Knife Clubs abound. Many are city and community clubs started back 20 and 30 years ago. Some are simply fan clubs of particular brands, but either way, anytime knife folks come together across the table at the local steak house in the name of knife collecting- it is a good thing. Through these activities our hobby is strengthened.
With today’s busy lifestyles it is difficult to go to club meetings. I know, I have never attended a meeting of our local club and yet I am involved in “knife collecting” everyday. I’ve thought about it…been invited to it…but for one reason or another it hasn’t made my priorities to go. My suspicion is this is the case for the majority of collectors who are members of local clubs too.
“And yet, most all collectors spend time online participating in knife collecting.”
Knife Club Websites- little time and no money
In an effort to help maintain their sense of community and provide benefits to their members many of these local clubs have turned to the web to locate their clubhouses. Usually one of the club’s more geeky members sets up a website. Upgrading, updating and adding functionality to that site, while a desirable thing, oftentimes goes undone- it requires time and in most cases a cash investment from the club, like adding a forum or providing for its members to have their own email addresses, adding the ability for their members to upload knife pictures or a chat feature, even adding the functionality of embedding videos- these are luxury items and rarely seen on knife club websites.
How about a new FREE clubhouse?
To the knife clubs of America there is an answer. Yes, there is a place where they can have a highly functional community clubhouse- not just a static webpage- exclusively for their club. No more web design costs. No writing code. No hosting fees. No frustration over not being a large enough to afford features their members want or need, or that their competitors offer.
In fact, this place is the hub of knife collecting online- it is iKnifeCollector.com. On top of having a cutting-edge user-friendly online clubhouse sitting there waiting for your group- it is FREE.
Unprecedented Opportunity- Highly Functional Modern Clubhouse
Never in the history of knife collecting has there been an opportunity to have a complete highly functional clubhouse- complete with your own forum and group emailing capability. Don’t get me wrong- the message here is not, “Knife collecting has now gone online only,” but look at what the members do at home in the evenings- they go online and play knives. Moreover, besides being FREE, it is within a larger community of knife collectors.
So, here’s the deal- there are dozens and dozens of knife clubs, who if they understood how this opportunity can help them engage their existing members, plus attract new members, would jump at the chance. My role is to help them see the benefits available here though an iKC Group.
iKnifeCollector offers your club-
- Enhanced features that would cost many tens of thousands of dollars to build
- Club Specific Forum
- Individual member email accounts
- Group emailing made easy from within your Club area
- Superior interaction and communication tools
- Event Calendar
- Much more than simply a static club website- the latest in Web 2.0 functionality
- Plus, your members will also benefit the entire community’s features and content
- Over 700 750 members already there for your members to meet and who may be interested in joining your club
It’s a Win-Win Situation, But I Need Your Help
If you are a member of a local or regional club tell your leadership to contact me. I want to help them see how easy it is to house their group within our knife community. Will it make iKC grow? Yes. Would I like that? You bet. The truth is though we’ll be fine without them, but this is a no-brainer. And aside from all that- if they don’t they will continue to lose members because other “places” out there are providing more of the benefits their members want. These “places” have no membership dues either.
Please help me get the word out to them. I go through the “knife club” pages of some of our publications and find most clubs have no website, or even email addresses for me to attempt to reach out to them. In many cases, I am forced to write a letter (paper letter) and send it to a PO Box (and so is any prospective member for their club). iKC can help them be more relevant in today’s times.
Please forward this article to your Club officers and board members.
Thank you,
Scott
iKnifeCollector Founder
Cutlery News Journal 
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