Location of meets question

[BonzoHansen]

Millville is too expensive to do anything. We can't plan things that cost $250+ prepaid, no one will sign up. I ran there this April and the price was reasonable and yet no one from the club came despite it being advertised here for months. So we will not look to do anything there. We already talked about atco. If someone wants to take the reins on that go for it. But too many folks won't pull $5 out of their pocket, and we try to accommodate as many as possible.

another way to look at it: the meet is just a place to end up at - a target. why is it dependent on the club to make a whole day out of something? take august for instance. meeting up at texas roadhouse in millville. there is nothing stopping a group of guys from making a day of it. planning their own trip through the sticks, or going to atco afterwards, or whatever. We do that all the time - going to shore meets or chatterbox for instance. we make stops, etc. We even post the dates in advance so people can make plans.

I did a whole deal for the last September meet in Belmar and Howell and very few people came out. that was a lot of work for little return. I personally no longer have time to do such planning, especially if no one comes.

If you don't want to put gas in your car and drive it, perhaps you're in the wrong hobby.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

It's up to everyone in the club to take a role. I started making cruises to each meet I attend years ago, to make the drive more fun and encourage more members.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by Anti_Rice_Guy

It's up to everyone in the club to take a role. I started making cruises to each meet I attend years ago, to make the drive more fun and encourage more members.

exactly my point.

[Slow-V6]

People like Cruising, meeting @ resturants for food, hanging in parking lots BSing, Racing @ the track, Going to car shows, working on there cars, Cleaning and waxing there cars... Those are the things I like doing car wise. There are lots of people who hate car shows, or hate going to the race track, ect.. Its hard to accomodate everyone.

We should figure out if this is a real car club ( presidents all that crap) or just a website for us to meet up with our friends and hangout and sell **** occasionally? Right now I look at it as not a club but just a goup of F-body people who like to hang out and B/S and that is fine with me.. When people ask me if I am in any clubs I tell them about NJFBOA but tell them its not really a club.. Some people sign up but most are looking for a actual car club to join..

I know after being in many official car clubs in the past you pay a 25.00 a year fee and you get sponsored @ a dealership or place of buisiness and that sponsor gives the club money to be able to hold a track rental day or host a car show @ there place and what not. the SNJ pontiac club hosts 2 car shows a year, 2 track days, ice cream social were the club pays for the ice cream, a spring bbq were the club pays for the food, and a christmas party @ a venue were the club pays for that as well.

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

I think the V17 meet was a great idea and I am sorry I could not make it, however I heard the turnout was not so great.

According to the survey, most people want to spend a maximum of $25 for a meet and that limits "coolness" options very much.

Originally Posted by Slow-V6

People like Cruising, meeting @ resturants for food, hanging in parking lots BSing, Racing @ the track, Going to car shows, working on there cars, Cleaning and waxing there cars... Those are the things I like doing car wise. There are lots of people who hate car shows, or hate going to the race track, ect.. Its hard to accomodate everyone.

We should figure out if this is a real car club ( presidents all that crap) or just a website for us to meet up with our friends and hangout and sell **** occasionally? Right now I look at it as not a club but just a goup of F-body people who like to hang out and B/S and that is fine with me.. When people ask me if I am in any clubs I tell them about NJFBOA but tell them its not really a club.. Some people sign up but most are looking for a actual car club to join..

I know after being in many official car clubs in the past you pay a 25.00 a year fee and you get sponsored @ a dealership or place of buisiness and that sponsor gives the club money to be able to hold a track rental day or host a car show @ there place and what not. the SNJ pontiac club hosts 2 car shows a year, 2 track days, ice cream social were the club pays for the ice cream, a spring bbq were the club pays for the food, and a christmas party @ a venue were the club pays for that as well.

See above, I would be all for paid dues and what not but, that ain't gonna happen.

[BonzoHansen]

so we are not a club because we don't charge dues or buy ice cream? i honestly don't understand what you mean. and what does a track day constitute? Is it different than us going to island in September? Or you mean like an actual rental on like a Tuesday? Do we really need to have our own car show? We did that for years.

hey if anyone can get a dealer or business to kick in funds god bless. we already have that, see sponsors list to the right? but it's not really enough to do much with after we pay for website. it lets us prepay for stuff like shirts. again because 10 people will prepay for stuff.

car shows are a royal pita. getting help for the nats was a pain. you need a lot of people willing to help, and this club has not always been show & shine centric. So if the general membership does not care about a car show.


so after all this, who is actually willing to step up and do work?

[LTb1ow]

..what kind of work...?

[BonzoHansen]

planning & execution of said meet that is more than show up and hang out. you have no idea how much work a decent car show takes. I had so much time in to the nats it was crazy.

just planning the cruise meet last September I bet I had 40 hours into it. planning the route, actually going out and driving it to make sure it worked, then making the maps and so forth.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

See above, I would be all for paid dues and what not but, that ain't gonna happen.

Majority of our members do not want to spend a lot of money and do not want to prepay for anything, ever. The fact that some guys spend $500+ on speed parts (which the 'boa helps them install via tech threads) and won't kick us $20 for a club shirt is kind of baffling.

It is hard to plan a meet when you have:

A) Members who will pay more and would rather not have another burger and BS meet, but are few and far between

B) Members who do not want to pay for anything but lunch, but are quite numerous

Dare I say we try our hand at Power Member meets, as 100% of them are OK with spending a few extra bucks.

[LTb1ow]

Down for a PM meet, just make it middle of 195 area to be fair.

[KevinW]

What is a Power Member meet?

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by KevinW

What is a Power Member meet?

Kevin:

Something I just thought up. PM = power members, although I'd guess it would be a meet open to all who want to spend a little extra for a larger event.



At this point really just spitballing to see what we can change up.

[shadowfire]

again what is say has no meaning, but i like the idea of air soft or paintball, the go cart thing sounded sweet, or letting members race each other at a track maybe englishtown race way??? i would even just do cruises if we could get enuff cars, ....

[BigAls87Z28]

When the **** did we get ice cream?

I think it's just a lack of interaction on the site which leads to poor turn out.

My suggestion to NJMP was just that, but I think that the bulk of this site is geared to drag racing and not a road track.

[BonzoHansen]

lack of interaction on the site ?

[sweetbmxrider]

I vote Hoffmann's

[Slow-V6]

The SNJ Camaro club always has a bunch of cars @ there meets and car shows/track days, Same with the SNJ Pontiac club and theCorvette Club..

I like this Fbody site because in my eyes its not really a club but just a bunch of people who enjoy hanging out and what not.. Lot of people like this and lots do not. I was just throwing out ideas and what not..

I know for one thing for the 25 a year that I pay in both the vette and SNJ pontiac club that gets us alot of free events that the club is able to pay for because of member dues and dealership sponsorships. I am not saying this is the way to go or not to go just giving a reason why in my mind the meets dont have a turnout like other clubs have.

[sweetbmxrider]

Yeah I guess paying dues almost forces you to go to a meet so you get your moneys worth. Not a bad operation at all.

[shadowfire]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

lack of interaction on the site ?

i dont thin its lack,,, its more like small groups of ppl know each other, and other members seem out of the loop some times.

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by shadowfire

i dont thin its lack,,, its more like small groups of ppl know each other, and other members seem out of the loop some times.

Solved easily by at meets the powers to be having everyone get together at meets and introduce themselves, real name with screen name. At least then you can put a face to a name and perhaps make FRIENDS.

[Slow-V6]

It was so much easier to meet new friends in H/S!!

[KevinW]

I agree with the " not know who people are" statement! I have a tough time remembering peoples names I just met, let alone people I have only seen their screen names (I remeber the cars more easily) We need more introductions at these meets.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Majority of our members do not want to spend a lot of money and do not want to prepay for anything, ever.

I think this statement nails it on the head, and some of the people posting in this thread are guilty of this.

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

A) Members who will pay more and would rather not have another burger and BS meet, but are few and far between

B) Members who do not want to pay for anything but lunch, but are quite numerous

Again, some people wont even pony up for that but bitch and complain about the site and rules etc when they dont even pay anything towards the website.

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

My suggestion to NJMP was just that, but I think that the bulk of this site is geared to drag racing and not a road track.

I dont think this is true at all, but a lot of the members enjoy drag racing more. There are a few hardcore track guys and then the rest are either enthusiasts or drag racers. People dont know how to go around turns

Originally Posted by Slow-V6

I know for one thing for the 25 a year that I pay in both the vette and SNJ pontiac club that gets us alot of free events that the club is able to pay for

IMO if we started charging to post on the site/be a member I think a LOT of the people here will stop attending/posting since they dont want to pay to even drive to a place and buy some food.

But on the other hand it may make some people feel it is more of a bonafide club, but planning events would/could be a full time job. That is a lot for the people here on the board that have kids and other responsibilities. I know Scott puts in a lot of time here, but I hardly ever see him in life as he has two kids and he spends a lot of time with the family.


I think if more people step up and pitch in it could be more of what he/she wants out of the club. at least one month a year and they would get more satisfaction out of it. I think WBT and Scott have basically asked people here to step up now, rather than waiting for them to have it planned. I think DIP meet is a good one because it forces the club to come together and make it work as opposed to have someone plan out a meeting.

I am happy with the small events that require less work from the people planning them. Not enough people show up to the planned events anyway so the return on the planning is basically nothing for the people involved. I had planned on attending EVERY monthly event this year, but one month I was sick and the other month was the day some of us went to see Lemons at NJMP. I think that I am not the norm since I have no family obligations, but I think that a LOT of the members here are like me and could actually attend meetings, but dont. I also think people focus too much on whether or not they are bringing an F-body, but I think Jeff is right, it is more about hanging out and meeting new people with the NJFBOA.

[Slow-V6]

I wouldnt charge a few to post on the site but I would charge to join the club and that would cover club events such as track days, BBQ's ect. If we could get a dealership or what not to sponsor the club then we could see if they could pick up the cost of the site and what not. Thats what the T/A club I was in down in VA did. We also had access to the dealerships shop/lifts and tools on our meeting days. Our meetings were held in there conferance room above the show room and we would have 15-20 T/A's parked in the dealership next to the street and there would be a bunch of people coming in to check out the Firebirds and since they were there would check out the other cars in the dealership.. The Classic Corvette club also has Classic Chevy give them 2500 a year and also gives the club some money if somebody who buys a car from the dealership says that a corvette member told them about the dealership.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by Slow-V6

I wouldnt charge a few to post on the site but I would charge to join the club and that would cover club events such as track days, BBQ's ect. If we could get a dealership or what not to sponsor the club then we could see if they could pick up the cost of the site and what not. Thats what the T/A club I was in down in VA did. We also had access to the dealerships shop/lifts and tools on our meeting days. Our meetings were held in there conferance room above the show room and we would have 15-20 T/A's parked in the dealership next to the street and there would be a bunch of people coming in to check out the Firebirds and since they were there would check out the other cars in the dealership.. The Classic Corvette club also has Classic Chevy give them 2500 a year and also gives the club some money if somebody who buys a car from the dealership says that a corvette member told them about the dealership.

Jeff,

Sounds good, but it also sounds like those clubs have members who spend money. And I mean real money, not their allowance. Sponsors only like being sponsors if it's a two-way street.