Creation of an independent tri-state club

[jimb]

Posted a similar message on Nasioc.com and i-club.com

I'm proposing the creation of a tri-state (quad-state maybe) subaru owners club. I believe this was tried a few times in the past with no success. I think there is a sufficient number of members to make some kind of formal organization worthwhile. The i-club/nasioc break up has already caused somewhat of a rift in the tri-state members. I'm not saying we should create a new message board, nor should we pick a single message board to use, but that as a whole we should move from being locked into any single board to being an independant club with elected officials, etc. Any suggestions, opinions, ideas?

jb

[tan]

A lot of local vw "clubs" have their own message boards...but it tends to be deserted.

NewCelica.org has an semi-independent DC area club, which uses the newcelica.org board has the message board.

[Weasel 555]

jimb,
look how quiet www.sqc-ny.com can be most of the time and i'm a member of that too

i'd say just stay with the ones we have clubwrx,nasioc and i-club

just my 0.02 worth

Andy.

[jimb]

Clubwrx folks,

I know you guys/gals aren't particularly fond of i-club/nasioc, and trust me, I understand why. I-club has always had a very elitist attitude and has been particularly unfriendly to new users or anyone who dares ask a question. That's a fact, everyone knows it.

What I am proposing is the creation of a subaru club similar to the PCA and other 'real' car/enthusiast clubs. I'm not proposing the creation of a new message board. While message boards are nice, I'm saying that some kind of formal organization of Subaru members and other enthusiasts be beneficial to the community as a whole.

I don't want to categorize or stereotype the clubwrx users, but on the whole, I think it's safe to admit that most members here want to stay far away from the other boards and whats happened there. This is definately a tight-knit community, while not necessarily the tri-state members, but clubwrx as a whole. Because of this, some of you might look at this in a negative way. What I'm trying to say is I don't want to see people leave their favorite boards and go to a new board, or some other board, I don't want to see that, but what I'd like to see is some greater level of organization of the tri-state members, run by the members, and being beneficial for the members.

jb

[jimb]

Originally posted by Weasel 555
jimb,
look how quiet www.sqc-ny.com can be most of the time and i'm a member of that too

i'd say just stay with the ones we have clubwrx,nasioc and i-club

just my 0.02 worth

Andy.

Andy,

I most definately agree with you, that's why I don't want to see more message boards created. God knows we have enough. On any given day I hit i-club, clubwrx.net, nasioc.com, scoobynet.co.uk, 22b.com, the cobb forums, vishnu forums, vividracing forums, mrt au forums, and some other ones. We're scattered all across the damn internet in more countries than I know even exist. But this is what people want, message boards are very community-oriented, and people will have their favorites and not particularly care to leave them for something they won't or don't like. But, message boards really aren't very beneficial for their members. I think a real honest-to-goodness member run and supported organization can help keep the tri-state folks together (at the very least), and could potentially become an asset for it's members.

jb

[Weasel 555]

jimb,
ok mate i see what you are saying is you would like to create a similar but different version of what sqc-ny has done ?

Andy.

[SobeWRX]

when U say tri-state(quad-state) which states are U thinking of including in this group????

[jimb]

Originally posted by Weasel 555
jimb,
ok mate i see what you are saying is you would like to create a similar but different version of what sqc-ny has done ?

Andy.

Similar, but a little more formal and 'official'. I don't know much about SQC, but it seems like it is run by a few people, I'd like to see something where the members have a say in how everything is run.

jb

[jimb]

Originally posted by SobeWRX
when U say tri-state(quad-state) which states are U thinking of including in this group????

NJ, NY, CT, PA at the minimum, maybe even Delaware and some other surrounding states. Unfortunately, at the start, we'll need to keep it local. Organization requires a certain amount of face time with meetings, etc. While I don't think anyone would have an objection to members being in other states, those members wouldn't be able to reap the benefits that local members would. Local autox's, meetings, parties etc. Certainly everyone would be welcome, but like I mention above, it really boils down to being somewhat local. Hopefully, if things go well, I could see a few regional clubs organizing into a PCA-Like structure, which would be a fantastic goal to reach for.

jb

[Bask Oner]

Jimb,

For what reason would we have to have everyone together? For what reason would we want to have elected officials presiding over us? Are there not enough events organized through the clubs that we have now? Would we expect people to leave their existing clubs for this new one? Lots of questions from a person who is pretty happy sticking with clubwrx and a bit of sqc-ny.

[jimb]

I can't argue with the point about SQC, they did a great job, and it's a great organization. I know how hard it is to run a club and keep members happy, my hat goes off to those guys. What they have going is great. My parents own Subarus, but I really don't think they would care to join SQC. However, my father would certainly join the PCA.

I'm proposing something on a slightly grander scale. A real organization, incorporated, and most importantly, member run. The elected board of a member organization does not 'preside over' it's members, it works for them. 'Preside over' has a negative implication associated with it, that's not what I'm proposing. Elected officials are members obviously elected by the club, working for the club, and even more important, are accountable to the members. Large scale organization requires a formal structure and board, I've been in organizations that have tried to persist without it, and they've all failed.

Member benefits? It's too early to say, but a single voice is seldom louder than a groups. Large scale organization with a strong base of members offers alot of 'weight'. Whether it is more formal representation of Tri-State subaru owners to SOA to club-run autocrosses, perhaps discounts on services, parts, etc. It's amazing the things that you can get and do when you have a large club behind you.

I hate to keep referring back to the PCA, but they really are a model organization. I really should restate, I'm not looking to create my own club here. Also, this goes farther than just the race/performance oriented attitudes that dominates most of the message boards.

jb

[jimb]

Most importantly, I am absolutely NOT proposing anyone leave their current message boards. No way, no how. Everyone has a preference and I don't think we need new message boards. The current ones are great and we'd be hard pressed to do any better than the current crop of boards.

jb

[Bask Oner]

Well said, and I must say a very noble cause. The thing to do now would be to find the people that are interested in the goals of the new organization and have the time and inclination to help. Jimb you've got my vote for prez.

Unfortunately I won't be joining the new organization because I'm only interested in bs'ing on this board and getting people together for the occasional meet. I personally fit pretty well into the sqc-ny demographic.

[jimb]

Clubwrx folks:

Anyone interested, please take a look at the following threads for some more information... Clubwrx represents alot of folks from South Jersey/Philly, and we'd like to have some support from down south...

Nasioc.com:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=280112

I-Club:
http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthr...&threadid=1017

Thanks,
James

[jimb]

We'll be meeting this weekend, Sunday December 8th, at Ruby Tuesdays in Woodbridge, NJ. Please see:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...65#post3005065

For more information, hope to see you there!

-jb