Who, What is INA

[Guest]

INA has come up on another list, Christian Naturists and the discussion has been generally positive. However, I think there is some interest in knowing who makes up INA, a little background on each, what is the legal structure (corporation, partnership or what). Those that have commented on Christian Naturist have been especially positive on the mission statement and the Why Nude. I guess that some of us would like a little public disclosure. Have there been staff changes in the last few months? What is the one and five year goals of INA. These are not critical questions but if everything is on the table it takes away any suspicion. One person also raised a question about paid ads which frankly I hadn't noticed. Who and how is INA governed?

Bill Martin, Venice, FL [email protected]

[Guest]

INA has come up on another list, Christian Naturists and the discussion has been generally positive. However, I think there is some interest in knowing who makes up INA, a little background on each, what is the legal structure (corporation, partnership or what). Those that have commented on Christian Naturist have been especially positive on the mission statement and the Why Nude. I guess that some of us would like a little public disclosure. Have there been staff changes in the last few months? What is the one and five year goals of INA. These are not critical questions but if everything is on the table it takes away any suspicion. One person also raised a question about paid ads which frankly I hadn't noticed. Who and how is INA governed?

Bill Martin, Venice, FL [email protected]

[Trailscout]

Bill,
Here's a quote from Bart in reply to a query I posted back in March:

"International Naturists Association was founded by Corky Stanton in Oakhurst, California in 1999. I wrote an article for Naturally magazine about us. It should appear in the next issue. I am a paid consultant to INA and clothesfree.com. Corey Mangold is the President and a paid staffer. Corky owns the site and also draws a salary.

There are no Board of Directors and we are not incorporated. Our mission statement if you will is basically to push the Naturist/nudist movement into the 21st
century. That means actively encouraging young people wanting to become naturists by providing information on body acceptance and naturist venues."

Bill, here's my vision for INA:
The owners have taken INA very far, but they now need the input of a voting membership just as the other big two nudist organizations have. INA has grown to the point that it needs a board of directors and committees to oversee the goals it has set for itself and to provide accountability for the member funds it spends.

The criticism has been that INA is primarily a vehicle to provide income for the owners. I don't agree with that assessment, but they will remain vulnerable to criticism until they open up at least some of the decision-making to the membership at large, open up their books to an objective auditor and open up their headquarters to visits by the membership.

The Naturist Society probably provides the best working model of how INA could be re-structured: It remains privately owned, but all officers are elected by the membership at large, members serve on committees.

[Guest]

By and large, Trailscoat, I think I agree with all that you have said. I don't remember this particular posting -- but I don't regularly come onto this forum.

By and large, I have had positive vibes and I fullly recognize that "young people" are going to be more aggressive sometimes than us "seniors". Their enthusiasm is needed and necessary. If it hadn't been for youth in this country we wouldn't have made progress in other very important matters (civil rights, Vietnam War -- I was one of those activists at the time).

I sincerely hope that the INA takes the positive suggestions seriously. Like you, I have no problem with a person drawing a salary -- I live in the "Sunshine" state where at least all government acts are suppose to be open. In some states all acts of non-profits are open and all non-profit tax returns (except churches) are open for public inspection. It just tends to keep all of us a little more honest and prevents what we have witnessed in some of corporate America.

So, I do encourage them, but they would be stronger with member participation. In our litigious society, I wouldn't want to be running any business without some corporate shield. I should even think that INA could become a 501-c3 tax exempt organization as they are educational and ar promoting an ethical lifestyle. Both TNS and AANR have tax exempt arms.

By the way, another friend, sent me some old pictures with signage of a predecessor of INA regarding "No Shame". They are excellent, in my judgment and perhaps they should be made into greeting cards. They were all (that I saw) in excellent taste.
There is such a monumental task before us that one needs to go on many routes. They should also be made available on INA.

Bill Martin
Venice, FL

[Guest]

Let me correct a reference in the above post. The previous site "Shamebreakers" included some ouotstanding pictures with statements overprinted on them.

Also, as part of the INA membership (optional) comes the magazine Naturally. Their blatant ads for Hedonism turn me off. I do find that inconsistent with the stated philosophy on INA. What Hedonism represents is what we have to fight in any discussions which we have with much of society.

Who is on the staff now and what are their primary responsibilities?

I've tried writing to the author of Why Nude to compliment him twice and have received no reply.

On a different track -- I agree with the saying that a picture is worth a 1000 words. But how do you get them out?

[Bartamus]

Friend/Trailscout and others. I've read with
great interest your suggestions about INA.
In responce to the hope that we could be
more like TNS...there are a couple of
differences.
First off the Naturist Society has been
around since the 70's. They have a paid
Executive Director and office staff.
Yes, they do have a board of directors and
are incorporated.
INA has been around since late 1999. Frankly
we're still struggling and although we would
love to expand our staff to include an
Office Manager/Finance Manager etc..we simply
are not at that point yet.
As for future goals...what I said to
Trailscout in that previous e-mail still
holds true.
On the subject of future member get togethers
at INA headquarters..we have the property
up for sale and hope to re-locate to
another suitable location in Oakhurst,
California near Yosemite. Once we do that,
hopefully we can plan some limited events
in the future.
We will be hosting a booth at Nudestock
at Laguna Del Sol in Sacramento, California
in September. Hope to see you there!

[Bartamus]

Oh yes..Naturally magazine.
We (INA) do not publish Naturally..we simply
make it available to our members should
they choose to subscribe.
I believe it is published in New Jersey.
If you have an issue with one of it's
advertisers..you should let them know.

[Trailscout]

Bart,
Thanks for the update on INA.

Where do AANR and TNS get their operating capital? From membership dues alone? If not, where else?

If I were to venture a guess, INA's current membership is largely middle-aged middle class men.
INA's targeted demographic group for future growth is teens to college age, perhaps up to age 30?

College age people try karate one week and hang gliding the next. College nudist groups tend to be founded by a bold visionary, grow rapidly and fade to obscurity when the founder graduates. What kind of retention rate can INA expect from that age bracket when it comes time for membership renewal?

Can this age group afford the membership dues for INA?

If an independent nudist club formed on a college campus, what incentive would the club have to require INA membership of its members?

Oh, I suppose if more nudist resorts offered a discount to INA members, that might help, but INA needs to orchestrate major events at both public nude beaches and at nudist resorts. These events should be designed to attract young people.
INA should providing resources, training and recruiting expertise to leaders of nudist groups on college campuses.

Having a booth at Nudestock is a great idea. You should also have one at the Folk Festival at Avalon Resort in West Virginia, and try to have a presence at the eastern Nudestock in South Carolina, and try to visit Apollo, Playalinda, Haulover and Gunnison Beaches.

Hidden Valley in North Georgia has lots of young single couples trying out being nude for the first time.

In our search for new prospects, maybe we need to expand our horizons a little bit. Art students tend to be free-spirits and often take life-drawing classes. People who go backpacking or those who have a membership in a health club would seem to be good prospects.
Young Europeans who have moved to the US are more open to nude beaches and the clothesfree life than non-immigrants.

What about the young people who are nudist wannabes but are turned down by the anti-singles resorts?

How do we reach all these promising groups of people?

[Bartamus]

Trailscout: We spend a lot of time thinking
about the points you just brought up.
Encouraging college age naturists does
require a lot of travel/outreach by INA.
It was my fervent hope that we would be doing
more of that this summer. Unfortunately,
we've only been able to visit Missouri and
Sacramento, California later this summer.
I do know that Corky Stanton is committed
to broadening the scope of INA and we hope
to have other projects like "Nudes in the
News" launched very soon. "NN" will be
video streamed on the website and will
feature both male and female college age
naturists.
I do believe TNS and AANR survive on
membership contributions. TNS as you know
has a magazine. INA would like to get into
the publishing business at some point. I
think that would help our bottom line.
We are however, planning to join with TNS
and help fund the Naturist Action Committee.

As always, thanks for your interest in INA
Bart

[Bartamus]

Trailscout: I always forget something..
your suggestion about backpackers is a
very good one. In fact, Corky has
recently launched "IBA" International
Backpacking Association for that purpose.
You're right..young backpackers are usually
naturists and we plan to draw them in to
INA. The new website is linked to
Clothesfree.com

[Trailscout]

Bart,
You are like detective Columbo with that "Oh, there's just one more thing" comeback! Sometimes that "one more thing" is the "one big thing" that may help you the most.

Bart, you need volunteer labor. You can either personally jet all over the U.S. to promote INA or you can (with a little training perhaps) find willing volunteers who live all over the U.S. to do it for you.

What if you or one of your volunteers shows up at Haulover or Gunnison on a summer Saturday morning, set up a volleyball net gets a game started and passes out a few cheap INA logo freebies with your URL on it?

How much would it cost INA to advertise in college newspapers? What if you had a special discount coupon in that advertisement for college students to visit a nudist resort?

Perhaps you folks have thought of all this, but if I keep on suggesting things, I hope to eventually suggest something good that you all haven't thought of yet.

[Bartamus]

Trailscout: The college newspaper suggestion
is a good one. We'll definetly consider it.
A big part of our success we think will be
to hook up with the other traditional groups.
Corky and Corey are meeting with some TNS
folks in Santa Cruz, California tuesday.
We also plan to meet with AANR reps at
Laguna Del Sol in August. I'll be attending
that meeting.
The volunteer suggestion is also a good one.
We need to a figure a way to implement it

[Trailscout]

Bart,
You folks are very astute to recognize that AANR and TNS are not "the competition", but mutually supportive collaborators in promoting naturism.

You have mentioned before that INA's strength is your skills in using the media to promote the goodness of nudism.

AANR and TNS have not been successful so far in their efforts to promote nudism.

But, these organizations have their strong points, things they can do more effectively than a young relatively small group such as INA can do.
TNS's legal wing, NAC, is saving all our skins literally. I am glad that you are considering cooperating in that effort.

AANR does have an aging and shrinking membership, but they are attempting a well-thought out plan to retain their children with their summer JANR activities. The older youth are trained to become leaders of the younger ones.

This forum is great for "brainstorming". Kinda like the focus groups I used to be in where everyone sits around the board room shooting out ideas, quick and short. In phase one, we put our heads together and come up with every possible idea to promote naturism and INA. (or whatever your goal is)
All this time someone is writing down all ideas submitted. (Whiteboarding)
We eliminate the ideas that are flawed. If someone wants to appeal to the panel to reconsider a rejected idea, fine. You get one shot at restating your case.
This gives us the final list of ideas we will explore.
After taking a closer look, some ideas are scrapped or modified.
We develop a rough outline for implementing each marketing plan and assign each plan to an individual or a committee depending on the scope of the work.
We submit periodic progress reports to our chairman and meet at intervals for "mid-course correction"
That's how we got things done in the corporate world. I think we can do something like that in this forum and/or with INA.

[Bartamus]

Trailscout: I think the focus group concept
is a good one.
Frankly, we need more input from our members
and a way to include them in our decision
making.
I think you'll be hearing more from us.
Thanks for your thoughtful suggestions

[nudistwheelchair]

Hi I like to speak out for the disable nudist at lest in southern ca. I been to Glen Eden and De Anza the are both wheelchair friendly but the over night rooms are not yet ready to accomadate people in wheelchairs. Also I'm asking to encourage other young disable nudist to go to the resort and so that we are out there because I haven't seen any disable nudist in the pictures. So I hope that INA will some how wave the flag. (forgive any speeling or gramer on this post)
God Bless, Todd [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]