HANA Membership Update

[raybo]

As of 8/07/2008 HANA membership totals are:


Members: 121 (1 of these did not list a city, state, or country)


USA Members: 105
Canadian Members: 15


USA States Represented: 31
Canadian Provinces Represented: 5

Let's go guys! Join up now! :ThmbUp::ThmbUp:

Raybo

[Indulto]

As of 8/07/2008 HANA membership totals are:

Members: 121 (1 of these did not list a city, state, or country)

USA Members: 105
Canadian Members: 15

USA States Represented: 31
Canadian Provinces Represented: 5

Let's go guys! Join up now!

RayboRay,
Your efforts to extract, convert, reformat, and analyze the data is a real contribution.

Considering that the blog site has been up less than a month (July 11, 2008?), this total is encouraging.

HANA may still be small, but it has been well-received by some of racing’s visible turf-writer/bloggers including (in order of appearance) Seth Morrow, Paul Moran,
Ray Paulick, Nick Kling, and John Pricci. The following reference to HANA by Mr. Pricci IMO shows a genuine respect for both HANA and the NTRA Horseplayer’s coalition:

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/blog.php/Saratoga-Diary/comments/07232008-saratoga-140-racings-welcomed-distraction/#comments (http://www.horseraceinsider.com/blog.php/Saratoga-Diary/comments/07232008-saratoga-140-racings-welcomed-distraction/#comments)
Saratoga 140: Racing’s Welcomed Distraction
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By John Pricci… Last week, TVG said never mind to an agreement that opened up advance deposit wagering throughout California to any bet-taker with a license. But since they have a piece of paper stating they’re entitled to the Del Mar property exclusively, they wouldn’t send a signal to competitive platforms. Once again, fans took it on the chin.

But bettors are mad as hell and have decided not to take it anymore. They want a voice, a seat at the table, and horseplayer groups are springing up everywhere. The NTRA sponsored Horseplayers’ Coalition, the newly formed Horseplayers Association of North America, and other grass roots organizations are beginning to get faceless horseplayers noticed.…http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/46374.htm?id=46374 (http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/46374.htm?id=46374)
Bill to Bag Withholding Tax Introduced
by Tom LaMarra
Date Posted: July 30, 2008… The measure is high on the list of the NTRA Horseplayers’ Coalition, a more than 1,000-member advocacy group that seeks legislative and regulatory changes to improve the pari-mutuel economy. The group has become active in lobbying, and soon will have a small committee to lead communications.

“We’ve been telling the Horseplayers’ Coalition that we would be introducing legislation to deal with the inequities of reporting withholding on pari-mutuel winnings,” NTRA chief executive officer Alex Waldrop said July 30. …This organization was announced on April 22, 2008 or about three and a half months ago with the resources of the NTRA behind it as well as being mentioned repeatedly in the industry press as well as many blogs.

HANA has also been mentioned in the Blood Horse by writer Ryan Connelly who interviewed SJ and previously wrote articles about last year’s petition from PA members to the Jockey Club, and about the subsequent “procott.”

I couldn’t help but notice that most of the remaining commentary about the withholding bill never mentioned the Coalition. Was the Bill’s introduction the work of Raybo types there who rolled up their sleeves and contributed their time and energy to effect progress; or was it existing NTRA employees doing there jobs?

This is not to imply that HANA and the Coalition are competitors, only to poit out that HANA is made up of volunteers whose self-directed efforts have gotten it this far. It also confirms that HANA will have to actually accomplish something newsworthy and/or laborious to attract additional attention and members.

Last years petition thread has 483 posts of which about 400 are actual signatures:

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38673&page=33&pp=15 (http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38673&page=33&pp=15)

Many of them include comments compatible with HANA’s goals. Contacting this group through PA would seem to be something very promising to pursue as soon as practical.

Perhap's some of those here who are reluctant to sign-up could provide some insight as to what might make HANA more appealing to you?