A1: All students must be sponsored by a RIMEA member. Any member can sponsor your child, most typically the sponsor is your child's school music teacher or private instructor. In addition, there are specific requirements regarding All-State eligibility.
A2: MENC member services can answer and help you with any membership questions. Visit the MENC Member Services website or call 1-800-336-3768. If you simply need to change a mailing address or a phone number you can use the form on the RIMEA membership directory.
A3: The RIMEA listserv is hosted by RINET and managed by member Fritz Benz. You sign-up/change your status here.
A4: Nine out of ten times the solution is simple... don't use any capital letters at all If that doesn't help, be sure that you are using your complete MENC number (as printed on your membership card), and your first name with no CAPS. If you're still having problems... then e-mail Wayne for help. Member profiles are now updated every month. If your membership is more than 2 months delinquent, you're profile may have been removed.
A5: Many of the PDF documents on RIMEA.org require you to have Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 4.0 or later to access them. This allows you to search the big documents. (Most current version of Adobe Reader is 9.0)
You can check your version number by opening Abode Reader and selecting "Help... About..." If your version pre-dates 4.0, please upgrade to a newer version of the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is available for every OS from Windows to UNIX to Mac. That should do it!A6: Active RIMEA membership is open to all persons engaged in music teaching and any retired member wishing to attain active membership status in Rhode Island. When you join MENC and choose Rhode Island as your state affiliation, you are automatically enrolled in RIMEA. You must join MENC to join RIMEA. Currently, enrollment is $100 per year for a fully active membership.
A7: Posting will be removed on the expiration date provided. If you need to, e-mail Wayne if you need something taken down sooner. If no expiration date was provided, listings that are 3 months olds will be taken down automatically.
A8: RIMEA.org sends "rich-text" HTML email message confirmations when you register for a festival or conference. These messages look neater and allow for things such as advanced formatting and tables. Almost all web-based email (AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Cox) can read HTML messages... as do most email clients. (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora) It might be possible to change a setting on your email preferences.
If nothing else works.... try this:
A9: In additon to member discounts on in-services and conferences, you will recieve a subscription to the Music Educators Journal and Teaching Music. For more details on member benefits, please visit MENC's member tour.
A10: That's an easy one. Check the directions page for driving directions to every event this year.
A11: In the upper right-hand corner of every page on this site is a search engine. While not the most sophisticated search engine in the world... it will search only the RIMEA site and help you find exactly what you need.
A12: The online forms make it much easier and quicker to register for festivals. The paper copy you print and send it serves as a backup to the electronic form. Plus, it is still necessary to "snail mail" your payment in after registering electronically.
A13: The Member Handbook includes some home addresses and telephone numbers that we'd rather not make public. In short, the Member Handbook is for RIMEA members.