BuShips:CO Manual/Activities/Membership
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Membership
Joining TRMN
So you recruited someone! Now what? The best method is to have the person go to https://medusa.trmn.org/register and fill out the form themselves, don’t forget to give them the name of your chapter so they can join you. Even out of towners at conventions can join your chapter then transfer to one closer to them once they decide which chapter will work best for them. A second option is to look up the current chapter list at trmn.org/chapters for the recruit to enter in the closest chapter to them. And perhaps the best way to gain members that will become active members and not paper or ghost members is to have your recruits fill out a sign-up sheet. After the convention or event, reach out to them to have them join you for a chapter welcome gathering for all new members and sign them up through the website then. BuPlan has found this to be an effective way to increase member engagement from the start. It is a low-key way to meet the existing crew, shows new members they are welcomed, and shows the chapter does activities for the crew.
New Members
When a new member joins it’s good to send a brief welcome email that greets them and offers some starting points such as where to request an exam, download the student manual, a link to the forums, a link to the chapter’s Facebook group, invites to whatever chat program(s) your chapter uses, and/or a calendar of chapter events for the next 2-3 get togethers. This gives the member plenty of options to start participating in whatever way they are comfortable, while offering growth beyond the first toe dip.
It may be that someone joins and is inactive from the start or quickly becomes inactive after a short honeymoon period. That’s okay but don’t let them sit idle and forgotten for too long. Checking in once a month to let them know they’re still welcome and you’re thinking about them can go a long way. Try to start a conversation to see what they may be interested in doing or if they’re overwhelmed, showing someone cares can mean a lot and can encourage inactive members to become involved in surprising ways.
Chapter Transfers
Sometimes, a member may need to change chapters due to personality issues or they are moving geographically and prefer in-person interactions to long-distance participation. Members are free to transfer to another chapter by filling out a chapter transfer request on MEDUSA. If you have a member that wishes to leave the chapter, you must tell them to fill out the transfer request on MEDUSA as TRMN does not allow you to remove members from your chapter at a whim.
Removing Crew Members
There might be a point where you have crew that will simply become inactive and efforts to contact them have gone unanswered. These attempts should be well documented and require attempts over a 13 month period with your fleet CO getting involved. Details on how this is done are outlined in Admiralty Order 1803-04. Members removed from the chapter are NOT removed from the organization, they are only transferred to the holding chapter of their navy or service branch.
NOTE: Members cannot be removed from the chapter if doing so drops your crew numbers below the minimum crew for your hull type. In this case, a downgrade must happen before member removal. Contact BuShips@trmn.org for details.
Members Wishing to Leave TRMN
There may be times where a member will want to leave the organization altogether. While unfortunate, everyone has their reasons and we want to respect those reasons. When this happens, you will instruct the member to send an email to BuPers@trmn.org expressing their desire to officially leave the club. It would be a good idea to advise the member to CC you in that email as well, so you can follow up with BuPers if necessary. The member must do this themselves, as a safeguard against someone else attempting to get them removed from the organization without their permission.