On Fri, 16 Apr 1999 MRobe33243@aol.com wrote:
> It seems that VTR is adrift in a miasma, i.e. publication late, sloppy
> registration of new members and re-newals of same, failure to acknowledge of
> your existence and so on. Maybe the staff is worn out? I hope not, they
> have worked their asses of over the years, BUT if they are looking for a
> break I am sure there are volunteers that would step forward to carry the
> Standards.
No, the VTR staff isn't worn out -- yet! :-) As for _The Vintage Triumph_
not making its "quarterly" publication schedule, you're right. We are
working on ways to get back on schedule. I would, though, point out that,
while we are not happy when publication falls behind schedule, it does
not have any particular effect on membership. Each membership is
ostensibly for one year, but it is actually keyed to receipt of four
issues of TVT.
I would take issue with "sloppy registration of new members and re-newals
of same..." To my knowledge, our "success rate" with new member and
renewal processing must be well over 99%. Naturally, no one complains that
"my membership was processed in only two weeks; that's much too quick!";
we only hear from those whose memberships are "delayed" for various
reasons.
I would point out that it can take 4-8 weeks for a new membership or
renewal sent to our Michigan mail drop to be processed. We maintain one
postal mailing address for all corresponence. Mail is redistributed from
that point, usually on a weekly basis. As with everyone else involved
with VTR, our Membership Secretary is a "volunteer" position, not a paid
one. Again, barring family emergencies or health problems (which we all
face from time to time), Membership Secretary Bill Lynn processes
memberships fairly quickly.
One other problem sometimes faced by the Membership Secretary is a change
of address that is not sent to us. Within the U.S., the magazine mailings
are a special rate and cannot be forwarded the way first class mail is
forwarded. So, if a member moves and does not notify VTR of his/her new
address, the magazine will not arrive. Since renewal notices are mailed
with those magazines, those renewal notices will not arrive, either.
As for "...failure to acknowledge of your existence and so on," if I knew
to what that referred, I would be happy to look into it. For members, the
names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses (where available) of
the Entire National Board -- officers, managers, advisors and vehicle
consultants -- are listed in each and every issue of TVT. But none of us
can do anything if we are not contacted. :-)
We're not perfect. I think we do fairly well for an all-volunteer
organization. We can do better, no question about it. We always can use
constructive criticism, suggestions, and offers of help. The only thing
we don't do all that well is read minds. We do need people to actually
contact us via letter, e-mail or phone, and, in fairness, we do need a
reasonable amount of time to deal with problems that arise. Again, we're
all-volunteer, so we do the best we can while also taking care of our own
families, jobs, homes, etc.
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|