Radio Free Registry

[admin]

Check the Registry Forum Joel, it is used all the time.
Can we get back to the discussion now?

[MMW]

I just checked the registry site for info on the holidays. The 2013 west coast info is posted & it seems more reasonable than the 2012 east coast holiday was. I understand it's a big event & needs to be big so it will draw owners from all distances. Still a fair amount of money but at least I would consider it. I'll see what the east coast brings this year.

Since there are regional clubs around do they require you to be a member of the registry or is it a club by club thing?

[Bill Sampson]

Mic:

Did you see this site:
http://westcoastholiday.org/

There is a registration form there which asks for a registry member number. David Gensler is a member of the local club I think and Bruce Baker has put on a holiday or two so they certainly know more than I.

Bill

[bbspdstr]

"Well Bruce, I can't speak before the Registry, because it was formed the year I was born, so I'll leave that to you.
But in the instance I was talking about it was a Registry Brother I was talking about, one who I think you have butted heads with, Geoff Fleming."

Geoff is a great guy and I cannot remember "butting heads"...but then I could be forgetting things in my old age, right?
So, Adam, you are one of those even younger than my son! That kinda explains the "Brotherhood" slang. You know that's sexist, right?

One thing I can agree on is ..... getting back to the topics at hand.

For sake of argument,let's say the Registry fulfills it's prophesied destiny of becoming just a magazine and younger 356 enthusiasts yawn. (You did get my "Excellence" reference, didn't you?) Suppose a new club is formed, modeled after the original Registry...what would ANYONE think would be a draw to participate?

(hint: Mic is on to things I've imagined, but I encourage expansion of that topic.)

And to Mic, Holidays have been traditionally 'members only.' They have become almost too big (and pricey) and what's going on now is the counter to that by going back to how it all began...locally and smaller. That trend should be obvious to anyone that needs a clue to what may get more people involved and active in any club at this time.

What are you doing on September 29 of this year? A few local Philly area 356ers are planning a 'non-denominational' picnic for the 356 Mid-Atlantic group. If a handful of us show, we are bringing everything for ourselves (food and drink)...if more wake up and respond, we'll get it catered...if even more wake up in time, we may have live music...but like all else, apathy seems to be in control at all levels, so after 15 years of picnics by my wife and me and a couple of others mixed in... when someone asks....."Where's the picnic this year?"...I reply; "Wherever you decide when you host it."

[S.J.Szabo]

Mr.Sampson:

Of course, those reform topics were schematic starting points and I am gratified that you have again selected some for exploration.

First, I would remind all that the IRS and the State of Ohio have specific expectations that a non-profit Social Club must meet, the primary one being that it be a social

[Bill Sampson]

Good points all SJ.

My reference to unwieldy was mainly as to size of the board. I prefer what I prefer would be a smaller number of directors (say 9 or even 7). I just think that works better than say, 21. As you probably have surmised my preference is not to permit over-representation, but I concede reasonable concerns on the other side of that argument. [I'll leave it for other venues as to whether the U.S. Senate as an institution is/was a good or a bad idea. It is, regardless of its merit or lack of same, inherently anti-democratic.]

Another alternative, cumulative voting assures minorities some representation on a board and is not anti-democratic. I suggested it a couple of election cycles back to general derision and/or confusion but it does work to assure at least some representation. You may have noted that fully 1/3 of the voting members of the Registry obtained NO representation on its board in the last election with its rather clear-cut issues. Cumulative voting would have assured that 1/3 of at least a seat on the board and thus representation that is currently lacking for them.

Once a year, OPEN TO MEMBERS, face to face board meetings in locations varying from year to year should suffice. East Coast one year, West Coast one year, Third Coast one year, etc. Other meetings could doubtless be held as conference calls, again open to all, as needed.

What do we do with a member of a local club who does not wish to be a member of the Registry? I know there are some "local" members now who are not Registry members, whether by choice or otherwise and wonder how you wish to handle such members who might enjoy the benefits of membership in, for example, the Porsche 356 Club here in Southern California without being forced to join the Registry.

As you suggest, every problem has a solution that is simple, obvious and wrong. Democracy IS inherently messy.

Bill

[jstenner]

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[MMW]

bbspdtr wrote -- " For sake of argument,let's say the Registry fulfills it's prophesied destiny of becoming just a magazine and younger 356 enthusiasts yawn. (You did get my "Excellence" reference, didn't you?) Suppose a new club is formed, modeled after the original Registry...what would ANYONE think would be a draw to participate?"

Of course these are only my opinions & I can't speak for others. Ideas not in any order.

1) web site with a forum open to all.
2) e-mail blast list to keep members up to date with happenings.
3) fun/inexpensive get togethers. These can include tech sessions, bull sessions, picnics, drives, meet ups for a night out or anything else the club would like.
4) I think the registry holidays might be hard to keep going like they are as it seems to be geared toward the elder crowd of owners. Meaning, retired, disposable income, no kids at home, etc. I am hard pressed to take off for more than a weekend (& even that's hard) because both my wife & I work & still have three kids living at home (two in high school still).
5) Take a look at what any of the water-cooled vw crowd is doing. These are the twenty/thirty somethings. They host one or two day events that are a blast. They are not overly planned but planned well enough to get you there & then the people & cars take car of the rest. People tend to look down on these kids with there slammed jettas, golfs etc. with overly stretched tires & tin can exhaust but this was us at their age. I'm sure everyone's parents were shaking their heads at us back then.
6) Take a look at the air-cooled vw crowd also. Same idea as above but the older members are teaching, nurturing, helping the younger guys.
7) Embrace the replica's. This may be the only way for the younger crowd to enter into 356dom. After all they are cousin's.

[MMW]

Another thing is 356s are not that abundant (except maybe southern California) so it might be hard to get numbers to show up at events. Maybe co-sponsor some events with the air-cooled vw groups. After all they invite us all the time. Here is a link to a short video from the All Air-Cooled Gathering in NJ. This is put on by the CJVWS which is an air cooled vw group. Sunday is the show but people arrive Saturday for the party, gtg, & camping. Probably the best show I've been to hands down. 350 air-coolers. What were the trophies? They bought metal lunch boxes & had custom stickers made. Very ingenious. This years AACG will be 09/21,22/2013 & it's $10 per day per person. If you watched the video you'll also notice there are kids & families.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2zaaSj5E6E

As I'm writing this I realize that it is the local groups that should be "the club". With one or two events to bring the local groups together. I forgot to mention above that most of these vw events choose a local charity & make a nice donation with the proceeds from the shows. I don't remember reading if the holidays do that?

[jstenner]

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[MMW]

One more thing. A Question to the Registry mods & trustees.

Why can't this discussion be held on the Registry?

I know what all your answers are but would like to hear from a Registry trustee. Maybe someone who is a member there can pose this question over there or forward it to the Trustee's.

[Bill Sampson]

Mic:

A couple of us have been tossed out by the Trustees for posing such questions as are being discussed here on their forum. By edict such matters are to be addressed only by email to the president, where, I can inform you from personal experience, they go to die.

Jack:

The "service" model you describe does work for the National Woodie Club. National obtains an insurance policy difficult for a small group to get and publishes a full color 32 page magazine 12 times per year that is distributed to 3000+ members. I'm finishing up my second (and last as per the bylaws) 3 year term on the national board on September 1. Yes I'm in favor of term limits. So is my wife.


Bill

[bbspdstr]

" I forgot to mention above that most of these vw events choose a local charity & make a nice donation with the proceeds from the shows. I don't remember reading if the holidays do that?"

I typed a better answer, interrupted by shop demands, tool guys and questions about brake parts.....and came back to send it and found I was timed-out. The short version is, to the best of my knowledge, no, the Holiday overages, if any, do NOT go to any charity. To the best of my knowledge, the Registry does not support or donate to ANY charity, nor is that a requirement. It would be a good way to look better as what can be perceived as perhaps a 'snooty' car club if there is 'extra' money in the treasury...as that is what most PCA regions seem to be able to do. The Registry really needs leadership that cares how things "look" to the outside world..and the membership that occasionally looks over and past their magazine.

[Meissen540]

Although its not a scientific pole, every person that gave us (The Original Gang of three: Curt Dansby, George Bryan, and myself) feedback on the DY356 Helen Georgia event in 2011 told us that we (The Registry) needs to get back to the small, cheap, make your own fun, no rubber chicken dinners or awards, type of events. One reply was spot on: "We are one Holiday away from turning into that gold chain crowd". Registration was $25, and you got a t-shirt and all the beer you wanted (yes we had some left over at the end... but not much). Our 356 suppliers put up sponsor money to defray costs.
If I recall correctly, we had about 150 people, 70+ cars from 12+ states.
Every person that gave us feedback said "this is how we should do gatherings".
We were called by others that wanted to do the same type of event in their area, and they had the same level of success.
My point: small regional events are wanted.
Oh, and our Helen event this year sold out 200 places in less than 4 weeks.
The hardest part is finding people you can work with to plan the event. Our rule is to leave the egos behind when doing the work.
We found business owners (cabin rentals, restaurants, caterers) that would work with us without money and contracts up front. If you plan far enough ahead, its not that bad.

So Mic, did I see your name on the list again? Hope so.

My 2 cents on small regional events.
Tom

[Meissen540]

Bruce,
I believe you received the email from us after closing the last DY356 Helen event, since you were a generous sponsor. We wrote a check of $292 to the American Cancer Society thru Diane, and gave a complete accounting of the spending of the funds.
Us organizers believe in transparency, and not making money off of such events.

Tom