I've posted this over on floridamini.net, but thought that it should be posted here as well. We are trying to get a statewide organization going. Florida has quite a few MINIs motoring around, and people are definately interested in getting something going. So far, I have a list of names compiled at the Downtown Disney and Race Rock events. Like Dave in Denver and others have said,NOW IS THE TIME TO GET THESE GROUPS GOING!!! If you are interested in the FL group, please email me or PM me with you name, address, and email. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks guys!!

 

I'm game.

 

Holly,

Keep me posted - I'm interested in meeting more FL Minifolk. I'll PM you the info.

 

Holly: see my post over in the National Events forum for event organizers. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Good luck!

Dave

 

Hi Holly.

Count me in for the organization.

 

I'm in!

 

UPDATE! We are trying to find people to help us organize this organization (haha.) It looks as though we are going to just find representatives from the state who are willing to meet just to discuss organizing the group. So far there are several people interested... if anyone else is, let us know!

 

i'm interested... just a little busy with school at the moment... COUNT ME IN!!!!

 

Holly,
Count me in and my website is also at your
disposal. I have been doing some road racing
and am autoxing tomorrow AM so I've been
busy with the car. Also prepping for a BIG race
in May but I'll do what I can. I've even given up
going to Daytona for the Boxter cup so I can go
to the Flame event in March.
Click for info on FLAME event!!!

 

>>Holly,
>>Count me in and my website is also at your
>>disposal. I have been doing some road racing
>>and am autoxing tomorrow AM so I've been
>>busy with the car. Also prepping for a BIG race
>>in May but I'll do what I can. I've even given up
>>going to Daytona for the Boxter cup so I can go
>>to the Flame event in March.
>>Click for info on FLAME event!!!
>>

 

Go vote for a name on http://www.floridamini.net otherwise you might wind up with a really wierd name!

 

IF you can't post there, then vote here.


Organization Naming Vote!
Why not? Its been long enough to come up with Ideas, and we have a lot of them! I figure we can start and each narrow it down to 2-4 favorites. From everyone's 2-4 favorites, I will comprise a list small enough to vote on, yet big enough to include everyone's preferences. I will then start a new poll to narrow it down to one! I'm not going to start a poll cos there are too many mentioned so far. AFTER ONE WEEK I WILL CUT THE LIST DOWN AND START A POLL!

1. MCCCFL or MCCCFLA - Mini Cooper Car Club of Florida
2. SSMCC - Sunshine State Mini Cooper Club
3. FLMCO or FLMCC - Florida Mini Cooper Owners/Club
4. MOOF or MOOFL or MOFLA - Mini Owners of Florida
5. MINI society of Florida
6. UFO - United Florida Owners
7. MiSFITS - MINI S Fun in the Sun
8. FlaMINIgo - Florida-MINI-Go!
9. FUM - Florida United MINI
10. M.O.O.F. - MINI Owners of Florida
11. N.M.F. - New MINIs of Florida
12. S.S.M.F. - Sun and Surf MINIs of Florida
13. S.S.M. - Sunshine State MINIs
14. MILF - MINI Individuals Love Florida
15. MINI Madness (NEW)

Please vote with numbers so things don't get so confusing!

Also, we have two regional names already, and getting a SFL and a WFL or Panhandle name would help move things along. I will try to come up with something creative for these regions, you do the same!

Mini Owners-Tampa Orlando Region = MOTOR!
MINI Owners of Jacksonville Organization = MOJO!


_________________

Member #47 2002 Dark Silver Mini S white roof and mirrors with Premium and Sport pkgs. He has come and his name is MINI ME

 

MOOSE - MINI Owners Of South East

 

Hey Holly. I sent you my info, but figured I'd post a note here for those of you who don't know I'm from FL.
You can see my mini (and other stuff) online at: vinceandjessica.com

 

the first round has ended, and these four will be voted on (@ http://www.floridamini.net ) to reduce down to two.

4 x 2. SSMCC - Sunshine State Mini Cooper Club
2 x 4. MOOF or MOOFL or MOFLA - Mini Owners of Florida
4 x 8. FlaMINIgo - Florida-MINI-Go!
2 x 13. S.S.M. - Sunshine State MINIs

SSMCC can be SSMC considering the fact that there will be other MINI variants that aren't Coopers. If you would like to vote and cannot on http://www.floridamini.net PM me and I will add your vote to the pot.

 

Here's a conversation MINICooperSgirl and I had. Take a read and let me know what you think.

abe4109: hello its Electrc109 from MINI2.com
AAsher00: hello there
abe4109: I've been leading the way with the naming of the FL MINI organization...
AAsher00: right
abe4109: from discussion on floridamini.net, we've basically decided to get a name together to coorinate people toward the organization, and would discuss/structure the organization at Spring Thing.
abe4109: MOOSE can work for the Miami region name. I hadn't realized that was the intention
AAsher00: yea sorry
abe4109: is there anything you would like to express in relation to the organization? presently I have been the driving force of this whole thing. holly has provided some help, but hasn't said much in the last week or so...
AAsher00: Well, I think I have expressed that I think we should continue to be a part of FLAME, as they already are a statewide club. When MINICCA comes online, whenever that is, I feel we would be best served with local chapters of MINICCA. I feel like you don't want to be a part of FLAME, is that the case?
abe4109: its not that i dont want to be a part of FLAME, i just feel like if a bumch of new MINI owners join flame, we would change their identity so much as to almost snuff out the character it presently has
AAsher00: I understand, but why do we need a statewide club, why not get local/regional clubs going and work from there?
abe4109: That hasn't been mentioned. It would probably be fine, but considering the number of people that are willing to actually do the work it takes to get things started, NFL and WFL would benefit from having the motivation and numbers that SFL and CFL have currently.
AAsher00: Just my opinion, but I think we should start there (regional) and find out what works and what doesn't work. I don't want to be pres. or vice.pres, but would do secretary or something for the south fla region.
abe4109: I'll add this conversation to the posts relating to this whole ordeal and see what everyone else thinks, ok?
AAsher00: Great! Your efforts are appreciated!
abe4109: i'm just excited about having the opportunity to be a part of something that could become really great.
AAsher00: Yes it can!

 

You know the "FLAME event" is being organized by a MINI club called FLAME (Florida Mini Enthusiasts).
See this MCO post.
The FLAME site is at http://www.mini.org/flame/ but it seems to be down right now. That's who we should talk to about forming a state wide club to make sure we don't step on their toes. Like many have said, they focus on classics where the NEW club should focus on NEW MINIs. The site www.floridamini.net has a nice URL, but is very inactive and not user friendly. The record number of people on the site at one time was 12! Sorry to dog, but whoever runs that website does not seem concerned with improving the site. There have been the same errors and poor design for several months with no change. If we want to build a succesfull club, that site is not the place to do it. I think this forum on MCO is the best place to post info about this new Florida MINI club.

Vince

 

I'm going to back down and watch people decide what they want to do with this organization thing. Some of us have expressed interest in making a new MINI club. This idea is different from FLAME. Several of us have been organizing get togethers and if there were FLAME people around, they didn't do very much to promote their club. Essentially there has been a group of us that see the potential for a new club. Whether or not this club gets started regionally then to a state level or vice versa does not matter to me. It is difficult to organize something without deciding on our intentions. I won't be able to make it to Spring Thing, which is why I wanted to start developments online. I thought decisions were made, then more people started expressing their ideas. I do not want to ignore people's input, so I won't make decisions for the whole. I am too busy to run the club, but I will push this forward personally to get things going.

and PLEASE if you wish to make a suggestion, please be sure that it hasn't been discussed before otherwise we will move forward and regress quite often (which is where this post came from)

 

Just a comment on the FLAME issue.
One comment I've heard from FLAME members is, "Great, we're going to have a bunch of folks at the Spring Event talking about cup holders and what exhaust kit they have". This is not neccesarliy the opinions of everyone in FLAME but the point is, it's a different club. I've heard no one from FLAME ask for us to join their club, I'm pretty sure FLAME members read these boards so I would have expected to here from them if this was the case.

Second, I've tried to contact the folks that are getting MINICCA up and running. I've gotten no response from them, but if we get the club up and running before they are ready, what's the big deal. Once they open up we can slide right into their group with little or no effort.

Third, on just forming local chapters. Yes, this will probably be the final effort but right now we have about 5 or 6 people that are doing any of the research or work. It's going to be very hard to form a local group if only 1 person in the area is doing anything. Don't get me wrong, I think we will end up with local chapters ( I belonged to a local chapter with my Miata)but I think it might be to early in the process right now. Take a look at the responses to the threads on all 3 sites and you will see what I'm talking about. I think we only had like 12 votes total for the name, not to many people really active with this idea.

And finally, allyou lurkers on the 3 sites that are reading the posts about the Florida club but are not posting, add your two cents, let us know what you think.

 

>>And finally, allyou lurkers on the 3 sites that are reading the posts about the Florida club but are not posting, add your two cents, let us know what you think.

OK, I admit it, I have been avoiding the "let's organize" threads... :smile: It was a little hard for me to justify throwing my 2 cents in when I didn't even have my MINI yet (got it last Friday! - WOO HOO!). So now, here are my two pennies

I think that "the group" should be independent of FLAME, because of the inherent differences between our group classic Mini owners.I read over the info on Spring Thing and I felt like I really didn't belong going there. I would much rather be in the company of people who share a common interest in the MINI, not the Mini. However, there is no reason that the groups could come together for various events.

I think we need ONE PLACE to meet online. I think that the fact that we are all communicating via several different message boards (MCO, MINI2, Roadfly, floridamini.net) we having a tough time pulling everyone together. Either we need to make enhancements to floridamini.net (I can't even post anything half the time) or we need to make a permanent home on another message board. I'll still surf all the boards, but would rather discuss club stuff in one place.

As far as the local chapters go, I think we need to organize as a whole first. Forming many smaller local groups first would be a logistical nightmare. And I promise you, having several local groups merging into a larger one will present a whole new batch of drama to deal with.

Anyhow, whatever its called, and whoever's in charge... I'M IN! Let me know where help is needed, and I'll do my best!

Tony

 

Sorry guys. Its not that I haven't been thinking about the FL group, believe me, I've been trying to figure out how we can get this together....but I've had to switch work schedules... so I'm basically FUBAR'd...lol.

So here's my two cents...

I agree with minimotorin about the potential difficulty of forming the regional groups first. I'm not ruling it out, by any means, but right now I think we should start with the group as a whole...for FL.

I emailed Joyce Priest (of FLAME) since she has been very interested in our meets and group organization. I posed the dilemna of 'do we form a seperate entity, or go with FLAME?' I have not heard back from her as of yet.

There are just so many options available to us. Many of us have seen the potential that we have for a great club/organization... we just need to take our time and do it the right way....

 

Um, Yeah. I haven't seen much action in any of the sites about starting a group, but Holly pointed out great facts, you see? Just today (cruising down Miami) I saw 4 MINIs in a matter of 30 minutes. I've seen 6 MINIs close to my house in a day and for me, it's starting to be an "everyday sight". But how come I just see the cars, and never get to meet the people in 'em? The idea of starting a club is awesome, but how come there's confrontation? It seems to be like it's "my club, and go get your own" kinda situation? Maybe I haven't gotten the point straight, but all I'm saying is that we (MINI Drivers and Fans) should get together every other week if possible, or something. Get to know the people that live close/around you with the same enthusiasm about MINIs. Make it at least a month event, like a BBQ or just a get-together with friends. What's wrong with that? I would have definitely started this earlier, LOOOONG time ago, if it wasn't for School and work. (work, yes gotta pay for the car, don't we?)
Anyways, my point here is simple: If you feel like it's beginning to be a challenge for everybody to agree with a group or whatever, get your own thing going. Do it twice a month or so. Doesn't matter if it's the same people or different places; as long as we all have fun, no? With that, others will notice "Oh, hey they having fun, let me go check it out" and BOOM! A group is formed.
Anything anybody wanna say or add, you can reach me through e-mail at pole20@hotmail.com or xxTHIR13ENxx by Yahoo!
Well, I feel like I've typed enough for a message, and hope this makes sense. lol

Later all,
Leo.

 

Welcome aboard, Crash (aka...Leo) Its about time you started typing!!

 

My 2 cents again...
I think it's important for us MCOers post events and get-togethers in the South East forum. (Examples are the British Car night in Dunedin, and the Orlando meets, etc.) Then people from wherever will hopefully check this forum and attend the events if possible. And don't forget to tell every MINI owner you know about this site, and to keep and eye on the SE forum.

 

Greetings,
Count us in! We just picked up our MCS on 2-1. We are looking forward to the FLAME event in St. Pete on 3-/9. We plan on attending the autocross on Saturday and the show on Sunday. I think the FLAME event could be the jump start everyone is looking for in organizing an "official" club.
We are looking forward to meeting all of you who plan on attending. Name tags anyone???
BTW We are located in Stuart - and feel connected to Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties. You can contact us at: rrosenzweig@adelphia.net
Kind Regards,
Ron & Cheryl

'03 MCS, PS/B MOTOR ON !!!

:smile: :smile: