After much thought I'm not going to go on about the lack of interest I see happening in this club. If members don't want to partake in Happy hours, or organized runs, I figure they have better things to do, even though some members work hard to get these things happening. If members don't like what is going on, then the monthly club meetings that are open to all members would seem to be the best way to express this, but better things to do. The fact that the club website is months behind on recent club activities should not hinder those members that receive emails letting them know what is going on, but again, why partake when someone else does all the work.

So rather then whine about the lack of participation, I challenge the membership to suggest what they think the club should do to get members more involved.

I'll start.

Should the runs be slower? Spirited runs may turn some folks off.
Maybe a detailing day. Your MINI is never too clean.
Group buys, mod sessions. Good way to learn about what makes your MINI tick.

Please, carry on with this, as it is YOUR club.

Mark

 

I really wanted to go on the recent run and to happy hour, but my crappy work schedule interferes. (I work Saturdays and until 7 most eves)

I'd like to actually meet other members, but as a new person, I'm a bit shy.

I'd like to learn more about my MINI and a detailing day sounds good!

As a side note, I was kind of surprised when I bought my car that there was no mention made of the club, I'd think the dealer and the club would have a somewhat symbiotic relationship.

 

Mark, your a good man!

I am guessing not many showed up at the Fall Rallye

My excuse is that I needed that Saturday to catch up on many things. I really wanted to go and see all the "old" and new folks, but my responsible side got the best of me.

Regarding your questions, I have really enjoyed the runs that I have been on. They have been fast and I can see how some folks might get "turned off" by them. (My daughter threw up on two different runs .) Although the spirited runs are really fun, there have been times when even I was concerned about safety. I suspect these issues have been talked about before (during the club meetings) because I know Adam came out with "rallye rules" soon after he became club president. So, maybe there should be some more "take it easy" runs.

The Holiday Lights party and cruise is great. We missed the last one because we were out of town, but we will go on the upcoming one for sure! All you new members: Don't miss the Holiday Lights party and run!

Detailing day --- great idea! Missed the last one at Adam's church ( sorry, I was busy again :impatient ), but would join any others that might arise. Was there a lecture at the last one? It would be nice to have a "basics of detailing" lecture from the experts.

My suggestions now. I would really like to have something like a get-together were a member or members who are knowledegable about a subject would share their knowledge with other members. (Preferably with some beer to go around, of course ) Some suggested topics:

1. detailing / exterior car care (as above)
2. maintenance after your warranty expires - I do my own oil changes; would like to learn how to do other basic maintenance procedures as well.
3. Mini / MINI history
4. performance mods (and cosmetic mods)
5. ?

Those are my thoughts! I am guilty of being not-so-active lately, but promise to jump back in soon!

 

Oh, it is Halloween----Blue Meanie's "birthday."

My MINI is four years old!

 

Dont know if it would ever interest your group but I am part of a new group in Eastern Iowa and at some point in time may do some runs in the south part of our area and you all would be invited. Mix things up with a few cross border runs to meet new MINI's and such...


just an idea

 

The club does have fliers at the dealer, why they don't give them out is anyones guess

Just concerned about the club, but thanks

The first step in doing a detailing session is finding a place where we can do one. We would need a paved parking lot, and a water supply. If anyone has any ideas for such a place PM me.

Mark

 

1.Perhaps we should rename our "Happy Hours" to "Socials". We REALLY aren't hanging out at the local taverns swilling down beer. Instead we are eating at an established restaurant with the choice of beverages being whatever an individual desires ( I drink diet Pepsi) while talking about our MINIs

2. The officers in the Club are volunteers ,everyone. We have other lives, jobs etc etc. We should not be subjected to nasty emails or other such abuse. We had a person responsible for mailing out t-shirts etc. He fell behind in his duties. We have since asked him to pass the articles on to those who "VOLUNTEERED" to catch up. We have yet to get him to return the Club's mechandise.

3. We have a webmaster who was appointed by our past president when he left & was no longer able to do it himself. Good idea at the time, bad choice of who he chose. Hopefully we can find someone who is up to the job. Any volunteers out there?

4. Planning an event DOES take some time. Especially one with a driving route. It's very disappointing when that time is not rewarded by a good attendance. It's like having a party & no one shows up It's also very disappointing to me as the Events Coordinator to see this happen to those who so generously volunteer.

5. The Club is only as good as it's members. If the Club fails, the members have failed. Not the people who have contributed to try to make it succeed. And unfortunately, they are always the same generous people who volunteer time & time again. I thank them.

6. Elections are coming up this Spring. Maybe some people will step up to the plate to help keep our Club going. Otherwise, it may cease to exist.

Lois
STL MINI Club Events Coordinator

 

I have trouble attending the events and meetings, as I work Sats., and have conflicting schedules with the MINI clubs. I do not see flyers at dealer, as I have not been to the dealer since first service. Lois emails us which is good, but conflicting schedules, work are a main factor with me. Years back I belonged to the StL Jag Club and had the same problem, even shows were on Sats. I have been to the last 2 Xmas Lite rallyes and have met a lot of the members and out state members. Besides not being from the immediate area it is a drive to get to the meetings and then there would be the return trip and have to get up early next morning.

 

Keeping and getting members involved (and getting new members) has been the key issue for the club since Mike and I started it in 2003. This seems to be the #1 problem with every car club. When I was setting up most of the events at the start, one thing I always did was setup an event that would be fun for me, and then I didn't worry about how many members showed up. If a lot showed up, great! If not, I still had a fun day and some members got to share in that. That's the only way to not be disappointed when less members showed up than you wanted. Some of the best events I have done have had 6-8 people there.
I guess the key for the club is to continually setup an atmosphere where members are encouraged to setup events, not relying solely on the club officers to plan every event. I think that we have that now, but we are now into the holiday season, which tends to slow everything down in the club. Maybe we should just send a general e-mail to the membership and get their ideas for improving the club, and if they have event ideas, get them on the calendar for the spring with that member organizing so we can come out of the gate strong next spring.
Someone above suggested a maintenance and mod party; it's been awhile since we did this but it's a great idea. My garage is too small for it, but their are several members that might be able to help out. Maybe we can plan this after the holidays? I'll send out some feelers and see what we can come up with.

Aaron

 

Aaron,

You have some good points. However, most of the Club's events in the last year have been put on by the officers of the Club & by individuals who have been doing the same events for years. I'd like to see some new volunteers out there. Our President sent an email out over the summer asking for people to host events. I got NO response.

I'm going to take this holiday season for me, my husband, my family & my friends & then like you said maybe the Club can get a fresh start this Spring.

Lois

 

Though not a member, (yet anyway) I'd be happy to speak with someone about maintaining your Web site. I have been designing, implementing, and maintaining high-security sites for several years now, so I'm sure I could handle the task if you are in need. PM if you're interested.

 

Thank you PM sent

Lois

 

Lois,
I 100% agree with you and have been in your shoes when no response comes back; it isn't a good feeling! Have a great holiday with your family and friends. After the holidays, we can regroup and start a push for involvement for the next driving season.

One positive thing I always remember; even when we are not very active, we are still more active than most clubs in the country! :-)

Thanks!

 

adam 76 -- If you do end up helping the club out with its website and if you need any help, please let me know. As past president and designer/coder of the current site and back-end membership database functions, I might be able to give you a hand if you run into some dead ends. "Your mission, adam76, should you choose to accept it...."

Also, event turn out is strange. I hosted a detailing seminar where two other cars showed up. It was a lot of work and I got a lot of samples from Mothers to share. Kind of a bummer, but we had SPARKLING cars afterwards and some people learned a great deal about engine cleaning! That's a good day in my book.

Sometimes, you get a HUGE turnout for something you didn't think would. Other times, it goes the other way. Happy Hours have seen a hand full of people to 50+.

It's hard. It's unpredictable. Winter is always slow. But, the cool thing is that the enthusiasm of the club, and its members, has always kept stlmini.com the most active car club in the region.

Now, maybe we can talk about an organized pilgrimage trip to the Oxford plant...

Yes, I'm still watching the club from London.....

Cheers.

Adam

 

I would have loved to have attended the Fall Rallye, I had an engagement prior tho. I will be more than happy to host an event sometime out at my farm at some point in the spring. I appears that there was a run made out to a winery at one point in the past and the pictures showed quite a few people there. I think a run out to Hermann MO out 94 would be a lot of fun given the roads. I know there is a new brewery in Hermann and quite a few other venues there, I could check with Hermannhof to see if they would be interested in us coming up sometime (they have a beautiful layout). I don't know if people are interested in going that far, but it is a very nice trip. I am filled with ideas and am very open to helping the club.

 

Well, I look forward to being able to attend some events in the future (at least until I move to Carbondale for school and have no time or money again).
When I was home on leave from Iraq I attended Midnight Madness at GIR and was disappointed to only see one MINI and none making runs or in the car-show area. I know drag-racing isn't our cars strong-point but it would have been cool to have met a few of you guys, my car was still in storage down in GA.
As for the monthly meetings, I know what you guys mean about the turnouts. When I was in Gateway DSM the monthly meetings at Kriegers (I think I spelled that right) in South County were tough for me to make since I usually worked Saturdays, and were pretty far away from me since I lived in IL. People who work all week usually are busy on the weekends too and it's pretty understandable, maybe smaller mid-week meets where you go out to eat after work or something would be easier. They'd have consistently smaller turnouts but allow for more meetings. The European car club I was in in Augusta used to do this a lot and our presence at different places attracted a lot of new members who then would attend the larger events.
I hope some of my input was helpful and look forward to being an active part of you guys in the spring and maybe setting up a few get-togethers myself.

 

The Balducci Winery Event always has a great turnout. The actual run is short but Doug gets lots of great giveaway gifts I guess free stuff makes people show up. Also free food seems to do the trick too

I appreciate all the ideas & offers for help. Lois is getting lots of ideas & also is happy to see people coming forth to volunteer for events.

Mark

Lois,too

 

Thanks Lois,

A little communication goes a long way.

 

I'm sorry you feel you weren't informed as to why we have had difficulties getting the t shirts etc out to our members. I'm the lowly events coordinator(at least until elections) and when I would receive inquiries about the above, I would pass it on to the President and membership people. But I felt it was time to let our members know why this was all happening. Sorry to air dirty laundry, but it is what it is!!!

Lois

 

Yup, sure does, and the more the merrier

Mark

 

I appreciate everyone's opinions and suggestions. I have been watching this thread closely. I have refrained from commenting because I want to hear what everyone has to say without added my bias. I listen to everyone in the club and try to act accordingly. The members are the club, and I am only here to implement what the club wants, or is best.

 

Our club, SCMM in So-Cal, has addressed this problem by breaking each run into two groups.

The first group out, known as the "Hair on Fire" group takes off and does their thing.

The second group follows in about 5 minutes, known as the "Scenic Cruisers" leaves and does their thing at a slightly slower pace.

We all end up at the selected destination in a reasonable time with everybody having had the experience that suits their driving style.

Everybody happy at the results.

Happy motoring to your club,

Bill

 

That's a great idea, Bill Thanks

And thanks to all who have given me ideas & offered to host events once we get through winter. You can bet I will be contacting you in the Spring

If anyone has any thoughts about some "Winter events", I am open to suggestions.

One idea I have is perhaps in January, a trip to see the migrating eagles would be fun. I'm just not promising my top will be down

Lois

 

BTW, First I received my membership card today. Thank You!
I've been a member since June of 2006 and plan on being in the Club for a long time. However a couple of things I was mentioning to Brian about the club could help. We talked about.....

1. Posting fliers at the dealership, and at the Service Center. They need to go in the plastic holders in the waiting room. Also get commitment from the Sales manager and the Service Manager to help grow not only their Mini sales business, but also grow the club

2. A Picture ID listing of the members to match their names on the Forum. A picture with them and their Car. A link that the user can provide after a posting if they choose too. I've been around since 2006 and am still meeting new people or still trying to remember their names from previous events.

3. If you're hosting an event, why not have a RSVP to call, email or post. Have a deadline date for RSVP. Then you will having an idea well in advance of how many people are going. You will not be suprised either way, and then if you get no or limited responce then cancel that event.

4. Fast and Slow Crowd. I can tell you this, I have to drive more aggressive when going on these events. I am a slow to moderate driver during normal driving conditions, but when you get a pack of Mini's like we do, its easy to not be as safe.

5. Having too many events can spoil high turnout. I'm not sure if this is possible, but if there are events that are happeing to close together it could cause some not to show.

As for my schedule, I work in the retail management business. I have a hard time to schedule things unless they are 1 or 2 months in advance. So I can undertand and appreciate everyone concern and their opinions.

Thanks
Craig

 

I guess one thing that could be done is get RSVP response by setting up a "poll" here on NAM. Problem is not all members visit NAM, nor read/reply to email, and the clubs website is, how do I put this, lacking right now.

Great input though, wish there was more, either positive or otherwise.

The dealer has been getting fliers from the club for years, getting them do display them is in their hands though. Many from the club have spoken to them about this, and I think any time a member is there they should ask them, Where are the flipping fliersconfused: I'm going to the service center tommorow and will drop off more fliers there and at the dealers.

As far as RSVPs, we asked for them for the Club picnic in May. We planned the food accordingly. At least 20 people no showed Needless to say we had a lot of food left over.

Mark