Why should I pay to be part of a car club? I really don't see a good reason to. Meets, and canyon runs are not a good reason to pay to be in a car club.

 

I paid. $25.00 a year. someone has to set stuff up and run the web site and desirves something for their time. Also, I got a t-shirt, decal, and get to meet a lot of great people with great cars. We had a great time Sunday 12-7-03.

My opinion.

Earl

 

I agree completely with SCURVES. The goodies we get, while trivial to some, help make the club that much more cohesive. The dues are really nominal, and they cover the cost of administration, web space, the goodies, and (I believe) the food at the annual picnic! I'm probably missing a few things as well...

There are quite a few clubs that have dues; I also belong to the Sierra Club, which has dues, and even the sub-groups within it have their own dues! So it's not really out-of-the-norm.

I've met so many great people through this club and a number of them have become/are becoming close friends. That, to me, is priceless. If you balk at having to pay dues for club membership, maybe scmm isn't for you.

 

>>Why should I pay to be part of a car club? I really don't see a good reason to. Meets, and canyon runs are not a good reason to pay to be in a car club.

Lots of reasons. Exclusive deals. We had an event recently where we all got our cars detailed for free while learning how to do it ourselves from Professionals. I created a DVD of the event and is available only to members for really cheap--my cost of materials only. It's my way of giving back to the club. It's a way of networking and hanging out with people with like interests. I'm seeing a lot more MINI's on the road now, but very few I encounter are enthusiasts, mostly just commuters. I.e. they don't wave, or even acknowledge me. For me, I know I've got a group of very cool friends who share the same passion.

$25 is the cost of a magazine subscription, but you get so much more. I've been a member for just over a month, and I've easily gotten that back many times over already.

Also as a member, you decide what you want to get out of the experience. I tend to want to put more in than the typical member. I developed features on my website to allow other members to communicate with each other about upcoming events, and am building new features all the time. I do it cause it's fun and I like helping people.

And best of all as a few have pointed out are the people. I've developed some very good relationships, and that alone is reason enough to join.

Just my 2cents.

OctaneGuy

 

>>Why should I pay to be part of a car club? I really don't see a good reason to.
>>Meets, and canyon runs are not a good reason to pay to be in a car club.
>>========================================== ============
Having grown up around the car club culture, I could tell you that organization dues have been around for years.

Participation in any group is optional. Those of us involved in SCMM, one of the fastest-growing MINI groups in the nation, do so of our own free will.

We are a diverse group. No one who is intimately familiar with our organization can accuse us of being sheep. We all think for ourselves. Like the automobile we all have in common, we are all iconoclasts.

Our familia includes military personnel, industrial designers, educators, artists, tech people, medics, business administrators, blue collars/white collars, beer drinkers/wine drinkers, even soda drinkers! SCMM members are tolerant of differences, yet we sometimes in fight- only to settle our disagreements on our own terms.

Sure SCMM has a nominal annual fee. Some people have problems with that, I know. SoCal MINI Maniacs is not the only MINI organization in the United States of America to ask for dues, nor are we the first.

If you go out to the big Vegas event in February, why not come up to us and shoot the sh*t for a while. You'll see we're not quite the evil mongers some will lead you to believe we are. Hell, look for me there. I'll be in an INDI Blue/B MC. (photo below) I'll even buy you a beer.



_________________
pelon@blu-iguana.us | ponte trucha. . .

 

boy i guess i kinda hiit a cord with you SCMM people. i guess i'll mainly focus this post to blacknblue because he insulted me in his last post a few times.

First you little rant about how we all liike the Mini....well of cource I love my Mini, I just don't want ot pay to hang out with other people who love our cars when I can do it for free.

Second your comment about the Pic 'N Save Mini club is just plane childish. Yes i brought up the isssue that at the poker rally i don't think i got my $20 worth, so kill me for wanting to get my money's worth out of stuff. So far what i've heard of SCMM i don't think the $20/year isn't worth it.

Finally why isn't SCMM for me? Because I come out questioning the system, because I want to know where the dues go to? If i'm not welcome because of this then you guys really need to take a look at your ogrinization.

After looking at SCMM's site, I really know now that you guys are not at all for me. I can get all the same benifits for free over at Might Miniz's site. Hear that! FOR FREE so now i really don't see the point in paying for SCMM stuff.

-Paul
I love my car....just not some of the people who drive them

_________________
-Life is too important to take seriously

 

>>boy i guess i kinda hiit a cord with you SCMM people. i guess i'll mainly focus this post to blacknblue because he insulted me in his last post a few times.

Hmmm, lumping all of us SCMMers together as "you SCMM people" is offensive to me. I didn't insult you, nor did I talk down to you. I think Juan came off a little unnecessarily harsh, but maybe he knows something about you that I don't. I don't spend much time on NAM these days as I spend more time on our local group. See my comments inline.


>>First you little rant about how we all liike the Mini....well of cource I love my Mini, I just don't want ot pay to hang out with other people who love our cars when I can do it for free.


That's fine. Free is good. But you get what you pay for. We pay a bit more because we enjoy the benefits. Just like why some people would prefer to trade in their MINI for a Corolla or a Mini van. It's your choice.


>>Second your comment about the Pic 'N Save Mini club is just plane childish. Yes i brought up the isssue that at the poker rally i don't think i got my $20 worth, so kill me for wanting to get my money's worth out of stuff. So far what i've heard of SCMM i don't think the $20/year isn't worth it.


Good for you! So save your cash and don't join. And furthermore, why did you even post this question in the first place? If you're so set on saving your cash, did you really think someone would try to convince you to NOT join? Of course not.


>>Finally why isn't SCMM for me? Because I come out questioning the system, because I want to know where the dues go to? If i'm not welcome because of this then you guys really need to take a look at your ogrinization.


LOL. That's way too funny. I question the system all the time. In fact, the system isn't perfect and needs some improvement. But that's what the members are for. We are a community. We work together and enjoy our MINI's together. And it's constantly being improved.


>>After looking at SCMM's site, I really know now that you guys are not at all for me. I can get all the same benifits for free over at Might Miniz's site. Hear that! FOR FREE so now i really don't see the point in paying for SCMM stuff.


Wooohooo!! I hate to say it, but I have to agree with you. I don't think you would qualify as a member anyhow. We are all rich snobs after all who can afford to spend $25 a year instead of getting them for free from somewhere else! So you are absolutely right.

So why did you ask us this stupid question again????? And oh yeah, Black N Blue, I gotta agree with you. Your tone was JUST perfect.

OctaneGuy

 

I started mini5280 in Denver (the Mile High city - thus 5280 feet above sea level). It cost money to run these things. Our website costs were minimal thanks to Mark Ferguson's slave labor and hosting services. mini5280 then spent about $4 per member for stickers and another $3 or so on membership cards and printing costs.

mini5280 then kept the rest dues for the club. We didn't return any more stuff to the members. Instead mini5280 purchased two Ez-up tents. We used these at autocross events to provide shade for our members who raced and for those MINI owners who came out to root us on.

:smile:

 

One more thing to add: We also spent some money to get an accountant to oversee the processing of mini5280 as a not for profit. There were some other misc. expenses related to the business side that, when distributed over the membership accounted for about $2-$3 of the memership dues.

 

I'm not terribly familiar with Team MMZ or how it is run, so excuse me if I sound uninformed.

Does that group get great deals on track time? with instructors? What about disounts and swag with some of the larger California vendors? Or maybe even the occasional swag donation from the dealer? When a run is planned, does the planner produce a detailed map, complete with timelines and odo readings? Again, I'm not sure, that's why I ask.

It's more than t-shirts and decals (not stickers).

While I'm not a huge fan of giving anybody any of my money for any reason that isn't necessary, I believe that in the case of SCMM, the $25 is more than worth it!

Just my .02

 

so is having that beer is now out of the question?

_________________
pelon@blu-iguana.us | ponte trucha. . .

 

Dues are used to pay for membership packages and the mailing thereof (which adds up). We've bought 2-way radios for Club member use during events, rented facilities for Club events, including an exclusive Track Day.

Club is not-for-profit. Officers are volunteers.

 

one should never take out a guitar without expecting the chords to be strummed . . .

_________________
pelon@blu-iguana.us | ponte trucha. . .

 

>>Why should I pay to be part of a car club? I really don't see a good reason to. Meets, and canyon runs are not a good reason to pay to be in a car club.

Just wondering, did you pay over MSRP for your car?

I did because I got great service and got the car I wanted. If the MSRP was higher would you still have bought it.

The dues are the same thing. If you want to join then join if not then don't. I also understand that to some people $25.00 is a lot more than to others.

One thing I get from membership is meeting people and becoming friends, going on a drive, talking about our cars, having lunch/coffee/coke/burger/whatever.

One thing I got from buying my car where I did was the dealer invited 120 customer (with family/friends) to meet in San Juan Capistrano where we were given Krispi Kream donuts and Starbucks coffee. Drove over the Ortega Hwy to lake Elsinore and down some back roads to Temecula and back up the back roads and ended in Santa Ana. Once at the dealership they gave everyone hat, had a drawing and gave away hundards of dollars worth of stuff to winners of the drawing. Fed us b-b-q ribs, chicken, salads great food.

But the real point is we all had a great time. not that I paid extra for the car that was my choice and joining or not joining a club is your choice.

Thanks for reading

Earl

 

>>One thing I get from membership is meeting people and becoming friends, going on a drive, talking about our cars, having lunch/coffee/coke/burger/whatever.



so i guess your saying you have to pay to make new friends? seems kinda silly to me.

 

>>so i guess your saying you have to pay to make new friends? seems kinda silly to me.

What's truly sad about this whole thread is that YOU can never know what you don't have, and well frankly, you have no clue what you are missing, so don't knock it when others say they enjoy it.

Your analogy is meaningless and only serves to create anger against your absolutely ignorant post. I started off with an open mind to respond to your thread, and it's evident that you have not practiced the same thing to us.

So if joining a club and paying dues is silly, and is the same as paying to make new friends, well you obviously have a warped sense of reality.

Let me ask you. You've got 39 posts to your name. Can't you think of something more interesting to post?

 

Well, I am a new member of SCMM. So far, I think that the 25.00 is reasonable, considering the fact that you get a t-shirt and stickers and some cool stuff when you join. You have the advantage of huge meets, and meeting a ton of great people. The only thing I was bummed about was the pricing of the track, but that's not SCMM's price per se, it just costs that much to go to the track. They are actually getting a deal, even at that price.

Thus far, the guys/girls over at MightyMiniz have been nothing but cool to me, so I don't see a reason why we can't just exist in peace. No more "my organization is better than your organization." Seems like people just post sometimes to create problems and pick fights.

Can't we all just... get along? And motor together!?

 

I curious why no one has brought up the insurance cost. If your a group of MINI owners and want to hold an event as a group you have to have liability insurance. Doesn't club dues go toward that?

 

Everyone,

It is time for this to stop! The constant bashing of SCMM is growing old and frankly everyone, including myself, is tired of it. The constant bashing of Team MMZ in response is getting old too.

A public forum such as NAM is not the place for these kinds of attacks. Please take a moment to check the Site Guidelines AGAIN.

This thread started off on a very constructive tone, lets try to keep it that way or this thread will be locked.

Thanks

 

Agreeing with db about bashing of SCMM and TMM getting old.

Back on topic:
If it's anything like mini5280 then SCMM does NOT carry a general liability policy. At mini5280 we used a liability waiver specific to the event/drive, if we were hosting it. At autocross BMWCCA had a liability policy and we all signed their waiver. For club sponsored track days (like the one SCMM had at Pahrump), the organizer (in this case Rich) has a liability policy from K&K. So in general, the answer is NO, the club does not carry insurance.

When I looked into insurance for mini5280, it was just prohibitively expensive. On an annual basis it was the equivalent of 60 memberships (mind you that's for a policy for a club that at the time stood at 50 members

_________________
_____
/__|___\__
/(o)____(o)
dave@northamericanmotoring.com

 

Yes, I understand about track days and such. Events where you are on their property and actually hosting the event. But, what about the imprompt to get togethers and drives which are hosted by a club. If, God forbid, your club is out motoring somewhere and someone not associated with your organization is hurt in the course of your event. Is it possible that the club could be held responsible? When our local club wanted to get together with our local MINI dealership to have a starting point for an event, this MINI dealership wanted proof of insurance before we could do it. I'm not an attorney, but to make it safe for people who want to organize and get together to enjoy their MInis what do you do?

 

As a general comment about the insurance...I haven't looked into exact pricing, but most clubs can get insurance through the SCCA Policy - aslong as you agree to their terms...this in general is a very affordable way to go about it as all members of the SCCA and clubs using SCCA insurance are on the same policy so it is much more affordable per person...for a local club to get insurance on their own policy is horrible expensive but for those that would like the comfort of insurance at a decent price please look into what the SCCA insurance provides.

Note this is not RACE insurance for drivers...this is liability insurance for the club when hosting their own events in case insurance firms, individuals etc were to make a claim to the club or even worse sue the club for something that happened at an event.

 

I don't know of a single club for the MINI that has a general liability insurance policy to cover regular group drives/drive-n-dines/other non track club events. As I said above, the cost was out of hand. In our case $1500 a year for a club that had only collected a total of $1250 and had already spent $600 of that on other expenses (outlined above). Believe me, I would love to see local clubs have a general liability policy, but the economics of it are very harsh.

Because of that, mini5280 makes everyone sign a liability waiver for EACH EVENT. The club is also incorporated as a not for profit (mini5280 has an EIN (employer identification number aka a tax i.d.) so there is a real entity there, but there isn't much in the way of assets.


================================================== ======================
Liability Waiver
================================================== ======================

The following waiver is merely for informational purposes. Please consult legal representation familiar with your state's laws before using any liability waiver.

================================================== ======================

 

Dave did you look into the SCCA for insurance for official club events? Of course a private policy for just your club is going to be out of reach. The economics of it are harsh but that is why the SCCA will provide insurance for you for a much smaller price because you are UNDER THEIR POLICY, not your own, but even with insurance, the waivers are strongly recommened.

 

From what I've seen, the waivers are part of the condition to stay under their policy.

I didn't check with the SCCA. My conversations were with K&K insurance after talking with BMWCCA about their liability policy.