The next Quarterly Meeting will be in Hickory on 6/24 at the Boxcar Grill, which is right off I-40 just east of Hickory. Some of us are planning on eating lunch together before the meeting. We are asking those who want to join us please plan on being there by 11:30. The food is very good with a wide variety and they have a great salad bar. The meeting will start about 1:00 and last until about 3:00.

There is a full agenda for this meeting which includes discussions about (1)purchasing die-cast MINIs with the club logo on the roofs, (2)elections of new officers in September, (3) choosing a "CEO" for the club, (4) a possible event at VIR, (5) Autumn in the Mountains Car Show at Chimney Rock Park in October and (6) a possible trip to the MINI Plant in Oxford, England next year. If you have other issues, events or ideas for activities you want to discuss, bring them with you. It promises to be a fun day!!!

DIRECTIONS: On I-40 east of Hickory, take Exit 135 (Claremont Exit). The restaurant is right there at the top of the exit ramp.

Plans are now set for a drive after the meeting. This drive will include some of the local points of interest via the picturesque backroads of Catawba, Lincoln and Burke counties, including a stop for ice-cream at "Red Bone ******", which is a wonderful old-style general store that sells a little of everything. The drive will last about 2 hours and will conclude back on I-40 in Morganton.

Hope to see a lot of you there!!!!

Eric

 

I will be there and maybe wife? Do you want me to bring RC Mini?

 

Yes Luke, I think we need to have to R/C MINI there to show to folks and I would hope we could sell some tickets!!!

 

Due to an unfortunate incident that occurred on the drive in Greenville on Saturday, we are cancelling the drive this Saturday after the Quarterly Meeting. I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from attending. We have a lot to talk about and I hope to see a lot of members there.

Remember, this is YOUR club and you should have a voice into what is decided. Don't let the decisions about events and activities be left up to a few individuals. (Didn't we fignt the Revolutionary War for the same principle????) LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!!
Be there or be....uh.... unheard!

Eric

 

Eric

Thanks for hosting the Quarterly Meeting.

I plan on attending both lunch and the meeting.

Thanks
George

 

George,

Great to hear you're going to make it! Bring a bunch of your Charlotte contingent with you!!!!! See you on Saturday!

Eric

 

Hi GEORGE
I could use a ride to Hickory? I will definetly be there but my MINI the BLUCOOPR will be styling & Profiling at the Mint Hill NC Car Show. My son will be showing it so please pray for me and the Mini. So if you got room let me know. Luke

 

You know I'll be there!

 

Hey Melindalou!! A voice from the past!! Now I'm really bummed I'm missing the meeting..

 

I know!!! I've been so out of touch lately. I'm still here though, and still MINIing!!! I miss all of you guys too! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting!

 

Just a reminder about the meeting tomorrow here in Hickory. Hope to see a bunch of you there!!!!

Eric

 

Just wanted to let folks know that we had a productive meeting on Saturday. However, the turn-out was very disappointing (only 8 people showed up) It is never a good thing when a small number of people have to make decisions that affect a large number of people. I wish I knew how to motivate people into getting more involved into the decision-making/plannning aspects of their club. True, it's not as exciting as going to an event or activity but it is an important part of being in a car club. I want to think that the poor attendance may have been related to the meeting coming the weekend after the very successful and well-attended event in Greenville. AND after all, we didn't offer free food!

I'd love to get some feedback from others on this.

Eric Sipe, Hickory Chapter VP

 

Well Eric I was unable to go I had several things I had to do around the house.

Art

 

Art,

I think you may have misinterpreted the purpose of my post. I was not trying to point fingers at any one individual or asking folks to explain why they weren't there. Everybody has to make decisions about how they divide and use the extra time they have. All I am asking is, how can we motivate more people in the club to attend meetings and get involved in the decision-making aspect of things? We only have 4 meetings a year and next year, it's going to be less than that. I would just like to hear what it would take to get more people out to such things. That's all I'm asking for feedback on.

Eric

 

OK I know my excuse wasn't needed. But I do understand your question. For myself it would have been a very long trip.


Art

 

I can offer a couple:

Suggestion #1: Combine these meetings with actual events. For example, possibly during the Lowe's Auto Fair, etc. while we're all there anyway, we conduct a meeting...

Suggestion #2: Plot our demographics, and hold the meeting where the highest concentration of members work/live.

Suggestion #3: Hold meetings in larger metropolitan areas, such as Charlotte, so out-of-towners can plan other activities and sight-seeing around the meeting.

 

I seem to be in an answer mode this evening...
And I'm not picking at your suggestions, they are good, and you've made some valid points.

#1 There was talk of having a meeting before/during the Greenville event, however, out of town members wanting to attend would have had to leave in the wee hours of the morning, there really wasn't enough time to have a meeting before the event, it wasn't Greenville's turn to have the quarterly meeting, and adding the logistics of organizing a meeting on top of organizing the rest of the event wasn't practical.


#2 That's why the annual meeting is held in Charlotte. The idea for rotating the location of the quarterly meetings is to allow members in less "club populated" areas the luxury of not having to drive to Charlotte every time we have a meeting. It's only fair to all the members across the Carolinas.
I've never driven to Charlotte in the past as much as I do now ever since becoming an officer of the club two years ago. :impatient Bob has logged a few thousand miles on his MINI, even before he was the club president, attending or organising club events or heading up officer's meetings. It's never been "too far" for him. (THANKS BOB!!)

#3 I've thrown the suggestion out to the other officer's to have the Annual meeting at what was Jillians, now Dave and Buster's. Such a location allows for secondary activities, and provides something for "club disinterested" spouses to enjoy while we meet.
Columbia is a large metropolitan area, with lots of things to do and see. Attendance wasn't that great at the quarterly meeting in March. Did anyone "make a weekend" of it and go to the zoo, or one of the other area attractions? Would as many members have attended the quarterly meeting in Greenville if it wasn't atached to the Christmas party?

Now it's time for me to get on my soap box and get flamed.

A lot of activity goes on behind the scenes of m2c2 that most members are unaware of. Discussions and decisions are made and routine "operations" carried out to make this club the best it can be, and to provide interesting and exciting events for members to attend.
It's also very frustrating and discouraging to go to the time and effort involved in organizing an event to have a poor turnout. Eric is just voicing something that other club officers and event organisers in the same situation have kept quiet about. I admit, I haven't attended every event in another town, or even in my own and its been due to a schedule conflict, or the difficult decision of personal priorities (Can I play today?). Let's all think about the effort being made by others and think twice before we say "No, I'm not going to attend that event just because it's not in my own back yard."

EdK
Treasurer, Mini Motoring Club of the Carolinas.

 

Since it is so laborious to arrange these meetings, and a way can't be figured out to get a better turnout, I'll offer a final suggestion: Eliminate the quarterly meetings altogether.

Or, conduct them via online chat or conference call.

 

I think it's a tough thing to get involvement in the, um, shall we say, less exciting, aspects of the club?

For myself, I am often in school on Saturdays now. Sunday would be a much more convenient time, but then, that would be inconvenient for everyone else.

I actually am intrigued by the idea of an online meeting. (just think, the notes would take themselves!).

Perhaps we ought to try a chatroom test meeting or something?

Also, sneaking in a business meeting to a well-attended event might be a good idea.

I know I haven't had any new ideas here, just wanted to chime in...

 

It was brought up at the Hickory meeting to have 2 meetings a year. One in Charlotte and the others rotating. What do you all think of that? We could possibly rotate the Christmas Party? Tarzan thats a great idea of having a meeting at autofare but with only 16 - 20 people? We would surely would have the time. Luke

 

Since Ed left his soapbox behind, I'll jump on it. I agree and second alot of what Ed brought up. As club president I spent at least an hour a day (and sometimes 5 or 6) doing emails and phone calls taking care of business. As he mentioned, there's a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes to keep the club moving and evolving.
The rotating meetings were set up for a few different reasons. First, there were a lot of comments heard about how some members were tired of having to always drive to Charlotte or Greenville to attend any meeting we had. As Ed brought out, they were a way the club could truly be the club "of the Carolinas" by presenting a face over the entire area.
Second, the quarterly meetings were supposed to be planning sessions, more than actual meetings. Some club business was addressed, but the larger idea was to get together and knock around ideas for major club events for the next 3 to 6 months. Doing so gives us a chance to keep the club "on course". I fail to see where getting together, socializing and exchanging ideas face to face with fellow members once every 3 months to keep the club rolling the hardship that some people are making it out to be.
While I was an officer, I experienced first hand how well email or online meetings work. To be honest, for the most part if you really want to get anything done, they don't! Sure, things would eventually got decided, but it was frustrating and took forever.....and this was just with 6 or 8 people in the discussion. You're talking about trying it with the whole club?
In defense of the quarterly meetings, I'd like to add that we've only had two so far, and the latest one was, unfortunately, overshadowed by the event the previous week and had it's planned drive cancelled. This is a new idea and it may take a little time to catch on. It can serve the club well if members take advantage of the concept. On the side, I'd like to add in response to an earlier post, that setting up a quarterly meeting is no more laborious than putting together any other event. In fact, it's a lot easier than many of them.
Now, in response to Eric's original query is that I have no response. As Ed alluded to, this is not a new problem. In fact, it's one that's been around a while and has always baffled me. How can a club with over 100 people who have paid to join have events where only 6 or, or 8, or 11 people attend? How come when you read the forums you only find the same 10 or 12 people posting anything? Of course, it's kind of silly asking these questions here....I'll only see responses from those same people.

 

Keep hitting yourself with a hammer and expect a different outcome?

As our club has grown in geography, the bygone era of face-to-face meetings will need to adapt to the new global medium that technology has provided, or you will still have a meeting of 6-8 people.

 

Just because the same people respond to threads, doesn’t mean others aren’t reading them

Sometimes you have to step outside the box, in order to move forward.

I’m a new member who doesn’t read this message board. I think I remember to stop in every few weeks. I’m just not really into em, so consequently I find out about most things going on either after the fact or too close to the events.

When I do read about things, as someone who has been transplanted to the area, I find that enough details aren’t provided for me to want to look at an event further. I think the same could be said for people who are new to car clubs in general.
I think if you include a bit more detail about events other than just the date, time & location in the initial post, I know at least I would give it more than a passing glance.

Regardless of the size of a club, there will always be a small core group that is the backbone & organizers. It will always seem the larger the group, the smaller the percentage.

And now I shall do just that, and go back to lurking mode.

 

The point of the quarterly meetings is not only to discuss issues, but to see fellow MINI owners and club members... in person. If we wanted to have meetings online, we could, but they'd be just as poorly attended as the quarterly meetings are now, at least insofar as members participating in the discussions.

I'm far behind Moorlockx as far as mileage racked up driving to club events, but since the first club meeting I've put a few thousand miles on the car attending things that were out-of-town for me. However, I've noticed that are a lot of members who never seem to leave their home towns to attned club events. I'd hope we could get a lot of Charlotte members at a Hickory meeting: It's only 60 miles of Interstate highway to get there.

This club was set up to meet the needs and interests of club members throughout the Carolinas, not just in Charlotte. George showed us that Charlotte is a great place for club events, but I think we could work on making some other places just as popular... such as Columbia. Believe it or not, Columbia's about as centrally located as Charlotte and having meetings there might help us attract and hold members from SC, particularly Charleston.

I know Eric puts on a good event in Hickory and several other club members have been willing -- eager, even -- to introduce us to their part of the Carolinas. That's what's great about having a MINI Motoring Club of the Carolinas: We get to see different people and places, not just our hometowns.

The club has adapted "to the new global medium that technology has provided", but I hope it continues to be more than a chat room or a BBS. I don't think I'm alone in believing that the things that make this club worthwhile are the cars and the people, particularly getting together with them.

Lee J.

 

Never one to back away from "blasphemy" it is entirely possible that the practical nature of a "Carolinas" has been exceeded by the current mindset, and it is high time that our club be a Charlotte club, a Hicory club, a Columbia club, etc. These chapters can then come together when and only when the priority of doing so exceeds the technological means to do so. What's amazing about the internet is that I can talk to someone in China, whereas I could never visit him/her. So, possibly it is high-time that M2C2 comes to an abrupt end, and M2CHARLOTTE, etc. begins. I'm not necessarily advocating this, but I'm no ostritch burying my head in the sand either...