[at-l] THE ATC & Membership therein - a bit longish

[carol1944 at brmemc.net (Carol Donaldson)]

Jim Bullard writes:  That is exactly what we are trying to do. We recognize that for whatever reason the trail already appeals to one group and we do not intend to ignore them in efforts to increase membership but... we also have to look at why other groups are not attracted to the trail and make an effort to broaden the appeal to be more inclusive. In order to "target all" as you put it we have to understand why our current efforts aren't reaching many 
groups.
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The Trail appeals to those with the time and inclination to hike it.  It has less to do with ethnic origin than with what is important to the person.

I have asked African-Americans if they're interested in hiking and if not, why not.   There once was a group of 3 who were people in my age-range at the time (35-55).   All three said they had other priorities.  One had just bought a house outside Atlanta and was interested in yard work and raising a big flower garden.  I asked her about any of her friends (we didn't mention ethnicity) and she didn't know of anyone among her friends who had been or would be interested in hiking (much less backpacking).  Another had just had her first grandbaby and spent all her free time with the baby or sewing and knitting for the baby.  She, as well, had no friends or relatives who had expressed any interest in hiking.  The man of this particular group was the youngest, about 35, and he said that he thought most blacks (aka African-Americans) who might have the time to hike or backpack were busy with other priorities.  He liked taking his family to the park on picnics and he enjoyed strolling around the parks he visited with his family.  He'd been to Amicalola Falls State Park and knew about the Appalachian Trail but had no desire to hike the AT.  He could not imagine anyone enjoying hiking for five or six months. 

I surmised from that discussion and others with not just "minorities" in ethnicity but also the working poor (whose everyday life resembles camping), the handicapped (who like knowing they can use the wheelchair ramp up Clingman's Dome), Latino families (who work 2 or 3 jobs in order to send money home to family in Mexico and think spending it by going hiking would be a waste), to newly married couples who look at me as if I've lost my mind, to single parents who would like for me to take their children hiking so they could have a day of rest, and the list goes on.  DIFFERING PRIORITIES -- has nothing to do with "the trail" just with the order of their priorities.

A second item is "money."  In my questioning my co-workers and customers, it usually boils down to the person thinking that spending money on hiking or backpacking equipment just to 'live out of a sack" was not where they wanted to spend their money.
Family 1-  Mother, Father, 2 sons.  Their boys ride motorcycles and race at the local dirt track.  No one there is interested in taking up backpacking as a hobby.
Family 2-  Mother, Father, son, daughter.  They are die-hard NASCAR fans and spend all their free time and a lot of money going to nearby races.  Their idea of 'camping' is their camper in the infield at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Family 3-  Mother, Father, 2 sons, 1 daughter.  They fish and kayak and do a little jet-skiing.  The younger boy breaths fishing and told me personally that he liked going to State Parks as long as they had lakes or rivers he could fish.  Oldest boy likes kayaking.  Daughter thinks getting dirty is the worse thing that can happen to her.  (Dad's a dentist, Mom's a psychologist, go figure.)
Family 4-  Single white female.  Never married, not interested.  Volunteers at the Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, AL (where she lives).  Would much rather sew a cod-piece for a Russian dancer than even consider going hiking.  (And she laughed at me!)  
Family 5-  Mother, daughter, son.  Ethnic-African-American.  Daughter works to save money to go to college and thinks backpacking would be a waste of time.  Son is into model building and spends his allowance and yard-work money on his hobby.  Mom just looked at me and laughed (I get that a lot from my non-hiking friends).  She likes her indoor plumbing and hot shower.
Family 6-  Mother, Father, 2 young sons under age 3.  They like to go to State Parks to push the stroller and let the boys play, but would not consider backpacking with or without the boys.  Their idea of "roughing it" is Grove Park Manor in Asheville, NC.

I've asked about 20 or 25 different families if they ever thought about hiking or backpacking.  To a family, they all just have different priorities.  One has children who are afraid of bugs.  Another has children who are into dancing lessons.  Another has a child who's taking piano lessons.  Another has children who are taking Karate lessons.  Another has a disabled child and said it would be too stressful.  Another has children who cantor in worship services and can't be gone on weekends.

I think that the advertising for ATC membership will bring in more people if it's placed in magazines pertaining to peripheral sports in which backpacking or hiking can be included in that sport.  For instance:  Mountain Biking, Trail (Horse) Riding, Off-Road Vehicle riding; Golfing, etc.  I don't think it would be a good use of funds to place an advertisement in Cosmopolitian or Seventeen or Martha Stewart Living.  I just don't see the AT community base coming from that sector of the population.  A FEW of us may subscribe to those magazines, but the majority of people who read them are not interested.  I don't know if the ATC could draw hikers from people who play OnLine games, but I doubt that is an audience.

Advertise in Outside Magazine, Men's Journal, Backpacker Magazine, Golf Digest, etc.  Go where the people who don't mind getting a little sweaty are.

Thanks for reading my post,
Coosa