[JONAT-chat] The End is closer than you Think

[Mark Stephenson]

Yep, it's hard to believe it's over. What am I going to read for the
next six months?

Well, between six Jag-Lovers lists, my local club e-mail, JCNA e-mail,
spam, virus-stripped messages, and, oh yeah, business e-mail, I'll
probably find something to fill the void.

As an SC, I'm going to throw out a few challenges to existing and
potential SCs and ASCs. 

Challenge #1: Local club membership

Join your local Jaguar Club (It doesn't have to be JCNA, although about
95% of them are.) Why? They're your support group. You aren't going to
have a pool of Jaguar owners to consult and excite if you aren't a
member of the local club. 

Back when I was membership director of our local club, the largest
single requested activity on our membership application was drives,
tours, road trips, etc. It was on about half the applications where
people expressed a preference. If your local club is languishing, if the
members are lethargic, if owners whine that the club doesn't do
anything, if you whine that it's a bunch of snobs who only want to show
their cars, it's time for you to jump in and take control. Go to the
next meeting and announce that you are the club drivemeister. Get it in
the newsletter. Trust me, no matter what you think of your local club,
there are die-hard drivers in the clubs just waiting for an excuse to
get their cars out on the road. 

Challenge #2: To SC or not to SC...

If you are thinking of throwing in the towel after your first attempt,
get with the local club to find a replacement. (That's why that was #1.)
Go to a meeting and ask who drives their car a lot. Get one of them to
be the drivemeister for your club.

If you are thinking of picking up the towel, the route will be different
each JONAT. Don't let the fact that you weren't along a JONAT route this
year, discourage you. JONAT goes where the SCs are. It goes where the
SCs are the most enthusiastic. It goes where the drivers are.

Challenge #3: Get some experience.

Those of you who volunteered and will volunteer to be SCs are obviously
the kind of take-charge people who can organize something. Start with a
simple afternoon loop. Or, put your fiendish mind to work and set up one
of the many types of rallies. (I like the kind with the riddles for
questions.) Set up an overnight run. Keep your eye out for other tours
and rallies in your area, get your members enthused about signing up en
masse and learn from them. Establish yourself as a person who can put
together a good trip and people will follow you on the JONAT.

You have the rest of the driving season to try your hand at tour
organizing.

Mark Stephenson, 2004 Sector Coordinator - Arizona
AZ Sector Home Page - http://jonat.org/sector/info.cfm?sequence=7.0
Arizona Sector Report - http://jonat.org/mark/JONAT07AZReport
Route details - http://jonat.org/mark/secdetail/secdetail.htm
Printable maps - http://www.jonat.org/mark/routemaps.pdf