Greetings to our fellow MINI enthusiasts!

We warmly welcome you to Eastern Iowa MINIs! The idea of a local NAM-based group has been shared by many interested folks in our area and finally came to fruition during a recent group breakfast in Dubuque. We are excited to have our new identity and to be part of the awesome NAM family.

We hope to see your replies to this thread with your interest in associating with our new group! We seek no membership dues nor strict adherence to a set of existing by-laws -- only your enthusiastic, shared MINI experiences! Your ideas for local and regional events, not just in eastern Iowa but also in association with our MINI compatriots in neighboring WI and IL, are also welcome.

Some philosophy in our formation: Our members believe that maintaining a NAM-based group provides the greatest possible level of service to the local Iowa MINI community. We know of no better single resource than NAM for linking to vendors who specifically cater to the MINI crowd, for interacting with other MINI lovers, for learning about maintenance and modification tips and techniques, and for keeping abreast of upcoming events locally and around the country that are not available from any other single site.

Being NAM-based also makes it easier to communicate more frequently with your fellow group members since we're often visiting NAM for a bunch of other reasons, e.g., to check out the latest posts, order a cool new part, etc. (I confess that I'm logged on several times per day!)

So, please subscribe to this forum and check it out each time you log on to NAM. We want to hear from you!

Motor on!

mineartg and D3m0N
Eastern IA MINIs - NAM Forum Co-Coordinators

 

Belle (07 MCS LiB/W) and I are happy to see this thread! We are in Cedar Falls and see a few minis here and there. We hope we have a chance to participate in a future get together!

Sheila

 

Great to see we picked up a new member already!!

 

Well we have a forum now we need a site. I can throw something together if we're interested at all.

Logo maybe?

haha

 

I have a site I can host it on what domain name do we want? More than anything I am thinking video and file hosting but keep the forums here?

Like the logo but I have some stupid vision of the mini wing logo with the wings removed and the state of Iowa split in the middle with 1/2 on each side. Now that I said that dont even expect me to create photoshop and me dont get along.

 

Welcome to NAM from the fine folks of C.O.R.N. to the West. Keep us informed of anything you are doing. Eastern Iowa is only a day drive from here.

 

I had one like that but It looked to corny to me so I ditched it..haha probably just the way I did it.

 

I'm eagerly awaiting news about any MINI gatherings before winter!

 

I heard that I'm in charge of ideas for logos! How'd I get the hardest job? Just Kidding I'm thinking maybe if we had a MINI driving through a cornfield with corn flying out from behind it? Just an idea- Any others are appreciated! I'm trying to recruit some of my friends to help me draw it out and as soon as I get a rough draft I'll post it. I'm so glad we've finally got a group going on here!

 

I think I posted this link somewhere else around here, but I wanted to show some of the fun we had with Zyamfier and other C.O.R.N friends this past weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/deanman2/MINIfall07

I hope we can have a similar gathering in our neck of the woods.

 

Something similar to this?

 

Confirmed! So, all of you wacky artistic types should PM your suggestions to MariaChick ASAP. And don't forget that the Nebraska folks already have a pretty firm grip on the corn theme, so be wary of plagiarism.

Yo M!n!C, do I detect just a bit of AB bias in your logo idea?

 

Good to see an eastern Iowa group on NAM. I swing through every now and then to visit the folks and catch a hawk game. I'll shout next time I'm in the area.

 

 

I like it!!!

 

I like it too...it certainly looks professional and has promise!

Is the background map of counties configurable? Maybe the left border could be the line connecting the western boundaries of IA counties of (N to S) Worth, Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hardin, Marshall, Jasper, Marion, Lucas, and Wayne. It's a minor thing, but we might appear a bit more inclusive with this mod.

Since we've designated MariaChick as chair of the Logo Committee I'm looking forward to hearing what she thinks. M!n!C, you might want to PM her to alert her of your neat idea.

 

Nice design! Thanks.

 

As the 'business card guy' I am concerned with how the logo will reproduce at a small size. I'm afraid the center detail is too small, so it will reproduce as a smudge, not showing off our proud name.

 

I downloaded and reduced the size of the image, and see your point.

I think we can mitigate the issue by repeating the name elsewhere on the face of our cards (we can find a font style that's close to the cool, chrome-trim font that M!n!C used) so being able to read the words embedded in the card-sized logo would be less important. We could also oversize the graphic just a bit on the card. It also helps if the color of the map background is just a bit more subtle.

I'll bet we could find a way to make it work!

 

I have the original PSd if Maria wants it I just through it out, but since she's the logo gal Ill hand over the original and she can play with it or dispose of it.

I also have the font I used if someone needs the font, It was a free download. I also have about 800 other fonts if we need more fonts to choose from.

I'm prof photographer and do book designs on the side so I have tons of fonts and such

 

I like it!!! I was having trouble with photoshop too! I think that it would be a great logo, the only problem woould be it's size. But still, I think it would be fine as long as the cards have Eastern Iowa MINIs elsewhere on them. Great Job M!nI COOper- you have made my life a lot easier

 

Congratulations and good for you guys!

I lived several places in Cedar Rapids, and on Melrose by the stadium in IA City for years and get back once a year to see the in-laws, and the occassional RAGBRAI.

I'll keep an eye on this forum to see if I can hook up with you guys sometime...

Have fun with your new forum!

 

I still think they wanted to see some changes to it, so I dont think You are off the hook that easy! haha. In any case if you want the design I have to play with, let me know and I'll get it over to you

 

Well I had some time this morning being home sick and revised the logo as requested above to include the other counties.

 

Lookin' good--thanks for the initiative. Did you get my PM with suggestions for a couple of minor improvement mods?

Get well soon.