How We Look?

Hi All:

In the issue of Inside Line that is currently being posted (Member Log In: Newsletters/Inside Line for 04/01/08) I am posting this Fast Lane article for thought, consideration, and discussion. Please take a look and open a dialog here. This should generate some interesting discussions.

As your college professors would say said: Read. Discuss.

How We Look

The 2008 National Convention was probably the most content rich convention the SCCA has had in many years. Many seminars were packed full of information for members, but there were also many that provided a forum for members to give information back to SCCA volunteer leaders and national staff.

During one of those sessions, a younger 20-something member offered his opinion that the  car crazy friends of his generation view SCCA events as a service, and not as a club activity to support and nurture.

In other words, they attend because we offer something they want to do, not because they want to be part of a "club".

Many of you have no doubt heard these sentiments echoed in various ways before. Many REs are recognizing their Regions actually provide a product (Solo, Club Races, Time Trials, RallyCrosses, Road Rallies) and with that product comes an expected level of service by the paying "customer" who is, ironically, also a member. What a dilemma!

Whether we agree with that view or not, it is definitely the reality Regions are facing in the 21st century. This is a significant sea change from when the SCCA was first formed and grew during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. For some of us, that is a hard reality to grasp.

So the question is, assuming this is the dynamic your Region is facing, what steps has your Region undertaken to meld the "I am your customer, I expect a good level of service for my dollar" position with the "We are club members, how can I help?" attitude?

There are no obvious answers, but it would be useful to hear what your real world solutions are. Please use the RE and Region Leadership discussion forum at www.scca.com under the topic: "How We Look" or send your thoughts to mdickerson@scca.com. I look forward to a lively and interesting discussion.

I totally understand the "us vs them" attitude between the solo group and the racing group.  Once people get on the BOD for their region and realize that it is 2 groups (or more) competing for money, they usually don't last to long.  I am a noob to the BOD and I have seen it allready.

I joined the SCCA because I could save $10 on entrance fees for auto crossing.  Our entrace fee for solo is $35 for non members and $25 for scca members.  I do all 10 of our events, so by joining the scca it saved me money.  I give the scca $80 and save $100 on our local events.

What this membership gave me that I didn't know about at first was the ability to go to National events and Pro-solo's.  This is a level of competition I didn't get to experience until 5 years after I joined the SCCA.  It is a blast and I wish I could do more of them.

Bottom line is, we as a club, will always have a person trying this for the first time whom will either get involved because he/she loves to do it, or will participate as a "customer".  I don't mind either way just as long as the "customer" participant pays more for his/her services, therefore helping the club.

Club members are usually involved with the set up of the course, and registration, and event planning, and usually 10 other things that need to be done to hold an event.  Some people don't want to, or can't participate at that level (for example a married man with 2 kids who would like to stay married).

If I hit the lottery, I would do auto crossing every weekend, somewhere.  Unitl that happens, I will try to work around my wife and kids schedule, and do the best I can to help support and promote the club.  The SCCA auto cross program gives ordinary people the chance to push their driving skills with out losing their daily driver.  I would reccomend it to anyone looking to improve their driving skills.

Jason,

I wonder if you could be more specific. Are you speaking to Region operations or those at the National level, or both?

Thanks!

Mike

I see that. Yours is a common dilemma faced by editors everywhere. I think its great that you got back into the mix, Richard. You do a good job. But the websites now are a huge medium. The problem I see there is that many aren't updated in a timely fashion, and when that happens, I believe a Region looses the interest of its membership.

It's a huge time commitment to do either one. I believe one solution may be to open websites to several contributors, not just funnel it through a single webmaster. In this fashion, each venue (Club Racing; Solo; RallyX; Rally; PDX) can contribute their own results and news and not overwhelm the single point funnel that a webmaster can become. This also has the advantage of the venue participants being well informed and kept up to date by their peers.

Mike