[JONAT] Payment System NOT Ready

[Mark Stephenson]

Fazal,
 
You aren't a member of JCNA where it's the rare concours that nearly everyone doesn't go home with a trophy. :-) These things multiply and take over every square inch of spare shelf space until you finally decide to start boxing them and putting them in storage. I currently have on display twenty car trophies, fifteen dash plaques, five license plates, five bonnet badges, and three buttons from various British Car events. And my cars are not by any means pristine. 
 
I think we should order some nice memorabilia and make it available for sale, but not include it in the registration fee. The only thing I can think of that has a proper place in the tour is a special binder that folds back on itself for the route maps. That's the one practical thing that people aren't going to have. It would be a somewhat unusual design to work properly and I don't know if such a thing even exists.
 
Speaking of the registration fee, right before the time the web site went down, I proposed a donation rather than a fee. I was considering four check boxes -- $10, $25, $50, and Other. Did that make it to the list? Either it did and everyone voted nay by their silence or it didn't make it. We could make some of the goodies a premium for larger donations. For example, if they donate $10, they get nothing; if they donate $25, they get a handsome binder for the route maps and directions; if they donate $50, they get the binder and a beautifully crafted cloisonné bonnet badge. That way, those of us who are already too kludged up with trinkets won't be paying for something we're just going to put into a box.

As I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, I'm doing this as much for my local club as I am JONAT, so I'm going to give AZ sector participants from the Phoenix and Tucson JCNA clubs the option of being part of JONAT or doing it as a club activity. As it stands right now, it's $44 for the Rt. 66 Fun Run and $20/car ($10/person) to get into the Grand Canyon. There's a charge a Mesa Verde if people start from the beginning. Along Rt. 66 there are lots of other places to stop and many of them have entry fees, too. They are more optional, but my point is that there's no shortage of places to spend money on the route and I'm not going to have the $45 JONAT fee to be a deterrent to my local club members who are participating in the sector I've mapped out. 

As someone said earlier, I can't see people getting excited about paying to drive across their own roads in their own state. I mentioned our local British Euro Auto Tour (BEAT) as an example a while back. Their first year (five or six years ago) it cost $35 which included a license plate, a dash plaque, a continental breakfast, lunch, an afternoon ice cream social, and a trailing pickup truck with trailer and tools to help the broken. Dinner, lodging, and breakfast the next morning came out of our pockets. The BEAT offered logo golf shirts, magnetic door signs and some other goodies for an additional charge. The BEAT is now $60, but still includes all the amenities. The reason I join 175 other cars making the BEAT every year is not because of the license plate or the dash plaque -- they're collecting dust in my closet. It's not because of the route, which doesn't change much, year to year. It's because of the camaraderie and the value. 

If JONAT people are like the ones from the BEAT, memorabilia will mean nothing if we don't put together a good tour. OTOH, if we put together a good tour, people will be eagerly anticipating the next JONAT whether they have memorabilia or not.

My 2˘.

Mark - AZ

________________________________

	From: jonat-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:jonat-admin@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Fazal Cader
	Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 5:51 PM
	To: jonat@autox.team.net
	Subject: Re: [JONAT] Payment System NOT Ready
	
	
	Greg, with all due respect, not everyone wins or gets as many plaques or prizes/mementos that relate to their Jaguar ownership. I am sure that many of those for whom JONAT may be the only organised Jaguar activity that they participate in, a memento would be appreciated.
	Further, we are endeavouring to make JONAT more than just a flash-in-the-pan adventure and we need constant reminders of it out in the 23 months or so before the next one. From a marketing point of view, we need the paraphernalia of an organised event. Otherwise, we might as well just put the whole thing on the web, email everybody once and wash our hands of it.
	 
	Fazal Cader
	Executive Committee, ISC - Australia
	Jaguar Owner's North American Tour - www.jonat.org
	April 15, 2004 - July 4, 2004