View Full Version : Flat rate membership fee
Hi all,
The commitee has been talking about changing the membership fees for club membership.
Currently the fees are £25 for a new member and £10 to renew. Returning/expired members can also join for £10.
The proposal is to charge everyone £15 flat rate for the year.
There are several reasons for doing this but the main 2 are to attract more members and to hopefully increase club funds to spend on things like National Day etc. It's thought that charging £25 is putting people off joining - something we really want to change. Whether altering the fees to £15 will increase club funds is less certain despite the number crunching.
We'd really like to hear what the members have to say about this so we can come to a decision soon.
Please discuss but please try and keep on topic! ;)
rs250nut
21-01-2013, 23:02
Current or older members s**t out new members have it all to gain, that's how I feel this will be looked upon. Thing is how bad or good are things these days, are club numbers dwindling that fast. What are the numbers for 2006 onwards?
Hi all,
The commitee has been talking about changing the membership fees for club membership.
Currently the fees are £25 for a new member and £10 to renew. Returning/expired members can also join for £10.
The proposal is to charge everyone £15 flat rate for the year.
There are several reasons for doing this but the main 2 are to attract more members and to hopefully increase club funds to spend on things like National Day etc. It's thought that charging £25 is putting people off joining - something we really want to change. Whether altering the fees to £15 will increase club funds is less certain despite the number crunching.
We'd really like to hear what the members have to say about this so we can come to a decision soon.
Please discuss but please try and keep on topic! ;)
Fine.. One less pint n crisps that's all
Nad-5GTT
21-01-2013, 23:14
Id be happy paying that, the amount of knowledge and help from members is worth that alone:agree:
Current or older members s**t out new members have it all to gain, that's how I feel this will be looked upon. Thing is how bad or good are things these days, are club numbers dwindling that fast. What are the numbers for 2006 onwards?
I don't have fingures going back that far but over the last few years memberships have dropped by quite a lot.
dangerous dave
21-01-2013, 23:23
http://forums.themustangsource.com/attachments/f726/102911d1330843988-saleen-grille-gt-cs-spoiler-starsky_and_hutch-_do_it.jpg
Wow a whole 1.37p extra per day for existing members, not really worth thinking about when put in those terms.
rs250nut
21-01-2013, 23:43
I don't have fingures going back that far but over the last few years memberships have dropped by quite a lot.
By the tens, hundreds?
Ian S will have more definitive figures but as an example:
563 members joined or renewed in 2010
514 members joined or renewed in 2011
389 members joined or renewed up to September 2012
Ian S will have more definitive figures but as an example:
563 members joined or renewed in 2010
514 members joined or renewed in 2011
389 members joined or renewed up to September 2012
Sobering numbers those.
Big Steve - Raider
22-01-2013, 00:28
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/143/8/7/i__d_buy_that_for_a_dollar_by_vgfr33k.png
I would happily pay £15, i think this is a good idea, if your new to Renault turbo's and you don't know anyone off the site then i agree £25 seems a little steep. I know it's worth more than that in terms of info and help but i really can see £25 putting people off.
Wow, only 389 renewals last year:eek:
car.crash
22-01-2013, 07:24
Sounds good to me.
Sounds good to me.
:agree: I will go with whatever the club decides :D
Less than 400 members and less than 100 turning up for the ND. It's a sad reality tbh.
The current tiered system was designed primarily to try and retain existing (and pre-existing) members by making it cheaper for them to renew. Has it been in place long enough to understand how well that has worked? The numbers need analysing, otherwise what was the point of putting it in place and what is the point of changing it again now?
That said, I'll just go with whatever the club decides, as ever. I'll pay £15.
We only need a certain bank balance to cover nat day losses .If we don't have the money then that will have to change format .
Inflation rise and long overdue .
15 quid is still very cheap compared to other clubs and what they offer .
Duncan Grier
22-01-2013, 09:31
I think its fair to say 95% of the regulars if not more would have no issues paying £15 and if it means we can drop the new joining fee to hopefully increase new members seems a good idea.
Maybe £20 1st year and £15 after for new joiners?
DG
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 09:45
I'm happy to pay it but I don't think you can attribute low membership numbers to the joining fee. 2010 was £25 but 2012 was nearly 200 people less and the same price.
I guess people are just less interested in the whole renault 5 thing nowadays and kids prefer corsas, evos etc etc
What's needed is better media coverage but how to go about it? I've seen the ads in ppc and they're great so I don't know what else can be done :confused:
Ross
We've been here before (with regards to attracting new members/other breeds of Renault Turbo), but it's still status quo.
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=29802 - Long thread, but a good read with some valid points & ideas (more so end of page 2 onwards).
I have no problem paying 15 pound still good value for money. As regard to a lower amount of people joining is it because the club is seen as a club for old renault turbos and people dont consider the club for the newer cars
It's not even about older Renault ,it's all about 5gtt .
That attitude will take a lot of changing and I doubt it will ever be more than it is already without a major overhaul of the site and PR in mags etc and there is no-one that will do that job .
The increase is to try and attract new members ,maybe even newer model owners , at 15 quid it's still throw away money ..pie and a pint ,but is also needed to keep the coffers full .
Nearly 20 members have posted on this thread so far. That's 5% of the total membership (and probably represents 10-15% of those who actually ever post). Not one has said they are unhappy to pay an extra £5, which is good.
Romil Davda
22-01-2013, 11:46
My 2 pence worth: You need to make it appealing to renew as well as get new members:
£20 for new members, £15 for renewals
We are faced with new forums/groups such as FB. Why pay RTOC when you get the same for free? Hence a lot of newbies not joining!
The point is to have a flat rate and move away from the two tier system .This whole renewals discount scheme is just a complication we don't need and puts newbies off I think especially as it's far more than double what existing members pay .
We are faced with new forums/groups such as FB. Why pay RTOC when you get the same for free? Hence a lot of newbies not joining!
How many National Day events have those FB groups hosted?
It's also far easier to read the daily news/topics on this/a forum, than what it is trailing through lines upon lines of everyone's posts on FB.
I think if we maybe went to larger events as a club for example PFC i know this year is not an option but maybe the following year we have cars like meganes and there was a lad on here with the new shape clio was it the 1.2 turbo and obviously theres loads of retro renaults or is there a problem with just staying with the older cars?
Chris, read the thread that Mart posted.
Mr Raider
22-01-2013, 12:26
Think problems with staying with older cars is that the numbers decline as some become beyond repair or broken for parts, cost and availability of parts etc
Im happy with £15.
389 renews for 3/4 of a year sounds like we where on corse for another 500ish for 2012.
:agree:
£5 inceased annual fee is feck all...... if it helps the club continue then its a go-er imo.
I only use the forum for the excellent advice available and vast information it has stored and that alone is well worth the investment.
And athough I would like to, I dont really see myself attending one of the national days this year or next unfortunatley :(.... but you never know.
I would also like to read more about the modern renaults ie megane's clio's etc so anything that will encourage more members like them to join will only make for a more interesting forum
How many National Day events have those FB groups hosted?
It's also far easier to read the daily news/topics on this/a forum, than what it is trailing through lines upon lines of everyone's posts on FB.
I quite agree with you although obviously not everybody does - Blunty's R5 Group has over 500 members now, that's about the same as RTOC! :eek:
TNT Tricky Nicky
22-01-2013, 12:39
Haven't looked around the site for a while as I go straight to the boards, maybe if we could show people who are looking to join the club what members discounts they'll receive once a member, say on the home page, the initial higher charge wouldn't be so bad. After all most people have another car and a Renault turbo which they need parts for, show you can off set the cost of membership against money saved at gtt spares, ecp, gsf ect....
Ie, with my club discount I saved £50 when I spent £200 at .......... Because of the 25% off discount rtoc have negotiated
Then renewal time the £10 is easier to swallow
But like what has been said, the price of everything has gone up so maybe it's time membership did as well
Personally the FB group does not help the club in my eyes. Yes I'm a member and part of the issue, but I'll cough up for Rtoc,
Maybe we should approach the people who run the other sites or FB pages and get advertising, on FB I can't see it being an issue as long as bluntly agree's.
The FB page is the best way to get members into the club.
My 2 pence... Dont hate them use them
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 12:49
Ffs! its like groundhog day on here! I mentioned about looking into different cars in this post other day:
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=31494
only to find a thread hi-jack and sarcasm!:mad:
Maybe a fresh thread should be started with a list of objectives and dates set in place?
BluntyR5GTT
22-01-2013, 12:50
Anyone is free to post any links etc to the fb page i have told big steve this a few times. Iv also made an event for the rtoc national day and pinned it to the top of the page so people can see about it also there are links to rtoc on that post so any non members can find you and hopefully stump up the cash to join up.
On another note the fb page was never set up to be a rival or anything daft like that it was actually set up in 2009 just after i got my 5gtt it for a long time was very quiet then all of a sudden jumped in numbers and posts.
I quite agree with you although obviously not everybody does - Blunty's R5 Group has over 500 members now, that's about the same as RTOC! :eek:
Everyone likes a free ride. Simple as.
Good to see you posting back on here, Blunty :agree:
Chris, read the thread that Mart posted.
Read cheers trev:agree:
Maybe a fresh thread should be started with a list of objectives and dates set in place?
Another fresh thread? There's been plenty of threads akin to all this over the years, but it's stalemate, it's status quo, it's same old same :D
Feel free to start another thread, but no doubt we'll be here in 12 months time having exactly the same discussion ;)
This simple problem is that other car clubs don't want to be absorbed into this one.
Even though the 21T OC and other clubs like that are now small, they want their own club. So we won't get those cars here.
Seems the Alpine people tend to look down their nose at this club and so we won't get any of that kind of thing here.
New cars are well catered for by bigger clubs with more members and money as no-one in this club bought those new cars as they came out and wrote tuning guides, etc, that people would have come here for.
Err is that you generalising again Ian .....:coffee:
It the clique mentality that pervades all one model car clubs ...this one included .Dont see many RTOC on RAOC either .......
Both Big Steve and I have tried in vain to get cross club relations started but it really needs someone of the likes of Stephen Dell to have the time and energy to do it ...for nothing ...and have a very thick skin
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 13:24
Another fresh thread? There's been plenty of threads akin to all this over the years, but it's stalemate, it's status quo, it's same old same :D
Feel free to start another thread, but I guarantee we'll be here in 12 months time having exactly the same discussion ;)
Yes Mart, another fresh thread, with the current members and committee members.
At the end of the day, and the way i see it, the members in various threads over time have given the committee plenty of ideas to work with. What we need now is the committee to take these ideas forward and set dates and objectives on when they can be implemented.;)
New cars are well catered for by bigger clubs with more members and money as no-one in this club bought those new cars as they came out and wrote tuning guides, etc, that people would have come here for.
This. :agree:
As much as I feel change is needed, I also feel that we've missed the boat.
However, we have a golden opportunity with the new ClioT that's about to be launched, but if we don't nip that one in the bud from the start, so to speak, it'll soon have its own forum dedicated to that marque. That, or there'll be a relevant section on ClioSport.
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 13:27
Err is that you generalising again Ian .....:coffee:
It the clique mentality that pervades all one model car clubs ...this one included .Dont see many RTOC on RAOC either .......
Both Big Steve and I have tried in vain to get cross club relations started but it really needs someone of the likes of Stephen Dell to have the time and energy to do it ...for nothing ...and have a very thick skin
:agree:
Someone needs to camp out in the meganesport forums. No offence to them, but many are clueless and tuner driven!!
This. :agree:
As much as I feel change is needed, I also feel that we've missed the boat.
However, we have a golden opportunity with the new ClioT that's about to be launched, but if we don't nip that one in the bud from the start, so to speak, it'll soon have its own forum dedicated to that marque. That, or there'll be a relevant section on ClioSport.
How mart? Great thought but unless you get a flyer for Rtoc to every body that buys a Clio t,
It's going to be hard to get the word out.
Yes Mart, another fresh thread, with the current members and committee members.
At the end of the day, and the way i see it, the members in various threads over time have given the committee plenty of ideas to work with. What we need now is the committee to take these ideas forward and set dates and objectives on when they can be implemented.;)
Matt, I totally agree with ya. That's been the point of my thread(s) over the years, not to p1ss off people/the Committee, as they always seem to think that's my motive ;) but simply for rtoc'ers to flag up fresh ideas/changes, and the Committee to at least chew them over/give them a go if deemed worthy.
I can only think of one scenario where that's happened - Changing ND venue from that of quarter-mile racing to track driving.
Err is that you generalising again IanYes, but in general, that's how it is.
There are a few exceptions, namely yourself, Andy Bond, who are here as well.
But to grow the RTOC it needs more that 50 other cars from the 1980's.
The Twingo Turbo idea that committee had, to buy and tune one, fell flat, as it looks like, did the Twingo Turbo.
The Clio turbo, I didn't know there was one. People who are in touch with modern cars need to be involved with this. Leaving it to the committee as it is, isn't going to do it.
:agree:
Someone needs to camp out in the meganesport forums. No offence to them, but many are clueless and tuner driven!!
Go on then ,you got a tent ;):coffee:
Anyway this is all going off topic ( as expected )
We putting the fees up or what ? :laugh:
I think it's a resounding ' yes ,that's OK ,as the club needs our support to enable it to continue to offer the great services and plenty cheap offers it has always done '
How mart? Great thought but unless you get a flyer for Rtoc to every body that buys a Clio t,
It's going to be hard to get the word out.
As Matt mentioned above, get some of the rtoc'ers on ClioSport (assuming we do have members on there?) to put the word out & drum up interest.
It's a shame we're not affiliated in any way, shape or form with Renault (UK), as there would be golden opportunities there with this new Clio, but alas we're not. C'est la vie.
Thing is, as has been said numerous times before, bar putting the word around, we also need something to lure in the new members, plus then make them feel like they're getting VFM.
Or maybe we're barking up the wrong tree altogether, and not worry about the new breed of Renault Turbo's, and instead, simply concentrate on keeping rtoc afloat & its members happy?
My 2 pence worth: You need to make it appealing to renew as well as get new members:
£20 for new members, £15 for renewals
We are faced with new forums/groups such as FB. Why pay RTOC when you get the same for free? Hence a lot of newbies not joining!
I think this is it, I've noticed alot of drop off at Renault 5gtturbo.com since Blunty's facebook page started, & that has over 500 members now... Looks like the way forward unfortunately :(
The 5GTT had been out for maybe seven years before the 5GTT owners club started to get going. There was easy tuning potential, no speed cameras, and petrol was cheap.
I don't want to sound pessimistic, but the reality is probably like this:
So now, the new Clio Turbo arrives. People not interested in tuning buy them and join Cliosport to tell other new owners that they are a new owner and pat each other on the back for 1000's of posts. Then they talk about cleaning and polishing them.
Koni will announce their new FSD shocks for the Clio Turbo and some people will want them and maybe new springs. They'll fork out the cash and then talk about track days and springs ratings. Even now on RTOC after all these years that doesn't happen. People just want standard springs.
How many newish Clio Turbo owners will want to modify the engine of they less than three year old Clio Turbo. Very few I guess.
KTec and others will buy them new and have an exhaust and dump valve made ready and maybe a couple of extra psi. Then other parts as the car gets older.
By then petrol will be £10 a gallon and 250bhp will be of no interest to most people. I presume the Clio Turbo is intended to be a small and efficient car, not a fun big boost gas guzzler. Turbo'd cars will be the norm by then due to manufacturers trying to get better mpg.
As Matt mentioned above, get some of the rtoc'ers on ClioSport (assuming we do have members on there?) to put the word out & drum up interest.
It's a shame we're not affiliated in any way, shape or form with Renault (UK), as there would be golden opportunities there with this new Clio, but alas we're not. C'est la vie.
Thing is, as has been said numerous times before, bar putting the word around, we also need something to lure in the new members, plus then make them feel like they're getting VFM.
Or maybe we're barking up the wrong tree altogether, and not worry about the new breed of Renault Turbo's, and instead, simply concentrate on keeping rtoc afloat & its members happy?
Branching out is the way to keep afloat eventually I'd imagine
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 14:11
Go on then ,you got a tent ;):coffee:
Clee, no problem, but i will need some tools to help plug the hole!
How about 10 free t shirts, and 10 free memberships to get things moving?
Speculate to accumalate as they say!
I don't want to sound pessimistic, but...
http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001824449/054314450_were_doomed_answer_5_xlarge.jpeg
;) :D
Penfold aka The Dealer
22-01-2013, 14:27
Also we have to be carefull advertising on other boards... I have tried speaking to officials on cliosport about club co-operation, offering them to officially join together for nd or pod days.... There not interested.
Clio sport spends alot if its membership fee on the membership packs, and very little on there ND...
I can see a day when RTOC won't hire a venue such as a track or pod due to lack of interest, instead we will hire a field at a Venue and camp up and just meet up (very much like the frenchies do)....
Matt@CodeRedMotorsports
22-01-2013, 14:35
Also we have to be carefull advertising on other boards... I have tried speaking to officials on cliosport about club co-operation, offering them to officially join together for nd or pod days.... There not interested.....
Probably because RTOC members have slated cliosport in the past....
Thing is Renault turbos are dwindling in numbers, so surely therefore the membership of the club will dwindle with the cars.
Ffs! its like groundhog day on here! I mentioned about looking into different cars in this post other day:
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=31494
only to find a thread hi-jack and sarcasm!:mad:
Maybe a fresh thread should be started with a list of objectives and dates set in place?
Just re-read that. There was no sarcasm in anyone's posts and the 'hi-jacking' was members reminiscing about times past based on the pics that were posted up! Sheesh.
The advice at the bottom wasn't used either. Why not give it a go as I'd like to see a collection of pics of the Renault-based, non-GTT, members' cars.
So, in a nutshell...
- No-one wants to be affiliated with RTOC, including other Renault forums & Renault UK.
- Any future breed of Renault Turbo will more than likely end up having its own forum/club, or simply bolt onto ClioSport/MeganeSport, or even the RenaultSport club itself.
- RTOC membership levels are reducing as each year passes.
- Akin to that, our National Days of the future will become non-existent.
As Trev mentioned in the other thread, it's paramount we keep this website running above anything else, even if that means knocking ND's on the head.
Simply put, if this goes, rtoc's dead & buried.
How are the club coffers, Ian?
I assume we're ok for hosting a ND this year?
Theres car clubs for cars that are much rarer than ours how do they manage to keep goin and turn up at shows
SirSamuelOfBuca
22-01-2013, 15:10
i just renewed today. Only just saw this post.
RTOC is a great source of information. I have met a few people on here as well.
You do have groups on FB which are free and easy to get information from etc.
I like popping on here so browse the classifieds but thats all i do when i think about it.
There is not enough interest for local meets which is a shame and would keep this alive.
Not sure why other turbod renaults do not come on here seems strange to me!
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 15:24
I've just joined bluntys fb group. It's great for the odd bit that comes up for sale that wouldn't appear on here due to people not wanting to pay the membership fee. It's great for what it is but it'll never be RTOC. Please don't take offence by that Andy btw.
Facebook is a ****e format. That's just how it is and can't be helped. I love RTOC and think the membership fee is a bargain. I'd happily pay £25pa but not everyone will feel the same. With fb, if you're putting nothing in (£) you'll get nothing out.
Has anyone tried contacting the twingo forum? They're quite popular with the yoof of today.
Ross
Local meets can be difficult to arrange (or difficult to get people to attend them at least). When there are only (guess) 200 active members, spread across let's say England, Scotland and Wales, there simply aren't enough people for truly local meets any more. It's more regional (if that), which means you have the majority travelling a lot further than from Derby to Notts for example. With the cost of fuel playing a much bigger part in decision-making these days, it doesn't help.
As has been said times-a-many, this club has to either deal with its shrinking size (i.e. accept it and adjust expectations), or change direction, which would mean having a committee full of people who want to take on that challenge. At the moment I don't believe there is a will (even if changing direction was the right choice).
I have wondered before what the RTOC numbers are likely to go down to. At some stage the number of GTTs being scrapped will flatten out. The number being rebuilt has increased a lot in the last couple of years. Perhaps we'll find membership numbers stabilising over the next 2-3yrs.
Smaller numbers means it's easier to organise and I imagine the classic car brigade, where member numbers in clubs are more like 150 (another guess), find it easier to get out to shows. They are usually older as well so can afford the petrol and entry fees. One day RTOC will probably be like that. It's not the end of the world if that's the outcome (although I'm not necessarily saying that's what I'd want ideally).
We've veered slightly off the membership price track here! :D I appreciate all the comments non the less.
So, in general we're happy to alter the fees. Good, I'll take this forward. When/if the change occurs I'll be promoting it as best I can so people outside the RTOC are aware.
Re other issues i.e dwindling members, worries for future ND's/club subsistance etc. The problem is the committee consists of perhaps 10 members, of which perhaps half that are what you would call 'active' members' so getting anything done can be a mission in itself! Ideally IMO we need more 'dedicated roles' within the committee. A few good members have left the club over the last 6 months or so and I think it's been felt.
Big Steve - Raider
22-01-2013, 16:10
So, in a nutshell...
Blah blah blah blah....
Simply put, if this goes, rtoc's dead & buried.
NOW who's being downbeat!?
http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001824449/054314450_were_doomed_answer_5_xlarge.jpeg
I think the two things are inextricable Alex. The subs should be geared according to what members are getting back.
For example. If we ditched ND and one or two other expense-laden club facets (that's not a suggestion), then I'd say no to paying £15 a year if the income from subs is say £5000 p.c.d (as I guess it is now). As that should be more than enough for the website and the odd cost here and there.
How are the club coffers, Ian?
I assume we're ok for hosting a ND this year?Well the 2012 budget was blown on this years ND with what can be only be approximated to about £5k loss. 2012, the RTOC seems to be about even, ie, no surplus and no loss. Though I think it's the first year since 2006 that no surplus was made.
So the bottom line is that we can afford the ND in 2013 but if we want to spend on the website we won't have a 2014 ND as we'll likely make a big loss this year. PFC say they just spent £10k on their new websites.
Re Pod, there no mention of it in the committee apart from me saying we probably won't be able to have it this year based on the lack interest last year and the impending total loss until Miller got involved at the Pod on the day itself and sold the tickets at reduced price.
The bottom bottom line is the club has a few good say'ers but not enough do'ers.
Penfold aka The Dealer
22-01-2013, 16:27
As it is the club can afford to subside a nd(but only 1venue such as pod/trackday), for this year and hopefully in the next coming years the same...
When demand does down and we don't have the numbers for a Venue like pod/etc we will have to look at change, website don't cost that much as we are lucky scoff did most of the programming & design... So if we decide not to hire a big venue membership cost will go down as remember rtoc is owned and run by the members unlike many other car forums...
That is a good point that Penfold makes, we could drop the ND and charge less for memberships.
The subsidy for the 2012 ND would seem to be about £50 per head for each person that attended.
We have to consider how much good such an expensive ND does the club and whether we'd have more members if the fees were a lot less.
There is a risk with going to a flat rate of £15. If the numbers for joiners and renewals stay the same then the club will lose about £750. The hope is that there will be more than 50 new members and the renewals will not drop due to the £5 extra.
Another consideration is the advertising spend. The worth of this could be divided by the number of new members responding to the ads. At £15, we'd need a lot more joiners to meet the adversing fee.
The website's vB 3.7 is way out of date. Eventually we may be forced to update it. Scoff won't be able to do it for free next time and if we want to keep a site with features like we have then we'll have to pay. Or just have a very basic forum.
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 16:45
Yup I will pay the extra no probs you guys have saved me much more.. I will admit one thing though I use the fb page because its easier to load pics up off my iPhone as I don't have a pc.. But I'm still here everyday and iv been to the events available so far.. Rtoc for life :) well the 5s life :p I promote this place everyday and every chance I can as the stickers are in my windows but I can't see it doing any good as I haven't seen another Renault turbo in nottingham at all.. Just do it!!
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 16:49
Cancel ND :confused: it's what I'm aiming for I can go to pod any day I like but I can't go to a ND.. Oh no no no :disagree:
NOW who's being downbeat!?
http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001824449/054314450_were_doomed_answer_5_xlarge.jpeg
Not at all mate - It's just a summary of pretty much what's already been posted in this thread.
Penfold aka The Dealer
22-01-2013, 16:51
Cancel ND :confused: it's what I'm aiming for I can go to pod any day I like but I can't go to a ND.. Oh no no no :disagree:
I don't see us cancelling nd anytime soon, but what we could do with is not making such a loss....
I can, not this years, but if looses even more than last year, and the membership income drops, there simply won't be the funds to pay for a 2014. If 2014 goes ahead based on optimism and also loses then the club won't be able to pay for the other costs like advertising and web hosting. It may even be bankrupt at that point. Currently, there are the funds in reserve to be sure that even after a total loss at the ND the club can still keep going.
Clearly, if the ND broke even like it maybe did 2011 and nearly so in 2010, they could carry on. But not at the kind of loss of the 2012. And not if Blyton raise their prices. Apparently Donnington doubled their prices this year which is why the FCS had to go elsewhere, namley, Castle Coombe.
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 17:06
What were the losses? What cost so much? Was it people just not turning up not paying? Have we even asked who's going? Who's will to pay upfront? I know I haven't been asked and I consider myself as an active member imagine what the non actives feel like. Perhaps put strippers on with big titties!!!
Let's see who's reading :eek:
Advertising spend:
2010 £1017
2011 £1380
2012 £1332
2010: membership fees income = £9155
2011: membership fees income = £8005
2012: membership fees income = £8550
Various website hosting costs:
Maybe £2000 or so.
Event losses:
maybe £6000?
On that basis in 2012 the RTOC lost about £650. Can't be easily sure but it might be a bit less loss.
Have we even asked who's going?Tickets always go on sale months before events and much noise is made about it.
dangerous dave
22-01-2013, 17:42
Cliosport, the club that takes money off a hell of a lot of members but no one is willing to tell you where it goes..
Is there a club account, do they put on an event with it?
Answer = go away, it's nothing to do with you..:sad2:
We would never be able to get involved with them unless you allow there hosts to pocket the rtoc bank account and not tell you what there doing with it..
Big Steve - Raider
22-01-2013, 17:57
I don't see us cancelling nd anytime soon, but what we could do with is not making such a loss....
Ok so this year we will just have the hire of Blyton Park and a p1$$ up in the field.
No Show & Shine (I wouldn't touch it with a frikkin barge pole anyway :coffee:)
No Rolling Road (be it free to members or members pay for it on the day)
No Disco in the barn
No Rally Plaque's
No stickers etc
I estimate binning that lot off would save the club somewhere in the region of £1.5 - £2K?
Penfold aka The Dealer
22-01-2013, 17:58
Cliosport, the club that takes money off a hell of a lot of members but no one is willing to tell you where it goes..
Is there a club account, do they put on an event with it?
Answer = go away, it's nothing to do with you..:sad2:
We would never be able to get involved with them unless you allow there hosts to pocket the rtoc bank account and not tell you what there doing with it..
Difference is Cliosport is run as a Business..... so why should they tell you anything?
I can tell you now for £12, you get alot with cliosport... you get a nice membership pack (cost to you door are estimated at £8.50), so the club then has £3.50 per member to use on running website etc... now a huge profit to be had but considering the guy who made it originally dont have to do much & is most likely a website designer = a nice tidy income per year & no doubt dont just own Cliosport....
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 18:01
Ok so this year we will just have the hire of Blyton Park and a p1$$ up in the field.
No Show & Shine (I wouldn't touch it with a frikkin barge pole anyway :coffee:)
No Rolling Road (be it free to members or members pay for it on the day)
No Disco in the barn
No Rally Plaque's
No stickers etc
I estimate binning that lot off would save the club somewhere in the region of £1.5 - £2K?
Agreed with all plus sets up another day at the scoffs :smokin:
As long as the ND is not allowed to continue to the point where there is no money to service (and upgrade), the website. Risk management! Lol.
We don't want to get to the point where we're find we being forced to upgrade the website and then are told there's no money to do so due to last year's ND losses leaving us with only website maintenance money.... If you catch my drift.
Matt@CodeRedMotorsports
22-01-2013, 18:34
A couple of motor clubs do their 'special day' as a a separate business so as not to endanger the actual club if it goes a bit tits up. Just a random ramble/suggestion.
For example Sevenoaks and district motor club run the crystal palace sprint, the only motorsport in London. Shall I see if a stand is available this year for RTOC??
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 18:34
I've heard about website upgrades on other threads on here. Now, I'm not even slightly computer minded so maybe I'm missing something but why would there be a need to upgrade? For what it's worth I think the site looks great. Why fix something that isn't broken?
Ross
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 18:43
I haven't really been to Landon but I'd travel :) I'd love to dump all over London bridge
Big Steve - Raider
22-01-2013, 19:13
Shall I see if a stand is available this year for RTOC??
Yes Matt. Its not that I dislike smaller shows/meetings as some people suggest, I just don't have the time to arrange everything.
If you want to lead it and arrange it then I'd support you where I can.
Why fix something that isn't broken?Hardware and software move on all the time. Eventually you have to update or what you got stops working.
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 19:19
Hardware and software move on all the time. Eventually you have to update or what you got stops working.
Cool :)
I wasn't being pedantic, I just really am unaware of Internet stuff. :agree:
Ross
Matt@CodeRedMotorsports
22-01-2013, 20:03
Yes Matt. Its not that I dislike smaller shows/meetings as some people suggest, I just don't have the time to arrange everything.
If you want to lead it and arrange it then I'd support you where I can.
Small show?? Hehehe!
Over 5000 paying visitors last year ......;)
That show might not be small but the number of people from RTOC who go there will be.
Same with Enfield Motor Pageant. A member did his own RTOC stand last year due to nil support from the RTOC, I couldn't even get anyone to send him the banners the club owns, and there were about four people with 5GTTs or other Renaults.
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 21:08
Branching out is the way to keep afloat eventually I'd imagine
:agree::agree:
I wasn't being pedantic, I just really am unaware of Internet stuff. :agree:Just say that one day a hacker finds a way into vB 3.7, it's not supported any more and then it stops working as everyone was expected to be on or near their latest version.
18 months ago we had to get quite a bit of the 'under pinning' re-done so it would work with this LAMP server we're on, as the site was more or less non working on the previous server and fairly slow and faulty on the one before that.
Alas, someone, not me, deleted the original and only copy before the work was complete and deleted members profile photos and left some problems that have not been repairable.
People want mobile facilities that this version doesn't have. They want features this version can't have.
Matt@CodeRedMotorsports
22-01-2013, 21:14
That show might not be small but the number of people from RTOC who go there will be.
Same with Enfield Motor Pageant. A member did his own RTOC stand last year due to nil support from the RTOC, I couldn't even get anyone to send him the banners the club owns, and there were about four people with 5GTTs or other Renaults.
My point was.... There is a potential of 5000 people seeing a club that caters for turbo charged renaults, it may help with potential members to aid the club.
Ian, thanks for that, if the club wants to implode and moan about it then so be it....
That chap at the Enfield show deserves a medal.
Il pay that all day.. £15 is nothing for all the knowledge info etc and then meeting people off here for a chat wen buying, meets etc its all worth it!! :agree:
Branching out is the way to keep afloat eventually I'd imagine:agree::agree:Easy to say.
Branch out to where?
Who's going to do this branching out? It's not going to be me. So anyone who will please let us know :)
A large part of the problem is not lack of branching out, it lack of manpower to get anything like that done.
As far as I know there was no RTOC at any shown last year, apart from just mentioned which had nil to do with the RTOC really.
And despite booking Pod, no-one seemed to know it was happening.
So much for putting the word about.
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 21:21
As Matt mentioned above, get some of the rtoc'ers on ClioSport (assuming we do have members on there?) to put the word out & drum up interest.
It's a shame we're not affiliated in any way, shape or form with Renault (UK), as there would be golden opportunities there with this new Clio, but alas we're not. C'est la vie.
Thing is, as has been said numerous times before, bar putting the word around, we also need something to lure in the new members, plus then make them feel like they're getting VFM.
Or maybe we're barking up the wrong tree altogether, and not worry about the new breed of Renault Turbo's, and instead, simply concentrate on keeping rtoc afloat & its members happy?
:agree: as mentioned above , we need to start offering incentives to meg sport , twingo , r21, etc. I wasn't joking regarding the free memberships , raffle a few t shirts etc etc. if we got say ten new meg sport members and all go back and tell other members............ Then there is the possibility of them buying a national day ticket! The club shop needs to expand with other turbo model parts , could even be a simple start as a Renault sport badge!
Ian, don't dig me out.. Not impressed mate. That was also in relation to FB, and with your seemingly negative stance ( just how it reads) we won't get anywhere
Steven Leece
22-01-2013, 21:23
How about £25 for new members and £15 for existing but improve the welcome packs?
As penfold said clio sport do a nice keyring etc but I joined and never renewed because its not great, whereas here the membership is worth the money!!
It's maybe just getting more people through the door and hoping a high percentage don't leave after one year! Lets face it we all can be swayed with a free gift etc! I know I've been swayed with magazine subscriptions just on the better gift!
I'm sure revised membership pack appealing to new and old renault turbos could be done and at £25 you have £10 to play with?
As for events living on the Isle of Man means £180+ before I even get to the mainland so unfortunately can't attend events! Maybe one day!!
Steve
My point was.... There is a potential of 5000 people seeing a club that caters for turbo charged renaults, it may help with potential members to aid the club.
Ian, thanks for that, if the club wants to implode and moan about it then so be it....
That chap at the Enfield show deserves a medal.I agree. But the event's co-ordinator doesn't have time or interest and has repeatedly strongly said that events like this have no worth, and no-one else cares enough to get up and do something about it. I don't have a Renault or I'd have taken it to the Enfield show.
Who is the events cordinator if the aint got time or intrest then isnt that considerd abit of a problem
That was also in relation to FB, and with your seemingly negative stance ( just how it reads) we won't get anywhereI'd be less negative if there were people wanting to join the committee and actually properly do stuff, have initiative, use it.
These threads are usually the same, a few people kick around some suggestions, often good ones, then go away. The few of people working for the club every day can't do any more than they are.
I pmd i think it was big steve asking why we cant go to more events as a club and if it was a lack of money or if it was a lack of man power because i was willing to help
Lets not turn this into a witch hunt about who did or didn't do what... Lets move on from here
soapymech
22-01-2013, 21:48
I agree. But the event's co-ordinator doesn't have time or interest and has repeatedly strongly said that events like this have no worth, and no-one else cares enough to get up and do something about it. I don't have a Renault or I'd have taken it to the Enfield show.Hmmmmm I wonder why we have low numbers.....
The Enfield show was great even if we only had 6 cars on stand everyone had a great day.
We had loads of interest and met some great people,the sun was shining what more do you want. I will be arranging it again this year and obviously would want the clubs support and not neg feedback,but it will go ahead regardless. I think with dwindling members it's time to be a CLUB.
Lets not turn this into a witch hunt about who did or didn't do what... Lets move on from here
It aint like that at all i am trying to say i am willing to help him if he wants a hand thats it mate
Hmmmmm I wonder why we have low numbers.....
The Enfield show was great even if we only had 6 cars on stand everyone had a great day.
We had loads of interest and met some great people,the sun was shining what more do you want. I will be arranging it again this year and obviously would want the clubs support and not neg feedback,but it will go ahead regardless. I think with dwindling members it's time to be a CLUB.
Brap CLUB for the win, back in Bruce's day it was strong as ever! The old guard FTW. No offence to current people running the club... But things can be learnt maybe,
Brap CLUB for the win, back in Bruce's day it was strong as ever! The old guard FTW. No offence to current people running the club... But things can be learnt maybe,
Not intended to give anybody the needle by the way
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 22:07
Just say that one day a hacker finds a way into vB 3.7, it's not supported any more and then it stops working as everyone was expected to be on or near their latest version.
18 months ago we had to get quite a bit of the 'under pinning' re-done so it would work with this LAMP server we're on, as the site was more or less non working on the previous server and fairly slow and faulty on the one before that.
Alas, someone, not me, deleted the original and only copy before the work was complete and deleted members profile photos and left some problems that have not been repairable.
People want mobile facilities that this version doesn't have. They want features this version can't have.
On the mobile front I can now load onto my profile from my iPhone but I can't seem to load in a post.. Or am I just not doing it write? People say copy and paste but it won't transfer :scratch:
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 22:22
Easy to say.
Branch out to where?
Who's going to do this branching out? It's not going to be me. So anyone who will please let us know :)
Surely we're just talking a simple case of contacting administrators on various other renault turbo orientated forums no?
Letting them know about what RTOC offers (ND being the jewell in the crown!) and asking them to promote us and get involved. Maybe I'm being naive or not seeing the bigger picture though.
The idea of raffling t shirts and memberships is a good one too.
I'd happily contact all relevant forums on behalf of RTOC but being a noob and not really known by anyone here I don't think it would be right or appreciated.
The offer is most deffinately there though.
Ross
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 22:30
What positions are available on the committee? What is the club looking for? What will it need from people?
What positions are available on the committee? What is the club looking for? What will it need from people?
Good question?
Matt Cole
22-01-2013, 22:42
Surely we're just talking a simple case of contacting administrators on various other renault turbo orientated forums no?
Letting them know about what RTOC offers (ND being the jewell in the crown!) and asking them to promote us and get involved. Maybe I'm being naive or not seeing the bigger picture though.
The idea of raffling t shirts and memberships is a good one too.
I'd happily contact all relevant forums on behalf of RTOC but being a noob and not really known by anyone here I don't think it would be right or appreciated.
The offer is most deffinately there though.
Ross
:agree: top lad Ross. Good to see some forward thinking. The way I see it is we need the help from these other clubs lets offer them something in return of their support! I would hope That we may also strike up a reasonable relationship in which we could attend some of their events and vice versa.
I'm talking Renault turbos by the way and not Clio sport unless we really have to.
But things can be learntJon there were several, or many, times as many 5GTT's back then and about 1200 members. The club took about £15,000 per year. There were elections for club positions. The fastest ¼ miles were the 13's and that gave people something to aim at. There were loads of car mags, shows, tuners, and petrol was comparatively cheap. It was a different world.
Nottswoody
22-01-2013, 22:58
Jon there were several, or many, times as many 5GTT's back then and about 1200 members. The club took about £15,000 per year. There were elections for club positions. The fastest ¼ miles were the 13's and that gave people something to aim at. There were loads of car mags, shows, tuners, and petrol was comparatively cheap. It was a different world.
Lol somthing to aim at iv just done 15s we are still aiming for 13s.. 13s would be cool about now :scratch: I think I'm starting to see what's up.. Is it that its all been done before? Think we need to get to other shows and reintroduce the Renault turbos to the scene.. Or should I just say I need to start going to different shows.
Thanks for offers to help out :)
Every year people have been in touch with many or all of these other clubs, even if just to try and get them to the RTOC ND.
We've already mentioned the smaller clubs a few posts up.
I think the Megane sport club caters for non turbo'd cars too, so they have a further advantage in numbers.
What others are there and what does RTOC have to offer them and they us, apart from people at events?
The RTOC ND of 2011 and 2010 were bolstered by some BMW M3's and some MX5's amongst others. But I wasn't there and it should really be the people who were that are taking part in this thread here at this point. I'm just chatting about it like other people here.
We were hoping Blunty was going to do this role of interfacing with other clubs and promoting the RTOC in the press.
• Right now we need someone to create an advert for us to go in PFC tomorrow. Failing that, next month. Miller was great at this kind of thing, coral draw, etc, so can any of you do this? He just came up with the finished ads, flyers, leaflets, etc, on his own, and they were good so we used them. I've been placing the ads in the mags for the past few years as we've never had a press officer who actually did it. I was trying to feed the mags with cars for features too, but didn't get much co-operation from members. I got a few in there, mainly 'Readers yard' in PPC. Different to how it seems, I'm badly dyslexic and very very slow at text, so I'm not the person for that type of thing.
• We could really do with someone to organise the area reps since Lomo left and Dawn left.
• Also someone to organise small meetings that Steve can't do. Find them, create entries in the RTOC events calender, promote them, get members to want to go to them. Organise the banners, signs, tents, to be at each as appropriate. Be there at the venues and organise the clubs stand, maybe give out leaflets and promote the club, sign people up maybe.
Or is that all from a decade ago and no longer happening?
I know of a few classic cars shows that RTOC cars could have been at, I went to the one in Harpenden in a Morgan Aero 8 and returned in an original nearly new condition mini cooper apparently worth £15k, it was just like I was in the 1970's again, a weird experience, but kind of nice.
• We could do with someone to edit the club Contacts section. Dawn was originally here to do that but I don't think she ever went through the whole lot and 'weeded' them. She got some new ones but not for some time.
• We could do with someone going through the articles section and doing some major fixing of links and stuff.
• We could do with someone writing a new articles section really. That probably means in PHP code.
And? Stop giving up and start believing.
Lomo and dawn gone, and now roles are up for grabs??
If the club needs help it should post up "help needed"
Or do we just plod along until its beyond repair.
Ask Ian ask! Rather than sound bitter
Again not a dig, maybe we need to fill spots and get in house help before branching out again
Slammed 66
22-01-2013, 23:36
Well I'd be more than willing to sort the smaller events side out for the club so long as I had the blessing of the right people.
There's a lot of new blood in the club now and maybe it's time they were let in on helping out and joining the comitee. (I'm not referring to myself here btw)
It's honestly the best club I've belonged to and last national day really sold it to me. A lot has changed since I was last a member 11 or 12 years ago but let's get it stepping in the right direction if that can be found.
Ross
1 offer of help.. Spot on, I'm sure plenty will help if aware it's needed.. And no need for name tags by the user name. We are all just members.
I would be willing to contact other clubs and so on if thats whats needed to be done
Would it be viable to give every member 5-10!flyers? And on seeing a Renault turbo leave it under the wiper or something ? Just a silly idea, no idea of price etc
soapymech
22-01-2013, 23:51
Would it be viable to give every member 5-10!flyers? And on seeing a Renault turbo leave it under the wiper or something ? :agree: send them out with member packs. Possibly member packs/flyers to event organisers?
[QUOTE=JRP;310399]Would it be viable to give every member 5-10!flyers? And on seeing a Renault turbo leave it under the wiper or something ? :agree: send them out with member packs. Possibly member packs/flyers to event organisers?
Yea that works thats how i joined the starlett owners club i found a leaflet under my wiper
Who can make a leaflet and all that's then left is...
A decent printing firm
Funds, I'd imagine it won't brake the bank, not if say 10 new people join??
Oh and who distributes them, I'll help how ever people see fit.
Theres bound to be someone that works in printing on here can get us a deal
Has the club thought about maybe having some carefully picked advertising on the site?
If we had a few relevant companies who paid the rtoc to have a banner or advert appear at certain times on the site this could bring some much needed revenue back into the club.
Passion Ford for example uses large amounts of advertising and utilises a good idea imo that once a paid member logs in a large proportion of the adverts are not shown to that person.
If we also said that any company that paid to advertise through rtoc did the same for us to there customers it may spread the word a bit more.
Im not suggesting covering the site in crap banners akin to a tv shopping channel but its just an idea to bring some much needed funds into the club :)
There are some great and really achievable ideas here.
But I've seen too many threads where people offer help and nothing happens, either because they were not that keen after all, or the committee were too busy to organise what it was they wanted from those that offered.
Some of the suggestions do not cost more than time and effort, at least in the first instance (designing flyers, contacting other clubs, investigating attendance at smaller/specialist events etc etc).
So why don't people stop waiting for a royal blessing from the committee and just go ahead and start something! Start your own thread to tell the club what you're doing, ask for input if you want but just do something and then tell someone you've done it!
If you want on the committee, or if you want to assist someone who already is, just get PM'ing the most appropriate person: http://www.rtoc.org/club/?show=committee
I'd also like to say Ian, that I had no idea you were dyslexic. You are one of the most articulate and well written people in this club. I'd have never guessed. Hats off to you sir.
[QUOTE=soapymech;310400]
Yea that works thats how i joined the starlett owners club i found a leaflet under my wiper
Or even just design the flyer and upload it on the forum so we can print them off at home?
Big Steve - Raider
23-01-2013, 10:07
So why don't people stop waiting for a royal blessing from the committee and just go ahead and start something! Start your own thread to tell the club what you're doing, ask for input if you want but just do something and then tell someone you've done it!
If you want on the committee, or if you want to assist someone who already is, just get PM'ing the most appropriate person: http://www.rtoc.org/club/?show=committee
Yes Trev's right, this isn't communism guys :laugh:; we'd welcome if members started threads & took ownership of arranging things they want the club to do? That's how the various Ring, and now Sangliers trips started, those of us who wanted to go arranged the trips & hotels etc.
Penfold aka The Dealer
23-01-2013, 10:29
[quote=chris;310401]
Or even just design the flyer and upload it on the forum so we can print them off at home?
Something like this...
http://rtoc.org/files/Club%20files/Forms/Join%20Rtoc%20A5%20flyer%20Side_1.jpg
Great. There is only one problem with that, it needs the link at the bottom changing and the last sentence removing (for flyer purposes).
Please, can someone (anyone with the requisite skill), change www.gtturbo.org/join to http://www.rtoc.org/club/?show=join , delete the last sentence, repost the updated image on here (or a new thread), and then get the membership secretary to send it out as an attachment to every RTOC member via email such that those who have access to a printer can then print them off at will and leave them under any car wiper that they see fit. :agree:
For those members reading and taking part in this thread, once the flyer has been updated, you can simply right click on the image, go 'copy image', open Microsoft Paint (or whatever art package you have on your PC, everyone with a PC at least has MS Paint), then 'ctrl-v'. Save the file. You then have something to print out.
Slammed 66
23-01-2013, 10:55
Yes Trev's right, this isn't communism guys :laugh:; we'd welcome if members started threads & took ownership of arranging things they want the club to do? That's how the various Ring, and now Sangliers trips started, those of us who wanted to go arranged the trips & hotels etc.
And so I have started :D
Please see here:
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=31609
And jump on board if it tickles your fancy!
Ross
Bloody hell I've had an idea taken seriously lol, we'll just pm me with anything I can go :) do we need a printing firm? The idea of printing at home is good :)
Regarding these flyers, it's not a new idea, it's one of a list of frustrations that have been stalled for along time.
Miller did a great job to create those flyers. I've asked him a few time to modify them in the way mentioned but he never did. He's been just about to do it for years. so we wait, nothing happens, then he appears or I speak to him and he's just about to do it......
I think he did them in Coral Draw. I and the other committee have been unable to edit these.
That's one thing that needs doing, then they can be given out as suggested.
People could do print them off now and just cross off the wrong address and enter the correct one. Or just cross it off and let them visit rtoc.org and find their way from there.
Here's side two, only really for people paying by cash or cheque. That might be at events: http://www.rtoc.org/files/Club%20files/Forms/Join%20Rtoc%20A5%20flyer%20Side_2.jpg this also has a non working phone number and may soon have the wrong fees.
http://www.rtoc.org/files/?path=Club%20files/Forms/
And so I have started :D
Please see here:
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=31609
And jump on board if it tickles your fancy!
RossGood stuff Ross :)
I seem to recall that the RTOC Pod Friday was sometimes booked to precede the Retro show so members could stay over for that.
Clubs stands at the Pod were the norm under Rachel Heads leadership of this club but pretty much fell away when she left.
There's some weirdness going on though as all the other events are 2012. I've not been to the events calendar in a long while. Clearly there should be a 2013 one or the 2012 should all be archived. I no longer recall the procedure for that.
I hear your frustration Ian. Best to look for different options then now and not let any more time waste.
There are some excellent Photoshop skills in this group. Even if that file is flattened and the layers can't be picked apart, most of that work can be salvaged, put into Photoshop, altered and re-saved, both as a layered file and as a jpg which is small enough to email...
Anyone volunteering?
Penfold aka The Dealer
23-01-2013, 13:29
I hear your frustration Ian. Best to look for different options then now and not let any more time waste.
There are some excellent Photoshop skills in this group. Even if that file is flattened and the layers can't be picked apart, most of that work can be salvaged, put into Photoshop, altered and re-saved, both as a layered file and as a jpg which is small enough to email...
Anyone volunteering?
Should ask Millie (Big Steve's Missus) if she can work her photoshop magic...
Has the club thought about maybe having some carefully picked advertising on the site?Yes, it's been discussed many times.
If we had a few relevant companies who paid the rtoc to have a banner or advert appear at certain times on the site this could bring some much needed revenue back into the club.This was talked about in a thread very recently. We're probably not big enough for people to earn back the cost of their ads, even though 21T OC do have a few paying ads. I set up deal over the years with companies who gave is discount and a commission per sale, rather than pay us. We never got any commission as the sales didn't happen. We felt it was better to have 200 companies offering us discount rather than perhaps three paying us a small fee until their sales per click data showed it wasn't worth doing.
Passion Ford for example uses large amounts of advertising and utilises a good idea imo that once a paid member logs in a large proportion of the adverts are not shown to that person.
If we also said that any company that paid to advertise through rtoc did the same for us to there customers it may spread the word a bit more.
Im not suggesting covering the site in crap banners akin to a tv shopping channel but its just an idea to bring some much needed funds into the club :)Wasn't it the case the Passion Ford was sold to a USA company just so they could use the site to advertise their clients? Ford is a LOT bigger than RTOC.
Should ask Millie (Big Steve's Missus) if she can work her photoshop magic...So all this time a leading committee members wife could do this? You can perhaps sense my and other's frustration.
I've just asked PFC if they can alter the ad they used last year so as to use it for this July's RTOC ND.
I and other's have been asking for years with no input at all.
Really, I'd prefer it if we could establish the use of a professional design and print service rather than rely on anyone from the club or committee or someone's Mrs or pal's pal. That's why were in this mess. Together with the fact that no-one in the committee has had the time or interest to sort this.
Should ask Millie (Big Steve's Missus) if she can work her photoshop magic...
Have you PM'd Big Steve, Penfold? What's all this 'should' business? :wasntme:
We can't be reliant on Steve's Mrs.
When we need edits and new material we need to be able to make a call, during office hours, and get a prompt professional resolution with no insults and emotionally overwrought histrionics. And if their service is sh1t, tell then to FO and we go elsewhere.
Miller already had all this in hand and done. Used a printer near him. But years have gone by and someone needs to establish another.
• The club / committee apparently needs some to do this for us, ie, get stuff designed and printed.
So why don't people stop waiting for a royal blessing from the committee and just go ahead and start something! Start your own thread to tell the club what you're doing, ask for input if you want but just do something and then tell someone you've done it!This was the idea of the events calendar 6 years, or whatever, ago, but I guess those people left and new people didn't realise and no-one told them or led them or properly introduced them to the club and it's features.
I'd also like to say Ian, that I had no idea you were dyslexic. You are one of the most articulate and well written people in this club. I'd have never guessed. Hats off to you sir.That Trev. :) I make a of of effort and take a lot of time over text work to try and get it right. If it weren't for the spell checker my posts would be near unreadable!
communismis where people work together as a team, sharing the work and benefits. This IS communism! As in community.
You mean this isn't Autocracy or Plutocracy (a dictatorship).
Communism, as in USSR, is an Autocracy or / and Plutocracy.
Just read through your posts ian. It comes across that the clubs failing because of a failing commitee.. great
Well that's how it is Jon. We've been saying this for long time. How could you not have noticed!
A lot of committee have left over the last years and some not been replaced. The few people who are working for the club every day have been under some strain for some time.
Ian, it would be great to have stable, secure, reliable structure in place for everything that the club does (and it should be that way for as much of the fundamental admin as possible), but we know that folk wax and wane, especially in RTOC. I think at times it's about motivating whoever is enthusiastic at the time to get things achieved.
In Penfold suggesting Steve's Mrs he wasn't then suggesting that we then rely on her for all the image-based content of the club. Just as we shouldn't have been reliant on Miller for the updating of this one flyer image.
Maybe in the future, for things outside of website maintenance and the club finances, there should be more open requesting of specific help from the membership base?
folk wax and waneHence having a printer service, so any club official can have them print more stuff.
I think at times it's about motivating whoever is enthusiastic at the time to get things achieved.
In Penfold suggesting Steve's Mrs he wasn't then suggesting that we then rely on herBut that's what would happen.
Miller for the updating of this one flyer image.There are numerous images that Miller is 'about' to do or re-do, including the various magazine adverts that he previously did.
Yes, there should an established set of third party suppliers and motivation for use them, be and we have been asking for extra help for years but very few people have responded and some of those couldn't do much if anything.
Some people do want to get more involved but they are wanting to help rather than lead the way.
We need some more motivators and leader types who come up with ideas and plans and can carry them out.
Well that's how it is Jon. We've been saying this for long time. How could you not have noticed!
A lot of committee have left over the last years and some not been replaced. The few people who are working for the club every day have been under some strain for some time.
i noticed, also know my helps declined when offered. so i just gave up bothering
Maybe one of the agreements to taking a committee position is that they arrange for their replacement before they leave.
The reality is probably that some people just drift away and b*gger off without ever bothering but still.
Ian, why don't you (or one of the committee), set up (and keep updated) a sticky thread listing everything that needs doing (that isn't already being managed well or requires proper, continued dedication), and allow anyone from the membership base to take on individual tasks?
Maybe Jon could be taken on to motivate club members to pick up some of these tasks, chivvy them along, and monitor/report (on the thread if not to the committee directly), their progress/status?
Who knows what needs doing atm that might be do-able for bog-standard members?
That's not so easy. We've tried as a group to get new people. It's not far from the point that there are only new people to get new people and some many old ones moved on.
An example is the shop. Lee did find someone who has been filling orders but beyond that, things have stalled. Lee was more driven it seems to build up the shop and make it make some profit but he had to divert his efforts to his own business. The new shop person already has his own busy business. We are fortunate to have him take over from Lee but as a volunteer the club can't 'expect', just be grateful for what is given.
A print service sounds good but having one doesn't mean we can't also do the other and in fact, since there isn't a service in place at the minute, that's no reason not to do anything if there are other options.
This flyer is quite a big thing that can be achieved quite easily at nil cost to the Club. So, all members get a copy and all members are encouraged to print a few off and get them out there.
In fact even I will promise to print a few off and keep them in my Mrs' Focus (and carry one or two), to put on all performance Renaults when I get the opportunity.
Penfold, about that PM....
Hell, Ian, send me whatever copy of that image you have, unless it's only a jpg, in which case I can rip it off the site as described earlier.
car.crash
23-01-2013, 14:36
Jon doesn't even turn up to any meets on his doorstep.
Jon doesn't even turn up to any meets on his doorstep.
Spent last 5 month immobile, and had surgery you nob
You had surgery on your knob!!
I really like the flyer idea and it's something I was going to bring up in due course. It's not a new idea as said, I once had a load sent to me to distribute when I became area rep.
If someone can alter the one we have or better still come up with a new one that incorporates the correct membership fees (when they're changed) and also mention the ND, I will take them to a printers and have a load of copies made. We can send them out in membership pack. I think this is a very good and easy idea :agree:
You had surgery on your knob!!
No
Big Steve - Raider
23-01-2013, 15:21
I agree. But the event's co-ordinator doesn't have time or interest and has repeatedly strongly said that events like this have no worth, and no-one else cares enough to get up and do something about it. I don't have a Renault or I'd have taken it to the Enfield show.
Who is the events cordinator if the aint got time or intrest then isnt that considerd abit of a problem
If someone would like to take on the role of events organiser that's ok with me. I'm not bothered about stepping down to let someone else have a go?
Slammed 66
23-01-2013, 15:27
If someone would like to take on the role of events organiser that's ok with me. I'm not bothered about stepping down to let someone else have a go?
Ill gladly take on ALL the small event organising Steve leaving you to pick and choose which ones you can manage. Only if you and everyone else is in agreeance.
events organiserBut you're remaining as ND organiser?
General event's organiser was another role.
If someone can alter the one we have or better still come up with a new one that incorporates the correct membership fees (when they're changed) and also mention the ND, I will take them to a printers and have a load of copies made. We can send them out in membership pack. I think this is a very good and easy idea :agree:I remembered the printer that Miller used and just phoned him to see if he has the original Coral Draw artwork. He may have. If so, editing will be only a few minutes work.
Together with the changes we want made, I'm now going to email him the jpeg, as shown a few posts up, and see if that's amongst the originals he has.
Big Steve - Raider
23-01-2013, 15:33
But you're remaining as ND organiser?
General event's organiser was another role.
Yeah i don't mind, if someone wants to do it all or you split it back upto smaller elements then that's ok with me?
Maybe Chris & Ross should share the smaller events co-ordinator, or take on the lot together?
Ill gladly take on ALL the small event organising Steve leaving you to pick and choose which ones you can manage. Only if you and everyone else is in agreeance.:agree:
why we cant go to more events as a club and if it was a lack of money or if it was a lack of man power because i was willing to helpLack of man power.
Penfold aka The Dealer
23-01-2013, 15:52
One thing I should mention about being a member be it a committee member, or just arranging events... Expect it to take up alot of time, a few hours a week (feel like more as you will get pm's, respond to emails/telephone calls... )
It's also a thankless task and you will get negative comments, which is very hard not to take to heart as you will have put in your time and effort into it.
It can also feel that when you attend ND/POD it's abit of a chore rather than a day to look forward to with your mates as some of the time you will help manage club stand or just running around sort out show and shine, or get drivers to briefings etc.... But I would say it's a role that you will enjoy, helping other members, members you may not speak to, but as a member of the RTOC team you will speak to alot of members :)
I really like the flyer idea and it's something I was going to bring up in due course. It's not a new idea as said, I once had a load sent to me to distribute when I became area rep.
If someone can alter the one we have or better still come up with a new one that incorporates the correct membership fees (when they're changed) and also mention the ND, I will take them to a printers and have a load of copies made. We can send them out in membership pack. I think this is a very good and easy idea :agree:
Yes we want it in the membership packs but we ALSO want it in jpg form (once updated), to every existing member's email inbox so we can print them out ourselves. It costs the club nothing to do this and enables an immediate distribution of these things and by far more people!
The national day is mentioned in the bullets. The membership fees should be left off because they might change (and change again), which means changing the flyer each time. You want to future proof it as much as possible.
If the original file is available (either from the printers or Miller), that would make it much easier to mod it but it's not impossible without it.
If someone would create me a list of changes I will do it asap.
I can get them printed and sent down to alex.
Regards
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks.
I did that already, by now forgot what, and I have to do it again. Just looking at it now. Some months ago I edited the one that gets linked to from the club page when Alex joined as membership Secretary. I need to do an amalgam of the two.
I spoke to Robert and am about to email him direct to see if he has the artwork you did on file for this particular item. He does have some.
I have to do it myself this time, I've been waiting for over a year.
Yeah i don't mind, if someone wants to do it all or you split it back upto smaller elements then that's ok with me?
Maybe Chris & Ross should share the smaller events co-ordinator, or take on the lot together?
I have no problem with helping ross with small events organising you seem to be takeing this as a personal thing steve at end of day if you dont have time to organise smaller events thats fine we are offering to help and last years nd was a rite kick in the teeth for you with a few people moaning even tho by far and away the majority of people that went really enjoyed it i pmd you a couple of weeks back offering to help you with other events?
Big Steve - Raider
23-01-2013, 16:58
I have no problem with helping ross with small events organising you seem to be takeing this as a personal thing steve at end of day if you dont have time to organise smaller events thats fine we are offering to help and last years nd was a rite kick in the teeth for you with a few people moaning even tho by far and away the majority of people that went really enjoyed it i pmd you a couple of weeks back offering to help you with other events?
Not at all Chris, it's good for new blood to come into the club and committee and improve things for all members given people's circumstances change etc. I'm not taking any of this personally.
TBH you're right about the kick in the b4lls from last years Festival & my motivation isn't as high for it as it once was.
Maybe my position should change to being events co-ordinator and we have several events co-ordinators like me that can work together to get things done? I'm more than happy doing the Ring & Sangliers trips etc so I could concentrate on that, Chris & Ross can concentrate on other events, and then we all work together on ND?
Slammed 66
23-01-2013, 17:33
we have several events co-ordinators like me that can work together to get things done? I'm more than happy doing the Ring & Sangliers trips etc so I could concentrate on that, Chris & Ross can concentrate on other events, and then we all work together on ND?
:agree:
Not at all Chris, it's good for new blood to come into the club and committee and improve things for all members given people's circumstances change etc. I'm not taking any of this personally.
TBH you're right about the kick in the b4lls from last years Festival & my motivation isn't as high for it as it once was.
Maybe my position should change to being events co-ordinator and we have several events co-ordinators like me that can work together to get things done? I'm more than happy doing the Ring & Sangliers trips etc so I could concentrate on that, Chris & Ross can concentrate on other events, and then we all work together on ND?
Aslong as it aint seen as we are trying to push in. And steve if you can organise a couple of body guards i will judge show and shine:laugh:
Romil Davda
23-01-2013, 17:57
Lack of man power.
I'm putting myself forward to help out with one or some of the below:
· organise the area reps
· organise small meetings that Steve can't do
· edit the club Contacts section
· going through the articles section and doing some major fixing of links and stuff.
Oh and I am now the FB Guru... If you're on FB, let me know (Romil Davda) or get yourself added:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/RTOC/230200617060130 (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/RTOC/230200617060130)
I will try and co-ordinate the Events from this site to FB, also get your pics up from ND and all other meets!
We have some great peeps here on the club who are more than happy to help, let's get those who want to be involved, involved? Not forgetting you silent ones out there too, just because you don't post messages or write articles, doesn't mean you don't care ;)
My opinion is that if people wanted to join they would and the price wouldn't put them off.If they can afford to own, run,restore a 5 then parting with 25 quid isn't the problem.So what is?Reputation possibly? ??
Nottswoody
23-01-2013, 18:32
My opinion is that if people wanted to join they would and the price wouldn't put them off.If they can afford to own, run,restore a 5 then parting with 25 quid isn't the problem.So what is?Reputation possibly? ??
Exactly!! I was warned off by ex members off here but I'm my own man and I won't lie they were right with a lot of it but I think they were a little thin skinned.. As in business a complaint travels an costs you business.. You simply can't please everyone but you should defo try and get along with the ones that turn up.. My offer still stands to pay for the name badges.. Or look at the link the master has put up atleast Facebook will give names and faces.. More than what I had on my first nd when not many even spoke.. And don't say I should of introduced myself.. Still enjoyed it though others may not have.. Rant over :cooter:
My opinion is that if people wanted to join they would and the price wouldn't put them off.If they can afford to own, run,restore a 5 then parting with 25 quid isn't the problem.So what is?Reputation possibly? ??
25 quid is nothing nobody runs a turbocharged renault because there cheap so they must have some exspendable income but i dont know why the dont choose RTOC there is alot of competion on the internet but i reckon theres some really good ideas to try and t more members and if we start goin to more shows then maybe we can raise awareness of the club
Perhaps Blunty could start a topic on his FB page asking why people aren't interested in joining rtoc?
See it as constructive criticism :)
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 18:45
i can do that for you no probs mart, i really think rtoc should take advantage of the world of facebook has a much wider scope for advertising/promoting and attracting potential new members etc
25 quid is nothing nobody runs a turbocharged renault because there cheap so they must have some exspendable income but i dont know why the dont choose RTOC there is alot of competion on the internet but i reckon theres some really good ideas to try and t more members and if we start goin to more shows then maybe we can raise awareness of the club
Not true, sorry I know several people depending on there's as daily runners and ain't so well off. 15 would suit
i can do that for you no probs mart, i really think rtoc should take advantage of the world of facebook has a much wider scope for advertising/promoting and attracting potential new members etc
Cheers mate :)
I think it'd be good feedback for the Committee, and as said, they should take any negative feedback as constructive criticism & work on improving that.
If someone would create me a list of changes I will do it asap.
I can get them printed and sent down to alex.
Regards
Chris
Hi Chris.
Put a date on it?
Also, would it be possible to have both the existing and newly updated layered files emailed to the committee and saved on an admin part of the site or something so it can be picked up and altered by someone else if time somehow slips away again?
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 18:53
mart if you tell me exactly what you would like me to ask then ill ask it and pin the post at the top for a while to get as much feedback as possible
Just why they're not an rtoc member, or words to that effect :D
Not true, sorry I know several people depending on there's as daily runners and ain't so well off. 15 would suit
i aint saying that everyone who runs one is minted and has money to burn i definatly havent but these cars are luxuries to a certain extent would you not agree there are cheaper cars to run day to day. but the point i am trying to make is 25 pound really isnt alot of money and dropping it to 15 will help i just dont believe thats the biggest factor
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:00
done :)
If it's joining costs, that throws more weight behind Alex's proposal of lowering the fee to £15.
If it's lack/type of events, that gives the new blood chaps something to chew on.
If it's lack of trackdays, that gives me something to chew on :D
Poor vfm?
Dare I say it, cliqueness/hard for a new member to 'get involved'.
Etc, etc.
done :)
:cool:
Keep us posted mate. It'll be good feedback for the club/Committee.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:04
would you like me to tag you in the post so you get notified when there is a reply? just had first feedback
Good stuff chaps :)
Andy could you post the feedback here?
Unless it needs to be private in some way. In which case, you could start a committee thread?
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:10
i honestly dont think £25 is a great deal for a complete years membership when you consider all the info/help etc etc you get, the amount of cash to be saved by being a member could be massive.
defo one area which would be great to improve on is trying to get out there at some events i know this is easier said than done but nothing is impossible
Nottswoody
23-01-2013, 19:12
Perhaps stop the privacy on these things what was we saying about click? Say it out loud and be proud of the club and its members.. We're not at work we shouldn't be talking behind closed doors IMO :p
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:14
first bit of feedback is as follows
I'm not yet...but will be. The only reason for me at the moment is that I've set myself a car related budget, and currently I'm putting all that money into the car. As soon as I can, I'll put £25 toward joining up
i have suggested that he just might not have pay £25 in the coming future.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:17
more feedback
i used to be a member. the site went down for a while and by the time it worked again my membership had run out. i did try and rejoin using there instruction but it wouldnt work and i never botherd since.
i have linked alex to that reply to see if he could sort something out for him
Just a suggestion but if you look at bluntys Facebook group anything goes.There's still plenty of people who like to drive in a certain way and want to be able to speak about it,the last time I saw a thread like that on here someone put it had no place on the rtoc.There's always plenty of people on here yet the boards are quiet.Since I have been a member some people who seem to be on every day have never replied to anything I have put.Lots of people have though and I am grateful,iv also met a few good people and not been a member long.Its difficult when you have members that have been here years.Getting the members will be the easy part,its keeping them that's hardest.
I used to be a member. the site went down for a while and by the time it worked again my membership had run out. i did try and rejoin using there instruction but it wouldnt work and i never botherd since.I wonder if that was during the 2008 period? We gave everyone a free four months or so.
Or when the site was so slow in 2011.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:27
it would be the 2008 period mate he did say in another post he hadnt been on rtoc for 5 yrs
Nottswoody
23-01-2013, 19:28
Just a suggestion but if you look at bluntys Facebook group anything goes.There's still plenty of people who like to drive in a certain way and want to be able to speak about it,the last time I saw a thread like that on here someone put it had no place on the rtoc.There's always plenty of people on here yet the boards are quiet.Since I have been a member some people who seem to be on every day have never replied to anything I have put.Lots of people have though and I am grateful,iv also met a few good people and not been a member long.Its difficult when you have members that have been here years.Getting the members will be the easy part,its keeping them that's hardest.
And that's a good thing for fb if you mention someone they are notified perhaps people miss certain things and questions bud.. So much and so many threads even I loose track
it would be the 2008 period mate he did say in another post he hadnt been on rtoc for 5 yrsThanks, we can do something for him then.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:32
that would be great if you could, like i say i have linked alex to it so he will get a notification to that post :)
I am happy to pay a higher amount, £5 is not going to hurt.
I have mentioned before, do we not have information on the renault5gtturbo.com site, I'm sure it's free to join, how many members it has etc would that then give the club some idea if its the joining fee is the problem.
Agree on the getting other cars interested, I like most Renault hatches tbh but this site is just seen as a gt turbo site, the cars are dwindling so something needs to give.
Nothing much goes on in the club up and down the country, it needs more meets and get some real buzz about it like scoffs r/r day last year. I would love to look through pictures of meets from all over the country instead of watching the same old restoration threads all the time.
I can say from my own experiance I log on less and less these days.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:34
more feedback
I've had my 5 for about 6/7 years now and always thought about joining but never have! prob because i dont think my 5's good enough compaired to the nice straight ones that are on there.
Blunty, PM the chaps user name and email address he used and I'll sort it :agree:
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:42
ok mate iv just asked him for details just waiting on reply
I am happy to pay a higher amount, £5 is not going to hurt.
I have mentioned before, do we not have information on the renault5gtturbo.com site, I'm sure it's free to join, how many members it has etc would that then give the club some idea if its the joining fee is the problem.
Agree on the getting other cars interested, I like most Renault hatches tbh but this site is just seen as a gt turbo site, the cars are dwindling so something needs to give.
Nothing much goes on in the club up and down the country, it needs more meets and get some real buzz about it like scoffs r/r day last year. I would love to look through pictures of meets from all over the country instead of watching the same old restoration threads all the time.
I can say from my own experiance I log on less and less these days.
Scoffs rr day was my second outing and it was quality.:agree:i
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:46
that was the last rr day i organised on rtoc, the other 2 were great successes as well especially the pfc mag featured one
i aint saying that everyone who runs one is minted and has money to burn i definatly havent but these cars are luxuries to a certain extent would you not agree there are cheaper cars to run day to day. but the point i am trying to make is 25 pound really isnt alot of money and dropping it to 15 will help i just dont believe thats the biggest factor
Cool :)
Could the club get a small advert in some of the French mags offering a discount on the membership.
I'm registered on I think about 10 car web sites and out of them i think there is only a few where there is a joining fee.
Could the club not have a free joining fee and the option for a donation to the site, or maybe charge a fee for using the for sale section, of have restricted areas for full paying members.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:52
more feedback
Because you have to pay 25 quid if you've been away for a while! would re-join if it was 10, as have been a member.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:56
well thats our first old member now rejoined after a 5 yr absence (aly b)
I am happy to pay a higher amount, £5 is not going to hurt.
I have mentioned before, do we not have information on the renault5gtturbo.com site, I'm sure it's free to join, how many members it has etc would that then give the club some idea if its the joining fee is the problem.
Agree on the getting other cars interested, I like most Renault hatches tbh but this site is just seen as a gt turbo site, the cars are dwindling so something needs to give.
Nothing much goes on in the club up and down the country, it needs more meets and get some real buzz about it like scoffs r/r day last year. I would love to look through pictures of meets from all over the country instead of watching the same old restoration threads all the time.
I can say from my own experiance I log on less and less these days.
It has quite alot of members but it's deader than a dodo on there most of the time apart from the odd newbie & spammer TBH :(
Not having a dig but I think Andy's facebook page has near killed it as you get the same & more from his page (Facebook is the in thing & everyone is on it), progress & all that :smokin:
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 19:59
i honestly dont think fb pages can ever kill forums surely? fb is good for certain things which iv mentioned a few times but a forum will always be a much more focused/dedicated place for us.
i honestly dont think fb pages can ever kill forums surely? fb is good for certain things which iv mentioned a few times but a forum will always be a much more focused/dedicated place for us.
Why join a forum when facebook is easier, people are always on there, you get notified of things easier, yadda yadda. Like I say not a dig buddy, just saying they get alot of bang for no bucks from the FB site & someone is always on to give advice/abuse :cooter: ;)
that was the last rr day i organised on rtoc, the other 2 were great successes as well especially the pfc mag featured one
Andy,I don't know you but you strike me as a good lad with plenty of enthusiasm so wether its Facebook or rtoc both will benefit with you on board.
BluntyR5GTT
23-01-2013, 20:10
thanks jon :) im hoping get to meet you and plenty of others at the rr day in april.
Could the club get a small advert in some of the French mags offering a discount on the membership. We have a big advert, but haven't offered discount on joining.
I'm registered on I think about 10 car web sites and out of them i think there is only a few where there is a joining fee.But what do they offer?
Could the club not have a free joining fee and the option for a donation to the siteWe'd lose too much money, more than half our income = no ND.
maybe charge a fee for using the for sale section, of have restricted areas for full paying members.Is it free to register and some some of the site, the rest is restricted. Classifieds is free if anyone new, other than spammers, can find it. I did talk about starting to charge a fee for advertising, like Pistonheads, but it didn't go anywhere as we'd need to change the software.
I think there is a feeling that to rejoin from a lapsed membership £25 would be charged.
So a flat rate would stop that erroneous belief. Provided those people weren't still put off by £15.
I wonder if the site would be more attractive if the articles and classifieds sections were easier to see and use.
would you like me to tag you in the post so you get notified when there is a reply? just had first feedback
It's ok, I don't get on FB that much, but if you could keep us posted on here that would be great :) Plus I'm not on the Committee, so it's not as if I can do anything about the feedback anyway :D
Just seen you've helped an old member re-join. Good darts mate :agree:
The mlr site is free to join but you only get 30 free posts a month. It would give people full access to the site to get a bit of a feel for it.
soapymech
23-01-2013, 20:27
Could the club not have a free joining fee and the option for a donation to the site, or maybe charge a fee for using the for sale section, of have restricted areas for full paying members.
think the fee maintains nd and pod also this site so if we could get the joining fee down as much as possible and not restrict members in any way it would be better, cliqe and all that.
What with parts getting more desirable and expensive I see the shop playing more of a role.
Tony Walker
23-01-2013, 21:24
well thats our first old member now rejoined after a 5 yr absence (aly b)
:agree: well done
BluntyR5GTT
24-01-2013, 04:19
from what i can see there should be another 3 old members rejoining and 2 new members so in total 6 not bad for just a few hours last night on fb
Well done blunty :) single handed saving Rtoc :) keep it up
Well done blunty :) single handed saving Rtoc :) keep it up
:agree:
Great stuff. :agree:
The word needs to go around (everywhere, not just FB), that if you were an RTOC member previously, that it's not going to cost £25 to rejoin.
Nothing much goes on in the club up and down the country, it needs more meets and get some real buzz about it like scoffs r/r day last year. I would love to look through pictures of meets from all over the country instead of watching the same old restoration threads all the time.
More meets needs more members. We're too thinly spread. Plenty goes on up and down the country in proportion to how many active members there are.
As for 'the same old restoration threads' Phil, for me they have been the best thing about RTOC in the last couple of years (yours especially). A lot more GTT's saved from the scrap heap, improved quality of work, it's been really exciting to watch as more and more resto threads have appeared. I've learnt a lot and the encouragement from other members to get the job finished has resulted in some great outcomes!
More meets needs more members. We're too thinly spread. Plenty goes on up and down the country in proportion to how many active members there are.
As for 'the same old restoration threads' Phil, for me they have been the best thing about RTOC in the last couple of years (yours especially). A lot more GTT's saved from the scrap heap, improved quality of work, it's been really exciting to watch as more and more resto threads have appeared. I've learnt a lot and the encouragement from other members to get the job finished has resulted in some great outcomes!
Agree on both points Trev. More members would get more of a buzz on the site and get more meets organised, we can blame a lot on the weather last year, but i have been available for a local meets for a good 3 years now, im even prepared to travel so far and thats saying something in those dam seats of mine :laugh: I think the guys down south seem to do there bit on meets better than us northern folk :ashamed:.
As for builds i like them to, especially when done to a high standard or a really trick engine conversion. This was not meant as a dig, just we need some really good buzz threads about local meets, r/r days, track days, ring trips and our national day.
I have not been on the site for as long as some, but its regrettable that threads like this keep popping up looking for ways to get numbers up and organize better days out.
Think we are all guilty of the same bug, standard looking cars are whats desirable now, gone are the day of carisma kits and crazy exhausts popping out of tailgates and anyone ever putting a car on like that would get ripped to shreds and never come back.
Ditching the gt turbo label with this site and getting other renault members on board is the way forwards imo :)
Great that bluntys back on the scene, good stuff.
i haven't read the whole thread so maybe it has been mentioned before but the thing that kept me from joining the club was the lack of access without being a paid member.
i didn't knew the club or forum but been told there's alot of knowledge around here, i was fortunate i had a friend who was a member already so i could have a peek inside.
after that i decided to join up for myself. maybe it's a good idea to give new members full acces for a week or so, or maybe still restricted access but more into the technical discussions. so they can see for themselves how much this club has to offer.
ofcourse there will always be lads who only look for info that week and never join but hey, would they have joined otherwise?
It's not a bad idea, if it's technically possible, to have like a 'x' number of days full pass for free. Could it be controlled by IP address?
Penfold aka The Dealer
24-01-2013, 13:55
I think the idea of letting people have x amount time free is not technically possible with our software...
Unless perhaps Scoff were to find a way to write some more custom hacks which is not likely. There is a timer he created that shows the 30 day notice before account expiry. we're not going to manually keep a list and give every new member a free period, it has to be automatically done by the system.
It's further complicated by us having to fully moderate all new applications. That is we now manually vet every one of them as that seems to be the only way to stop spammers registering at a rate of several per day. Penfold found 550 spammers as registered users! We've been deleting them but it takes time.
A new hobby for me over the last few weeks has been checking each IP address and adding it to a banned list within the RTOC vB forum. I'm now seeing that's not working as banned IP's are being re-used.
Matt Cole
24-01-2013, 14:49
Unless perhaps Scoff were to find a way to write some more custom hacks which is not likely. There is a timer he created that shows the 30 day notice before account expiry. we're not going to manually keep a list and give every new member a free period, it has to be automatically done by the system.
It's further complicated by us having to fully moderate all new applications. That is we now manually vet every one of them as that seems to be the only way to stop spammers registering at a rate of several per day. Penfold found 550 spammers as registered users! We've been deleting them but it takes time.
A new hobby for me over the last few weeks has been checking each IP address and adding it to a banned list within the RTOC vB forum. I'm now seeing that's not working as banned IP's are being re-used.
I think we have found the very first task we need to look at as a priority.......the website! I agree with all that a free trial would be beneficial in the long run. I also think that we should provide some free memberships to some lucky people of other relative clubs who can hopefully spread the joy and attend national day.
Ian,
the commitee really needs to get together now and discuss the way forward. People are coming up with ideas and are willing to help out but this must be controlled by the club officials as people are now implementing ideas of their own withought discussion from the club hierachy!
Matt, the reason these things are starting to happen ad-hoc is because good ideas in the past haven't had backing from the committee. Not because they weren't good ideas but because there wasn't enough capacity within committee's spare time to discuss and implement them. They've been waiting for a simple flyer update for a year for goodness sake.
A lot of the committee's time is taken up by keeping the website running (which includes the shop), and organising and paying for ND. The technical issues with the website are manifold and the ND a pain in the butt from all perspectives, including financial.
Then you have committee members leaving which makes it yet more difficult for those that remain.
So it's no surprise that there are people who have decided to just get on and do things.
You are right though, ideally it should all be done under the guidance of the committee and the only way to do that is to reform the way people get on and off it, enlarge the number of roles, define roles/responsibilities and then fill the bloody positions with people who can devote enough time to the club.
I'd like to know just how much coherence and communication there is between committee members. Is there even a weekly conference call to chat about club matters for example? Skype works a treat.
Penfold aka The Dealer
24-01-2013, 15:51
Matt, the reason these things are starting to happen ad-hoc is because good ideas in the past haven't had backing from the committee. Not because they weren't good ideas but because there wasn't enough capacity within committee's spare time to discuss and implement them. They've been waiting for a simple flyer update for a year for goodness sake.
A lot of the committee's time is taken up by keeping the website running (which includes the shop), and organising and paying for ND. The technical issues with the website are manifold and the ND a pain in the butt from all perspectives, including financial.
Then you have committee members leaving which makes it yet more difficult for those that remain.
So it's no surprise that there are people who have decided to just get on and do things.
You are right though, ideally it should all be done under the guidance of the committee and the only way to do that is to reform the way people get on and off it, enlarge the number of roles, define roles/responsibilities and then fill the bloody positions with people who can devote enough time to the club.
I'd like to know just how much coherence and communication there is between committee members. Is there even a weekly conference call to chat about club matters for example? Skype works a treat.
Communication.... erm can be limited.... can be very indepth...
Thats why we have the boards for us, so we can access it 24/7....Heres a screenshot
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/sexychrissmith/photo-9.png
We do hold conference calls when we need to discuss things like ND/POD... but with most things not everyone was able to commit (Myself being one of those as I worked evenings/overnight and weekend)
But I would say communication been us isnt to bad, we also have each other telephone numbers to call/txt, email address and can pm via here...
I do think that we could do with a few new members on board either as Committee or part of the RTOC team...
Ooh, really interesting :agree:
Good to see there's some structure. I notice 5 threads have seen action since the turn of the year.
Old events calendar - 0 replies
Filling roles 2013 - 4 replies
PFC advertising - 4 replies
Membership renewals
RTOC festival - 7 replies
I realise that there will be a lot of ongoing work with memberships but are there things going on that aren't reflected in the screenshot? As (ignoring the membership thread), there's less than 1 committee post a day since the New Year. With 8 people on the committee (I think), it means an average of less than 1 post per week, per committee member...
EDIT - I don't mean that to sound like nobody on the committee does anything but it would be good to understand how much is done and by who. Otherwise how can you identify what needs tending to.
Penfold aka The Dealer
24-01-2013, 16:41
Trev, Remember that over the winter its pretty quiet for us...
ND has already been booked and was booked along time ago...
Website is pretty much ticking over, we have been let down so much with professional companies, we cant seem to find anybody willing to do the custom work for RTOC.
The biggest issue recently was Spammers (Notice how recently we havent had the forum spammed)
The Koni suspension kit was more or less 99% arranged by Wallace (think it was him anyway), He and Ian S no doubt exchanged a few emails - committee didnt need to be involved as such...
Now we have this thread all these new ideas/people offering to help I have no doubt the committee boards will get a flurry of action...
Thanks Penfold, and thanks for continuing to answer my questions :)
It makes sense that it's a quiet period in January but then if that's the case, from a member's perspective you'd hope that with the breathing room this time of year affords, some of the good ideas posted by the membership base in threads over the previous 12 months might have been collated and perhaps looked at. To see what might have potential.
It does seem that there needs to be constant chivvying up of each other within the leadership but then I guess that's natural when folk are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. :agree:
You're right, here does seem to have been some really good impetus from this thread so I do hope it's picked up on. :smokin:
Incidentally, from your point of view, is there anyone in the committee that is really leading from the front?
Penfold aka The Dealer
24-01-2013, 17:27
Thanks Penfold, and thanks for continuing to answer my questions :)
It makes sense that it's a quiet period in January but then if that's the case, from a member's perspective you'd hope that with the breathing room this time of year affords, some of the good ideas posted by the membership base in threads over the previous 12 months might have been collated and perhaps looked at. To see what might have potential.
It does seem that there needs to be constant chivvying up of each other within the leadership but then I guess that's natural when folk are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. :agree:
You're right, here does seem to have been some really good impetus from this thread so I do hope it's picked up on. :smokin:
Incidentally, from your point of view, is there anyone in the committee that is really leading from the front?
Ian S is the back bone of RTOC/Committee - Love him or Hate him (I am sure he will admit sometimes his Passion for RTOC gets peoples backs up)
Ian does do soooo much work behind the scenes, emails, telephone calls, PM's etc...
I feel the committee dont need to get any bigger... Personally just needs to ask members to help, elect members to be RTOC helpers as such.
:agree:
Knowing Ian and speaking to him it sounds like you need one more role - Ian's go-getter.
To face inward, to chase round/encourage/assist other committee members where progress appears slow, and to make the group more cohesive, and also to face outward to the membership base to collect/collate all good ideas (and provide insight as to the interim status on matters that seem to have drifted).
Matt Cole
24-01-2013, 21:07
Matt, the reason these things are starting to happen ad-hoc is because good ideas in the past haven't had backing from the committee. Not because they weren't good ideas but because there wasn't enough capacity within committee's spare time to discuss and implement them. They've been waiting for a simple flyer update for a year for goodness sake.
A lot of the committee's time is taken up by keeping the website running (which includes the shop), and organising and paying for ND. The technical issues with the website are manifold and the ND a pain in the butt from all perspectives, including financial.
Then you have committee members leaving which makes it yet more difficult for those that remain.
So it's no surprise that there are people who have decided to just get on and do things.
You are right though, ideally it should all be done under the guidance of the committee and the only way to do that is to reform the way people get on and off it, enlarge the number of roles, define roles/responsibilities and then fill the bloody positions with people who can devote enough time to the club.
I'd like to know just how much coherence and communication there is between committee members. Is there even a weekly conference call to chat about club matters for example? Skype works a treat.
Trev I pretty much agree with your comments above and the rest of your posts in this thread:agree:
It's obvious that people are passionate and want to get their ideas heard and implemented. They just want to get on and do it! The problems come when The ideas aren't discussed within the committee thoroughly and limit the possibility of some thing backfiring against the club. I know of one instance on another thread where a member has come up with a great idea for a you tube channel and a committee member has said 'just do it' with i guess no details of what's to be included on the channel or suggested to have the rest of the commitee /club to moderate prior to going live!
IMO that's pretty irresponsible and would certainly not be tolerated in any other organisation with a correct structure in place!
Maybe it's come to the point where the club should look at becoming a business with a paid team to oversee the daily tasks.
I agree with that Matt. Perhaps Steve thought that no-one on the committee would do it.
I think there isn't the income to pay people to run the club. Also we'd need to pay tax, banking fees, and have audited accounts.
Big Steve - Raider
24-01-2013, 21:37
I know of one instance on another thread where a member has come up with a great idea for a you tube channel and a committee member has said 'just do it' with i guess no details of what's to be included on the channel or suggested to have the rest of the commitee /club to moderate prior to going live!
IMO that's pretty irresponsible and would certainly not be tolerated in any other organisation with a correct structure in place!
It's not the spanish inquisition Matt, were an internet based car club. I don't see the harm in creating an RTOC youtube channel that will help pull all of the various video's taken at various RTOC days/events together in one place, rather than searching youtube looking for them?
I've said before Matt, if someone would like to take over from me they're welcome to it, no hard feelings. I'd be delighted to go back to just attending the events etc.
I don't see the harm in creating an RTOC youtube channelNeither does anyone else :)
The point was simply that the content might be better being committee vetted, that all :)
Big Steve - Raider
24-01-2013, 22:14
Neither does anyone else :)
The point was simply that the content might be better being committee vetted, that all :)
Who's going to sit & be the censor then Ian? What are the right attributes for that position? You'd dam near have to be a magistrate or maybe Judge Dredd. Why make more work and red tape for the committee to do?
Just my view.
That's why we need bigger committee :)
Leading on from other thread, Robbo is right that there are hardly any committee left. I personally have invested three full days this week into the RTOC. How about you?
Three days that I NEEDED to be doing other stuff, but here the need was greater but I'm not going to carry on putting in the hours like I used to. The load needs to be better shared.
Vet the footage lol, I'm with Steve, is this china are we under censorship? Maybe it's Russia post ww2
It's gets worse :cry:
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