Purpose

Hello Harmony Enthusiasts, Avid Acappellans, Late-Night Tag Ringers and Fellow Barbershop Aficionados of Every Swipe, Type & Stripe!

Let's have a little heart to heart. You and I care about Barbershop. We care about its value in our lives and in the lives of others. Some of us care intensely and for reasons we can't quite put into words (although "obsession" comes to mind). We care because we know Barbershop is valuable—valuable in ways we know well and in ways we haven't yet explored but sense are there. Let's face it—we tend to be unabashedly passionate about this stuff.

You saw the graphs on the Home page. There's a great challenge before us and with it an even greater opportunity:

Challenge—Our challenge is chapter and Society effectiveness as champions for Barbershop—for the value it can feed into our lives and communities.

Opportunity—Our great opportunity is becoming such good champions that our chapters and the Society grow and flourish, and the value of Barbershop becomes widely known, cherished and respected.

Like you, I joined the Society simply to have great fun singing. I read the "preservation and encouragement" language and grinned at the realization that the Society founders had a marvelous sense of humor in keeping with the Vaudeville roots of the style. It took a number of years before I realized what a stunningly noble cause preservation of the style and perpetuation of the genre is.

 The fun, thrills and uplifting emotions innate to Barbershop harmonies are genetic rights for all human beings to enjoy. As champions, we have the stewardship responsibilities, and it's really important we get it right.

[genetic rights-July/August 2008 edition of American Scientist magazine: "The Psychoacoustics of Harmony Perception"]

I started 21st & 7th so Barbershop Harmony Society chapters could become far more successful, popularize the style and themselves, and colonize new chapters. By 2020, Society membership can top 150,000 in over 3000 chapters across the continent. The pathways to this horizon are becoming clear. We've beta-tested the strategies, and through workshop training, those strategies are working in more and more chapters.

One byproduct of the methods is steady membership growth. How steady? The beta-test chapter doubled its active membership from 26 to 52 over 29 months—no membership campaigns, no advertising blitzes, just compellingly attractive strategies. For these stats, "active" simply means regularly participating in chapter meetings.

Think about it—this is an enormous opportunity. The potential value of Barbershop in the lives of millions of people today is too great for us not to seize the reins and drive.

  We are the champions. We can plan it, we can implement it and we can guide it. We can create and enjoy the kind of chapter life we always wanted. Together we can create a wondrous infusion of joy, hope and love everywhere the Society has a presence."

Too pie-in-the-sky? Too Pollyanna? Too noble? Heck, no! We discovered how to grow again! The 100,000 + membership number is fully attainable!!

So, let's do something wonderful—something truly worth our time and effort—something of legacy significance. Let's take the next step now…with your chapter.

Chuck Greene
June, 2008