# How many Charter Members are there? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465 "2009-07-18T19:54:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/181 "2009-08-11T19:57:53Z")
bump… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/182 "2009-08-11T21:42:19Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > EDIT: which is in the region of Picardie, Captian Jean-Luc Strangely enough, the character of Captain Picard is not actually from Picardy, but rather from Franche-Comte. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/183 "2009-08-11T21:48:22Z")
Another mostly lurker checking in, not sure why I renewed. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/184 "2009-08-11T23:02:07Z")
Hear, Hear Charter Members! I propose a virtual toast to our snobbish sense of self & superiority over those who, I dare say, are only “Members”. And I offer each and everyone of this wise and exclusive group the coveted reward for your accomplishment: a virtual paper cup full of America’s finest: “What’s the word? / Thunderbird. / How’s it sold? / Good and cold. / What’s the jive? / Bird’s alive. / What’s the price? / Thirty twice.” Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/185 "2009-08-12T00:08:33Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Hear, Hear Charter Members! > “What’s the word? / Thunderbird. / How’s it sold? / Good and cold. / What’s the jive? / Bird’s alive. / What’s the price? / Thirty twice.” > > Cheers! Not only are you a charter member, you’re _truly_ old. I think I like you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/186 "2009-08-12T05:27:30Z")
Present ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/187 "2009-08-12T06:51:24Z")
Still here. Will probably re-up in April. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/188 "2009-08-12T13:35:51Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > A passel. Amazing. We have a member table with 84K rows on it, there is an attribute on those rows that indicates member type:guest, member, charter member, etc. So select count(\*) from member\_table where member\_type = “Charter Member”. (Exact syntax may vary depending on actual underlying database.) Is that so hard? Or is the answer to the question top secret for some paranoid reason? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/189 "2009-08-12T13:44:26Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I am not a charter member, but puzzled: Why is **robby** ’s [Post 155](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11407021&postcount=155)listed as his (her?) 3000th post, and then [Post 159](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11409265&postcount=159)then also listed as his 3000th post? “His” is correct. 🙂 > [@Giles](#): > > Because it’s not the number of the post, but the number of the poster. The 3,000 means that **robby** has posted 3,000 times, not that either of those is his 3,000th post. What **Giles** said, except that he meant “it’s not the number of the post, but the current number of posts that the poster has made.” In any event, [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11421459&postcount=7) was actually my 3000[sup]th[/sup] post. This post is my 3,003[sup]rd[/sup] post. If my post count indicates a higher number than 3,003, it means that I have made additional posts since this one. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/190 "2009-08-12T13:47:27Z")
Just here for the head count. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/191 "2009-08-12T14:07:02Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > … is the answer to the question top secret for some paranoid reason? He could tell you, but then he’d have to ban you. ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/192 "2009-08-12T16:06:10Z")
professional sdmb lurker, checking in! edit: \>6 yrs here, and i’m still not doing any quality posting. :gasp: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/193 "2009-08-12T16:45:54Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Or is the answer to the question top secret for some paranoid reason? They aren’t going to tell us ANYTHING about the Dope. It’s not that they don’t like us, but they’re a private company and they probably figure if they start telling us little things, eventually someone’s going to try to force them to reveal a real secret, like whether the board is actually making money. They also aren’t going to tell us because they’re in the business of selling advertising. How would you like to try and sell ad space to someone who did a little checking and found out that X percent of the potential audience for your ad are Charter Members – pretty much by definition the longest, most loyal users – and that means X percent is willing to fork out money every year for the privilege of not seeing advertising? It’s not paranoid and it’s not personal. It’s just business. ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/194 "2009-08-12T16:59:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > They aren’t going to tell us ANYTHING about the Dope. It’s not that they don’t like us, but they’re a private company and they probably figure if they start telling us little things, eventually someone’s going to try to force them to reveal a real secret, like whether the board is actually making money. > > They also aren’t going to tell us because they’re in the business of selling advertising. How would you like to try and sell ad space to someone who did a little checking and found out that X percent of the potential audience for your ad are Charter Members – pretty much by definition the longest, most loyal users – and that means X percent is willing to fork out money every year for the privilege of not seeing advertising? > > It’s not paranoid and it’s not personal. It’s just business. I guarentee you this board makes money. Just probably not enough. Forums are really, really, REALLY hard to monetize. Though, I would think straight dope has had an easier run of it than most. Like I said, it’s probably not enough.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/195 "2009-08-12T18:36:08Z")
Checking in… ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/196 "2009-08-12T19:10:40Z")
Yo. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/197 "2009-08-23T16:21:18Z")
Still hanging around… ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/198 "2009-09-01T21:28:50Z")
Hidy ho - me too. Sorry for the delay; I don’t usually go into ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/199 "2009-09-14T19:36:47Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Hidy ho - me too. Sorry for the delay; I don’t usually go into ATMB. I’m with you. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465/200 "2009-09-16T05:41:51Z")
Charter Member still. Cartooniverse [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-charter-members-are-there/503465.md?page=11)