Candidate Q&A: Joe Rives
AANR presidential challenger Joe Rives on membership, government affairs, and the future of the organization
Every two years, AANR members elect the volunteers who run the largest nudist organization in North America. This year’s ballot includes candidates for secretary/treasurer, vice president, and regional trustee seats—most of them uncontested. Then there’s the presidential race. Two candidates, and all the attention that comes with it.
The AANR presidency is an unpaid volunteer position—no salary, no staff of your own, considerable responsibility. The president chairs the Board of Trustees and is the most visible face of the organization, but holds no voting power except to break a tie. It carries real weight, and the person in that chair sets a tone that ripples through everything the organization does.
Planet Nude sent identical written questions to both candidates. Their answers are published in full, in separate posts, unedited.
A disclosure: I currently serve as AANR’s PR Committee chair, which puts me in the unusual position of covering an election I have a seat near. I’ve worked alongside both candidates and have genuine respect for each. I’ve tried to let that inform the fairness of the questions rather than the softness of them—and they aren’t soft questions. I don’t think AANR is well served by soft ones, and this isn’t a PR exercise. Editorial independence is the whole point of doing this here.
The following interview is with Joe Rives, president of the AANR Florida Region and a full-time resident of Cypress Cove. He’s challenging incumbent Linda Weber, bringing a background in large-scale nonprofit administration—managed budgets, membership growth, fundraising—and a candidate platform centered on club support, member retention, and government affairs. He was named AANR Man of the Year in 2025.
Voting opened May 1 and closes June 20.
Both candidates answered the same questions. The Linda Weber interview is here →
How did you become a nudist or naturist, and what made you want to lead the organization that represents it?
My father was a home nudist and naturism has always defined me. As a full-time resident of Cypress Cove, I see the importance of AANR and the benefits of naturism every day.
AANR defines my passion to promote and provide nude recreation. I have an intense, authentic, and deep enthusiasm for naturism. And cherish the opportunity to work hard with our members, clubs, regions, and committees to support a strong, highly valued, and resilient AANR.
AANR defines my purpose to protect and preserve nude recreation. Hence, the priorities of:
Expanding opportunities for members to enjoy nude recreation at existing and new clubs, participating businesses, and clothing-optional beaches; and
Strengthening support provided to our members, clubs, and Government Affairs Teams in promoting and protecting naturism.
My words are backed by actions in non-profit and membership based associations. I am:
Accomplished: Managed a $230M annual budget, achieved record enrollment growth, and generated $75.4M in fundraising.
Respected: Named the AANR Man of the Year (2025), University Hall of Fame Member (2016), and Illinois/Iowa Quad Cities Man of the Year (2015).
Trusted: Served on 21 non-profit boards, including current President of the AANR-Florida Region and Chairperson of the National Club Support and Value Committee, two-time President of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators, and appointed to the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism.
It would be an honor and privilege to put this drive and determination into advancing AANR.
What do people—members and non-members alike—most commonly get wrong about AANR, and why does it matter?
We need more AANR education: who we are and the importance of what we do. Here are some examples from different perspectives. Each example shows that non-understanding hurts member recruitment and retention.
As Chairperson of the Club Support and Value Committee (CSVC), we learned that security concerns are the top reasons why individuals do not join or remain in nudist organizations. We are changing our websites, publications, and forms to emphasize that AANR clubs provide secure venues. We are also researching no-cost sexual offender searches and low-cost membership background check options for interested clubs. By virtue of the Association’s total size, we can get volumetric discounts at a larger rate.
I recently called all Florida Direct Members whose membership expired in 2025, asking them to renew. Many at first were not interested, saying they no longer go to clubs.
My response was that a portion of your membership dues are applied to Government Affairs Teams. And that when you re-invest in AANR, you are giving back to the association that protected your rights to exercise social nudism, and you are paying it forward to future generations of naturists to enjoy the same rights. These discussions were highly persuasive for former members to return to AANR.
As the Florida President, a team has successfully educated the executive branch on the differences between AANR and our practice of wholesome nude recreation compared to lifestyle clubs. This included documenting our self-governing practices that negated the need for regulatory legislation.
What’s the most important thing AANR hasn’t fixed yet?
Annual retention of members and clubs. Quarterly increases and decreases in membership totals fluctuate. However, the end-of-year 2025 Membership Report demonstrates a continued net annual decline in membership. AANR again in 2025 lost more current members than it attracted in new members. We also have fewer clubs than we once had.
Keeping and growing membership is one of AANR’s most pressing challenges. What’s your actual plan to address it—and how is it different from what’s already been tried?
Here are my suggestions for new opportunities in a recruitment and retention plan that would have to be approved by the Board of Trustees. They are based on successful past experiences leading non-profit associations.
Recruitment
Implement approved security enhancements from the CSVC.
Ask the new Ambassador and Speaker Bureau to identify and evaluate success metrics.
Expand the Florida AANR Partnership Initiative. We are reaching out to family-friendly nudist clubs that are not AANR clubs to encourage AANR membership along with their existing membership(s). This brings more venues to current and prospective members and increased revenue to the clubs.
Identify and offer clubs discounted software rates for user-friendly social media management software that supports individual posting across multiple platforms at the same time.
Work with clubs to identify and address barriers that prevent all club residents from joining AANR.
Retention
Increase messaging that when you invest in AANR, you are giving back to the association that protected your rights to exercise social nudism, and you are paying it forward to future generations of naturists to do the same.
Expand the Florida pilot test of calling former members to encourage a return to AANR.
Celebrate member milestone anniversaries.
Identify people, structures, processes, and resources to help clubs under membership thresholds grow and thrive.
Investigate angel investment opportunities for creating new or maintaining existing AANR venues when they are considering closing or are placed on the market.
The AANR president is a volunteer with limited formal power. What specifically can you do in this role—and what can’t you?
The AANR Bylaws are clear on presidential responsibilities. This important position is entrusted by the membership to:
Conduct the business affairs and other activities of the Association in accordance with our Ruling Documents.
Prepare and preside at the annual membership meeting and all other meetings of the Board of Trustees.
Implement decisions of the Board.
This defines what the president does. Any other actions would be outside the scope of the position.
To the position, in addition to passion, purpose, drive and determination for AANR’s club and member success, I bring the values and emphasis on:
AANR’s Ruling Documents.
Communication and collaboration.
Transparency and accountability.
Partnerships with like-minded organizations.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion.
These values and priorities are what have led to a career of accomplishments, respect, and trust.
AANR operates in an increasingly online world but has struggled to build a consistent digital presence. What does a real communications strategy look like, and what’s the president’s role in building one?
Throughout my 30+ year administrative career, I have found that an effective communications strategy combines rational value (discounts, services) with emotional value (community, identity) to strengthen the membership recruitment and retention proposition.
Other situations may focus on one of the value propositions depending on the matter at hand. But in any circumstance, our digital, print, and verbal communications need to:
Include clear, specific, and measurable goals.
Identify the stakeholders that will receive the message.
Provide a simple, concise, and consistent message across platforms, including the relevance to the recipient.
Use multiple channels where the audience spends time (e.g., email, social media, internal platforms, press releases) to achieve maximum reach.
Provide opportunities for two-way dialogue (surveys, Q&A sessions, social listening, responding to feedback).
Evaluate performance metrics and refine strategies and future messaging accordingly.
Many members view the President as the “face of AANR.” Therefore, the President should support the work of our Marketing and Public Relations Committees, Ambassadors and Speaker’s Bureau (of which I am a member of both), and other outreach efforts. Support includes requested use of their time and talents, advocacy of Committee and Bureau efforts, etc.
The President may engage in additional PR functions. However, the amount of time and the projects should be agreed upon by the Board of Trustees. They supervise the President.
AANR has a government affairs function that most members probably don’t think about until something goes wrong—a beach closure, a local ordinance, a legal threat to a club. How do you strengthen that work, and do you see public relations as part of that fight or separate from it?
We have exceptional leadership from our Executive Director and our national and regional Government Affairs Teams (GAT). They continuously identify, monitor, and act upon pending legislation in the United States and Canada. This includes proposed and pending legislation that would either advantage or disadvantage the current and future of social nudism. They spend extraordinary amounts of time on volumes of issues for which we are all thankful.
Both the Marketing and Public Relations Committees play important roles in GAT awareness and advocacy. From my successful experiences, the Marketing Committee should focus on marketing drives, sales, and promoting the Association. This includes the give-back and pay-it-forward campaign that I previously discussed.
And without question, the Public Relations (PR) Committee plays a critical and strategic role in government advocacy. PR builds a positive, long-term reputation and manages brand image. Their work also shapes individual and public opinion and policy.
As President, I would like to see increased collaborations between AANR HQ, contracted lobbyists, our GAT teams, and PR Committees in building relationships with officials, managing reputation, and influencing perceptions around proposed legislation.
What does success look like at the end of your two-year term—and why does any of this matter to you personally?
Success would be measured by being elected for a second two-year term. This would show that we had documented progress and success on our goals and priorities and that we evaluated and adjusted where our efforts did not have the desired ends.
Success matters to me because AANR is my passion and purpose. Our success is my drive and determination. And being elected is the highest accolade you can receive in a membership organization.
As with this and future elections, winning means that members paused to think about the status of the Association, the direction it should take, and the person with the highest ability to achieve the desired ends. To me that is both personally and professionally rewarding.
I thank everyone for expressing their voice and voting between May 1 and June 20. 🪐
Both candidates answered the same questions. The Linda Weber interview is here →
Finally, a candidate for the important office of AANR President who offers concrete proposals to improve the organization, not some nonsense about being a servant leader. Be a leader, and that is what I see in Mr. Rives’ answers.
Each question he answered included clear examples of what he is currently doing in his roles at the organization to broaden its outreach and educate people about the value of AANR. Mr. Rives’ stated actions, such as reaching out to past members to better educate them about the value of AANR, working to improve confidence regarding security issues, and working with a state legislature to educate the government about the value and decency of naturism, are exemplary efforts.
His comments on membership and AANR’s biggest obstacle, retention, are well thought out. His plans to make members feel important and part of the organization, rather than merely a revenue source, will go a long way toward attracting and retaining members. One complaint I hear from people in our naturist group is that AANR seems more interested in clubs than in naturists. Mr. Rives is focusing on members as well as clubs.
I am also impressed that, instead of double-speak, Mr. Rivas laid out the responsibilities of the president's office. To be a good president, one must understand the role, and I feel that is not the case currently.
There is no doubt that Mr. Rives has demonstrated his efforts and accomplishments in his current role as President of the AANR-Florida region and in his various committee assignments. Combined with his strong professional credentials in leadership roles, he is highly qualified for this position. Unlike the other candidate, there is no platitudes or rhetoric. Instead, Mr. Rives has laid out a clear path to a better AANR for everyone.
I am not a member. I have not joined because I find the current leadership ineffective and see no value in supporting AANR. If Mr. Rives wins, I will become a member. However, I hope all members will read these answers and reach the same conclusion I have. A vote for Joe Rives is a vote for AANR’s future.
Go Joe!