The AGO National Council is committed to membership recruitment, retention, and growth within our organization. As more of our members have reached the “Special” membership category, we recognize that new initiatives must be developed to attract and welcome younger members into the Guild. We want them to experience the wealth of benefits, professional opportunities, and camaraderie we have enjoyed during our careers.
To this end, we have established the “Year of the Young Organist,” July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022. During these 12 months, any individual under the age of 30 can become a new member or renew her/his membership for free as part of this program.We will not collect membership dues for young organists, neither the national nor the chapter portion, during the upcoming membership year for those under the age of 30. All will receive full membership benefits, including TAO. New/renewing young organists can take advantage of this offer by visiting AGOhq.org/free-membership.
Beware of Scams!
Mary Eileen Johnston, dean of the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter, recently shared an email that she had received from a chapter member who received an email regarding obtaining a “free piano.”
I have sent the moving company a message, all you need to do now is to contact them and make an arrangement as regards the moving process and please most importantly you have to assure me that you will take very good care of it and also, I will like you to take some pictures/ pictures Videos when they arrive at your home and send them. Here is the movers’ information. www.gregoriesmoving.com/ Gregoriesmoving@post.com with the Reference Numbers Code: WIN22121D. Make sure to Send an email for a faster response. They also have a customer chat platform. Please give me feedback as soon as you have scheduled for delivery.
She emailed me saying that she was pretty sure that this was a scam. We both reviewed https://gregorysmoving.com/. Nowhere on the website does it list their expertise in piano mov- ing, nor under on their “contact” page can one find “gregoriesmoving@post.com.” Unfortunately, one of our other members also received this email, assumed that it was legit, and sent money to cover the costs of moving the piano. They requested that National be responsible to reimburse them for their ill judgement. We will not be doing this. This chapter did not take the time to research the email that they received. I urge you to check the sender’s email address and any websites they reference, as well as test their contact information. If you have any concerns, you can contact AGO Headquarters to discuss these types of communications that you receive.
Please take a moment to review this information: https://www.movingscam.com/articles/ how-moving-scams-work.
Elizabeth George
Director of Member Engagement and Chapter Development