you can see, for the first few years my expectations were
fulfilled--the numbers of subscriptions kept rising. But you can see what has happened.

Year / Dealer Sales / Mail Subscriptions / Total

1969 1359 9897 11256
1970 no data (I don't have the 1970 mags)
1971 1261 12221 13482
1972 1283 12643 13926
1973 1300 14743 16043
1974 1143 13958 15101
1975 2648 15024 17672
1976 3833 13910 17780
1977 2179 15064 17243
1978 2731 17227 20008
1979 1027 18108 19045
1980 1027 19257 20284
1981 1025 20509 21534
1982 1025 20968 21993
1983 1025 20877 21902
1984 1325 20632 21957
1985 1321 23004 24325
1986 1321 23597 24918
1987 1271 25111 26382
1988 1371 26876 28247
1989 1321 27857 29178
1990 1321 26216 27537
1991 1421 25500 26921
1992 1426 24970 26396
1993 1426 23109 24535
1994 1316 19190 20506
1995 1331 19048 20375
1996 1346 19171 20517
1997 1375 19924 21299
1998 1375 19341 20716
1999 1269 18995 20264
2000 1110 20604 21714
2001 1310 18199 19509

(I don’t know what “dealer sales” refers to. Perhaps sales at the Temples?)

Since 1990, the numbers have been in an overall decline; by 2001, the number of subscriptions has plunged to the same level as 1979! You can also see that the World Convocations held in 1970 and 1975 had significant influences (I am presuming; this is just a correlation and not necessarily an indication of a cause-effect relationship, but it seems like a reasonable supposition.) in the increase in subscriptions. Contrast that to what’s happening during and after 1993, following a massive advertising and public relations campaign for the Centennial: 1993, 1994, and 1995 all see declines in subscriptions, with a massive drop off in 1994. Again in 2001, we see another significant drop in subscriptions. In twelve years, there are nine years of declines. One has to ask, “what is going on?”

I think it is presumptuous to feel that these numbers give an indication of whether SRF is growing in membership, per se. However, I do think the SRM subscription numbers have some validity in indicating what’s going on: most keen members would want to subscribe to the magazine to find new inspirational material, and to sort of keep “in the know.” Perhaps you guys who worked at the PC have some idea whether the number of books and Lessons being shipped out was on the increase. My own notion lately has been that the number of books being sold has been increasing as people are interested in Master’s writings and ideas, but that not many are coming to join SRF as members, or are joining but quitting shortly thereafter.

I should add that there could also be a number of other reasons for the variations in the numbers. Perhaps, for example, the 1990s has seen a large increase in the number of SRF members marrying one another; thus, subscriptions to these particular members would presumably be cut in half. I give this example only partly in jest; my point is that there could be a number of reasons for the decline.

Like Crog, I think it would be valuable if you guys can supply any more facts.

Surely, if the numbers I’ve posted about the magazine subscriptions are any reliable indication of what’s going on, you’d think SRF managers--whether they be in
publications, accounting, management committee, or the BOD--would be waving red flags, saying, “Hey, let’s look at these numbers; the data are telling us something we
can’t afford to ignore!” This is basic business management.

Clearly the pending layoffs are an indication that things aren’t going well. Seems to me red flags should be waving all over the place. Isn’t it sad that when “outsiders,” be they psychologists brought in to help the SLCs, or SRF members with professional experience in printing and publishing, or SRF members trained and experienced in IT management, start raising red flags they are shot down. The only outsiders who seem to be recognized as having any value are the ones who tell SRF leaders what they want to hear. This is
“groupthink” at its worst (those who are interested might want to pick up a social psych text and study the groupthink phenomena. It is fascinating, and it seems to be prevalent among SRF leaders).

It seems that some SRF managers just want to “sit back and watch Master make it unfold so beautifully” (I confess that I worry about the one monastic who uses this phrase repeatedly. It seems he is in denial and at some point all the bad stuff he is repressing so determinedly is going to come to the surface (his heart won’t let him keep repressing) and explode. I wouldn’t want to be there when it happens. I worried about the way he looked (a trickle of fear emerging?) at the 2001 Convo).

As Survivor says, where are the revised Lessons? Goodness, I shudder to think of a twenty-something receiving the Lessons in their unchanged 1950’s style layout and language, to say nothing of all the questions people ask about the techniques that could be addressed in a new revision. This is simply inefficiency at its worst, and it is harming any good that SRF might be trying to do.

Meanwhile, we have Bro. Vishwananada telling us that SRF isn’t going to change and that the BOD knows what it’s doing.

I honestly hope he’s right, but my numbers are telling me otherwise. In the end, the entire debacle is looking more and more like a complete failure to acknowledge and apply the wisdom gained in the fields of psychology, sociology, business management, personnel management, public relations, and other fields over the last fifty years. This is truly sad.

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