Morning Derek,
You have already more than earned your membership by getting our Dan to show that he really does have a fun side under that gruff facade.
Your point is excellent and thanks for the proposal -- What can you offer?
The answer is, I believe, INPUT. Knotters tend to be happy with their own company and a bit insular. Consequently, we are happy to read and listen a lot, but don't think that we have anything worth giving back. People like Willeke, Roy, Dan, Lindsey and a handful of other notables are exceptions and without them this forum (and to a large extent, the Guild) would be a barren place.
We all have experiences, problems, thoughts and discoveries. The hard bit is to motivate ourselves to share them or perhaps to believe that others might even be remotely interested in reading them.
However !! Many a true word is spoken in jest and the effective ban on members having the name Derek is more true than Dan jokingly proposes.
Since I was branded a 'Sh1t Stirrer' by a key member (no names, no pack drill) there has been a total failure to process any paperwork (other than my cheque of course) -- it's a sort of unofficial ostracism, so if you have another first name I suggest that you use it to register with. Of course, you do not need to be a member in order to post on this forum (yet) but you do need membership in order to stop Guild Officials from telling you to 'Neb out' from Guild business -- it's worth membership just to shut them up (and KM is worth every penny).