The future of RTOC...SHAKE UP??

Right then guys & girls before I start this I want to make this perfectly clear that this is not an attack on any members of this great club (many of which I consider to be personal friends with) but for the good of the club I think we need to look very closely at the direction the club is heading and the current leadership.

Theirs been a few discussions of recent times both on and off the boards about what we need to do to continue the success of this club even though the number of cars are reducing every year. Such as HERE

I think we need to discuss the role and members of the committee as their only seem to be a few active & driven members left. This is in no-way an attack but I've just checked out Miller's profile and he's not been on the boards now since the 8th January? I understand their is much more to life that the RTOC and he's probably got other things to be doing but at the end of the day we need a leader to be an active member and do exactly that.

Lets discuss all this guys & not make any smart arse comments becasue at the end of the day we've come together because of this club and I for one want to see it continue for many years to come!

So, who's up for a game?

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...eT/shakeup.jpg

Agreed, miller has done a sterling job but possible other commitments have got in the way.

Club as a whole functions very well, has done since i can remember... slight up heaval a few years back mind....

Re structure re think... but somthing that seems to be working.... like a football team do you want to change it...

People like dawn etc are always active on the club and doing there roles.

clee does a good job with the shop.

Area reps .... hmmmm i offerd to help there months before any posts went up... got NO WHERE

scoff keeps the website running and that cant be easy somtimes.

others ive missed but its running ok... distinct lack of leader... a pack needs its alpha....

Running a club like this is never going to be easy for one person to do, having a committee has spread the work and has helped alot but not everyone can be on here 24/7 and even some of the bigger names of the past seem to have faided away abit.

I myself used to be on here at least once a day making 3 or 4 posts every visit but my situation has changed and for the short term I've had to concentrate on other things but I will be making more and more visits soon, hopefully I'll be able to help where possible once I've rewired my garage and built the workshop. I'll my hand to anyone who needs it (you've got a dirty mind:wasntme:) and once I've got everything sorted in my garage I'm more than happy for peeps who need abit of help to pop round to my place even if its just to drink tea/coffee or beer should the need arise and to spend time helping with there cars.

Anyway back to the job in hand, whats happening with the area reps? A request for volunteers was made back in october and as far as I can tell enough people said they'd do it to cover the whole country but nothing more has been said, this needs sorting asap aswell.

I'm sure Miller is having a well earned brake and will make an apperience sooner or late, (quick someone poke him with a stick) I dowt he's forgotten about the club, we wouldn't let him :devil:

We get Pod day and Mallory Park every year then it's all quiet in between :innocent: :D

thats still 2 more events than most clubs have :laugh:

Not sure what you could do to make people join / raise the member numbers, or infact make the club bigger and better.

As membership secretary i can tell you that the amount of new members and renawals are keeping me busy , alot seem to say they heard about the website through magazine adverts..of which there is one in this months PFC i beleive.

I find on my own ( and many other car based websites ) that thing's generaly go quiet this time of year as people suffer the winter blues etc, many people have their cars off the road this time of year making meets etc scarce.

The sad fact is that with the country still in recesssion and the rising price of fuel yet again, that the numbers that can attend this years events will probably drop on last years.

The club is stable financialy , the website is as good as its been and spring is coming :agree:

What are you suggestions to "shake it up" steve ?

Just going to put my nose in here...

I agree the club is ticking along, & that it has a healthy bank balance & a good turn over of new members (we would always love me) but the tick over of existing member's is what really keeps the club going.

I am a committee member with out a "role" but i am active on the committee forum and come up with suggestion's.

The Area Rep section is on going... its huge thing to set up... i would say its 95% done... just doing the final section's and getting the people who offered to be area reps informed and to make sure they know how bits & bobs are done. :)

Some committee members dont really need to do much in there role's where as others have alot to do..

I know Chris is alive & he is talking to Mallory park, got the calender's sorted(even tho many people dont want them now... )

The committee also got the club new stock which is good value & high quality.

We also have 2 major events in the year (more if you include Track Days, RR days & Ring trips etc)

Hopefully 2010 will see more small events in your area... they dont have to be arranged by area reps or anything...

I personnaly think if the commitee were a little more open about what they are doing for this club it would put some minds at ease maybe? Most members should believe that the comittee are doing things all the time it would be nice to know everyonce and a while.

For example, the area rep business, since that board was shut nothing has been said (apart from chris's post below) to let the regular members know. The club shop change, that took a while for anything public to be posted about that?

I know this might spark the "we have an agm every year and no one turns up", this shouldnt happen, however this is a on-line club as much as it is off-line so if some things could be made public then i think it would be a better thing!

All this said, i think this club is brilliant i believe that every comittee member does a brilliant job and this is by no means a bitch and a moan :)

Guys what do the area reps actualy do? Not being funny just trying to find out what their actual role is within the club.

even if the boards are a bit qiuet at times, it doesnt mean people are not here.
i usually browse the boards so i know whats going on, but dont post a great deal.
i think its all going quite well.

just looking forward for the weather to cheer up so i can get out in the car and do some events.

whatever the comitee is doing, its working

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Originally Posted by dave-sbs

Not sure what you could do to make people join / raise the member numbers, or infact make the club bigger and better.

As membership secretary i can tell you that the amount of new members and renawals are keeping me busy , alot seem to say they heard about the website through magazine adverts..of which there is one in this months PFC i beleive.

I find on my own ( and many other car based websites ) that thing's generaly go quiet this time of year as people suffer the winter blues etc, many people have their cars off the road this time of year making meets etc scarce.

The sad fact is that with the country still in recesssion and the rising price of fuel yet again, that the numbers that can attend this years events will probably drop on last years.

The club is stable financialy , the website is as good as its been and spring is coming :agree:

What are you suggestions to "shake it up" steve ?

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I agree with what you say their Dave & it's good that we are attracting new members through our adverts in the PPC mag.


A few things that just come to mind:

• The Area Rep thing seems to have stalled
• Everyone only seems to get together for one / two meetings a year
• A lot of people still think of this as the 5 GT Turbo owners club and those cars are fast becoming extinct so we need to think about how we can keep the club going and attract more members with different cars etc.
• If people have got winter blues then lets organise more meetings to cheer everyone up :D
• What should we sell in the club shop? Shouldn't we have more specialist parts for Renault Turbo's that you cannot get elsewhere so people depend on us and not just think of us as another forum
• Club together and fight for some more benefits for club members to make the membership fee more worthwhile?
• Should we amalgamate with another club for the day to share the costs of a Pod or track day?
• Closer ties with Dutch, French, German groups for cross border parts sales & meets

As I said right at the beginning, this is a discussion, not an attack, not a revolution, not a Coup, I have the good of the club at heart & have heard disgruntled moans for a while now so come on then all of you lets hear your suggestions as to how the club can evolve/move forwards??

What should we sell in the club shop? Shouldn't we have more specialist parts for Renault Turbo's that you cannot get elsewhere so people depend on us and not just think of us as another forum



I agree the shop should sell sought after items. It's ok having brake discs and carb kits but I can get them anywhere. When people go through shed loads of effort on a group buy I think the club should help them out financially. If done correctly there will be no left over stock. Do limited runs as steve and stu have done and not buy too much of one thing. Keep the stock changing around more. Stu mentioned the club would not help him with a few hundred quid yet there is a £200 down pipe in here which I can buy from big jim anyway unless it's on sale or return?

Well lets have a list of what you would like to see in the shop .
The BJ downpipe is a lot less when you use the members discount code and we get them at the group buy price from Jim and he makes them to order .

Please bear in mind the logistics of stocking certain items and the amount of work that it would need to run the shop as a ' business '

Chris Hebdon made a really good point, I do agree that the committee could be more open about what is going on. I totally understand how it might look but everyone is working hard behind the scenes. I try to post each of the new contacts on the forum for people to see but not everyone can advertise what they are up to in such a way.

As Chris (Penfold) said, Ashy has been working hard on the area reps thing and it's actually a much bigger deal than it might seem, a lot is going into it. Not only has decision-making been happening in the background but a new part of the website is being created with an interactive map. This has been asked for for a long time but the logistics of it aren't so simple. I'll leave that geeky bit to Scoff to explain, lol

Regarding the meets, there are actually a lot of meets that happen throughout the year, specially local meets. People like Adam005 arranges meets a lot for the South-Westerm/Bristol lot, there's nothing stopping the same happening in other regions. Perhaps this will become more prolific once the area reps have all been confirmed?

Still though, totally agree it probably needs to be made more open about what everyone is up to in the background as it can seem nothing much is happening until it's explained.

It's hard to type this down but what I meant was the club to help put money towards the group buys to ease the pressure on the member as long as they are genuine and trusted. I bet there are tons of people with good ideas on having parts made but shy away due to lack of funds. In stu and steves case the parts never even needed to go near the shop just some financial support. I only pointed towards discs and downpipe as the club payed out for them yet you can buy them anywhere, probably not as cheapbut readily availabe unlike, jets,dials,stiff engine mounts,ian s gauges etc which the club doesn't seem to have help funded. It's only a small loan to the member making the parts but it could help to keep these cars on the road and another way of using the membership money to help people, as not everyone wants pod and track days so knowing one off parts are available here may entice more members who oherwise may not have joined.

The club did pay for Steve's dials and we are now getting more made to stock .

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Originally Posted by clee

The club did pay for Steve's dials and we are now getting more made to stock .

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I stand corrected then. Maybe this can happen more often on other items?

Yes ,that would not be an issue at all .The club also bought the last 10 tow eye covers.That sort of thing is very doable .

I guess it's that "Just because you can't see what's happening ON the boards it doesn't mean to say there's NOTHING going on behind the scenes"

I'm sure i started a thread similar to this on the old RTOC boards, you'll get 5-6 pages of how things could/should be, replies......... then it tails off...... Until the next time :coffee:

Just to say i love this club, a good spirit about it, good community vibes. Met a lot of decent people throughout the years. Remember the club is Turbocharged Renaults but predominantly GT Turbos, which are now getting on for 24 years old.

This IS the premium club for the GTT, yeah for other turbo charged Renaults too but there are SO many clubs out there nowadays what with the tinternet i think we're doing really well still :cool:

I think the hidden committee board causes most of these threads! as the members cant see the effort being made & ideas being discussed.

why is it hiddedn anyway?? never understood it to be honest? thought it was "our" club?

also,does'nt bother me but i've heard a lot of people moan/mention that miller does'nt post/login very often? i think members want an active leader.

How much stock and different items can be kept in the shop?remember there is just one guy doing this and so I assume he is keeping it in his own house?!when I joined I was amazed that you lot had your own shop, and even more amazed you had you'd own pod day and national day.

I certainly do not have as much time spare to surf the boards as I have done previously but do try to reg drop in and where I can help give some advice (no always good advice LOL)

I certainly have done my time with 5’s and went as far as I dare at the time with the VAG conversion. I know most of the long running members and most are friends some very good friends and have over the years had nights out / events / road trips etc etc and respect a lot

I guess because I am heavily involved in supporting and modding the VX220’s of this world this is where most of my time is spent. Still love the 5 but just moved on, stay with the club every year as it is still a very good forum and some VERY knowledgeable guys on the site and enjoy to see other members pushing the limits and other engine conversions etc

I guess it is a difficult one going forward as more and more members are able to fix / maintain there own cars and need less support from others or just call them direct. Def more local events could work but this really needs to be driven by local area reps imo

Not much there for you Steve but guess there are a few of us in the same boat

Oh and the women do not like us spending all night on the boards :D

DG

The main reason the committee boards are that way is to get things done ,discuss forum infractions etc .
If it was open we would have everyone posting their views and it would more than likely stop any decisions being made at all .

I joined this club off the back of a comment i found on MeagneSport.net,
To say that ppl dont wana meet up & go runs at this time of year is just no true...
As an Area Rep on MegSport.net, I organise a monthly meet & drive with some sucsess, (I think ppl want meet & go on a run of Interest), the hardest part is to KEEP PEOPLE INTERESTED

(",)

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Originally Posted by clee

The main reason the committee boards are that way is to get things done ,discuss forum infractions etc .
If it was open we would have everyone posting their views and it would more than likely stop any decisions being made at all .

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make them viewable but only committee can post :)

Im not up on who does what in the club nor have I been around long enough to know but as previously mentioned earlier on in the thred im amazed we have our own pod day and national day, there cant be many other clubs that can boast about such events. Im not brown nosing but from what I have seen I think you guys do a great job. If you get stuck for an area rep for bournemouth poole southampton etc im more than willing to help. Oh and how much is the downpipe with club discount?

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Originally Posted by Nayls

make them viewable but only committee can post :)

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That could be an option however that would also stifle some of the useful debating content and frank opinion :laugh: It would also spill over onto the main board with non committee discussion on committee discussions :coffee:
Some things are just better done in private .

We should turn the National Day into a massive festival of awesomeness next year by inviting all of the Euro clubs. It would be sweet, and we should get a reciprocal invite.

I think the club trundles along in a just about satisfactory fashion. Its less political than it used to be (under she we do not speak of and Bruce things were at times utterly ludicrous) and Miller has definitely improved the events by sorting Mallory. :agree:

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Originally Posted by T.K

We should turn the National Day into a massive festival of awesomeness last year by inviting all of the Euro clubs. It would be sweet, and we should get a reciprocal invite.

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I dissgree, the national is for the members of this forum and so far I think its going great, this year will the third year at Mallory, unfortunstly I won't make it but I'm sure it'll go just as well as the 2 previous years.

However, having an event where we can invite other Renault based clubs along for trackday fun would be good, just as long as we don't try and over reach, if we invited every french car club we'll just end up making it into another french car show and look how thats gone down hill.

Totally agree Tom. StuTHC is actually in talks already with the Frenchies for various events. It's all happening, just in the background :)

Think I'm gonna think about arranging an update for the members on what we're all doing but that'll take a wee while to get together.

Os, you know we've had foreign members at the last few NDs anyway right? I very much doubt they'll come over in their droves but it's great for relations and they're all a bloody good laugh.

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

Os, you know we've had foreign members at the last few NDs anyway right? I very much doubt they'll come over in their droves but it's great for relations and they're all a bloody good laugh.

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I didn't mean ban everyone, although the garlic smell wasn't great :wasntme:

I meant try to keep the chavvy ****s away, I have no problem with the from france coming over, infact I learned quite abit about the french spec'd R5's from having a quick look at there cars last year.

I think I may have missread T.K. post, I thought he meant invite all the french car clubs in britain, but I think he actually meant the Renault clubs from france, whoops, my bad sorry:(

I think the committee do need there own board, no one unless they are a director of a company know what the "big wigs" are upto. It would be nice to be kept informed on things that effect the way the club is progressing as there are some very forward thinking members on here (new and old) which could help the committee out alot to take the pressure and workload of committee members.

I think that is the problem for some members .They perceive the committee as being 'big wigs ' and that is just not the case .

I understand where your comments are coming from Steve, best intentions/interests and all that. Its good. Threads like this usually are positive and lead to a few people pulling thier sleeves up.
Likewise i completely agree with Dave sbs's comments.
tbh i agree with most comments so far on this thread. The only ones are take slight umbridge too are that we only have 2 events a year :(:confused:

Check out the sticky thread in the events section, 2010 Club Events, more than 2 on there, and i'd like to think there is someting for everyones taste at some point in the year. All are welcome, simple as.

I also hope that once the area reps are sorted we will have more active, eager reps with the desire to arrange more local meets.

As Dawn mentioned, im 'trying' to arrange closer tie ins with the other Euro clubs. The langauge barrier is quite a high one, but we are getting there. Details to be posted very soon about the Clubsuper5GTturbo.com ND in Sanglier on 5th June.

As for my views on the committee/committee boards debate- The CM boards are very quite atm apart from the area reps situ. Usual for this time of year. The club, to a certain extent, runs itself. Dave with the memberships, Ian with the finances/website and Scoff with the website are key really, they keep everyting ticking over without the need for our input. Im surprised that Miller has been so quite, but likewise i know that if things were falling apart at the seams he'd be online more than anyone actively addressing the situation. But it's not, it's ticking along nicely. Maybe some feel this isn't good enough, maybe we should be doing more?
My honest opinion is that we could promote/post/email/pm and ask 'till we are blue in the face for more members, support at events and hard to get parts made and stocked in the shop. But if the people aren't interested it won't happen.

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Originally Posted by clee

I think that is the problem for some members .They perceive the committee as being 'big wigs ' and that is just not the case .

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Why do you think that is?

No idea .You'd have to ask them .

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Originally Posted by Chris Hebden

there are some very forward thinking members on here (new and old) which could help the committee out

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I've invited some of them to be on the committee but none of them wanted to be.

Main concern was fear of not being able to commit to an active contribution.

When I set up the committee back in Nov 2006 I felt the club was being held back, and at the time declining, by there having been only one person at the top and Bruce, Rach, Goher all seemed to exclude people who had something to offer, preferring to retain a vice like personal grip on the club like it was their own belonging and no-one else was capable enough to share power and responsibility. Or maybe they didn't like to share, or liked the feeling of having complete control, I don't know.

Those individuals put a lot of their time and effort in but it was never going to be enough.

I had a history of involvement with committees and knew it was a better way as that would prevent the serious problems that can occur in a 'dictatorship' and mean several or many people could supply their varying abilities. But committees have problems of their own, mainly clashing personalities and lack of consensus which can be very destabilising and greatly slow progress. Never the less, it's worked fairly well for this club.

I intended for this committee to not have an overall leader but to rule by general agreement. As it stands that about how it works. That avoids ego maniacs from having their own agenda to dispose whoever is the 'leader' and so de-politicising it which can only be a good thing. Here committee Chairmans role is to chair meetings not the club. Though due to the on going fluid nature of this set up being all 'on-line' we don't have meetings though it was tried a couple of times.

This committee is really very small and can be taken to be a management team. I would perhaps like to have a wider committee, that's the normal way it works, club members who just attend the committee meetings every so often and are briefed by the management team. They then actively monitor and ensure the management team members are up to the tasks required of them. It seems though that there just aren't the interested members in this club for that level of structure. Pretty much everyone wants to leave it all to someone else. Few if any beyond what we currently have, want to take an active role in management. This is not new. There are a few members who like to talk a lot but won't actually do anything themselves.

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Originally Posted by Chris Hebden

Why do you think that is?

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It does seem to the case thou. I've had people say to me in the past 'thanks for the invite' or 'i didn't realise this event was for normal members'!! WTF?:confused:?

Does my head in tbh, i hate cliques, always have, bitching, backstabbing, it's all bollocks. If i felt that i was part of, or was involved with a clique id be out of here in a shot.

Everything is open too/available to everyone.............it's your club, come and get involved :)

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Originally Posted by Ian S

This committee is really very small and can be taken to be a management team. I would perhaps like to have a wider committee, that's the normal way it works, club members who just attend the committee meetings every so often and are briefed by the management team. They then actively monitor and ensure the management team members are up to the tasks required of them. It seems though that there just aren't the interested members in this club for that level of structure. Pretty much everyone wants to leave it all to someone else. Few if any beyond what we currently have, want to take an active role in management. This is not new. There are a few members who like to talk a lot but won't actually do anything themselves.

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Very well said Ian :agree:

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Originally Posted by Ian S

This committee is really very small and can be taken to be a management team. I would perhaps like to have a wider committee, that's the normal way it works, club members who just attend the committee meetings every so often and are briefed by the management team. They then actively monitor and ensure the management team members are up to the tasks required of them. It seems though that there just aren't the interested members in this club for that level of structure. Pretty much everyone wants to leave it all to someone else. Few if any beyond what we currently have, want to take an active role in management. This is not new. There are a few members who like to talk a lot but won't actually do anything themselves.

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:agree:, i like the sound of that! I really do agree with a committee, i think it works very well but as an "active" member i just feel a bit more information passed down would benefit everyone

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Originally Posted by stuTHC

It does seem to the case thou. I've had people say to me in the past 'thanks for the invite' or 'i didn't realise this event was for normal members'!! WTF?:confused:?

Does my head in tbh, i hate cliques, always have, bitching, backstabbing, it's all bollocks. If i felt that i was part of, or was involved with a clique id be out of here in a shot.

Everything is open too/available to everyone.............it's your club, come and get involved :)

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Well, thats just crazy! I honestly believe if things were discussed more openly (as much as they can be) then would this not help the us & them mentality that may be around (i dont think it is, but maybe i am being biased)

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Originally Posted by Chris Hebden

Well, thats just crazy! I honestly believe if things were discussed more openly (as much as they can be) then would this not help the us & them mentality that may be around (i dont think it is, but maybe i am being biased)

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more openly???

last year we had event info posted in the Events forum, on the events calander, in general chat, on the homepage, on the news page, sent mass emails, mass pm's, word of mouth, posted on other car club and car related forums, linked everything to the club shop........and we still had people moaning that they didn't know what was going on, pm'ing me 3 days before an event asking how to get tickets. Seriously, you can't help people who don't help themselves.

:laugh: i mean about the club in general and not events. Events i think are very well publicised (spelling!!!??) well in advance!

Just to say that the people on the committee and the few others who run the club do this in their own time and don't get paid to do so. I think after the shenadigans with the old boards going down etc RTOC is in a good place right now :agree: :cool:

Area reps has always been a grey area, people wanting to be reps for the name, or saying they'll do it and the novelty wearing thin soon afterwards. I've often thought about being a 'Rep' TBH i'm all for helping anyone out or organising a local meet but don't feel i need the 'title' to do that :ashamed: :)

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Originally Posted by Chris Hebden

:laugh: i mean about the club in general and not events. Events i think are very well publicised (spelling!!!??) well in advance!

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I guessed you where refering to the club in general, not events.
But my comments were an example of how some people are quick to shout up that x and y aint happening, when the info and evidance that it is is sat right in front of them, they just can't be arsed to look.

I seriously don't agree that commitee boards should be visible, but I think it would put most of our minds at ease if the commitee made frequent notifications about whats being discussed and which way the discussion is heading.

being an overseas member I can't quite comment on events being held but I do remember from when I used to live in the UK that there were more curry nights orginesed to which one of them I myself have attended and met and made some good friends.

The shop looks good imo but I do agree to what I read a couple of nights ago that the club really needs to look in getting obsolete items reproduced.

Getting the new age Renault Turbo owners is not an easy task I don't think as they have their own clubs/forums dedicated to their cars just like this club started as a 5gtt owners club. I remember the times when discussions were made whether a certain 11 turbo should have been included to the 1/4 mile leader board just because it wasn't a 5, even though it shares the same engine and drivetrain from factory.

and finally I strongly disagree that what Miller is doing should be judged with how frequent he posts on the boards or his last login dates, but what he actually did/does for the club.

This is in no way a dig at anyone and please read all of the above with a pinch of salt as this is just my humble opinion and I don't mean to disagree with anyone's opinion.

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Originally Posted by stuTHC

It does seem to the case thou. I've had people say to me in the past 'thanks for the invite' or 'i didn't realise this event was for normal members'!! WTF?:confused:?

Does my head in tbh, i hate cliques, always have, bitching, backstabbing, it's all bollocks. If i felt that i was part of, or was involved with a clique id be out of here in a shot.

Everything is open too/available to everyone.............it's your club, come and get involved :)

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speak for yourself dude, am staying in the inner circle;)

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Originally Posted by Robbo

speak for yourself dude, am staying in the inner circle;)

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think this is exactly the type of comment that alienates new members:scratch:

You can see Robbo's avatar I take it ? You don't want to go anywhere near his inner circle :scared:

lol

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Originally Posted by clee

You can see Robbo's avatar I take it ? You don't want to go anywhere near his inner circle :scared:

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:laugh:

Maybe a new club position can be created - a 'members representative' who's task is simply to periodically relay the progress of the committee in terms of decisions made, new business and club developments. Conversely, members could also pose questions/suggestions they have for the committee to this representative who would act as the intermediary (part of the role being to obtain answers). This way, both members and committee have a single communications conduit.

This interaction could be conducted via PM and a special message board (for posting questions/responses). Interaction between the member representative and comittee could additionally be by phone where necessary.

How the details would pan out on whether this requires just one person, what the regularity of relaying progress should be, how much autonomy the rep would have in fielding questions, whether existing comms methods should be tweaked to take account of this new position and how to ensure this doesn't further separate the members from the committee could all be discussed.

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Originally Posted by clee

The main reason the committee boards are that way is to get things done ,discuss forum infractions etc .
If it was open we would have everyone posting their views and it would more than likely stop any decisions being made at all .

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:agree: i understand why & personally im not bothered either way,but i bet these type of threads would stop as a result of them boards being visible! because all members would see the effort being made/ideas being discussed

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Originally Posted by stuTHC

I guessed you where refering to the club in general, not events.
But my comments were an example of how some people are quick to shout up that x and y aint happening, when the info and evidance that it is is sat right in front of them, they just can't be arsed to look.

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Completely agree with you, sometimes things are beyond help, but in the real world i think the members that may be like that are few and far between!

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Originally Posted by Trevhib

Maybe a new club position can be created - a 'members representative' who's task is simply to periodically relay the progress of the committee in terms of decisions made, new business and club developments. Conversely, members could also pose questions/suggestions they have for the committee to this representative who would act as the intermediary (part of the role being to obtain answers). This way, both members and committee have a single communications conduit.

This interaction could be conducted via PM and a special message board (for posting questions/responses). Interaction between the member representative and comittee could additionally be by phone where necessary.

How the details would pan out on whether this requires just one person, what the regularity of relaying progress should be, how much autonomy the rep would have in fielding questions, whether existing comms methods should be tweaked to take account of this new position and how to ensure this doesn't further separate the members from the committee could all be discussed.

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Great idea :)

And how do we choose the 'middle' man? Or do we vote if this is a good idea and the clubs next best step?

Do the committee have regular meetings? How about releasing 'minutes' of the meeting so we know what's at least been discussed?

:ashamed:

I don't think a middle man is necessary. All the members really want is just simply to be kept informed of developments/stuff going on in the background.

Of course, that doesn't mean that all & sundry has to be posted, but for example, the Committee could've posted a progress report with regards to the Area Rep' business that Ashy was/is sorting, an update on the 25th anniversary event in June, why Mallory was chosen again over other alternative venues for the ND, etc etc, ad nauseum.

At least then it shows that 'work' is going on behind the scenes, rather than any deadwood scenarios that people might be envisaging.

In that respect, perhaps a monthly/quarterly online newsletter could be uploaded to the home page for all to read & digest?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

In that respect, perhaps a monthly/quarterly online newsletter could be uploaded to the home page for all to read & digest?

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I'm already actually working on this :)

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

I'm already actually working on this :)

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Aaah but how were we to know :D

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

Aaah but how were we to know :D

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:laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

Aaah but how were we to know :D

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Exactly my point :laugh:

I've only been doing it a few hours, give me a chance :laugh:

Wise words from a lot of folk, especially;

- Ian's comments regarding the lack of interest in committee roles in general - something that non committee members might find hard to believe but it really is hard to find folk with enough enthusiasm and enough spare time to actually contribute.

- Chris H's comments (and then Trev's idea) are valid and good. Someone, or some mechanism that allows everyone to see what's happening on a monthly basis, or whatever, might work very well.

- Dawn calling me a geek: fair enough :D ;)

Finally, a big part of the "aparant" non-activity on the area rep front is my fault for not having had the time to build the parts of the website that need building. Currently my days go something like this: Work 9hrs then 4hrs or so once I'm home. Yesterday I was finished for 11.30pm. I had a bowl of cerial for lunch (at 11.30pm) because I had not had the time in the week to go shopping. Woken again at 8.30am this morning with telephone calls and messages. The cycle continues :crap: Needs must. No lack of enthusiasm here but instead not enough hours in the day to make any progress on the things I want to do.

Cry me a river, Timberlake ;) :laugh:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Cry me a river, Timberlake ;) :laugh:

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just telling it like it is mate..... like it is :cry: :laugh:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Exactly my point :laugh:

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:wasntme: :D

Woke at 8.30am.... :dearme: get up earlier.... :laugh:

Anyway Chop chop, dyno in couple of weeks mate.....:p

Recently there has been a few memebers which regularly say "i am more than happy to help" fair point that some might not follow through or last a small amount of time!

I'm not just saying this to moan and groan, i think the club is brill and would be lost without it. If anyone would like me to do anything that would help the club progress then i am more than happy to do so!

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Originally Posted by Rob@Backyardracing

Chop chop, dyno in couple of weeks mate.....:p

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sure, that'll happen, only just on with fetching the old lump out :laugh:

Well maybe we need to find another general-purpose-genius to help Scoff out with the general maintenance of the forum, that would take the load off him abit so he can get on with other things

os, I may have took the liberty to edit your post ;)

But sure, if there are any coders amongst us proficient in PHP with a working knowledge of mysql then please stand forward :) But as always, it isn't that simple. the site, by its very nature is very custom, and so it would take a degree of effort for someone new to come along and get to grips with my code. I have instead decided (as already discussed with Ashy) to concentrate on the basic area-rep requirements to begin with. Enough to get the system working and usable. Expansion can happen as time allows, or someone else with time and ability may like to expand on whatever I do.

I for one would love to be an Area rep, especially to meet and help others.

What i really miss from the old site is the map of the uk that showed where everyone was from.

If we get this back i`m sure the club will go forward in the right direction. :D

That's the part Scoff talking about :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HULK

I for one would love to be an Area rep, especially to meet and help others.

:D

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Your not the only one

• A lot of people still think of this as the 5 GT Turbo owners club and those cars are fast becoming extinct so we need to think about how we can keep the club going and attract more members with different cars etc.
• Yes, but who is going to do that? We tried to get the Megane and twingo. I bought a twingo-turbo domain name. I gave an ex 5GTT Owners club chairman an Hon membership and he owns a 225 sport. I created the forum board. But more people need to do more to make this happen in an on going way.
• What should we sell in the club shop? Shouldn't we have more specialist parts for Renault Turbo's that you cannot get elsewhere so people depend on us and not just think of us as another forum
• Yes. But, again, who's going to make this happen. There is such a high level of apathy / lack of time / interest. I've done a bit but more is needed in an ongoing way. Re Stu's carb jets; no-one in the committee refused it. The thread just petered out. The comments were that the jets were thought to already exist and someone just had to source them. No one did. Stu originally suggested buying about £2000 of jets. That was too much. I never saw £200 mentioned. For those who don't know, I've been trying to get a km/h dial for a new batch of dial kits since maybe November. I posted it on the thread in group buys with very little response. I spent some time trying to buy one from Europe with no success. In the end Xenon posted one to this threads OP who forwarded it to Lockwood who have done the artwork and are about to commence production. Not many people seem to think of the club shop and the on-going membership when they have a part made. I think mostly they see satisfying their own need and maybe a small profit. IMO the shop can't make a huge loss though on it's items, some members think it should, others that it should make a huge profit.
• Club together and fight for some more benefits for club members to make the membership fee more worthwhile?
• It needs someone and people to come up with the ideas and possibly also then make them happen.
• Should we amalgamate with another club for the day to share the costs of a Pod or track day?
• Considered from beginning of RTOC ND's. We did share a RR day in Kent with a Peugeot club some years ago. We don't really need to though as the club can just about afford the losses to give it's paying members a day for themselves. Obviously though, not making a loss would be a lot better. Miller and I did seriously consider hiring Rockingham for the 2007 ND and trying to get in some other clubs. Financially a big risk though as it's a big fee to hire. That was before he found Mallory. The committee, mainly via Stu, did try and get back to having Pod on a Saturday but they didn't have a space for us any more and so we went for the Friday thing which seems to go down well and has so far had smallish losses.
  

Maybe if what needs to be done is made more public members can put there names next to things saying "right i am doing that" then when a thread like this comes up the person who said they were going to do something is accountable for a good lynching (joke ;)) if something doesnt come about!?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

I don't think a middle man is necessary. All the members really want is just simply to be kept informed of developments/stuff going on in the background.

Of course, that doesn't mean that all & sundry has to be posted, but for example, the Committee could've posted a progress report with regards to the Area Rep' business that Ashy was/is sorting, an update on the 25th anniversary event in June, why Mallory was chosen again over other alternative venues for the ND, etc etc, ad nauseum.

At least then it shows that 'work' is going on behind the scenes, rather than any deadwood scenarios that people might be envisaging.

In that respect, perhaps a monthly/quarterly online newsletter could be uploaded to the home page for all to read & digest?

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Mart, I agree, those are all good examples of items that could be covered. However, who from the committee is going to want to do the reporting and/or create a newsletter every month in addition to everything else they already do for the club? It's not likely to happen with any regimen or gusto.

Hence why I thought it would be a good idea to bring someone additional in purely to do this. I don't see it as a middle man, more a committee role (possibly non-voting), through whom the member-base is both represented and provided with an insight as to progress behind the scenes as regards current affairs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevhib

Mart, I agree, those are all good examples of items that could be covered. However, who from the committee is going to want to do the reporting and/or create a newsletter every month in addition to everything else they already do for the club? It's not likely to happen with any regimen or gusto.

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It is, I'm designing one right now.

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Originally Posted by Scoff

os, I may have took the liberty to edit your post ;)

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Interesting edit there bud ;)

I guess a sticky in this forum, Club Talk, would be a good place for such a notice / wastegate lite.

im happy with how the club is run now. every1s doing a bang up job and its very much appreciated. i couldnt do it.


from what ive read about others wanting to know what the committee is doing, can i suggest


a room that you can read the titles but you cant open and read whats being said.
then u can see what the threads are being made and when they are replied to without knowin the full details.

just an idea.

Not sure that a "SHAKE UP" is actually required and it looks as though everyone that’s posted on here feels that the club is running well and appreciates the effort that has been and is still being put in to keep pushing it forward, which is good feedback.

Just to add my 2p on the regional rep situation, we have short listed the members that we would like to become the new regional reps. This hasn't been a short process, as I'm sure you can all appreciate, its not a decision that can be made by one person, all committee members have had an input into which members would be best suited.

As Chris has stated the website needs some modifications to be able to support the new regional rep setup and unfortunately this can only be done by him. We apologise that this has taken longer that we initially thought it would but as has already been mentioned it is all carried out in peoples spare time, so please continue to bear with us as we would rather it was done properly rather than rush it.

Remember that anyone can arrange an event or meet of any type, you don’t have to be a regional rep or committee member to do so.

I think the main point that has been made, and it is a good and valid point, is that the committee should post regular updates on the boards to keep you guys abreast of the work that is ongoing behind the scenes. :agree:

can i step down from the commity please. due to my **** life at the mo i just havent got the heart to put the time in to propperly help out with the commity and club desisoins. . maybe things will change when ive got myself sorted out and back on track.
dont worry just need some time out im not going away.
im still willing to do the wiz and offer advice and help out were i can

:worship::worship:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by THE MASTER

can i step down from the commity please. due to my **** life at the mo i just havent got the heart to put the time in to propperly help out with the commity and club desisoins. . maybe things will change when ive got myself sorted out and back on track.
dont worry just need some time out im not going away.
im still willing to do the wiz and offer advice and help out were i can

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long time no see col.
hopefully thigs sort themselves out for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Not sure that a "SHAKE UP" is actually required and it looks as though everyone that’s posted on here feels that the club is running well and appreciates the effort that has been and is still being put in to keep pushing it forward, which is good feedback.

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:agree:

I actually think the old boards going down brought the club together, too big never to come back, the interim boards going up and people supporting it and appreciating the effort Scoff put in to keep RTOC afloat along with others help :cool:

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Originally Posted by stu21t

even if the boards are a bit qiuet at times, it doesnt mean people are not here.
i usually browse the boards so i know whats going on, but dont post a great deal.
i think its all going quite well.

just looking forward for the weather to cheer up so i can get out in the car and do some events.

whatever the comitee is doing, its working

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I am the same stu ,the club is great been a member for a while now ,and the club has grown and got better site and running and I also know where steve is coming from :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

:agree:

I actually think the old boards going down brought the club together, too big never to come back, the interim boards going up and people supporting it and appreciating the effort Scoff put in to keep RTOC afloat along with others help :cool:

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:) :agree:

I'll put my little 2p worth in.......

People seem to think there's a need for a big shake up within the club. I'm not so sure that's needed but if it is then fair enough. As an area rep (a role I've been doing for some years now) it strikes me that I don't actually represent the club in any way shape or form! It's not for lack of wanting to it's just I don't really know how exactly how I'm supposed to be doing it? Sure, I arrange the odd event now and again, there's a few local members which know I'm always willing to help out, but that's not really representing the club in my view........

As a practical piece of advice, how about some sort of advertising flyer/card that reps are issued (each year?) that we can distribute as and when we see other Renault turbo's?

Just a though....... :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alex

As an area rep (a role I've been doing for some years now) it strikes me that I don't actually represent the club in any way shape or form! It's not for lack of wanting to it's just I don't really know how exactly how I'm supposed to be doing it? Sure, I arrange the odd event now and again, there's a few local members which know I'm always willing to help out, but that's not really representing the club in my view........

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This was my point earlier, I wouldn't even know who my local area rep is. :scratch:
They need to be given some guidance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alex

As a practical piece of advice, how about some sort of advertising flyer/card that reps are issued (each year?) that we can distribute as and when we see other Renault turbo's?

Just a though....... :)

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Its a good idea and we did have a flyer on the old site which could be printed out and distributed at events or stuck under the wiper of a reno turbo that you spotted in a car park. I will have a chat with the others and see if we cant get some good quality flyers printed (like they have on cliosport) to dish out to the new reps :)

I remember those, and printed several off to take to one of my R/R day events some time back. I think something like that again, or as mentioned, some smaller cards might be better as the reps could always keep a stash of them in their cars to use when needed. :agree:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

It is, I'm designing one right now.

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Hi Dawn.

Are you designing a structure that will constitute the basis of all future newsletters or are you actually penning the first installment? If the latter, how long has it taken you thus far, how often are you going to produce it, what is it going to consist of, is it going to be published outside of the club website, have you asked any members what they want it to cover, when is it going to be ready, is a newsletter alone something that will attend to all the issues being raised in this thread, in fact is the effort on your part in producing this even worthwhile in terms of cost-benefit? Maybe this has all been discussed, we don't know but I certainly wouldn't want you to put effort into something that is recieved with insensitivity or worse apathy.

I'm being purposefully pushy here to prove a point, I'm not actually looking for answers to the above. You already contribute massively to this club and putting extra pressure on yourself is something I'd be very cautious about.

Basically, I agree with the others, I don't think a shake up is needed, I think there's plenty going on, I just think it needs to be communicated better, in both directions. If that means a newsletter, then great, we just want to make sure it's done properly by someone who is happy to take it on, knows what should be in it and most importantly, can commit to it for now and the foreseeable future.

:agree:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevhib

have you asked any members what they want it to cover, when is it going to be ready,

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I am by no means going to knock the work you do for this club Dawn, as you and Chris (Penfold) are the main links between the members and the comittee, for that i am truly grateful and always will be, however Trevor has brought up a fair point in my views with the question above - will the members have a say in the news letters??

It'd be kinda nice if I was actually given a chance, it's a brand new thing so as and when I can answer those questions, I will.

Some great points but every single one of those has already been thought about and put into a list of my own anyway. It's not going to be a quick thing, specially for the first one and even with input from everyone, the first edition won't be perfect. We can add to it, change it, add new ideas and features as and when they exist.

Regarding cost-benefit, there won't be any. It will cost the club zero and won't generate any revenue as it's going out to current members. It has been asked for so I'm working on creating one in my own spare time, I'd like to make a good go of it :)

Slacker :p

d4wno why dont you sub the flyer thing out,im sure a member would be all to happy to do this if there was the chance of having there car plastered on it:)

What do you mean by sub the flyer out? If you mean get someone else to do it that's not neccessary, I've got it all in hand :)

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

It'd be kinda nice if I was actually given a chance, it's a brand new thing so as and when I can answer those questions, I will.

Some great points but every single one of those has already been thought about and put into a list of my own anyway. It's not going to be a quick thing, specially for the first one and even with input from everyone, the first edition won't be perfect. We can add to it, change it, add new ideas and features as and when they exist.

Regarding cost-benefit, there won't be any. It will cost the club zero and won't generate any revenue as it's going out to current members. It has been asked for so I'm working on creating one in my own spare time, I'd like to make a good go of it :)

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Hi Dawn. Well you have my backing if it's something you want to do and have enough time to commit. If this turns out to be back-burner stuff for you though, I would say why not make it part of a new role where this is the central responsibility, as suggested. That's where I am on it anyway. Otherwise, we'll wait for the first one and go from there. Sounds interesting in any case :)

By the way, 'cost-benefit' was referring to the effort required, not funding or profit related. No issue there. :)

Being longest standing paying member :mart: I've seen the good, the bad & the down right ugly with regards to the R5GTTOC & RTOC. I personaly believe that in its present incarnation with the current committee the "club" is possibly the best its ever been. The website is really the backbone of the club & if Scoff hadn't done the fantastic job that he has, then we wouldn't all be here. :goodJob:
The loss of alot of the techy info was not good, but I'm sure we are gradually building things back up. After all its down to the members that have the knowledge or the access to the knowledge to upload it. We could do with some stickys for these in the relevant sections though.

The addition of national days, trackdays & the like have also been a great plus point (not that I've been to any :ashamed: lol) so the committee & other's who assist (Mart ;)) are doing a good job there.

Also the club shop has been a great idea, but the products stocked are always going to be an issue wth regards to who wants what, as you can't cater for everyone & having lots of stock of unwanted items is not a position the club would want to be in. So product selection is a very tricky area & will always need very careful consideration.

It would be good if we could a news letter (electronic PDF, not paper, a sticky section for all to see) every quarter or so, as previously mentioned by others, just so we can see what going on in the background. This looks like its in hand, so more good stuff.:agree:
Shame it couldn't also have writeups of any events that have been on or new products available, but as we no, actually getting the info is hard enough & then finding someone to correlate it all is even harder, I no, I used to do nigh on half the "Wastegate" content & layouts with Steve Aldridge back i the day & it was a time consuming job, but I loved doing it & was really dissapointed when i all stopped. :(

The area rep situation & associate area mapping is also making good progres as we have been told, but as always, there is noone stopping any member organizing events/meets for their areas off their own backs, as may already do. But finding out who is in yours or surrounding areas is currently an issue, but not for much longer by the sounds of it :agree: As my 5 is back on the road (only when its not raining though!:laugh:) it would be good to get some locals together & meet up. I cant remember the last time I saw a 5GT around the colchester area, but i'm sure there must be some. All the people I used to no have moved on many moon ago. :scared:

So keep up the good work averyone viv la RTOC :agree:

Russ grab yourself a cuppa T after typing all that out :D :coffee:

Spot on with everything you've mentioned :agree:

Once i've fully recovered from a broken foot (next 2months) then i'd be up for maybe a monthly meet in the Essex area :)

Ricardo Lol Yeah I did go on a bit, but you no what its like, one you start typing more things come to mind & before you no it you've done an essay :laugh:

Some Essex meets would be good matey. Mending of foot & weather improvements should hopefully coincide:agree:

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Originally Posted by Russ B

Some Essex meets would be good matey. Mending of foot & weather improvements should hopefully coincide:agree:

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Sounds good to me Russ :)

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

I DRIVE ROUND COLCHESTER A LOT IN MY BLACK 5 :) I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANOTHER 5 ROUND THAT WAY MYSELF IF THERE A MET HAPPENING SOONISH. THEN I SHULD BE ABLE 2 MAKE SOME TIME FOR IT BUT I AM BUSY WITH WORK AND TRAINING AFTER WORK :D

:agree: Ricardo

Asbo, Caps lock off matey ;)

I'll keep an eye out for you. Mine doesn't come out very often, I normally use my daily driver. Only when the weather is nice or at least dry & I wouldn't be "on the lap" in colchester, if one still exists that is lol. I'm a bit old for all that now. I was in colchester last Saturday, had to go to halfords for some stuff, then it was a back road blast home. Keep an eye on the boards for a meet hopefully sometime soon.;)

My point of view on the club is this......

To me personally( not sure if anyone else feels like this) owning a 5gtt is quite a lonely hobby to have. I never ever see any others on the road where I live. If you have a problem with it garages don't want to know and tell you the best thing to do with it is scrap it. They all have niggly little things that go wrong from time to time and even though I have my trusty old haynes manual if rtoc didn't exist I would never consider owning a 5gtt

I really think this is why rtoc works so well. We all need each others knowledge to keep our cars on the road

hope it's not just me that feels like this:sad2:

Amen :D

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Originally Posted by HULK

My point of view on the club is this......

To me personally( not sure if anyone else feels like this) owning a 5gtt is quite a lonely hobby to have. I never ever see any others on the road where I live. If you have a problem with it garages don't want to know and tell you the best thing to do with it is scrap it. They all have niggly little things that go wrong from time to time and even though I have my trusty old haynes manual if rtoc didn't exist I would never consider owning a 5gtt

I really think this is why rtoc works so well. We all need each others knowledge to keep our cars on the road

hope it's not just me that feels like this:sad2:

Amen :D

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:agree::agree::agree::D
Most people i know think im mad owning a gtt:ashamed:
Without rtoc i would of pushed it off the nearest cliff:devil:

As much as i love anything 5 related i think that is mainly down to the community of RTOC... :)

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Originally Posted by Penfold

As much as i love anything 5 related i think that is mainly down to the community of RTOC... :)

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It'll be 2 years this July without a 5 but i'm still here :cooter: :ashamed:

I still think my 2p of help and GSOH is needed here :wasntme: but as mentioned umpteenth times is a much making good friends, through events, curries etc as owning the 5.... :cool:

I could probably count on both hands the same members ( who i all class a good friends ) who always turn up to events, both in the UK + abroad. I feel it would be great to get some other members along to the events this year ( Not that i dont like the regular faces :D)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kris M

I could probably count on both hands the same members ( who i all class a good friends ) who always turn up to events, both in the UK + abroad. I feel it would be great to get some other members along to the events this year ( Not that i dont like the regular faces :D)

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You need to use both hands? ;) :D

You'll find it's the same members as they're the ones who continously and quite happily put in the time and effort to go pretty much anywhere to help out and do things socially :cool:

Wow 1995 ???? :agree: thats along time mate :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kris M

I could probably count on both hands the same members ( who i all class a good friends ) who always turn up to events, both in the UK + abroad. I feel it would be great to get some other members along to the events this year ( Not that i dont like the regular faces :D)

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I'd be at more meets if the dang thing would stop blowing up lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kris M

I could probably count on both hands the same members ( who i all class a good friends ) who always turn up to events, both in the UK + abroad. I feel it would be great to get some other members along to the events this year ( Not that i dont like the regular faces :D)

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time and money throws me and most other members out, but we all get stuck in and help each other out daily.

i think the events page is looking alittle thin myself when i joined this site a number of years back there seemed to be somethink booked most months from curry nights, drives out,rolling roads ,the shows which people and rtoc was attending (ie banners and good selection of cars even a bbq's here and there ) but if you look at the events list now no shows no currys ,bbq's . you have a ring trip which to most of us its out our price range or holidays.

no group paintballing days or karting local or national < these you can do even without a renault on the road :)

well i feel a little better now!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bye_all_c_ya

i think the events page is looking alittle thin myself when i joined this site a number of years back there seemed to be somethink booked most months from curry nights, drives out,rolling roads ,the shows which people and rtoc was attending (ie banners and good selection of cars even a bbq's here and there ) but if you look at the events list now no shows no currys ,bbq's . you have a ring trip which to most of us its out our price range or holidays.

no group paintballing days or karting local or national < these you can do even without a renault on the road :)

well i feel a little better now!

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Nothing stopping you from organising a day out :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

Nothing stopping you from organising a day out :)

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:agree: Or anyone else who feels the events calendar is looking a bit bleak.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

:agree: Or anyone else who feels the events calendar is looking a bit bleak.

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There must be this stigma in the club that only Area Reps are supposed to organise events, nights out, curries etc

Not sure what you could do to make people join / raise the member numbers, or infact make the club bigger and better.
Make people join? - you can't do this but you can promote through various channels to try and encourage this: Using PR(free magazine articles, OTP etc), Social networks, events/shows (to name just a few!) like all good communication if it works the club will grow on its own


As membership secretary i can tell you that the amount of new members and renawals are keeping me busy , alot seem to say they heard about the website through magazine adverts..of which there is one in this months PFC i beleive.
Can you or someone from the committe tell us how many new members we have a week on average? In 2009 how many new members joined the club? How many existing members renewed?How many members lapsed? and how does that compare with 2008? Are the numbers up or down?

The sad fact is that with the country still in recesssion and the rising price of fuel yet again, that the numbers that can attend this years events will probably drop on last years. This is true so the club committee should surely be looking at this major factor when making decisions/planning events in 2010?

The club is stable financialy , the website is as good as its been and spring is coming :agree:

What are you suggestions to "shake it up" steve ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

There must be this stigma in the club that only Area Reps are supposed to organise events, nights out, curries etc

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i think there is as rtoc organised events get more attendance then a self organised event me myself would find it a hard work to get deposits in for karting ect unless can be done through the shop ect then i would not mindi think i still get discount at a karting place

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

I'm already actually working on this :)

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Newsletter is a great idea. This will add 'value' to new members joining the club as well as keep existing members informed :agree:

in the evo owner club they made there own mag with got sent every 2 months to paid members and i used to look forward to them ? may be a idea and get advertisements and updates to members and show projects in progress, discuss new ideas and tests ect

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Originally Posted by Trevhib

Maybe a new club position can be created - a 'members representative'.

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Great Idea :agree:

[quote=Ian S;132152]

• A lot of people still think of this as the 5 GT Turbo owners club and those cars are fast becoming extinct so we need to think about how we can keep the club going and attract more members with different cars etc.
• Yes, but who is going to do that? er the committee?...We tried to get the Megane and twingo. I bought a twingo-turbo domain name. I gave an ex 5GTT Owners club chairman an Hon membership and he owns a 225 sport. I created the forum board. But more people need to do more to make this happen in an on going way.Put a plan together, delegate the work to members wanting to help and it will be put into action. You only had to ask?!
• What should we sell in the club shop? Shouldn't we have more specialist parts for Renault Turbo's that you cannot get elsewhere so people depend on us and not just think of us as another forum
• Yes. But, again, who's going to make this happen. There is such a high level of apathy / lack of time / interest. I've done a bit but more is needed in an ongoing way. Re Stu's carb jets; no-one in the committee refused it. The thread just petered out. The comments were that the jets were thought to already exist and someone just had to source them. No one did.why did no one on the committee source them or ask one of our many club members to? Stu originally suggested buying about £2000 of jets. That was too much. I never saw £200 mentioned. For those who don't know, I've been trying to get a km/h dial for a new batch of dial kits since maybe November. I posted it on the thread in group buys with very little response. I spent some time trying to buy one from Europe with no success. In the end Xenon posted one to this threads OP who forwarded it to Lockwood who have done the artwork and are about to commence production. Not many people seem to think of the club shop and the on-going membership when they have a part made. I think mostly they see satisfying their own need and maybe a small profit. IMO the shop can't make a huge loss though on it's items, some members think it should, others that it should make a huge profit. I think it's more about stocking things people actually want to buy?
• Club together and fight for some more benefits for club members to make the membership fee more worthwhile?
• It needs someone and people to come up with the ideas and possibly also then make them happen.I thought the committee were supposed to 'make things happen'? we can give you as many ideas as you want?
• Should we amalgamate with another club for the day to share the costs of a Pod or track day?
• Considered from beginning of RTOC ND's. We did share a RR day in Kent with a Peugeot club some years ago. We don't really need to though as the club can just about afford the losses to give it's paying members a day for themselves. Obviously though, not making a loss would be a lot better. Maybe this should be looked at more carefully? As someone has already posted on here we're still in recession, people are out of work and money is tight for some; so why book somewhere that already makes us a loss and with potential for further falling numbers, due to the above ,this year we could potentially lose a lot more unless we can encourage more new members & for them to come along. Miller and I did seriously consider hiring Rockingham for the 2007 ND and trying to get in some other clubs. Financially a big risk though as it's a big fee to hire. That was before he found Mallory. The committee, mainly via Stu, did try and get back to having Pod on a Saturday but they didn't have a space for us any more and so we went for the Friday thing which seems to go down well and has so far had smallish losses.

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Originally Posted by m5tt

Wow 1995 ???? :agree: thats along time mate :laugh:

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15 years man & boy......'ardest gme in the world.....;)

Got my first 5GTT in 1990 when I was 19, an '88 ph2 in electric blue. Crashed it big style after 6 months, :burnrubber: then got another one a couple of years later & had at least 1 ever since. So i've been a 5GTT owner for 17 years & been in the club in its various forms for 15 years this year. I've had my current 5 for 8 years, but it had been tucked away in my garage under covers for 5 years up till June last year. Some say I'm mad, some days I tend to agree :cool2: :wasntme:

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Originally Posted by Russ B

15 years man & boy......'ardest gme in the world.....;)

Got my first 5GTT in 1990 when I was 19, an '88 ph2 in electric blue. Crashed it big style after 6 months, :burnrubber: then got another one a couple of years later & had at least 1 ever since. So i've been a 5GTT owner for 17 years & been in the club in its various forms for 15 years this year. I've had my current 5 for 8 years, but it had been tucked away in my garage under covers for 5 years up till June last year. Some say I'm mad, some days I tend to agree :cool2: :wasntme:

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Thats dedication Russ, a true enthusiast :agree:

[quote=millie;132458]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ian S

• A lot of people still think of this as the 5 GT Turbo owners club and those cars are fast becoming extinct so we need to think about how we can keep the club going and attract more members with different cars etc.
• Yes, but who is going to do that? er the committee?... << Did you not see the comments regarding people's lives, how busy they were and that it's a strugge to find new people with ability, enthusiasm and time to do new things ? The existing committee does a fantastic job on the whole. It is unfair to ask them of much more. We tried to get the Megane and twingo. I bought a twingo-turbo domain name. I gave an ex 5GTT Owners club chairman an Hon membership and he owns a 225 sport. I created the forum board. But more people need to do more to make this happen in an on going way.Put a plan together, delegate the work to members wanting to help and it will be put into action. You only had to ask?! << Thats valid enough and if you (or anyone else) has the time and drive to progress that then the club will be bigger and better for it (sincerely).
• What should we sell in the club shop? Shouldn't we have more specialist parts for Renault Turbo's that you cannot get elsewhere so people depend on us and not just think of us as another forum
• Yes. But, again, who's going to make this happen. There is such a high level of apathy / lack of time / interest. I've done a bit but more is needed in an ongoing way. Re Stu's carb jets; no-one in the committee refused it. The thread just petered out. The comments were that the jets were thought to already exist and someone just had to source them. No one did.why did no one on the committee source them or ask one of our many club members to? Stu originally suggested buying about £2000 of jets. That was too much. I never saw £200 mentioned. For those who don't know, I've been trying to get a km/h dial for a new batch of dial kits since maybe November. I posted it on the thread in group buys with very little response. I spent some time trying to buy one from Europe with no success. In the end Xenon posted one to this threads OP who forwarded it to Lockwood who have done the artwork and are about to commence production. Not many people seem to think of the club shop and the on-going membership when they have a part made. I think mostly they see satisfying their own need and maybe a small profit. IMO the shop can't make a huge loss though on it's items, some members think it should, others that it should make a huge profit. I think it's more about stocking things people actually want to buy?
• Club together and fight for some more benefits for club members to make the membership fee more worthwhile?
• It needs someone and people to come up with the ideas and possibly also then make them happen.I thought the committee were supposed to 'make things happen'? we can give you as many ideas as you want? << Agree, and for that to happen there needs to be more committee members. So then we're back to the on going lack of interest problem raised already. All the while bare in mind that there's nothing preventing anybody from applying to be a CM - ofcourse they must be willing to commit a reasonable portion of time as per the existing committee members.
• Should we amalgamate with another club for the day to share the costs of a Pod or track day?
• Considered from beginning of RTOC ND's. We did share a RR day in Kent with a Peugeot club some years ago. We don't really need to though as the club can just about afford the losses to give it's paying members a day for themselves. Obviously though, not making a loss would be a lot better. Maybe this should be looked at more carefully? As someone has already posted on here we're still in recession, people are out of work and money is tight for some; so why book somewhere that already makes us a loss and with potential for further falling numbers, due to the above ,this year we could potentially lose a lot more unless we can encourage more new members & for them to come along. Miller and I did seriously consider hiring Rockingham for the 2007 ND and trying to get in some other clubs. Financially a big risk though as it's a big fee to hire. That was before he found Mallory. The committee, mainly via Stu, did try and get back to having Pod on a Saturday but they didn't have a space for us any more and so we went for the Friday thing which seems to go down well and has so far had smallish losses.

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Quote:

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We don't really need to though as the club can just about afford the losses to give it's paying members a day for themselves. Obviously though, not making a loss would be a lot better. Maybe this should be looked at more carefully? As someone has already posted on here we're still in recession, people are out of work and money is tight for some; so why book somewhere that already makes us a loss and with potential for further falling numbers, due to the above ,this year we could potentially lose a lot more unless we can encourage more new members & for them to come along. Miller and I did seriously consider hiring Rockingham for the 2007 ND and trying to get in some other clubs. Financially a big risk though as it's a big fee to hire. That was before he found Mallory. The committee, mainly via Stu, did try and get back to having Pod on a Saturday but they didn't have a space for us any more and so we went for the Friday thing which seems to go down well and has so far had smallish losses.

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More carefully than what? As stated it was looked at carefully. It's a question for Miller to answer more fully, but I think Mallory is the cheapest we can book on a Saturday that's in the Midlands.

Many members were very displeased at the presence on no Renault Turbos at our large club events and were always very vocal about that. We allowed other clubs and cars anyway to make less of a loss.

18 years I've owned my 5GTT. Same one the whole time. Bought it in March 1992. A March '88 with 50,000 miles. Broke down approaching 4 years ago. Have it parked on the drive. Not looking anywhere nearer to getting it going. I do miss it.

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Originally Posted by bye_all_c_ya

i think there is as rtoc organised events get more attendance then a self organised event me myself would find it a hard work to get deposits in for karting ect unless can be done through the shop ect then i would not mindi think i still get discount at a karting place

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I organised a couple of meets down at Southend seafront 1 summer and IIRC we had over 20 cars turn up. No harm in proposing an idea to get an idea if anyones interested.

I also like to think my biggest claim to fame is organising these puppies :D Caliper extenders to run 285mm discs on the R5GTT

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/n...2007265af7.jpg

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/n...2007510td6.jpg

I took it upon myself to get these made after running the idea through the forum. I also collected all the money then spent my own time packaging them and then sending them out to everyone :)

Oh, i'm not an Area Rep, just someone that can help out if i can with a big interest in the club.

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We tried to get the Megane and twingo. I bought a twingo-turbo domain name. I gave an ex 5GTT Owners club chairman an Hon membership and he owns a 225 sport. I created the forum board. But more people need to do more to make this happen in an on going way.

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Put a plan together, delegate the work to members wanting to help and it will be put into action. You only had to ask?!

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Gee wiz, you really don't seem to get it!

Like none of us already know that! And haven't tried it many times over the last decade of trying to keep this club going!

And delegate to who? This is not a business where I for example can fire poorly performing staff and easily replace then with the next in line. It's entirely voluntary. We don't have a queue chomping at the heels of the committee wanting to be in the active core or the club which might make those there have to perform faster. We (I assume clubs like this one in general) can barely get enough people to do the basic essential tasks required! And mostly they have little spare time to do it.

By saying "you only had to ask", are you volunteering to perform a useful function for the membership? Perhaps you can really help out. We really could do with someone to find a way and make it happen to get more people from other clubs to join this one. One of those ways is obviously to have a better club and website than say the Megane sport club. But have you seen their website? It looked pretty good when I saw it some time ago. And I guess they all must have a decent income, unlike many of the 5GTT owners who are skint. Will they lower themselves to what they perceive to be our level, tooling around in battered 24 year old motors? If we had a load a of really good technical articles about the Megane Sport that might help. No-one at all will do articles and I think most members don't know they are there.

There's nothing stopping members from offering their services to the club. Why should they have to be asked all the time.

Gee wiz, you really don't seem to get it! Yes I get it alright!!

Like none of us already know that! And haven't tried it many times over the last decade of trying to keep this club going!

And delegate to who? This is not a business where I for example can fire poorly performing staff and easily replace then with the next in line. It's entirely voluntary. We don't have a queue chomping at the heels of the committee wanting to be in the active core or the club which might make those there have to perform faster. We (I assume clubs like this one in general) can barely get enough people to do the basic essential tasks required! And mostly they have little spare time to do it.
Out of ineterest can you name all committee members?

By saying "you only had to ask", are you volunteering to perform a useful function for the membership? Perhaps you can really help out. We really could do with someone to find a way and make it happen to get more people from other clubs to join this one (I can do what ever you need me to do, I don't think other clubs joining is just the way to go though but that's just my opinion). One of those ways is obviously to have a better club and website than say the Megane sport club. But have you seen their website? It looked pretty good when I saw it some time ago. And I guess they all must have a decent income, unlike many of the 5GTT owners who are skint. Will they lower themselves to what they perceive to be our level, tooling around in battered 24 year old motors? If we had a load a of really good technical articles about the Megane Sport that might help. No-one at all will do articles and I think most members don't know they are there.

There's nothing stopping members from offering their services to the club. Why should they have to be asked all the time. We need to be asked because we don't know what is going on and where you need help, we don't know what the committee will be working on in 2010. I pushed for the area rep's which sounds like it's moving forwards but we didn't know this untill now.

Millie, there is a list of CM on the club page. To get there, press "club" in the blue bar.

:scratch:
An awful lot of words but not saying anything new ?

Any chance of getting this back on track, it had been a fairly constructive thread until all the fancy coloured fonts started getting abused :)

The nub this is as I've already stated. More committee members are required if members want more out of the club, the current team are maxxed out. In addition there needs to be improved and organised communication in both directions - about what members want to see happening and indeed what is actually happening.

Maybe the existing committee should create a sticky to advertise the fact extra committed help would be welcomed and some members, especially those discontent with the way things are, need to push to the front and raise their blo*dy hand.

I got a vaguely warm reception to the idea of a members representative and its possible responsibilities. Maybe as a gesture the committee could fashion a role statement or two and offer them up to the member-base for application? How does anyone know whether they could commit to something if they don't know what it is they are committing to?

In fact it would be a good idea to create role descriptions for all the roles in the committee (assuming these don't already exist). This shouldn't take too much effort by one of the existing team in trying to resolve this latest mini-uprising.

Incidentally, I've never volunteered because I've always been happy with the state of play and have always had admiration and shown deference to those who have put their own time into the club.

The general tone of this thread would indicate that those that have bothered to take an interest in it ;) are pretty much happy with the current situation .
Some good points raised and are being acted upon as we speak .Better communication between the committee and members being the main gripe as far as I can see ??

I hadnt said anything as i for one am happy with the club as it is. As individuals we all 'expect' different things from an owners club. Personally, having been a member for a few years, i love the way it works and what it does. Keeps me in contact with good people who share a passion for a great few french cars, gives me info on fixes for the 5, provides interesting info on other renault turbos, organises a fab nat day (admittedly it was my first last year :ashamed:), provides meets locally - south west lot you know who you are, when are we going to Maccie D's again fellas, i miss the arcade:cry::laugh:. Helps me with parts and hard to find bits, the list goes on when you stop and think about it.

We rely on those who are prepared to 'volunteer' their spare time to each part of the club. Website, club shop, events, contacts etc etc. As someone else has said, its not a business where you can hire or fire, it runs on good will and i believe on this basis it works very well indeed. Dont get me wrong, if these or more people want to volunteer their time to add more to the site/club and what it offers, fantastic, all the better.

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I don't think other clubs joining is just the way to go though but that's just my

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opinion

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I think it was your own Steve who said earlier that the 5GTT is dwindling so the club will dwindle.

Unless the club finds new pastures it will eventually consist of a few preserved road going 5GTT and a few track day ones and their owners.

To continue to have our own track hire days, such as Mallory and the Pod, more members to support those events are needed. Members with more disposable income. and their friends.

There many many small clubs, such as ClubCento of which I am a member, supporting the Fiat Cinquecento, they have about 100 members paying £20 a year and a website with boards like this one, but less sophisticated and comprehensive and a lot quieter. There is also the much larger Fiat Forum, using vB like we are they have a board and classifieds for each model of Fiat, there is no fee so it has a lot of users like Clio sport does, but not really a club. Paid for by adverts I think.

In the former case there are a few very motivated Cinq enthusiasts running things. The rest don't want to but are glad that someone does.

For this club to remain like it is, it needs to incorporate more models of car and the members that come with them. Preferably ones with more money who can afford to go to all the events. Then we lose less money, have better and more events, have more to offer, have more people wanting to help out, are more attractive to potential members.

When petrol reaches £10 a gallon, or £10 a litre, how popular will cars like this club cater for be?

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Originally Posted by Ian S

Many members were very displeased at the presence on no Renault Turbos at our large club events and were always very vocal about that. We allowed other clubs and cars anyway to make less of a loss.

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Are you saying that you don't want non-turbo Renaults involved?? Surely if you want the club to grow you need to attract both people who have turbo Renaults and those who have an interest but don't necessarily own one now, or that they own another Renault Sport vehicle for example....

Its the old chicken and the egg situation... The club is only as good as its members. SO to attract mone Reno Turbo's (the new breed) Twingo's, clio's, lagunas, meganes etc we need to have members with those cars and the knowledge to boot...

Because you're right Ian, in the future we may need to have these members to subsidise our dying pre 1990 reno turbo club...?

The problem is though Ian, is that to attact a 'new' fan-base for alternative models, you have to give those owners something that's worthwhile them joining here, and I don't just mean an exclusive yearly National Day.

The other problem as well is that no matter what way you cut it, this club will always be seen (in the majority) as a club for R5 GTT's, with a sprinkling of R9t's, R11t's, a few Clio's & the such like running c1j engines, a few other Renault turbo motors, and a few old skool members who are here just for the banter on the boards/to stay in touch with rtoc shananigans.

You only have to look at the 'Megane' section on here for proof of that; ie, even though there is a dedicated section for owners of those cars, that's pretty much it, hence why they're probably all on MeganeSport.net as well/instead, as that's more 'catered' towards their car.

My own personal feeling is that unless rtoc changes dramatically (and that's not me saying it has to, nor do I have any ideas on how to either), this will always remain a club for the aforementioned old skool Renault turbo motors, hence I can't see how the current membership numbers are going to increase in any significance, if at all.

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I pushed for the area rep's

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Errm, you did! Who did you push?

Did you know that club had area reps back in the '90's and never stopped having area reps and a Senior Area Rep? Did you not see the way it worked on the old site?

That and other features were intended to be implemented more than a year ago on this site while a few of us worked every evening for at least 5 months to re-create what had been lost.

But development stopped as key workers stopped having time and despite an on-going request to the membership for help with the website nil extra people got involved. One person did join the committee to help with one aspect of the development but was too busy with work commitments to do what was needed at the time. Other committee may have had some time but were not technically capable enough to be able to. Not one single person in the membership even came up with a result for a company who could re-program and work the old ASP SQL site or / and this new PHP / vB / SQL one. I found a company but they proved to be not very good.

Even now, I would like / we could do with aspects of the old site to be re-enabled and integrated into this site so the membership have access to search the threads and information stored within it.

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

Are you saying that you don't want non-turbo Renaults involved?? Surely if you want the club to grow you need to attract both people who have turbo Renaults and those who have an interest but don't necessarily own one now, or that they own another Renault Sport vehicle for example....

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No, I'm not say that I don't want other models. Many members were saying that.

I said that we decided to allow other clubs, not just other cars, on the the track, because we wanted their money. And also because it could have the knock effect of popularising our event for the following years and help to grow it's attendance a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

My own personal feeling is that unless rtoc changes dramatically (and that's not me saying it has to, nor do I have any ideas on how to either), this will always remain a club for the aforementioned old skool Renault turbo motors, hence I can't see how the current membership numbers are going to increase in any significance, if at all.

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This is also my opinion. The club will almost certainly always have the image of a Renault 5 GT Turbo club to the majority of people, and I think that in order to change this we would really need to make an effort to make people aware this is no longer the case, and owners of all sporty Renaults are welcome. Mainly changes to the website, and advertising at more events. We have enough events / trackdays to entice people I think..

We have to also think, do we really want the club to change that much. I don't know an awful lot about the cliosport website (for example), but going off what I've heard about them, they all sound like a load of poofs, who like nothing more than a good detailing session, but get all confused when they need to change a taillight bulb :laugh:. Do we want our club to go this way?

This forum is (IMO) a priceless wealth of knowledge. So much so, I would say that a complete novice could buy a GTT, not knowing a thing about them, and practically rebuild it using the knowledge and experience of people on this site alone! Not to mention the close knit society. Everyone seems to know everyone, and it makes for a great laugh at events and whatnot.

Personally - I think the club is mint. The forums can get a bit tedious at times, but all in all, it's a good forum with a good bunch of lads and ladettes.

Just thought I would join the list of people giving their opinions - not that anyone pays any attention to me :D

Mart I think we missed the boat a bit when Renault brought out new turbo'd models.

I think as far back as end of 2006, after the new guard gained fuller control over it from Mark / Bruce, who were effectively obstructing development, the site was altered to de-emphasise the 5GTT and play up other turbo'd models, but we just had a lack of anyone at the top of the club with a new turbo'd Renault who was keen and passionate to evangelically go and get all the other new owners to come here.

Those keen people started their own site(s).

It would be a big departure if we were to drop the turbo and just aim at 'normal' Meganes / Twingo, etc.

If you want other cars here you will need to change the name of the club RTOC = Renault 5's.

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Originally Posted by car.crash

If you want other cars here you will need to change the name of the club RTOC = Renault 5's.

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Isn't that akin to what I've just posted? :D

[/invisible post]

invisible cars also :sad2:

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Originally Posted by Ian S

Mart I think we missed the boat a bit when Renault brought out new turbo'd models.

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Hook, line, sinker mate.

Unless Renault bring out a completely new (turbo) model of car, and not just a tweak of the current Clio/Megane/Twingo range, then the boat has already hit the iceberg. Glug glug.

So, if that is the case, rhetorically, how do we improve numbers?

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Originally Posted by Mart

Isn't that akin to what I've just posted? :D

[/invisible post]

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It was not invisible., I was agreeing with you.

Miserable old:mart: :cooter:

I can put my misreading of comments down to old age. What's your excuse? :jerkoff: ;)

We need to get a few people on here with twingo GT's/Rs's, Clio 197's/200's and Megane 230's/250's and get them to tune thier cars way beyond what anybody else has done and show them that this club has more and better knowledge than cliosport or meganesport or what ever other RS clubs there are.

If we can make a name for ourselves as the best when it comes to building fast renaults ofold and new then I think we'll start getting more newbies joining up.

I agree the name renaultTURBOownersclub does tend to put off the twingo and clio lot quite abit but with even just a few well tuned examples getting out there saying they were built thanks to the RTOC.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Os8472

We need to get a few people on here with twingo GT's/Rs's, Clio 197's/200's and Megane 230's/250's and get them to tune thier cars way beyond what anybody else has done and show them that this club has more and better knowledge than cliosport or meganesport or what ever other RS clubs there are.

If we can make a name for ourselves as the best when it comes to building fast renaults ofold and new then I think we'll start getting more newbies joining up.

I agree the name renaultTURBOownersclub does tend to put off the twingo and clio lot quite abit but with even just a few well tuned examples getting out there saying they were built thanks to the RTOC.

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New generation of Renault's, like the GTT back in the day were rinsed out by 'tuners' first, THE only place to take your 5, the hype, the shpiel. Only to find out further along the line what actually was going on.

Cars nowadays aren't built to be hands on, spanners in the toolbox,micro drill bits with a fettle

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

New generation of Renault's, like the GTT back in the day were rinsed out by 'tuners' first, THE only place to take your 5, the hype, the shpiel. Only to find out further along the line what actually was going on.

Cars nowadays aren't built to be hands on, spanners in the toolbox,micro drill bits with a fettle

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Unfortunatly I think your right, I'm also a member of the Renaultsport forum (just to show how its done) and out of all the members on there I can only think of 3 that have actualy done any serious work on there cars, the rest are happy with just getting a remap, airfilter and bitching about the warrenty, I hope that in time more proper car nuts get hold of the newer models and see that the true path of hot hatch fun is here.

These RenaultSport models nowadays are fantastic out the box from the showroom, if i had no worries about work, a decent wage i'd have a Megane R26 fully caged etc and leave it be.

Like you say bar a replacement filter and remap that's as far as i'd go personally, it's hard to compete when Renaultsport already run their own trackdays IMO


Nowadays RTOC is more preserving the fact these hot hatches aren't getting any younger and is switching more to restoration and remaking key parts to keep them going

I dunno if having nice shiner new cars therefore new members would b good for THIS club.
It would change and not neccisarily for the better.
As said us lot are very mechanical and hands on whereas a most of the new lot would b all about cleaning and shifty styling mods.
The boards would change and a lot of the people who are here now would become quieter.

As for generating more money through adverts, the only way would b for universal things like tyres, brakes...

No companies would pay to sponser here cos there's no money to b made from old renaults.
National day and pod days and the like should(and I think are) b for members/old reno turbos 1st and then opened up to all renaults to make up numbers.

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Originally Posted by Mart

Hook, line, sinker mate.

Unless Renault bring out a completely new (turbo) model of car, and not just a tweak of the current Clio/Megane/Twingo range, then the boat has already hit the iceberg. Glug glug.

So, if that is the case, rhetorically, how do we improve numbers?

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Good point. Am I right in saying there are no turbod peugeot or citreon cars either. So pointless calling it French turbo owners club (ftoc) also

Not sure really why people seem to think we NEED more members anyway ..

More the merrier is always a winner, but at the end of the day we have our 2 big days that are paid for through club funds and although we do make a loss on these events it does'nt cripple the club and we always have the money to pay for the next year :agree: .

Sure the amount of members will dip and rise from year to year , possibly growing as the older Turbo'd models become more collectable ,

I think this thread has been a good thing and bought a few points across that are going to make things better , communication being a big part of it , but as far as radical changes needed..... i really dont think so.

And for those who think we dont do enough events, this one has been up for a few days and see how much interest i had

https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=13368

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clee

The general tone of this thread would indicate that those that have bothered to take an interest in it ;) are pretty much happy with the current situation .
Some good points raised and are being acted upon as we speak .Better communication between the committee and members being the main gripe as far as I can see ??

---

:agree:, the club is lush , most of the peeps on it are lush , the people behind the scene are lush too, i love the club...we are ace, as an active owner and "member"..:laugh:..i can say i feel clee has hit the nail on the head , some more input and prescence from its club president and some more committee updates/info/communication would be lush too...:), i dont feel we should be seeking a new name etc , we are allready attracting new people from cliosport and other clubs via our trackdays , events etc , im all for encouraging more peeps but i dont want to change all my hoodies , stickers etc...:laugh:, i only feel there are too many GTA`s on the site.....:p...:laugh:, well done all concerned for getting us thus far.....:D

ps no one go to daves events he decorates your cars.....:laugh:

I'll be going to that as it's local .Might even pop out on track but it is a bit steep so maybe only one session .

I also don't see the need to grow the membership vastly .Seems a lot of cry wolf going on .
I'm all for more stuff in the shop but it needs to be manageable and I need to be told what you all want ,I don't do 5s .......

Well we're 4 pages in now, i was wondering what the person who started this thread has to say about what's been discussed in those pages? :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jesus in the seat of a 5

:agree:, the club is lush , most of the peeps on it are lush , the people behind the scene are lush too, i love the club...we are ace, as an active owner and "member"..:laugh:..i can say i feel clee has hit the nail on the head , some more input and prescence from its club president and some more committee updates/info/communication would be lush too...:), i dont feel we should be seeking a new name etc , we are allready attracting new people from cliosport and other clubs via our trackdays , events etc , im all for encouraging more peeps but i dont want to change all my hoodies , stickers etc...:laugh:, i only feel there are too many GTA`s on the site.....:p...:laugh:, well done all concerned for getting us thus far.....:D

ps no one go to daves events he decorates your cars.....:laugh:

---

Wow, after all that I'm now fine again and I know all is going to be well in the world of RTOC.

Daft comments aside, I've been a little reticent to air my thoughts as I'm such a comparative nube but as a newcomer I can also see what a great forum this is, offering much more already than any I can think of. Lets not forget that in all the hubbub.:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ricardo

Well we're 4 pages in now, i was wondering what the person who started this thread has to say about what's been discussed in those pages? :)

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Talk about lighting the blue touch paper and retreating to a safe distance :coffee:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Talk about lighting the blue touch paper and retreating to a safe distance :coffee:

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All depends on how you take the question doesn't it? Ok so Steve's started a genuine thread about how to 'Shake' things, move the club forward etc etc. I'm just merely saying that there's been 4 pages of worthwhile comments about the club and wondered what he thought of the comments and suggestions made by the committee members etc?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

Steve's started a genuine thread about how to 'Shake' things, move the club forward etc etc.

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Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

Its like being at work and asking everyone to attend a meeting then fecking off to do something else whilst they all sit round wondering what its all about. :sad2:

Just like old times :):coffee:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

Its like being at work and asking everyone to attend a meeting then fecking off to do something else whilst they all sit round wondering what its all about. :sad2:

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There's that to it ;) He who talks loudest

[quote=Ian S;132570]Errm, you did! Who did you push?

If you came to meeting at National Day in 2008 & 2009 you would have heard all about it? Nothing got done between then (2008) & ND 2009 so I brought it all up again. This is now being organised (thank you to everyone behind the scenes who are making this happen and putting in their time and effort, the club really appreciates it)

Did you know that club had area reps back in the '90's and never stopped having area reps and a Senior Area Rep? Did you not see the way it worked on the old site?

Yes I did hence why I thought when it was running properly it worked well and should be implemented again. There were alot of poeple who were reps that weren't even members of the club anymore for example. I think it can be a great feature if run & used effectively.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ashy

Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

Its like being at work and asking everyone to attend a meeting then fecking off to do something else whilst they all sit round wondering what its all about. :sad2:

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How rude!! Just because he hasn't posted in a couple of days does not mean he is not logging on reading all the posts, check his account for last log in!!

I don't think anyone feels the need to increase/maintain members in a now-time frame, but as Ian said previously, it's possibly something that needs to be addressed in the future if we're to run rtoc & its events in the way they currently are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scoff

Millie, there is a list of CM on the club page. To get there, press "club" in the blue bar.

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Apologies, I have never seen that there before untill now maybe this could also be linked in the members section (which is where I was looking)

The list doesn't actually seem to match who displays as a 'committee member' or who members think are committee members? for e.g. penfold (sorry to use you as an example) - he is a committee member (according to his profile) but he is not on the list, so is he a committee member or not?

Clarification on little things like this is useful i feel, especially for new members?

WOW how things change on a thread over the last day and a half :p :laugh: (jokes)!

To me it does seem everyone is arguing about the same thing doesnt it? The committee feed into the members more, members run with what ever it is, the club prospers?

Or members feed into the committee with an idea (how this happens i dont think is the problem), it is acknwledged publicly that the idea is with the committee and being discussed, regular public updates are given as to the position of the idea?

To me its a small thing and would love to help anyway i can :agree:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by millie

Apologies, I have never seen that there before untill now maybe this could also be linked in the members section (which is where I was looking)

The list doesn't actually seem to match who displays as a 'committee member' or who members think are committee members? for e.g. penfold (sorry to use you as an example) - he is a committee member (according to his profile) but he is not on the list, so is he a committee member or not?

Clarification on little things like this is useful i feel, especially for new members?

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I am a committee member, I just dont have a role as such. I do however help out at ND,pod etc, Also take part in votes on the committee page, moderate the boards & help out here and there (covering other committee member's roles if asked/need etc etc)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Penfold

I am a committee member, I just dont have a role as such. I do however help out at ND,pod etc, Also take part in votes on the committee page, moderate the boards & help out here and there (covering other committee member's roles if asked/need etc etc)

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All about the access dont blame you ;) :p:p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ashy

Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by millie

How rude!!

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Couldn't agree more :agree:

I think there are a few points well made in his thread, but it now seems to be going round in circles. Personally i like the current set up. It would be good to include a couple of the suggestions too though. I also appreciate the time people spend behind the scenes.

I've been on the R5 scene for nearly 9 years and although quiet at first (5 years lol) i was regularly helping people out when i lived oop north behind the scenes. A lot more so over the last 5 years in Devon.

Since i started having more time in the UK i have offered to help with the club a number of times on the old site and this one, both on the boards and via PM (I recall Chris Hebden has done also). I have never been taken up on it though.

Also if the club wants to stock any Devil or De Carbon decals i can still get them made.

Right then guys & girls, sorry for not replying sooner but I HAVE been keeping a very close eye on this thread and am really pleased in the direction that the thread has gone!

Keep supplying the good ideas :niceone:

:laugh: Only Joking :D

I started this post to encourage a debate on the points raised about the club. As the post originator I thought it best for me to just sit back & see the responses.

I’m REALLY pleased with the comments that have come out of this post and I think we have all learnt more about how this club works and the effort going on in the background. Hopefully some of these points will be implemented in the way the club runs in the future?

Let me just explain to you some of the things that have been on my mind for a number of months now.. As you are all aware there is another website called the www.renault5gtturbo.com which caters for the 5GTTurbo enthusiast like we do here at RTOC. There is one big difference between us and them and that’s the membership fee.

YOU PAY HERE & NOT THEIR!

So what do you get with the RTOC for your membership fee? A private Track Day, A private RWYB, Nurburgring Jollie’s, Curry Nights, Club Shop etc, the list Truly does go on!! Do the RAOC, Cliosport, Clio16v, Williamsclio, and various other Renault/Peugeot/Citroen clubs do this? I very much doubt it! I think they must be crazy NOT to pay our membership fee! So why do people not pay it then?? Are they not aware of the benefits? Do they have a bad experience of us? I really don’t know?? Surely they can’t be THAT bloody hard up to pay out £25 for the first year??

For what we offer I think we should be limiting membership numbers and not making a small loss on the events that we do hold. However as I pointed out in the original post I think we are still considered to be the 5GT Turbo Owners Club and we need to think about doing something different to try & expand this club. At the moment there are 2054 members of this club but only 726 of them are “Active” which means we have 1328 INACTIVE members?? Why is this??

In 5 years time the 5GTT will be 30 years old and most of the neglected examples that members are battling with to keep on the roads at the moment will have long been turned into the next miserable Kia or a tin of beans. A reduction in the cars available WILL result in a reduction of members of the RTOC. Therefore in the future the club will not have the funds to do all these activities that we all enjoy at the moment and I’m someone who doesn’t want to stop doing it!!

What we do now whilst the club IS in a great position to grow and move into new areas will benefit us in the future and allow us to continue this club for years to come. If we do nothing then the club will just keep on shrinking and turn itself into nothing more than a forum for a few old farts who are reminiscing about the cars they used to own in their youth.

I was chatting to my Uncle at the weekend who has got some old classic cars (Jaguar E-Type etc) and he was telling me of the difficulty his car club has in attracting new members. Why is this I wonder?? Well I for one think that one of the biggest reason is that we the new generation are not hankering after the cars of HIS youth but the cars of our youth. Few of us remember getting excited about the Jaguar E-Type doing 150mph on the M1 in the 1960’s because we weren’t born so as a result wouldn’t think of buying one because we have no link to one.

If we do nothing now to attract new members & new cars we will end up in just the same position!

So what CAN we do??? Well I’m not the Wizard of Oz and know the answers to everything but some suggestions could be:

• Try not to be so car model specific and be more events focused to attract people with different cars to keep the club going?
• More Press Releases about our events
  
  • Free coverage/publicity
  • Promotes the club
  • Encourages new members
• Regular Updates of the homepage

Problem being is renault stopped doing the sporty turbocharged cars for quite a while from 1991 onwards, until they bought out the megane 225 / laguna / twingo( not counting the diesels), not many of these owners will look at this club as something to log on knowing that they are going to get a lot of knowledge from us about improving the cars. Without trying to get the clio owners onto the site we are very limited on numbers due to the fact we are a renault "turbo" owners club. And im guessing a lot of us doubt really want to drop that word from the club.

If we could get the megane / clio / 19 on board this club will go from strength to strength, maybe persuade them they need to turbo their cars :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bigfoot

If we could get the megane / clio / 19 on board this club will go from strength to strength, maybe persuade them they need to turbo their cars :D

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I know Renaultsportsclub ceased as a club a while back, then there's Retro Renault. I think with this day and age with the internet you can belong to sooo many clubs either as loyal to 1 or belong to many. It's like telling all the retro club members to 'merge' or defect to us :ashamed:

Like i said earlier,the Clio 197/200 and Megane 225 boys have the might of RenaultSport and Renault UK and cater their own trackdays, do we try and take a piece of their pie?

We could always up the membership fee to generate more income... http://www.lancerregister.com/images...s/outahere.gif :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

We could always up the membership fee to generate more income... http://www.lancerregister.com/images...s/outahere.gif :D

---

If it means more events like pod and mallory I'm all over it. What's a extra £5 or £10 a year?

I pay £25 for RAOC membership and all I say is that we very little for that in the way of subsidised events.....But I still pay it :scratch:
I've just asked for a breakdown of the RAOC's expenditure on events ,it makes somber reading .

I did post that tongue in cheek, but on reflection, maybe it is something the Committee could look into then?

Mind you, I also remember the right feck on it created last time I posted about raising the fee on the Committee board, which, after months, literally, of to'ing & fro'ing, did eventually get implemented :rolleyes:

I dont beleive upping the membership fee would help RTOC, the main reason why Cliosport,megan owners club etc is so big is purely down to the fast they have a very low membership cost.... Clio Sport £5 for example....

The question is does RTOC really want 50,000 member's? Do you want ND to be 2000+ attendance? Track time limited to 5x 20mins stint's....

Would we want to see threads about "went to K-Tec, Prima" & brought the "group A/N" bullsh*t threads?? I know the club can educate people but alot of the new Turbo owner's want other's to do the work, want bragging rights down the pub, want a bling bling engine bay and overall couldnt give a crap about what other people think...

This club has members that easily jump down the neck of noob's & people who pay stupid money to get car's fixed etc...

Simple fact is RTOC is mainly about R5's & has been for the existance of RTOC, if 5-10 years time there will be less members who have cars & maybe less members on the boards... so perhaps then will become just a website club rather than a club who has 2 major events a year etc... Or pehaps in 2-5 years time clio Turbo's & megan Turbo's will go down alot in price and tuner's have a bullsh*t stigma attached to them and perhaps its then that RTOC could help them out and really attract these car owners...

I think the club runs great.

The clicky lot do seem to alienate noobs by picking them up on thier spelling or pushing thier dump valve conformist beliefs on people. Generally though with the exception of a total lack of respect for our resident conspiricacy theorist the club is a great place to be and hang out.

The fee for renewal of RTOC membership should I believe be put up and thus allowing the commitee to do even more for us. The mallory park event is the highlight of my year.


My only suggestion is that area Rep positions are distrubuted by county. Ie Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Linconshire

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenobi

My only suggestion is that area Rep positions are distrubuted by county. Ie Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Linconshire

---

Thats all very well for some of the bigger counties, well apart from yorkshire, wouldn't like to be their rep, but places like essex its a small county and not many cars to cover thats why its split up in more even areas so can cover a larger ground without the need for near 100 area reps. How about including in the area reps, and country rep for the other countries where there are not many members, maybe to promote the club so more or try organise meets between the two countries

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bigfoot

Thats all very well for some of the bigger counties, well apart from yorkshire, wouldn't like to be their rep, but places like essex its a small county and not many cars to cover thats why its split up in more even areas so can cover a larger ground without the need for near 100 area reps. How about including in the area reps, and country rep for the other countries where there are not many members, maybe to promote the club so more or try organise meets between the two countries

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I bet theres more Renault turbos in Essex than there is in leicestershire.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Penfold

The question is does RTOC really want 50,000 member's? Do you want ND to be 2000+ attendance? Track time limited to 5x 20mins stint's....

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I agree Chris:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Steve - Raider

For what we offer I think we should be limiting membership numbers and not making a small loss on the events that we do hold.

---

We have a golden opportunity here to make a decision on if we're going to grow from strength to strength and continue for many years to come or shrivel up & die?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Penfold

I dont beleive upping the membership fee would help RTOC, the main reason why Cliosport,megan owners club etc is so big is purely down to the fast they have a very low membership cost.... Clio Sport £5 for example....

---

I'm failing to see the link there mate?

Just out of curio', how many paid up members are there on ClioSport? Don't they also have adverts, which probably helps pay for the running of the site/topping up their coffers?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenobi

I bet theres more Renault turbos in Essex than there is in leicestershire.

---

I seem to remember CM postcode being one of the top areas of renault turbos in the country, that number has gone down a bit, but I bet there is still a fair few out there. Would be interesting to know once the areas are back up and working

I would step up to be Leicestershire Rep if it gets decided to go that way.

LOL I wouldnt offer advice to people unless Ive checked it with Marky, Sparkie or Dunc LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mart

I'm failing to see the link there mate?

Just out of curio', how many paid up members are there on ClioSport? Don't they also have adverts, which probably helps pay for the running of the site/topping up their coffers?

---

Well according to cliosport they have Members: 40,758, how many off them are paying is not revealled on the site, although the admin claim its around the 2,000 & membership costing £10 it works out they have an income of £20,000.

Now they claim the majority of that goes on hosting & membership packs but dont puplish the exact cost's, dont have a ND or an AGM.

There are 2 main guys in charge and they own the rights to cliosport.net and could close it down at a moments notice (and take the money no doubt), now whether or not they would do such a thing i dont know but its not a club owned and run by the club like RTOC.

two ideas,maybe not the best but who knows?

1:trial membership? £3ish for 30 day's membership,an oppurtunity for people to see what the club is about & then hopefully they join up permanant with the £3 fee deducted from the £25 if done in the 30 day period.

2:semi merge with other clubs,ie if you're a member of rtoc you can join x,y or z club for a reduced fee & vice versa,this gets clubs promoting each other & would help with getting larger numbers to events as the clubs could hold joint track day's/events,wether other clubs would be intrested in this though i really dont know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenobi

The clicky lot do seem to alienate noobs by picking them up on thier spelling or pushing thier dump valve conformist beliefs on people. Generally though with the exception of a total lack of respect for our resident conspiricacy theorist the club is a great place to be and hang out.

---

Firstly, I've only seen spelling being picked on when it's been amid a proper conversation and has been careless to the point that it's unintelligible and/or needlessly chavvy, it has nothing to do with being a noob. Sometimes however it's been new faces that have come belting onto the boards without consideration for other people, giving it the big one, that get chided. And rightly so, hence why it's so great here, as you say; there are rules. The quality of this thread being one of the obvious resultant benefits.

As for respect for our consipracy theorists (there are two), we could all see that the disrespect was multitudinal. Only one person had to apologise if you remember. It seems to have calmed down now and I notice both are still in the club. :agree:

Lastly, I don't know what dump valves have to do with anything.

Nayls, those suggestions are excellent btw.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trevhib

Firstly, I've only seen spelling being picked on when it's been amid a proper conversation and has been careless to the point that it's unintelligible and/or needlessly chavvy, it has nothing to do with being a noob. Sometimes however it's been new faces that have come belting onto the boards without consideration for other people, giving it the big one, that get chided. And rightly so, hence why it's so great here, as you say; there are rules. The quality of this thread being one of the obvious resultant benefits.

As for respect for our consipracy theorists (there are two), we could all see that the disrespect was multitudinal. Only one person had to apologise if you remember. It seems to have calmed down now and I notice both are still in the club. :agree:

Lastly, I don't know what dump valves have to do with anything.

Nayls, those suggestions are excellent btw.

---

2 camels in a tiny car dude.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenobi

2 camels in a tiny car dude.

---

http://loft965.com/2010/01/25/two-camels-in-a-tiny-car/

And how many Clios are out there compared to what primarily RTOC is known for (R5GTTs)? Quality and quantity

Clio phase 1
172 phase1
172 phase 2
Cup phase 1 and 2
182 and cup
197
200

Would i also be right in saying that turbo technology is making a comback now due to emmissions, keeping green, the environment? VW going back to a 1.4 but incorporating a turbo and supercharger to gain decent power output but keeping the cc's down too

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ricardo

And how many Clios are out there compared to what primarily RTOC is known for (R5GTTs)? Quality and quantity

Clio phase 1
172 phase1
172 phase 2
Cup phase 1 and 2
182 and cup
197
200

Would i also be right in saying that turbo technology is making a comback now due to emmissions, keeping green, the environment? VW going back to a 1.4 but incorporating a turbo and supercharger to gain decent power output but keeping the cc's down too

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You forgot the Trophy;)

500. Of which 50 went to switzerland and probably another 50 written off by now.

Whoops :ashamed: :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ricardo

Whoops :ashamed: :D

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And the V6, phases 1 and 2 :wasntme:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trevhib

And the V6, phases 1 and 2 :wasntme:

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I'll get my coat :cry: :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nayls

2: Semi merge with other clubs,ie if you're a member of rtoc you can join x,y or z club for a reduced fee & vice versa,this gets clubs promoting each other & would help with getting larger numbers to events as the clubs could hold joint track day's/events,wether other clubs would be intrested in this though i really dont know.

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INSPIRED idea their Nayls!!!! :niceone:

This one has got some good potential to benefit us and another club so it's the old back scratching job!

Didn't expect that from "The Breaker" :laugh: :wasntme::wasntme:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ashy

Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

Its like being at work and asking everyone to attend a meeting then fecking off to do something else whilst they all sit round wondering what its all about. :sad2:

---

Someone else was mentioned way back in that first thread & I've yet to see a comment from him either?! :coffee:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Steve - Raider

INSPIRED idea their Nayls!!!! :niceone:

This one has got some good potential to benefit us and another club so it's the old back scratching job!

Didn't expect that from "The Breaker" :laugh: :wasntme::wasntme:

---

Its a good idea, the ford lads with the st's (not std's) all have one website with the 4 clubs or so embedded into it. Its quite a good set up.

As far as sharing a track day it's not a new idea and has been tried. Not all that successfully. Attempts were made to get other clubs to our Pod days. They didn't even have to help with the organisation. Just turn up.

There was that VW G40 / G60 vs RTOC day. Did the 2nd one ever happen?

Basically this is what the FCS is. A group of clubs sharing a track day. Didn't it start of as a Peugeot club day?

Maybe with more co-ordination (effort from someone) a joint venture cold happen with the right club(s).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kenobi

one website with the 4 clubs or so embedded into it. Its quite a good set up.

---

And one will want signatures, one doesn't. No agreement. No deal. Kind of thing. I don't mean to sound negative.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Steve - Raider

INSPIRED idea their Nayls!!!! :niceone:

This one has got some good potential to benefit us and another club so it's the old back scratching job!

Didn't expect that from "The Breaker" :laugh: :wasntme::wasntme:

---

:sad2: ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ian S

It's entirely voluntary. We don't have a queue chomping at the heels of the committee wanting to be in the active core or the club which might make those there have to perform faster. We (I assume clubs like this one in general) can barely get enough people to do the basic essential tasks required! And mostly they have little spare time to do it.

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Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alastair

I've been on the R5 scene for nearly 9 years and although quiet at first (5 years lol) i was regularly helping people out when i lived oop north behind the scenes. A lot more so over the last 5 years in Devon.

Since i started having more time in the UK i have offered to help with the club a number of times on the old site and this one, both on the boards and via PM (I recall Chris Hebden has done also). I have never been taken up on it though.

Also if the club wants to stock any Devil or De Carbon decals i can still get them made.

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Are all my posts invisible, i must be getting like Mart...;)

Why don't the committie ASK in a specific thread (perhaps in the club talk section) for all these voulenteers needed to help out with things, or for people who would like to offer their services for a specific role as and when people stand down or move on. I know of 3 or 4 people who would be more than happy to take a more active role.

The whole ethos of having to be invited onto the committie gives rise to the 'clique' suspicions.

Err they/we already do .

There was a thread when Penfold stepped down and I applied ...I don't know whether you are aware but I don't even own a 5 or have been a long serving member so hardly a cliquey thing ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alastair

Are all my posts invisible, i must be getting like Mart...;)

Why don't the committie ASK in a specific thread (perhaps in the club talk section) for all these voulenteers needed to help out with things, or for people who would like to offer their services for a specific role as and when people stand down or move on. I know of 3 or 4 people who would be more than happy to take a more active role.

The whole ethos of having to be invited onto the committie gives rise to the 'clique' suspicions.

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Completely agree :agree::agree::agree:

Invisible posts seem to be catching ......................

someone say something then or was it the wind lol ;)

hello ..heeeeeello ..hello ?

;) on another note, cliosport has a traders section, the tuners pay for there on section on the site (£200) where they place all there updates and tuning parts for the queersport lot?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adey aka Ewok

;) on another note, cliosport has a traders section, the tuners pay for there on section on the site (£200) where they place all there updates and tuning parts for the queersport lot?

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Clio sport also have 40,000+ members... and how many tuner's want to be on rtoc when they get slaughtered very time they try and sell a product... or somebody says you can buy it here for less??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adey aka Ewok

;) on another note, cliosport has a traders section, the tuners pay for there on section on the site (£200) where they place all there updates and tuning parts for the queersport lot?

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You really think people like K Tec would pay to be here in a traders whatever it is, anyway they've earnt their money big time out of us now it's the Clio boys etc :ashamed:

was just a thought, on reflection tho no tuners are that intrested any more, and fair point if the business is with newer models

can i suggest a 2 tier membership?

1 membership, say £10 gets you acces to the boards, you can read and post everywhere EXCEPT you CANT post for sale ads.
if you want to post in the sales room, you have to upgrade to a gold member for an extra £10 a year.

if you wanna sell something for a 5 here is most peoples 1st port of call, and who wont pay a tenner if it means they will get more back.
as an added incentive maybe you get a 10% discount from the shop? or keyring/sticker......

will drum up a bit more cash and its something you can do at any time, dont need to do it as you renew, so spreads the cost, or do it for £15 for a year if both memberships paid together?

That's perhaps not a bad idea in some ways. But it'll make existing members use ebay to sell occasional small bits.

It maybe technically too difficult to implement with up three different fee periods. Ie, new members fee for 12 months. An extra fee for £10 for some other 12 month period. Renewal fee of £10. The vB system can only really cope with one fee once per member per year. Scoff has had to 'customise' it to get it to do the two stage fee and that only just works. To throw another fee in at a random start date in parallel with one two, or overlapping, existing fees might be not do-able.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alastair

The whole ethos of having to be invited onto the committee gives rise to the 'clique' suspicions.

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The committee is pretty small and very static. There have not been new members since Dawn about 16 months ago who joined to do the Contacts, Lee who joined to do the shop in response to our 'advert', and Dave who took over from Maggie when she had to leave in a hurry. Dave had already offered to Miller to do that role before she left.

Before that, in about Jan 2007, I seem to recall I ran a thread for a while asking for people to help with Contacts and the Shop. A couple of people offered and were accepted. A few contacts were added but the re-organise did not get done. We gave someone the task of editing tidying and organising the articles but that did not get done either. Someone was supposed to be looking after the website and the data but that also was not being done, hence the loss of 20GB of photos and video and 12 months threads. It's very disheartening to those few who are constantly trying when this keep happening year upon year.

I asked a few people since then who were prominent on the boards with suggestions in threads like this one if they wanted to get more involved, even if was just being a plain committee member and making suggestions, maybe helping here and there, but none were interested.

Not all the committee read all the boards all the time. I for one, for the last year, don't read much of them much now. If someone want to get more involved all they have to do is send a PM, e-mail or even a form from the homepage 'Contact us'. They could start with the top of the list of committee on the Club page and work their way down if there is not a fast enough response.

Quite often people who have become involved have just not done anything and become un-involved a few months or more later. People sometimes have a wrong notion about what being at the top is about, it's about work, giving up your time to do what is quite often really boring low level admin! It's thankless. It's difficult to find a fun element in it so unless one is motivated to do it for the greater good of the club people soon lose interest.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alastair

Why don't the committie ASK in a specific thread (perhaps in the club talk section) for all these voulenteers needed to help out with things, or for people who would like to offer their services for a specific role as and when people stand down or move on. I know of 3 or 4 people who would be more than happy to take a more active role.

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Can you please sent their details to me in a pm?

And if you / they have a particular area they'd like to help with or skill set / training that could meet needs we may not even know we have!

Thanks.

If that can't be done how about the £25 for 1st time members gets extended so it becomes £25 for a gold member and £10 for a STD member.

I think for a 1 off payment people would do it cos there's no hassle to sell here and eBay gets expensive quickly.

Or how about charging 50p to place a classified add?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ian S

Can you please sent their details to me in a pm?

And if you / they have a particular area they'd like to help with or skill set / training that could meet needs we may not even know we have!

Thanks.

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Done mate, as for the articles bit, i may be able to throw some time to it... just let me know what you think would be best. I could always collate some info from threads and do some Word articles for different GTT areas, but they would need auditing/checking by someone to check the details and add stuff ive missed. Also would need people to send photos as ive lost most of mine in a computer HDD loss.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alastair

Done mate, as for the articles bit, i may be able to throw some time to it... just let me know what you think would be best. I could always collate some info from threads and do some Word articles for different GTT areas, but they would need auditing/checking by someone to check the details and add stuff ive missed. Also would need people to send photos as ive lost most of mine in a computer HDD loss.

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That would be great, guides with more pics would help everyone out. :agree:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Not really, he's started a thread asking for a discussion about it, not really offered any ideas or solutions and then hasn't been party to the discussion he started.

Its like being at work and asking everyone to attend a meeting then fecking off to do something else whilst they all sit round wondering what its all about. :sad2:

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That is exactly the point of a message board. It nothing like aranging a meeting.

You post your bit and then go do something more constructive than sitting and waiting. You return later and view the posts.

would just like to add our little point...

we came on the trip to the 'ring last year as guests of your club and really enjoyed the event and the company... after being members of other Renault clubs over the years this was a refreshing change... the promise of more events like it in the future made us sign up to your club...

now... we don't have a turbo... we have a Williams and a 197..... I USED to own a 5GTT many years ago and still have a passion for the car... but our main passion is for fast small Renaults...

So, are we the type of people your club is wanting to attract?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

would just like to add our little point...

we came on the trip to the 'ring last year as guests of your club and really enjoyed the event and the company... after being members of other Renault clubs over the years this was a refreshing change... the promise of more events like it in the future made us sign up to your club...

now... we don't have a turbo... we have a Williams and a 197..... I USED to own a 5GTT many years ago and still have a passion for the car... but our main passion is for fast small Renaults...

So, are we the type of people your club is wanting to attract?

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I would say so, providing you don't fit a chavvy bodykit and start endless detailing threads on how you clean every last spec of dust from the ashtry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

I'll get my coat :cry: :D

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No such thing as a phase 1 cup?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Os8472

I would say so, providing you don't fit a chavvy bodykit and start endless detailing threads on how you clean every last spec of dust from the ashtry

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I don't agree with this. Club members can do what they like to their cars and are entitled to talk about it on the boards as much as they like (as long as they are prepared for opinions). Duplicate threads are a no-no though as you point out and I'm dubious about non-Renault marques.

My personal view on bodykits is that they are pap, but I don't mind seeing builds/pics and I love to see obsessive cleaning, lol. I even enjoyed the white Citroen AX clean-up if I'm honest. :scared:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Os8472

I would say so, providing you don't fit a chavvy bodykit and start endless detailing threads on how you clean every last spec of dust from the ashtry

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The Williams is in pretty good nick but I leave my detailing to myself.... for those that have met us were probably as far away from chavs as you can get..;) (BTW, just 'cos I like the Williams, does that make me a chav in most peoples eyes?:confused:)

No more chav than those of us that like r5s lol

and yea I agree people with ****ty bodykits are more than welcome here but have to expect they will get slated at every oportunity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stu21t

No more chav than those of us that like r5s lol

and yea I agree people with ****ty bodykits are more than welcome here but have to expect they will get slated at every oportunity.

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marmite i love it:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

(BTW, just 'cos I like the Williams, does that make me a chav in most peoples eyes?:confused:)

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Not at all! Here there are many ex 5GTT owners who are still members but have moved onto another car. Sometimes they buy themselves another 5GTT years later.

Chav = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

So, are we the type of people your club is wanting to attract?

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Good point Dazzler!

So as a relative Noob to the RTOC mate what do you think we could do to attract a few more non RT's to our OC?? :D

I don't think that the guys off Williams Clio do much of a track or Pod day do they??

I know we're getting a few more members from the Clio clubs now such as you and F0XY?

hmmmmm, now without wanting to get too involved as we are newbies... but here are a few suggestions....

1) Newsletter - either paper or electronic, perhaps once a quarter - chose a members car to focus on, have a classifieds sections, an update on events - but put stuff in that's different from the website... I'm sure there's plenty of people who are willing to contribute stuff - yes??

2) e-mail updates, perhaps once a month... how things are progressing with events, any other club news... again rather than just posting stuff on here... personal messages from the committee on what is going on (or not as the case may be..)

3) Profile of the club - as you all so rightly say, the club is viewed externally as a club for 5 GTT's... you/we need to change that perception.... it the strategy IS to go for more general Renault people then make that change... and then advertise it!! (for example, look at RAOC, they started off as just Alpines/GTA's but have had to broaden their scope to include all Dieppe cars...)

4) Events - this was the biggest thing that attracted us to your club - but you must go through with the ideas... the list that was put up at the end of last year for 2010 looked fantastic but how many of these will actually happen?? When was the last time that post was updated? Quite a while a go I think.... If you don't follow things through then people will start to move away and look elsewhere again...

5) Other clubs - you can probably gain more members by not necessarily "high-jacking" other clubs or message boards, but you may get more interest if you are allowed to post in their events sections... some clubs, WilliamsClio for example, are more keyboard warrior types anyway so may welcome some alternative options like ourselves... down the willingness of clubs to pool and share things I suppose...

there... a few thoughts.... over to you!:)

[quote=Big Steve - Raider;133553]
what do you think we could do to attract a few more


why dont we look on our own doorstep. we often have a few guests on the boards. could we not get these guys to sign up as proper members?

could we get a months trial.? (maybe with a small fee)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

2) e-mail updates, perhaps once a month... how things are progressing with events, any other club news... again rather than just posting stuff on here... personal messages from the committee on what is going on (or not as the case may be..)

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If this is done to members personal email addresses it could be a great way to remind those hundreds of inactive members that the club is still going strong and possibly persuade some to get re/involved. Top idea.

think all of them are good ideas.
I like the idea of a quaterly newsletter with updates of what's hapening with the comitee.
The write up of members cars is good, I would be happy to take pics and write up of mine if people want?
Would need some help with what to write tho, might b an idea to copy a mag write up.

Could we sweeten up the people who run other clubs by giving them a free membership? Then they might let us post events in their main rooms, they will get a lot more views then.
I'm sure that would get some more members and more busy events.

All great ideas but a lot of it will need more hands to the pump .We need more people to step up and actually do something about them :)
Dawn is getting something along the lines of a newsletter together and the mass email system is already in place .

i like the 1 month trial period of £3 as a taster for new members to come and have a look around, but dont let them post the classifieds as thats abused enough already, they will have to upgrade to full member for that.
what about recomend a friend like we used to have, for every new member you get to join you get a quid off your renewal. electronic newsletter sent by email would be cool too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by car.crash

i like the 1 month trial period of £3 as a taster for new members to come and have a look around, but dont let them post the classifieds as thats abused enough already, they will have to upgrade to full member for that.
what about recomend a friend like we used to have, for every new member you get to join you get a quid off your renewal. electronic newsletter sent by email would be cool too.

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The problem here (unfortunately) is the forum. while very good at most things, it is restricted in what it can do when it comes to membership charges. As Ian said already, I had to put quite some work in to make it function with our present 2 membership costs. The add-on system that I installed to cope with mebership taking was originally designed only to deal with one cost for all. Adding yet more features to that will be hard going, and some will be impossible.

Having said all that, adding a new level of mebership as described above should not be too hard, as long as it does not need to integrate with the current system. For instance, the £3 for 1month's of restricted membership should be do-able. There would however be no way of granting those people a discount should they wish to upgrade to full membership, because that would involve integration.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scoff

The problem here (unfortunately) is the forum. while very good at most things, it is restricted in what it can do when it comes to membership charges. As Ian said already, I had to put quite some work in to make it function with our present 2 membership costs. The add-on system that I installed to cope with mebership taking was originally designed only to deal with one cost for all. Adding yet more features to that will be hard going, and some will be impossible.

Having said all that, adding a new level of mebership as described above should not be too hard, as long as it does not need to integrate with the current system. For instance, the £3 for 1month's of restricted membership should be do-able. There would however be no way of granting those people a discount should they wish to upgrade to full membership, because that would involve integration.

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maybe thats a good thing on not being able to refund the £3, maybe it will encourage more people to spend the £25 instead but for those unsure can use the £3 to make sure we are what they want. maybe they could have the £3 off their first shop order or they get a free calendar or t shirt if they upgrade but it would put more stress on the shop for clee.

Instead of making it a membership fee in the sense of paying through the site, could it not be paid into the shop? So goes into the shops bank account.

There is already a gift voucher for new shop accounts .Nobody seems to use it though :scratch: I will have to test it again ,it did work when I first enabled it .

Trouble is the Club Membership account is not linked to the Shop Account and we cannot link the two.

Given we can't see what's being posted on the Committee section, I just wondered what Chris's (President) take on all these ideas was?

Does it matter if the shop account isn't linked to membership? At the end of the day it all gets used for the good of the club.

Why charge at all, could the forum allow for two weeks of free access on application.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Given we can't see what's being posted on the Committee section, I just wondered what Chris's (President) take on all these ideas was?

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very valid point.


:agree:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stu21t

Does it matter if the shop account isn't linked to membership? At the end of the day it all gets used for the good of the club.

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I won't know who is new or their member status or even sometimes who the feck they are at all without manually trawling through the membership accounts and even that is nigh on impossible if they call themselves GTT5innit .
The two systems don't talk too each other at all so online names mean nothing to the shop .
I quite often have to do this to get correct postal addresses :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stu21t

Instead of making it a membership fee in the sense of paying through the site, could it not be paid into the shop? So goes into the shops bank account.

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it goes through the forum because there needs to be some software mechinism that moves the person from the "registered" group into the "paid members" group. The same mechanism alters the boards permissions to suit and keeps track of the membership period. This is the software ad-on that Ian and I were talking about, that I had to install and modify for our needs. Putting payment through the shop means that someone will have to spend time manually configuring each user that asks for membership, which would take way too long and be very difficult to keep track of.

been reading some interesting thoughts and ideas here,all valid i guess in there own right,but would it not be best to not complicate the way that things are run to much an keep it simple?,after all the good folk who run the club have to find time to sort it all out for us lot...and like many of us have a life outside rtoc.

:)

ok scoff, as you can probably tell i know nothing about computers/websites. lol

Again, new roles, with descriptions/responsibilities, and a common way for members to apply online are required rather than going round in circles on this thread with members saying 'I'm for a bit of something' and the committee saying 'We need more hands to the pump'. Where's the mechanism to bring the two together or forever hold the peace?

If once this is done nobody steps forward, then at least the existing team have something more concrete to fall back on when this type of thread crops up, rather than 'we've asked this many times before, people said they were interested but no-one actually came forward to do anything'.

If there were defined additional club roles to cover these extra activities it would be far easier to get a handle on this stuff...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigWilly425

1) Newsletter - either paper or electronic, perhaps once a quarter - chose a members car to focus on, have a classifieds sections, an update on events - but put stuff in that's different from the website... I'm sure there's plenty of people who are willing to contribute stuff - yes??

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Sadly, there are not. Never have been journalistic types in this club. Not in the last 10 years anyway. It's not just contributions, but people to collate, edit, write, etc.

my thoughts are.... the club is thinking inside the box, yes we have invited a few other clubs to national days in the past,but how many events have rtoc members attended of other clubs, if we want other renault clubs to take notice perhaps we should be the club to make the effort to show others that we do try,we have enough diversity with regards to (members cars/various engine conversions) to satisfy and interest most other club group members.and in time this club would build and build, but as a club we need to make the effort to attend other club meets, i also think membership should be equal across the board,it keeps things simple and fair. i also think as a club we need to be more tolerant of new members and younger members,regardless if there views are different to other peeps , still think the club scares a lot of members from posting/attending events because of the strong opionions that are expressed towards silly/newby questions and answers,and how there cars are supposed to look bodykits,spoilers etc renault turbo or non turbo , as a club we will not be able to sustain the amount of members in the older french cars, since the early nineties the number of r5,r9,r11's,r21,25 etc in the club has dropped and will keep dropping as parts become harder and more expensive to source to keep these cars on the road ,and as these parts become harder to find /afford, the more the existing members will move on to newer models. i also feel that santa pod and track days does not appeal to everyone and maybe we should have a bit more diversity ,ie more rolling roads,cruises etc.. doesnt appeal to everyone i know ,but a lot of younger peeps in twingos /clio's/ megans etc are going to be more into this scene,than track /santa pod, this club in my opinion has got narrow minded ,and needs to diversify more, just my five grands worth!!!:D

Wow, just seen this thread......my eyes hurt :crap:

Some very good comments and suggestions, I guess wheels are in motion too, that's why I got asked where I live when I logged in?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scoff

The problem here (unfortunately) is the forum. while very good at most things, it is restricted in what it can do when it comes to membership charges. As Ian said already, I had to put quite some work in to make it function with our present 2 membership costs. The add-on system that I installed to cope with mebership taking was originally designed only to deal with one cost for all. Adding yet more features to that will be hard going, and some will be impossible.

Having said all that, adding a new level of mebership as described above should not be too hard, as long as it does not need to integrate with the current system. For instance, the £3 for 1month's of restricted membership should be do-able. There would however be no way of granting those people a discount should they wish to upgrade to full membership, because that would involve integration.

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the £3 refund/discount i suggested does'nt really need to be does it? as if they decided to upgrade during the trial period the 12 months would'nt start until after the original 1 month trial?
if it overrided it then obviously they would lose a certain number of day's & be due a refund.
hopefully that's achievable? :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HAndy

...but a lot of younger peeps in twingos /clio's/ megans etc are going to be more into this scene,than track /santa pod, this club in my opinion has got narrow minded ,and needs to diversify more...

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The problem you've got though, is that for every one new member that thinks the same, there'll be ten current/older members who won't want that chav element/cruising nature creeping into the club, so where d'you draw the line? Swings & roundabouts mate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

The problem you've got though, is that for every one new member that thinks the same, there'll be ten current/older members who won't want that chav element/cruising nature creeping into the club, so where d'you draw the line? Swings & roundabouts mate.

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Define Chav.

Thier money, opinions, Nonesense, is just as valid as anyones surely.

Plus who would consider themselves a chav? no-one im guessing.

So thats a class issue. The people we (im included here) are suggesting are chavs are people that bought a Renault turbo because it was cheap? coz they dont have jobs? Or is it just because they like loud drum & Bass and hang out in Mcdonalds car parks?

Until we decide who it is exactly this club wants to discriminate against we will lose all the semi-chavs that arent fully chavved up.

Ie an accountant that wants to put massive bodykits on his r5 gtt.

Or a guy that wants a totally standard 20 year old pristine Renault who also has 3 girlfriends in pink tracksuits, 4 kids and one angry dog that at any point will eat one of said children.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Given we can't see what's being posted on the Committee section, I just wondered what Chris's (President) take on all these ideas was?

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:agree:

He found time to do some jibberish testing threads & announce an events feature but ignored this one???

just what you want from the man at the top eh? :rolleyes:

I'll ask him to update this thread but he hasn't been ignoring it.

Also, a thread has been created on the commmitee section with a list of every point mentioned on this thread. We're just in the process now of thinking of ways to address and improve each point. Then we will be able to send out a general update on that also as requested :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by D4WNO

I'll ask him to update this thread but he hasn't been ignoring it.

Also, a thread has been created on the commmitee section with a list of every point mentioned on this thread. We're just in the process now of thinking of ways to address and improve each point. Then we will be able to send out a general update on that also as requested :)

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Thank you very much for keeping us informed Dawn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris Hebden

Thank you very much for keeping us informed Dawn

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:agree:

I'm not sure if we have a vice-president position these days, but either way, Dawn would get my vote to be 'upped' to that post.

I wouldn't mind seeing damn up the post either :eek: lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

:agree:

I'm not sure if we have a vice-president position these days, but either way, Dawn would get my vote to be 'upped' to that post.

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We dont even have a President anymore since Bruce left and the Committee were established. I dont know why people keep getting hung up on this point?

Hung up on what?

Ok, President/Chairman. Same meat, different gravy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ian S

Sadly, there are not. Never have been journalistic types in this club. Not in the last 10 years anyway. It's not just contributions, but people to collate, edit, write, etc.

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That's unfortunate..... anyone who knows how to use "word" should be able to put everything together...

as I say, just suggestions... if you think it won't work then fair enough...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Hung up on what?

Ok, President/Chairman. Same meat, different gravy.

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Not Really, President in the way it used to be is totaly different to the Chairman & Committee setup we have today.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Not Really, President in the way it used to be is totaly different to the Chairman & Committee setup we have today.

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Ash, do you mean from a heirarchal point of view?

The idea of a chairman and committee is better than a president and his muppets.

At least with the chair/committ format we are seeing massively more communication than before, well, maybe not massively...:p

BTW - I am happy to help if required!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Not Really, President in the way it used to be is totaly different to the Chairman & Committee setup we have today.

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Yet Miller still has the final say, no?

Why is this being blown out of proportion anyway? I'm simply commending someone (Dawn) for the fact she's been keeping members in the loop, as well as sorting out a Newsletter, all the contacts & discounts that's been arranged, and all the other pro-active good work she does for the club.

Likewise, as I have done in the past for Scoff's blood, sweat & tears with this website, and Clee for running/improving the Shop.

And I'm sure I will again, to you, when the area rep' setup is finally sorted.

Nope, Millers vote carries the same weight as anyone else on the committee .

I know it's nearly March ,but c'mon now it doesn't work like that at all ;):D

Well maybe that's something we need to clarify then if it's not clear :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

Why is this being blown out of proportion anyway?

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Its not Mart, I just wanted to try and clarify the role of the committee thats all :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nayls

:agree:

He found time to do some jibberish testing threads & announce an events feature but ignored this one???

just what you want from the man at the top eh? :rolleyes:

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So now we're complaining when Chris DOES have time ? I asked him to do those whilst we spent yet more hours working on new sections of website. Perhaps he was more concerned with doing than reading this drivel, I know I would be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scoff

So now we're complaining when Chris DOES have time ? I asked him to do those whilst we spent yet more hours working on new sections of website. Perhaps he was more concerned with doing than reading this drivel, I know I would be.

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i just expected him to post in here,he's the man at the top after all.

if it were me & i was short of time,i would have put a quick post up saying "i am reading these points/ideas & will post/comment further when i have more free time"

it "looks" like he's ignoring it,im sure he's not,but we cant see anything being discussed on the cm boards.

i'l not comment on this thread anymore,only posted this to explain.

we'll yes fair enough, but no responce is not really a reason for people to start attacking - it's a reason for people to ask the question maybe - which had been done already.

I think this thread has lost the constructive momentum that it had. It would be cool if someone could make the time to go through it and yank out the good ideas and put them into a single post, then maybe each of those could be debated constructively - maybe positive things can come out the other end.

I'll have a weed through in a bit :D

I'll start another thread but it'll probably need locking; keep this thread open for ideas but have the new one locked but viewable with ideas put forward so far :)

Why not just lock the thread? Everyone's had their tuppenth worth of comments by now, hence there's only (currently) 6 pages of shpiel for the Committee to go through to pick out the juicy bits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adey aka Ewok

hasnt that list already been started on the secret ;) forum?

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probably, but they can't be debated by members on there.

Keep this thread open for ideas and dicussion then, naturally trying to avoid the bull**** which is creeping in.

We need to see that other thread, make it public but keep it locked so we can see what's happening.

Sorry for the late reply, I have been reading its progress and discussing it on the cm boards. Most of these point have been discussed to death now but I thought I would try and pull all the main point from this thread and try and answer what we doing with them.

My time on site over the last few month has been very low but I must stress when needed I have added my thoughts and organised the things I have committed to doing, ND and calendars plus ordering thing for ND. At the end of show season until show starting again most people are quiet on the boards and that includes me. For me this time is the only time in the year I get some time at home as most of you will know I will travel 600-700 miles round trip every other weekend during the summer to attend rtoc events and non-rtoc events. As I have always said I am not a big poster on the main boards but I am more of a “if I want to talk to someone I will call them type of person”

My roll is the club is not a dictator and that is why we have a committee now they can decide on ANY decision they want without my input I do not have any higher say. Please see the following link and look at my job description:

https://www.rtoc.org/club/?show=committee

As stu-thc has said if something big was needing sorting, I would be on sorting it out as soon as I could and doing everything within my ability to do so

Feed back to the members
This is something that we are now working on, and the first idea we have a newsletter. Dawn is working on this and we will try and update you as and when we have more information. We have also come up with a better system to get our own committee threads, dealt with in a more organised manner. This also brings us to the committee boards, most clubs have hidden boards that they use to have frank conversation about what is happening we are the same and we are not going to make them visible.

Area Reps
Unfortunately you have all not had any update but the list of area is almost complete with just two regions to decide on. As you will have noticed the ball has started rolling on the relevant changes to the website to accommodate these changes. I would just like to add it was not this thread that got it moving, it was already happening in the back ground and was in the process of getting implemented.

Flyers for reps and members to place on cars
A few years ago I got some A5 “about the club and application form” made, they were a good size to keep in the glove box. They will be good to keep in cars, in case you see a Reno turbo you think should be in the club or for something to give to people at events. It was a rework of the item that was on the old site, I will get a copy from the printers and post it up on the site. When the area reps get decided I will post these out to them and we will also start sending a few out with the new membership/renewal packs…….I think I still have one box if not I will get more made.

R5GTTOC then RTOC
Unfortunately we will always be know as the gt turbo owners club and the reason for this…… well when the club changed names did it change any of the adverts it used to run in magazines……no they were edited so all that changed was the logo with a reference that it was once the gttoc. This continued until the committee started and after that all the pictures on the home page were changed to standard Renault turbos and not focusing on 5 in particular.

All the adverts I have done have all been very generic and show pictures of most old and some modern Renault turbos, for those that have seen the new renewal/membership pack will be able to back me up on this.

If we change the name again, we would still need to say were once rtoc so people knew who we were, but at the end of the day we are the Renault TURBO Owners Club, how can we be more specific to all turbocharged Renaults. TBO I do not want to change the name of this club and I am sure the majority of our members do not want to change the name of this well known club.

Club Shop
This has always been a stickler for people, if you think what was for sale in the shop 2-3 years ago then you will see we have added a lot of items. The biggest problem we have is deciding what items to stock, at the same time we need to be sure we are going to shift those said items. We are always open to suggestion but they must be sensible as we need to watch how we spend our money. Another thing we are not going to do, as it is a waste of time is sell parts that are readily available from your local auto shop like service and general maintenance items. All if not most of the items we sell in the shop are unique items, like our carb kit yes you can buy them anywhere but not as comprehensive as ours. The other big problem is storage, we cannot expect clee or whoever is running the shop to give up half his house for storing parts. So we need suggestions on what you want to see in the shop!!

Making the membership fee more Worthwhile
To be honest I think this statement is a bit of an insult, do people think that the two highly discounted days that we organise, are not worth it or the discounts that dawn, Ian and other have arranged for our members https://www.rtoc.org/contacts/ are not worth it. What about the shop the fact we make NO money from our members on any products we sell is that not worth it. As Mark Dow said to me once “you give it too good to your members and that why expect so much”

Amalgamating with other clubs & More paying Members
Yes this would be a good thing but I do not think we should stray from our heritage as in turbocharged renos, we have tried in the past to get clubs to join in our days but it has been a massive fail and they are just not interested. So if we cannot get them to come to our events what chance have got of getting them to join our club. I could see us maybe getting more members from old school Reno turbo club as they start to die off in the future. The question is, is their any need and this brings me to membership numbers. If you look at the bottom of the board’s home page you will see we have 1,826 members and that breaks down as follows:

Paid members: 695
Registered members: 931
Banned members: 121 (we need to keep them as banned to stop them re-joining and spamming the site)
Users Awaiting Email Confirmation: 41
Traders: 13
Committee members: 11
Honorary members: 6
Administrators: 4
Moderators: 3
Press: 1

If you take banned members and email conformation out of the equation, that gives us 1664 now that is more than rtoc has ever had! The important thing to notice is the 931 registered members, they are mostly people who have joined up to have a look around but did become full members and a small percentage is fully paid member who have let their membership laps or just moved on to new pastures. Now something I was thinking of (I have not discussed this with the CM’s) is send these people an email and offer them membership at the renewal price for £10. I think most would go for it as it’s probably the new member price that is scared them off. I have uploaded a file that shows the new membership numbers falling at the time of the fee increase.

https://www.rtoc.org/files/Club%20fil...%20numbers.gif

I was also thinking of extending this offer to all new members by having a 1-2 month pre-show sale that we would run with an advert in one of the magazines we advertise in. I would like to point out from what I understand; we keep a lot of members even when they sell their cars etc.

Closer ties with foreign clubs & UK one
This is something stu is going to be doing, he has already been speaking to foreign clubs but he is also going to join on behalf of rtoc all the major Renault clubs so it will help with communications with them and to help advertise our events.

Group buys
I have tasked myself to sort out a procedure for how future group-buy should run with regards to, taking money and making the process as safe and secure as possible. This should stop the member who is organising the discount from having to pay for the goods himself.

Events page looking quiet
This should hopefully be answered now, over the weekend we worked on making the events page more user friendly and try and show, what events are happening in each month. The calendar that we had previously was not getting used to it full potential. If you looked on the page last week you would only have seen 6 events, now with the new layout you can see their is 22 events organised so far this year. That does not include some of the events that are in the “2010 events” thread started by stu.

See here for more info https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=13568

Committee member’s rolls
We have added a job description for Chris smith so hopefully this will clear up the position of people who only have CM below their name. You can see the changes here. https://www.rtoc.org/club/?show=committee


ND Venue & Club funds
As its been mentioned in this thread and a previous thread at the end of the year that I did not reply on it. So I will add it here, I would like to point out the club is in the best financial shape it has EVER been in. Considering we have two events, a big amount of shop goods and the extra advertising we pay for, as a committee have really turned this club around. Most of you will remember ND 2006 at brunters well that day cost us just under £19,000 with a loss of around £11,500. ND 2009 only cost £9,500 with a £1,200 loss so you can see a lot has changed over the years. We have a solution for the loss of last year, so that should hopefully reduce again this year. More information on ND 2010 will follow tomorrow.

This years total loss for both of our events was under £3,000 and after ND 2009 we had the money in the account to cover all events and running cost for 2010…….so we a far from needing to think about getting more money into the club.

The previous thread was asking for another venue but if we change venue then a few things will need to happen. I have come to these conclusions from the prices and information I gathered in 2007 regarding venue hire.

I only found two locations that do on-site camping pod and Mallory
The next proper track will cost us twice as much as Mallory
Therefore we would need to double the ticket prices to make similar losses
If we went to another track venue we would not be able to afford pod

These are just some of the reasons that I want to stick with Mallory, if people want to go to another venue for ND then I will not be organising it as I am not prepared to put the club into the financial position that it has been in the past. I am always hearing people say thing like “you could have ND in a field and people would still turn up” this maybe true for some but we would get no where near the numbers we have seen in the past, this brings me to the point of why do we need to change venue every year.

We have come to a good balance to cater for everyone just now. If we start to move from venue to venue, then this is how we end up with very earlier or late ND, look what has happened to pod after we missed a year we cannot get another Saturday because it is the same people that get the spaces the following year.

My opinion is if we keep the club funds the way they are, by that mean keeping one year in front, we have nothing to worry about regarding a shrinking club. Yes at some point funds will start to dwindle but it will not come as a surprise to us…..we will see it coming and right now it is going the other way.

What we need to do is get our members to ND to support the event, we had about 300 people at ND this, where was the rest of them.

I am sorry to bore you to death, but his topic had to be made a bit more constructed to take anything from it. If you think i have missed any point i am sure you will be quick to point them out.

Regards
Chris :D

Chris, a very good post thanks for the update.

:goodpost:

:goodpost:

I am with you 100% I really appreciate the amount of personal time the club would take up and the amount of effort you put in to providing the national days..

In fact I bet that email took most of your evening judging by the time posted ;) keep up the good work

The idea of doing a feature on members cars bring sent out in a newsletter is cool, once it's been sent out could it be then posted in a new section on the site? A members feature that only the comitee can post so it's a bit more professional than a thread started by the member.

Also keep an archive of the newsletters?

Yeah, think that's the plan. We'll have a seperate sub-directory where all the newsletters can be used for reference and read whenever members wish to see them :)

Too much of a risk to take to design and manufacture those sort of items for sale in the club shop .I would only do it for my own use .

Does the club have public liability?

No idea .But that won't cover things like design faults etc .
Totally different liability I think ,been a while since I've had to go through it .Last time was for a portable laser hair removal device :scared: :laugh:
British standards ,CE etc ......

How does the club shop work, run as a business?

I'm not 100% how we are registered ,if at all ?
Ian is the man to ask on that side of things .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

Does the club have public liability?

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No not generally, only when we buy it specifically, eg, for a club event.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

How does the club shop work, run as a business?

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No, not a registered business. Not registered at all.

The club itself is a 'Clubs and Societies' organisation as far as banks go.

As far as tax liability, we make no profit so we don't pay any.

Just posting it here as it was mentioned earlier in this thread.

The new batch of orange dial kits should be delivered to us tomorrow. :)

As promised, this is the new artwork that i have made and are using for our membership packs.

New Pack

Renewal Pack

This is the more non Renault 5 GTT based "join our club flyer" i had made a few years ago and when i get more will add them to the membership packs we will also send them off to area reps when we are up and running. It is A5 double sided:

Front

Back

Regards
Chris:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

i'm pretty sure you actually wanted the drawings from me at 1 point to look into having these made :)

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I'm still waiting aswell, chop chop ;)

Its really good to see all the committee are fully taking on board what all members have said. A big thank you to all :)

edit: really like the new flyers and packs! Really good idea not to make the 5GTT the main picture that is seen, that should help intice other people over to the dark side :laugh:

I've moved the discussion about parts to this new thread as it was getting quite big...

https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=13653

Just for info, the newsletter is very nearly ready to go out (phew) so you should see it on the site in the next couple of days :D

Please check out the new Newsletters section :cool:

https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=13856

too much to comment on! i seem to have missed this topic. i will reply with ideas and anwsers to comments and questions made in due course ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robbo

speak for yourself dude, am staying in the inner circle;)

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:laugh::agree:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardo

I organised a couple of meets down at Southend seafront 1 summer and IIRC we had over 20 cars turn up. No harm in proposing an idea to get an idea if anyones interested.

I also like to think my biggest claim to fame is organising these puppies :D Caliper extenders to run 285mm discs on the R5GTT

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/n...2007265af7.jpg

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/n...2007510td6.jpg

I took it upon myself to get these made after running the idea through the forum. I also collected all the money then spent my own time packaging them and then sending them out to everyone :)

Oh, i'm not an Area Rep, just someone that can help out if i can with a big interest in the club.

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i did it well b4 thee lad and with ap discs...and guess what the members didnt want em....lol....:sad2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashy

Couldn't agree more :agree:

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:laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mart

The problem is though Ian, is that to attact a 'new' fan-base for alternative models, you have to give those owners something that's worthwhile them joining here, and I don't just mean an exclusive yearly National Day.

The other problem as well is that no matter what way you cut it, this club will always be seen (in the majority) as a club for R5 GTT's, with a sprinkling of R9t's, R11t's, a few Clio's & the such like running c1j engines, a few other Renault turbo motors, and a few old skool members who are here just for the banter on the boards/to stay in touch with rtoc shananigans.

You only have to look at the 'Megane' section on here for proof of that; ie, even though there is a dedicated section for owners of those cars, that's pretty much it, hence why they're probably all on MeganeSport.net as well/instead, as that's more 'catered' towards their car.

My own personal feeling is that unless rtoc changes dramatically (and that's not me saying it has to, nor do I have any ideas on how to either), this will always remain a club for the aforementioned old skool Renault turbo motors, hence I can't see how the current membership numbers are going to increase in any significance, if at all.

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:agree: i dont think it needs more members or is going to get too many of them;).

Just a steady return of old and some new members who like the style, and advise an nature of people on here.

It is a club owned by its members ? when the members die, the club dose, just like my local working mans club :( But i hope all the info will remain and beifit mainly/ only, old skool, renault turbo moter owner's like myself, This club had been and is directed at people who have said above cars.

It needs to be ran so its not about loss this or profit that, Just do what we can, were we can,whatever time we can.

Make the best of everything and by comeing together, Ideas and Plan for future is all good.:mart:

Just to recap, after reading the thread. I take it the club is still ticking over well and the shake up is a good idea, but never the less some ideas have been put into action.:agree::coffee:

I just want to ask what happend with the old forum rtoc?Was there more project car topics?I was dreaming to be a rtoc member for some time,because i belive that are a lot of cars presented here.It a very nice site with a lot of nice people wishful to help with advice.So don't take me wrong im very happy to be a member just was expecting to see more cars presented

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy_wpo

I just want to ask what happend with the old forum rtoc?Was there more project car topics?I was dreaming to be a rtoc member for some time,because i belive that are a lot of cars presented here.It a very nice site with a lot of nice people wishful to help with advice.So don't take me wrong im very happy to be a member just was expecting to see more cars presented

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The old website has long gone... thanks to the provider going bust and running off with the copy of RTOC, the new website is alot better in many area's... you just have to look to find members car's. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy_wpo

I just want to ask what happend with the old forum rtoc?Was there more project car topics?I was dreaming to be a rtoc member for some time,because i belive that are a lot of cars presented here.It a very nice site with a lot of nice people wishful to help with advice.So don't take me wrong im very happy to be a member just was expecting to see more cars presented

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Mines in the project page mate have a ganders, come view it if your ever in the area.. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy_wpo

I just want to ask what happend with the old forum rtoc?Was there more project car topics?I was dreaming to be a rtoc member for some time,because i belive that are a lot of cars presented here.It a very nice site with a lot of nice people wishful to help with advice.So don't take me wrong im very happy to be a member just was expecting to see more cars presented

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If you look here and click on the underlined names on the left many of those link to the members profile where a presentation of their car may be.

https://www.rtoc.org/cgi-bin/leader_board.cgi

The old site didn't have a place where cars were 'presented' either. They were in the members profiles.

The old profile photos were lost by the old hosting company and then it was discovered that people who were thought to be backing them up had not done so.