(a whole bunch of stuff about my comments on the proposed Rootes Club)
Hey Funkster, Hey Gang,
Geez... Where to start?
Sometime back a thread was started on the Alpine list about forming a=20 ROOTES club. This was largely in response to the expressed feeling of=20 several A-listers that they were not welcome at Tiger events and in=20 Tiger clubs, so the general expressed feeling was that a broader, more=20 inclusive club was called for. One of the large complaints was that=20 there seems to be fewer commercial items available for Alpines than=20 for Tigers even though there were more Alpines made than Tigers.
Normally, at least in my experience, a club has several functions=20 including the exchange of information and the staging of social=20 events. Clubs generally foster a feeling of camaraderie, a feeling of=20 belonging, a feeling of common purpose. In my opinion, the best clubs=20 also attempt to serve some "community purpose." This could be the=20 small the community (the club) and the service may be increasing=20 marque(s) awareness and ensuring parts availability. Some clubs even=20 attempt to serve the broader community through Christmas Toy Drives,=20 fund raising, and so forth.
Most clubs have T-shirts, ballcaps, key fobs, fountain pens, lapel=20 pins, window stickers, and so forth. Most clubs correspond with other=20 clubs. Most clubs negotiate with vendors for discounts and so forth.
Most clubs actively solicit people to join. Most marque clubs don't=20 even require ownership for membership.
No club that I am familiar with just gets together for a conference=20 call once a week or once a month.
So, Rex and Ramon, ask yourselves if your Alpine Netters And Listers=20 (ANAL) Group will serve these functions. Even more basically, should=20 your ANAL get togethers accomplish some or all of these things? If the=20 answer is "no," then the discussion need go no further.
As I said in my previous post, I think there is a lot of technical=20 info that gets posted here which could benefit a larger audience. Do=20 you seriously believe that the largest audience is reached through=20 your keyboards? Do you seriously believe that people without computers=20 have NOTHING to contribute to those of us who do have keyboards? Who's=20 being exclusionary now, guys?
< Is this a monthly, semi-monthly, or quarterly publication? Either=20 way the math is wrong.> Rex, I did not mean to confuse an emotional exchange with "facts &=20 figgers." All I was trying to point out is that if a quarterly=20 newsletter costing $3 each were put out it would cost $12 per year to=20 mail out to one recipient. If a club sets its individual dues at $25=20 per year and expects to spend $12 of those dues sending out=20 newsletters to those who want hard copies, then you net addicted guys=20 could logically not be required to spend the $12 for hard copies you=20 don't want or need.
<Gee, that's $12 more than we pay now.> That is, indeed, $12 more than you spend now. The reason it is more=20 is: as noted above, clubs have other functions and expenses beyond the=20 newsletter. Is whatever it is you have now that you are not paying $12=20 for what you want? If so, why is this whole discussion going on? Just=20 set up a chat room--that end-all, be-all in the world of the truly=20 computer afflicted--and go to chattin'. Easy, no expense, no effort,=20 no risk of accidentally being of service to all those unworthy folks=20 < who have a car under a dusty tarp in the garage they haven't touched=20 for 10 years.>
I can't quote statistics on the numbers of people involved in old cars=20 who are net challenged but I do know from experience that no more than=20 20% of the folks who belong to the half-dozen clubs that I belong to=20 (that collect the information) are on-line. Unfortunately, the most=20 germane clubs--TAC, CATO, TE/AE, STOA--publish member rosters but do=20 not include eddresses (go figger). That 80% of people who do not have=20 online capabilities may not go to club meetings either but they still=20 have a contribution to make. They still sell and buy cars and parts.=20 They still have outside contacts and interests that affect all of us.=20 They are still "worthy" human beings.
Has it occurred to you to examine the number of people who subscribe=20 to the Alpine list compared to the number who actually participate in=20 the list? If you want an even worse picture, look at the number who=20 actively contribute meaningful technical information (as opposed to=20 mere rants and raves). Does that mean that the lurkers should all be=20 excluded? "Publish or Perish!" (Which one of the online lists wanted=20 to try that a couple of months back?)
The sad fact is that I only know of one really nice newsletter online.=20 Even sadder is the fact that, as of the last time I checked, it hadn't=20 been updated in six months. Saddest of all is the fact that it is/was=20 put out by the MG club in Texas. With several thousand members they=20 did a good job of taking their hard-copy newsletter and converting it=20 to an online pub but stopped a while back. Their web guru says he is=20 "just behind a little." Need I point out that the hard-copy newsletter=20 is still going out to the membership?
Take a look at >>>>>>> http://www.tmgr.org/tcn/tcnmain.htm
Glance through an issue or two but be careful not to contaminate your=20 ANAL eyes with rotten ol' MG stuff.
Do you know of any other good car club newsletters on line? If so,=20 please post the URL's so the rest of the list can take a look.
< your taste in cars seems to be improving > Sorry, Funkman, sorry Ramonmeister, but my taste in cars is pretty=20 much what it has been for about 35 years. I have the Morgan I wanted=20 when I was 16. I have the Tiger I wanted when I was 20. I plan to get=20 the Alpine (which I also wanted when I was 16) for my wife.
Cheers!
=8BColin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA '65 Tiger MKI & '66 Plus 4
Quoted in full, Rex Funk wrote:
>=20
> Colin Cobb wrote:
>=20
> >Based on my experiences editing and publishing club newsletters, a goo=
d
> one will cost >nearly $3 by the time it reaches the reader. So, dues f=
or
> somebody who is "net
> >challenged" might cost $25
>=20
> Is this a monthly, semi-monthly, or quarterly publication? Either way =
the
> math is wrong.
>=20
> >While you dedicated 'puterheads would only have to pony up $12 or so.
>=20
> Gee, that's $12 more than we pay now. What are the costs involved in a=
n
> electronic newsletter?
>=20
> >Simple fact is that less that 20% of the target membership will be on
> > the net. . . . Why throw away 80% of your membership before you even
> start?
>=20
> I don't know that to be a fact at all, and I submit it depends on how y=
ou
> define your target membership. I would rather have 2 members who show =
up
> than 8 who have a car under a dusty tarp in the garage they haven't tou=
ched
> for 10 years. I do know that anyone who opts to sift through all these
> messages about Sunbeams daily has demonstrated some level of interest a=
nd
> commitment. These are important ingredients in any club membership. N=
o
> one is suggesting that we exclude the not-yet-connected; but we do have=
a
> system to distribute information that works, and that reaches and invol=
ves
> hundreds of people daily. So let's extend it. I would gladly download=
an
> on-line newsletter for a fellow Rootes owner who is not on line, and I =
have
> yet to hear anyone on the list balk at doing the same. Printed hard co=
py
> or a fax reads just as well in the bathroom, and is a lot cheaper to
> distribute. Who knows, it might even motivate a few people to get
> connected.
>=20
> Of course, I made these suggestions long before I realized that there w=
as
> an expreienced and committed core of people who are dedicated to a
> snail-mail newsletter. We are indeed fortunate. Other clubs have a
> dickens of a time enlisting anyone to publish and distribute newsletter=
s.
> I hereby nominate these folks to the publications committee. We await =
your
> proposals for organization, content, budget for publication and mailing
> costs, etc.
>=20
> >However, I think it would be a mistake to form a group totally
> >centered around the net and without a hard-copy newsletter.
>=20
> It looks like we're in agreement on both of these points.
>=20
> >And many of those NOT on the net are among the most
> > interesting owners... the old dudes who have been pursuing their root=
s
> > longer than many of you young netters have even been around.
>=20
> Turns out (at least in my case) that net involvement is not a good
> predictor of age or years of Sunbeam invlovement. I bought my first Al=
pine
> in 1962, and I suspect that others on the list have been involved even
> longer. I find the people on this list to be among the most interestin=
g
> and knowledgeable Sunbeam owners I have met. Maybe that's because we t=
ouch
> in every day, and I can co-miserate with them.
>=20
> > Please forgive an intrusion by one of those nasty Tiger owners who
> > lurks on the Alpine list because he plans to buy a nice Alpine one of
> > these days soon.
>=20
> No intrusion at all. You've brought up some good points, caused us to =
do
> some thinking, and your taste in cars seems to be improving.
>=20
> Rex Funk