The simple answer is : 'It's all up to you!'

TNT!MEN is a social nudist group for all men. Directed and operated by it's membership.

Summarising the most frequently asked questions from the information email and phone-line, we have heard, are:
"Why don't we do more events?"
"Why don't we do more different types of events?"
"How about organizing a monthly Happy Hour gathering?"
"How about starting a monthly discussion group?
"How about starting a monthly body painting group?
"How About starting special interests groups?"
'How about starting a monthly couples gathering?"
Etc. Etc.

The truth of the matter is, we all would love to have many more and
different opportunities to be naked with other naked men. However when it comes to organizing these events, it always appears to fall back on the same few guys who are doing all the work, while everyone else merely enjoys the fruits of their labour.

In a volunteer based social group, you get out of it, what you put into it! Members have other responsibilities, than just buying a membership. Besides receiving great member benefits, membership also means that you must share the communal work, or at least from time to time contribute otherwise. The set up of a social group like ours is comparable to the operations of a
housing cooperative, where one pays minimal charges in exchange for periodic personal contributions.

We have almost three hundred members on an annual basis, making us one of the largest social groups of our community, yet our pool of devoted volunteers remains extremely small.

But before I continue the purpose of this article, please allow me to tell you a little story that will illustrate my point better. While on my way to do some personal shopping the other day, I was stopped by a fellow on the street, who just about verbally attacked me, saying: "What (the h...) is happening to The Barn and why haven't 'you guys' found another location for the naked dances yet?"

Frankly I was definitely flabbergasted by his somewhat antagonistic attitude and certainly his tone of voice. In a very relaxed, yet focussed mind-set I tried explaining that it is not easy to instantly find alternate accommodations for our naked events or business. I continued by explaining that besides the difficulty of finding alternate space, the board also is seriously overtaxed with other club related work, while trying to maintain a
personal life as well.

I must say that I felt rather overwhelmed by the man's attitude as he came
across as almost personally blaming me for the loss of the Barn/Stables,
which of course is utter nonsense. He also suggested that as a board we
should do, and should have done, more, to alleviate the problems to begin
with. After a few poignant words about his dislikes in going to regular
bars, who would not allow him to be naked, and therefore, according to him,
be himself, he once again disappeared into the traffic as quickly as he had
appeared, leaving me somewhat baffled about the event.

Walking over to the Eaton's Centre I simply couldn't get the man's words out
of my mind in an attempt to analyse the nature of his obvious personal
frustrations, while refocusing my mind after this somewhat unpleasant and
certainly unexpected interlude to my day. Of course I recognized that his
tone of voice and obvious antagonistic stance towards me frankly had
absolutely nothing to do with me personally, but rather was a mere
reflection of his own frustrations. I also realized that he had never
volunteered for any of our functions, and in fact he was among those who had
caused controversy during a past official TNT!MEN dance, almost closing down
the entire event. More importantly however, I concluded that the hidden
meaning behind his awkwardly expressed frustrations, did in fact hold some
basis in truth. Where he was wrong, was in assuming that only board members
have responsibilities.

TNT!MEN is not a country-club with our own clubhouse, staff and services,
but rather we are a social club using the facilities of others, with all
members being equal and all work is done by volunteer members, having equal
responsibilities and input. In a country club the membership dues are often
many thousands of dollars, which pay for all the services, manpower and
facilities. In our social club the membership fee is merely twenty dollars
per year, placing all emphasis of the required work on the membership. All
planning and board meetings are open to all members. Granted board members
are elected to do your bidding for you, but if you disagree with any of our
actions than it's up to you to join us and help steer us into a more
appropriate direction. After all we are a fully democratic organization,
where all members have an equal say, and all decisions are made on a
majority basis. The only reason why currently some of us have more tasks
than others is simply to make up for the incredible lack of board
volunteers. Regardless of the fact that this year we didn't have a
Communications-, Volunteer-, and Special Events Coordinator nor a Newsletter
Editor, the board still maintained most of the standard events, ranging from
swimming, yoga, book-club, house parties and even our naked dances (at least
for most of the year.) This meant that all this work had to be completed as
additional tasks by those few who did take on the jobs, stretching our own
personal resources to the very limits, while leaving absolutely no spare
time to do all we might have intended to do.

So let's return to the big question and the reason for this article:
'Where is TNT!MEN going in the future?'
The simple answer is : 'It's all up to you!'

In mid September we will once again hold our AGM (Annual General Meeting)
and board elections, and the truth of the matter is that without your help
this club is not going to go anywhere. We desperately need new board
members. Being a board member does not mean signing up as a volunteer for
every event. For this purpose we have a pool of about twenty outstanding
guys, who always do great jobs as volunteers. What it does mean, however,
is that these volunteers need to be organized and scheduled by a
Coordinator. In fact being a board member by itself does not require much
more than a few hours per month. We meet once per month for about an hour
and a half, at a mutually convenient time and place. After this, it fully
depends on the board function, the personal willingness, as well as time
availability of the person involved, as to how many hours are put into our
organization. Most of the specific functions such as Treasurer,
Membership-, Volunteer-, and Communications Coordinator spend about an
additional hour and a half per month in maintaining their specific
functional tasks. The big jobs are the Events-, Special Events-, and
Newsletter Coordinators functions. The successes of these positions are
entirely up to the individuals who coordinate these, their personal
commitment and their organizational abilities.

Besides having specific functional board members, we also require
board-members-at- large, who simply are willing to help us direct the
organization. These guys may not have specific functions on the board, yet
they are present at our board meetings to generously give their opinions on
issues and events. According to our By-Laws at the time of elections all
Board functions are up for grabs. No one has specific dips on specific
jobs. Subsequent to the elections, the board members jointly divide
specific functions based on capability and interest.

During the AGM, members are asked about their visions on our organizational
future. This period of the meeting is used to create a dialogue among us;
to ask questions; or to suggest future directions for our social club. The
important issue to remember is that our club is only as strong as the work
you are willing to put into it, and therefore, the future of TNT!MEN is
indeed entirely in your hands.

If for any reason you can not attend our Annual General Meeting and
Elections, you can still be part of this by giving us your proxy. You can
do this by email, saying that you are giving us your proxy, or you can even
(snail)mail us your proxy. This is extremely important if by chance we have
more than the maximum (8) required board members for the election. Either
way is fine, but of course it would be far better if you can personally
attend our AGM in September, so we can hear your thoughts and wishes for our
club. At this point, we ask that you give some serious considerations as to
how you can best contribute to our organization; what you would like to see
for the future of TNT!MEN; and more importantly: Is the club important
enough for you to join our board, in helping to ensure its continuity in the
future? Without you, we can simply not do it!

For more details on the elections and the AGM, please consult our By-Laws,
as posted on our website. In the meantime, if you have any questions or you
would like to chat about the various possibilities, please    contact us  or call me (Bert) direct at 416-323-9209