I'd like to create an Arizona Mini online community.

As some of you know, I'm heavy in to Jeeps also. On Yahoo, we have a group called the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club. We currently have over 1800 members, making us the biggest Jeep club in the state. We pass new mod info, ask for help with problems, discuss pros and cons of mods, post trail runs, post parts for sale, and generally discuss Jeeps. It has been very successful.

I'd like to start the same thing for us Mini folks to create a Mini Owners community in Arizona. I know there used to be an Arizona Mini Club on Yahoo. I was in it, but nothing ever got posted and the owner closed it down. It may be slow at first since there aren't that many Minis out there yet, but I think we could make it something fun and informative.

MCO is great and I will continue to read it all the time and we can continue to post fun runs, but I'd like to have something Arizona specific. It would help to get to know other AZ Mini drivers. For instance, there is an Electric Blue Mini somewhere in my neighborhood (Pecos and Cooper in Chandler). I see it regularly but have no idea where the person lives. Someone probably knows the person or they may be online already but we never connect because there is no place to post these kind of things.

I'd like to get folks from Mini N. Scotsdale involved if possible also. Invite the MAs, parts people, service people, etc. This could help new owners have a place to go to meet other Mini owners or allow us to interface with the dealership to let them know what they are doing right and wrong.

What do you all think? Would there be interest in this? Does this already exist and I just don't know about it? Let me know.

Chris

 

Chris, all very good ideas.

Are you aware of AMO (Arizona Mini Owners) club? They cater to both the new and classic Minis. There's been more and more membership there (including myself) of MINI owners. They have a forum hosted on ezboard.com. Tons of pop-up ads, but what do you expect for a "free" hosting BBS? I think there's a lot of value in their club because you get to see the classic side as well as the new side of Minis.

As far as starting a new one, there's nothing holding anyone back. If you have a good idea and a good implimentation of that idea, people are sure to follow!!

Interest? You bet!

 

The Arizona Mini Owners already has a message board. Need to download pop up stopper, those things are bothersome, there is a link to that on the board.

Arizona Mini Owners message board

Although I like MCO, seems the AZ posters here don't have any problem 'hooking up'. That EB MCS could be Todd's. He races SCCA Solo2. I believe he lives in that area.

 

>>The Arizona Mini Owners already has a message board. Need to download pop up stopper, those things are bothersome, there is a link to that on the board.
>>
>>Arizona Mini Owners message board
>>
>>Although I like MCO, seems the AZ posters here don't have any problem 'hooking up'. That EB MCS could be Todd's. He races SCCA Solo2. I believe he lives in that area.

Do you have to be a member to go there? The beauty of the Virtual Jeep Club is that, for people like myself that hate organized clubs, it is a loose group with no dues and no meetings. No group officers. No rules except respect each other, respect the trails, must own a Jeep, and must live in AZ. We just chat via email and get together on the trail to have fun and help each other.

have an email for Todd? I'd like to find out if it is him.

 

>>Although I like MCO, seems the AZ posters here don't have any problem 'hooking up'. That EB MCS could be Todd's. He races SCCA Solo2. I believe he lives in that area.

That would be me. Todd. I live near Price and Willis. PM me and we can talk Mini stuff. I like to show off my mods.

 

>>>>Do you have to be a member to go there? The beauty of the Virtual Jeep Club is that, for people like myself that hate organized clubs, it is a loose group with no dues and no meetings. No group officers. No rules except respect each other, respect the trails, must own a Jeep, and must live in AZ. We just chat via email and get together on the trail to have fun and help each other.
.
No you don't need to be a member to participate with the club. Although I highly recommened it. Single membership is only $15yr. Membership also has its privileges as well as its rewards.

 

Some organized clubs can be a pain in the ****! They can also become very political. With MInis you throw in the mix of the old and the new. Maybe the older members tend to want to do things one way when the newer members with their New MINIs want to do something else. We can make enough room in the club to do both with no problem. Thereby giving members a choice of what they would like to do. With Dom joining the AMO his 'Fun Runs' are protected under the AMO umbrella. With the way of the world nowadays, and our legal system, it just makes sense to join a club so that the individual can have some degree of protection with regards to liability. So joining a club is not going to change anything, the Fun Runs will still be here (right Dom?) there will just be more people joining in on the fun! If you have any questions about AMO PM me.

Pat

 

>>Some organized clubs can be a pain in the ****! They can also become very political. With MInis you throw in the mix of the old and the new. Maybe the older members tend to want to do things one way when the newer members with their New MINIs want to do something else. We can make enough room in the club to do both with no problem. Thereby giving members a choice of what they would like to do. With Dom joining the AMO his 'Fun Runs' are protected under the AMO umbrella. With the way of the world nowadays, and our legal system, it just makes sense to join a club so that the individual can have some degree of protection with regards to liability. So joining a club is not going to change anything, the Fun Runs will still be here (right Dom?) there will just be more people joining in on the fun! If you have any questions about AMO PM me.
>>
>>Pat

OK, now I'm confused. Are you for or against my idea?

I agree with what you said about organised clubs. I don't really like them that much because of the political BS that eventually happens.

What I see about AMO so far is that they are a good club but how do they communicate. The BBS they have seems to have very little traffic.

The virtual club I am proposing would be an easy online way for MINI and Mini owners to communicate about Minis or whatever.

So far, it is not getting a lot of interest so maybe it wasn't such a good idea or the time is not right. I was just going by the success we have had with the Jeep club. There are organized Jeep clubs, but the Virtual Jeep Club communicates much better and more often.

If there isn't interest, no biggie. It was just an idea.

_________________
2003 LY/W Mini Cooper

 

 

>> So joining a club is not going to change anything, the Fun Runs will still be here (right Dom?) there will just be more people joining in on the fun!

Pat,

Yep, the fun-runs are still continuing and growing in size. Since all the members of AMO were emailed, the Kartchner Caverns tour time filled up almost instantly! WOW I can't wait to meet all the new people who'll be participating.

With clubs, there'll always be something for anyone. If not, someone will step forward and fill the gap.

I do like the idea of an independantly run BB. That way all people can participate regardless of club affiliation. And who knows, maybe MNS will be more receptive to that type of "independance" so it wouldn't be like they were "officially sponsoring" or "officially backing" a particular club.

I know that there's not many active AZ members on MINI2 or the MCO in relation to how many cars are motoring the AZ hiways. Certainly not like other areas of the US where there's high activity on the MCO.

Chris, what ever you can do, do it. It will only be a good thing for Arizona MINI owners.

 

OK, I created the group:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/azvmcc/

Please read the welcome message. Let anyone you know in AZ about it. Lets get this group rolling.

Chris

 

I think it is a great idea the more resorces we have the better
there is no reson to limit ourselves in any way for any reason.

 

I guess I will chime in here.

Organized clubs provide the hobby community with support and strength. They are viewed as organized and having some infuence, and they have members and officers that have stepped up to the plate to be responsible and obligated to certain duties.

AMO's (ARIZONA MINI OWNERS) message board-- Pop ups are a Pain. There are POP up stoppers available for free download. I have used these for a long time because of plenty of other sites that use POP-UPS. There is even a link on the AMO message board in the getting started thread on where to download a POP-UP blocker.

AMO's message board does not require membership in AMO, a "Yahoo" membership, or even registration to use. So far anyone can post there. If there were a problem with abuse, then that rule could be changed, but so far there has been no problems.

There have been several message areas come on line, and go off line. Interest, and enthusiasm sometimes get lost in time. Arizona Mini Owners has been around since 1986, members keep it alive. Right now the members make it THRIVE! Very often on the "online" clubs, you have a few really interested people, they post like crazy, go from board to board, then get burned out and drop off. This happens not just with car groups, but other hobbies as well.

It was asked how AMO communicates. Official club communication comes through monthly newsletters, and mass emails directly with the membership. That is where organization is nice. The members can use the message board as well as the general public. AMO has monthly meetings, where we see each other face to face, (what a concept), and events that are well planned and thought out.

I have joined your Yahoo group, and will try to monitor it as I can. The problem that I see forming, is that there are so many places to go online that at somepoint people may be relying on one place when the real action is going on someplace else. There may be more lurkers than users, then the users go someplace else. To many people not understanding one message board, dropping it and going to another. I worry that too many really neat people will get lost in a sea of "MINI memberships", whether free or organized with dues.

I do not mean to beat a MEMBERSHIP DRUM, but thought I should just share my observations. I belong to AMO, I belong to several other car clubs as well. (Real and Virtual Clubs) I have to admit, I like the "real" clubs better. Yes, there can be problems with clubs. We are humans and have different ideas, and those have to be worked out. That is where the MEMBERSHIP comes in, Members control what happens with a club, NO ONE PERSON can make all the decisions and run it alone.

If you have read all the way to this point, thanks!! I didn't mean to get so long winded :smile:

Barney

 

Well said Barney

 

Good and true points Barney.
I do think AMO would benefit from a better board though.
:smile:
What about teaming up with MCO or MINI2 to get a dedicated forum? And set up a paypal or similar account for fees etc?
I'll shut up now.

 

I too believe that AMO could use a better message board. Or do something about the one we have.

I took it upon myself to set up the account we have. It was free and the POP-UPS weren't there when we started, we only had banners on the pages. It was a try out to see if we needed the board with our other ways of communication. It has been a limited success. There are ways for people to donate to eliminate the pop ups, or we could just pay to make the board a GOLDMEMBER board, and no pop ups.

When it was set up I was looking for a free way to go, and not require anybody to have any type of membership anywhere and still be able to post. Getting a registered name on EZ BOARD is free as well if you want to protect your user name from being used by others. I had hoped that it would get all kinds of use, and then maybe somebody in the AMO organization would think it was worth paying for the GOLDMEMBERSHIP, bring it up at a meeting or on the board, get approval and pay for it with club funds. That would cost us about $60 per year. The first three months are $10, then it is $30 per six months after that. I don't think that is too much money, especially if everybody used the same board.

The Yahoo stuff is free also, and you can post photos over there. Signing up for a Yahoo account is free and no big deal. I just never remember to check and see if I have any Yahoo mail.

 

The Yahoo board is interesting in that You can set up your account so that any new post are sent your Email. I haven't been to the board since I left my BIO post but have gotten all of the post in my email. Kinda of cool

 

I'm all for a loose band of MINI owners having their own site.
I like the little click we got going right now ( Right Dominic?)
The get togethers for Lunch, Dinner, Pavillions, and fun runs are great!
We are a bunch of fun young peopl with cool MINIS.

I like the Arizona Mini group, however, I feel a little alienated by the group.

It tends to cater to an older croud with original Minis than to the new MINI.
Also, the event seem to be based in Gilbert / Chandler or the far south east valley.
That is quite a drive for me from Arrowhead.
In addition, it seem like all the events are to drive to "someones" house and sit.

A few of us were talking about starting our own North Phoenix MINI group.
But the small group of us have been doing stuff with everyone.

But I am in for whatever.

 

Brandon,

No worries mate. The AMO has their monthly meetings all over. The last one was a Barney's in Tucson. There's one coming up in Surprise.

They do have brakfast runs and other larger runs similar to what I've been organizing. As a matter of fact, they like my idea of fun-runs and now that I'm a member all of my future fun-runs will be sponsored (by way of insurance) by the club. So they get posted to the AMO site, they get coverage under the AMO liability insurance, etc. etc.

Still there's a need for smaller group outtings and get-togethers. I think Chris' site just might fill that need. Also it might be a little broader reaching than a fee-based club. I hope that Chris can get the dealership to participate.

Don't forget, we also have each-other's email and phone numbers. We can always hook up that way. You know, old school style. LOL

Happy Motoring!
Dominic