IssuesPlease see John Golanty's, VSCDA's President,( and Thickotnes Blues harp
player) 2 replies below, pasted below my response here...
Hey John,
Thanks for your response. I appreciate your willingness to "answer the
questions". There's no evil conspiracy here. Many club members think the
banquet price is out of line. I have a large number of replies to my original
post supporting that position.
My correspondance directed to the Thicko mail list (which anyone is able to
join, free) is always intended to start discussion, examine issues, poke fun,
or entertain. For the most part, my opinions reflect those of many members.
(When my opinion isn't shared, I hear about it.) In fact, my opinion is
shared by some boardmembers and officers as well... but many are content to
not make waves, or fear retribution or face public humiliation for opinions
other than "the company line".
Concerning the original issue of my posting regarding the banquet (I will
forward a copy of it to you in a separate mail), I believe that some have
missed the point. The price is too high for many members (call us the "great
unwashed") to pay for what we get. Your explanation provided by Jack
references the printing and mailing costs to 800+ members. I'd much rather
have an invitaiton in the newsletter with a RSVP via post card, phone, or even
web site, and have a less expensive dinner. If the costs are that high at
Maggiano's, then it's time to consider negotiating with another venue. For
those that are "well off", the dinner dollar amounts are purely chump
change... but to some of our racers, retired, on fixed incomes, or with less
than 6 figure incomes, or unemployed, the $40/$80 a plate prices are just too
steep.
Regarding my mail of November, (which I will also forward to you separately)
the original topic was raised about rising costs vs. less track time at our
events. The ELVF was discussed as being extremely poor in the $ vs. track time
ratio. Also, a recent event at VIR drew great praise from those that had
attended regarding the way the track treated racers. Another point of
discussion was the fact that Midwest Council has successfully run events for
years at the same tracks as we do, with far less costs associated. When I
asked a board member about that particular issue, I was told it was because
Council did not have insurance for these events. It was these prior discussion
that prompted my pre-board meeting remarks. These were made to the Thicko mail
list, with full knowledge and understanding that board members were reading
directly, or would have the mail forwarded to them.
Regarding Judy's tirade (and subsequent apology) of this AM... that is an
example of what many of VSCDA's members fear if they're the dissenting voice.
I need not address that response further specifically.
In the "bigger picture'... Team Thicko has become this interesting independant
factor on its own. There are approximately 400 members worldwide in the
loosely held organization. (Believe me, if we charged for membership, we have
far fewer members...). The team is based on an "inclusive" rather than
"exclusive" philosophy... come one, come all. We thought vintage racing's many
organizations were too stuffy, too self-serving, too exclusive...etc. So, we
started our own social gatherings, and in many ways, changed the face of the
club's social activities at the track. I suspect the economic realities of
poorly attended $30 a plate rubber chicken banquet dinners were the cause of
the club's move to trackside meals... not because of an embracing of the
Thicko philosophy. In fact, when asked to participate in the club sponsored
events at the track, we have done so... discouraging Thicko members from their
own endeavors, and joining the club's function. We've also, on many occasions,
played as the ThickTones for the club's entertainment. We've asked nothing for
this other than a thank you.
I've been on the inside looking out, and the outside looking in of the VSCDA.
(I did volunteer, and produced the newsletter a number of years back, and quit
when I was subverted in a less than professional way.) I've volunteered my
time, my talents, etc. in a number of ways on the club's behalf. In my mails
to the Thicko list, I've always maintained that the VSCDA is a far better club
than most I've seen or raced with... whether the issue is tracktime, venue,
driving abilities, or social atmosphere, the membership is generally happy.
But, when there are issues that concern "the great unwashed", far too often
we're met with the type of response I received today.
There lurks, under the surface, a great frustration with a larger than you'd
think portion of your members. That frustration even exists with
boardmembers... but, there's always a "collective" mentality that either
doesn't want to rock the boat, or doesn't have the time to rationalize a
reasonable opinion to unreasonable people.
WST
Flounder
Team Thicko
----- Original Message -----
From: J.Golanty@research-int.com
To: wsthompson@thicko.com
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 11:44 AM
Subject: Issues
Dear Flounder,
Judy's response was inexcusable. Sorry about that.
The board didn't respond directly to your November note because it wasn't
addressed to us. Instead, knowing that the message had been sent to a number
of club members, we felt that it was appropriate to respond to a broader group
through the newsletter. If you had addressed us directly, we would have
responded directly.
I don't have a copy of your November message. I have asked Judy to send it
to me and I will be happy to address the issues directly. Also, I have called
Jack Liess to get the per person costs for the dinner that Maggiano's is
charging us so that you will see the rationale for our charges to the
members.
I'll get back to you shortly.
John
Jack just got back to me regarding the dinner.
The cost of the room, food (including appetizers) and wine is about
$50/person. On top of that is a gratuity of about $10/person. Therefore,
with a $40 fee, this year VSCDA is subsidizing about 1/3 of the total food
costs. In previous years we subsidized about 50%. In addition, there are
other costs associated with putting on the event (printing and mailing of
invitations to 800+ members, and other misc costs). We set the price of the
guests' meals to help defray some of those costs. Since there are relatively
few guests, the "over cost" amount of $20/guest does not add a lot in the
absolute. For example, 20 guests * $20 = $400 to apply to other costs.
Please let me know if you have other questions about the pricing for the
Annual Dinner.
John
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