Hey Gang,
So anyway...
Janet, Napoleon, and I are just back from our weekend trip down to
Austin to visit our
daughter and son-in-law.
It was a good trip although on the way home we paused in El Paso and
experienced the
wonderfulness of replacing the right headlamp--excuse me! "headlamp
assembly"--on
our '98 Subaru Forester because a pebble got thrown off somebody's tire
and cracked
the headlight lens... See, you can't just replace the part that's
busted, you gotta take the
whole smear.... The bill for this, including the Bush's (I can't keep
'em straight... Is
that Jeb? Or Jed? Or Georgie?) cut, was $215 .
I guess it is just old age that causes me to think this is simply
outrageous. Remember
when a headlamp cost $4 and took 10 minutes to replace? How have we let
the
manufacturers do this to us?
Anyway...
I got several bigtime bobbycue fixes in Austin--Rudy's brisket is still
the best--so I
arrived back here in good spirits despite the headlamp fiasco and some
really crappy
weather--53 mph winds, blowing dust, yadda, yadda, yadda--in El Paso and
Las
Cruces.
Arriving here I found 170 e-mails--including 15 digests off the Alpine,
Jensen, and
British Cars lists--lurking inside my computer. Since each digest
presumably has 10 or
12 messages (except the Alpines list which gets really light on the
weekends when you
guys can't get at the Company's computer) I really had well over 300
e-mail messages...
I mention this because my basic method for dealing with this mess is to
start pitchin'
stuff into the bit bucket. I glance at most stuff, then pitch it.
Actually, I pitch some of it
before glancing... So if you e-mailed me in the past week or so and you
needed and did
not receive an answer, please send your message again as I may well have
inadvertently
re-cycled it.
Before I left on this gastronomic sauce safari, this bobbycuexcusion, I
sent you guys the
URL and hot links to the new British Motorcars of SNM website so you
could see some
pictures there. Many of you visited the site without incident (thanks
for your kind
comments) but a couple of you had problems, particularly Bob Palmer.
What I attempted to send you all was a hot link (just saying "hot link"
makes me yearn
for another slass o' Elgin Hot Gut!) you could just click on, then added
the actual URL
(also as a clickable link) in case your browser can't "see" links. To
those of you who
were unable to reach the photos, I extend my sympathies. I wonder if it
might be a
problem in your browser? I noticed that Bob Palmer's address ends in
".edu" and I
know that if I were signing Bob's time card I would definitely put some
sort of filter on
his browser that would lock out any and all sites featuring car
photos....
The site I sent you to is just about brand new, I started it up within
the past month. I
have, however, viewed it from a number of different platforms with no
real problems
beyond the expected changes to fonts and so forth. I also verified the
links I posted by
first sending them to myself and clicking them. Worked fine.
The website is on Excite and is provided free. Yes, there is an
advertising "crawl" across
the top of the page. The site features a number of sections (such as
"files," "calendar,"
"photos," and "links") and is designed to allow any number of "members"
to enter new
material in the various sections. Thus, it is possible for the
Activities Director to post to
the calendar, the Prez can make his Monthly Message, the Trez can post a
financial
report, any member can make up a photo album, and so forth... Anyone can
change or
delete his own material but nobody else’s’ (except the Administrator
can do anything to
anybody... heh, heh, heh... POWER!).
The ability of many people to post to the site is key because "many
hands make light
work." Also, in bureaucracies, which, lets face it, car clubs are,
different hands have
access to different pieces of the puzzle.
It is supposed to be possible for anyone to view the material on this
site without joining
Excite. If others of you were unable to access the site as a "guest"
without joining
Excite, please let me know.
These sites, incidentally, can also be locked so that only members can
access them. I
have also done some of this type for family sites.
So far as I can tell this is the hottest deal going...
So, anyway...
All of this discussion comes, I think, at a particularly appropriate
time when there is so
much list discussion about clubs vs the internet, national vs local
clubs, and the "list" as
a club.
One of the things that has been touched on but not really addressed is
the plain, old
fashioned arrogance generally found in the club leadership. The officers
and "movers
and shakers" feel that they do not have to respond to members' needs and
concerns
because if the members were worth a damn they would be officers or
movers and
shakers themselves. Since they aren't, the best that can be said is that
the questioning
and concerned member obviously does not understand the problem of being
an officer or
a mover or a shaker....
"The newsletter didn't come out for a few months? So what! There are no
parts in the
parts warehouse? So what! The books don't balance? So what! Membership
is
declining? So what!"
(It would be interesting to know what the current membership trends are
in the bigger
clubs, I would suspect it is down, down, down.)
Unfortunately, the way club officers tend to react to comments and--God
forbid--criticism is by sulling up... They tend to believe that their
best course is to ignore
the problem. "I don't get paid for this! I'm a volunteer, I don't have
to put up with this!
If you were a team player you wouldn't bitch!"
Why, incidentally, was the material that Jan submitted to Tiger Tales
omitted? If there
was an answer to that question I must have inadvertently pitched it.
Recalling last year's
imbroglio over judging standards and several other imbroglios, I doubt
that the concern
was addressed.
Does anyone seriously think that these problems are going to be
mitigated by going
national? So far as I can see, you will have all these problems plus
jingoistic
regionalism. When I look at TE/AE, by far the largest in terms of
geographic scope, I
find exactly these problems though there is hope for the recently
selected slate of
officers. The hope is weak and flickering because there is STILL no
commitment to
respond to the concerns and complaints of the members at large.
I will, incidentally, join a National Sunbeam Club (or Tiger Club, or
Alpine Club, or
whatever) if one is formed. I will join not because I think it will be
free from these
problems but because I would like to see an annual Gathering Of The
Marque at rotating
venues.
I confess I think it is a little bit irrational to exclude those who
make a business in the
Marque from holding office. I know the concern is that the officer might
make the club a
marketing tool, but is that realistic? Why not just have the person
disclose the business
interest?
I also think that a viable "online club" is closer than many of us
realize. It is, however,
still a daunting amount of work. (Witness the ROOG TOO efforts of the
Alpine List last
year.) It seems to me the various lists have already nearly obsoleted
the clubs as sources
of technical info and parts and cars. As soon as anyone can figure a way
to charge us
dues and share our brews....
I don't know any statistics for the Tiger clubs but in our local British
car club 2/3 of the
members are already net enabled. One year ago it was less than half, two
years ago only
10 percent.
When I bought my Tiger I joined four Tiger Clubs: CATO, TE/AE, CAT, &
STOA.
>From my viewpoint in the wilds of Southern New Mexico none of these
clubs is really
worth my membership fee. I intend to drop CATO and CAT when my
membership
expires. I will hang on at TE/AE for a few more months because my
membership was
extended due to their non-publication of the newsletter last year. I
intend to remain in
STOA because of the certification program which I think is worthwhile.
I believe any club that wants to gain and maintain membership needs to
start thinking in
terms of service to the membership, the marque, and the community.
So, anyway....
That is my bobbycue soaked point of view. If any of you feel you must
bobbycue my
own seat-weary butt, so be it.
May we all enjoy peace, prosperity, and happiness!
Cheers!
--Colin Cobb, Scratchin' & Belchin' Outside Las Cruces, NM, USA
'65 Tiger, '66 Morgan, '67 Alpine, Lookin' For A (gasp!) Jensen?
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