Would you like to see EarlyBay become a fully-fledged club ?

[Marvin]

For my pennies worth, take a look at the success of an internet based "club" like Restowagen, or VZi for that matter. It doesn't appear as a club,and the "members" don't see it as a club, some have a number of interests within the scene and arn't as dedicated as others, but all are there under one shared interest. Theres a nucleus, a surrounding core and then all those who share the vision.

IMO Early Bay.com is only a Banner and an organised display away from being a fully functioning "WWW.Club", and thats only in terms of public shows. Keep it as it is guys...thats the beauty of it.

HTH

 

[scott wilson]

club...we already are. As long as we appreciate each other and all turn up en masse then why change.....P.S where were the lowlighters in the concourse at stanford. There were loads of bugs, corrados(sweet), golfs and even 914`s, but a serious lack of earlybays and splits for that matter..ok it`s probably not a bus festival but i walked round the car park and saw at least 20 early bays that should have been in the concourse. Hope the next show has a stronger presence in the show and shine.

 

[ddffrost]

I think they should if its good enough for the splitty boys its good enough for us!

 

[mcvw]

This is a difficult one...

I wouldn't be disappointed if EB became a club - but it would very much depend on the underlying reasons for it being made so.

It's my opinion that because the bay-window bus is a far more practical and versatile vehicle than a split-screen bus (or even a pre-70's bug), I think that a majority of bay-window owners are owners out of necessity or function i.e. campers, surfers - and as a result they're probably not "into" the bus scene or internet forums etc.

Therefore the EB "club" is probably never going to appeal, or capture any of the above market share.

The ethos of the EB forum is as it says on the home page, "The site for enthusiasts of the early 'low light' VW bay window type 2's (1967-72)".

If "club" status is a vehicle (no pun intended) for maintaining/increasing presence at shows etc then I'm all for it, and I'd also stump up an "annual membership fee" (£5-10?) to assist in covering admin/marketing expenses - obviously in return for an EB membership sticker or similar

What about introducing an "investor" type association with EB? I've seen this be successful with un-signed bands/artists (See the Invest page at http://jakeshillingford.com/).

If you join as a forum member that's fantastic - yet if you decide to give something back to EB you can do so. I'm not suggesting this has to be 10s or 50's or 100's of pounds - it could be whatever you are prepared/want to donate. However for company "investors" you may have to define some criteria etc.

Maybe corporate investors could sponsor an annual/bi-annual "bus of the year" award, and to qualify for entering your bus (and for voting for any bus) you'd have to be an "investor" (rather than just a forum member)?

Anyway - sorry for going on - and please discount any rubbish I've said... I just wanted to add my 2p's worth

Thanks,


Mike

 

[Guest]

i dont mind either way, i'm in a local club but as soon as i get the bay on the road i'll be attending as many of the big events in her, hopefully under the Earlybay banner.

I like the vibe of the forum better than even my own club site, and feel my loyalties lie with earlybay.com as its been a great help and inspiration for my own obssession with buses.

 

[ant]

Between us Im hoping we can fix up some Meets, shows, camping events, that kind of thing...

Hope this suits all the EarlyBayers !!

that would be awesome.

 

[NickJ]

Just to echo some of the previous points, this forum already feels like a club I only "joined" just over a week ago (although been driving aircooled VWs for over 20years) and have been made to feel welcome, in my experience as soon as things become "official" then the knocking starts usually by the people who aren't prepared to do anything constructive themselves. I don't want to appear negative just that the forum has a great feel about it the way it is.

 

[super-craig]

all valid points , as it is its a forum for like minded enthusiasts of the earlybay 8) hmmm do you form into a club or not :? we can leave things as they are , have the forum , attend shows , put on displays etc . if it was to become a club i would join 8) it does not have to become an official club with committee etc we can carry on as we are 8) being that group of like minded friendly enthusiasts we are 8) . since deciding to get a bay and joining forums , i have met a few people off here and other sites and what i will say is you / they are all a great bunch , who will offer help and advice when needed 8) and have a chat and a laugh 8)

 

[Graham L]

Mike & All

I have to say I would try and keep it as it currently is if at all possible, the total number of voters is only 2.8% of the total registered members so a very small percentage.

I served as a committee member for 5 years until last year of a car club that had 3000 members and to be honest it was a bit of a nightmare, the 'team' would make a decision on what they thought was best and then get slagged off by the membership who felt differently and this often got aired on their forum which anyone could view but not post to unless they were a member.

Lots of members used the forum to vent their anger and their persona on line was totally different to when you met them face to face in like Jekyll & Hyde characters and for a lot of team members this became just too much and for me I just had to walk away and unfortunately as they are the only real club that cater for the car its lost my interest in the car as well.

What I love about this forum is there appears to be no politics, no backstabbing and no vitriolic comments being hurled at other people and believe me that happens on other forums (try suggest lowering your bus on KC)!!. Everyone who posts on here do so because they are into EB's and no other reason.

I think we should leave as is but be careful that we don't put too much pressure on the people doing the hard work behind the scenes, as the forum grows the amount of work also grows, Mike for instance never met you but you host and manage this forum for free, that I'm sure is time constraining and we must remember that.

Club displays: when it comes to organising these again the one person I see go out of his way to do this is Clem and a great job he does but I think theres a point we must not get to where we just expect him to do it as otherwise there is a danger it will became a chore.

Personally I would like to see a voluntary contribution to the forum that can not only cover some hosting fees and Mikes time but if possible the surplus is spent on displays to promote the vehicles we are all passionate about.

Sorry for the ramblings early on in the day but I've been watching this post with interest and thought it was about time I said something, these are my own personal views and I hope I have not offended anyone,

 

[halfpint_fighter]

I like things how they are so far. It was great to be able to rock up to volksworld on sunday and join the line up, as others have said we are close to a club without the formalities. I agree that we need to continue in good spirits and not let a couple of people do all the organising.

Although a banner would be good for line ups.

ps anyone ever noticed when it say who is online at the bottom that a google bot is searching the site :shock:

 

[Clem]

If I can ever get a reply from the Assoc. of British VW Clubs about affiliation, then there 'may' be a requirement for some sort of subscription to cover these fee's .... this is of course the start of a rocky slope into financial intervention :?

I cant speak for MikeF regarding hosting fees, and I dont know the cost/situation reagrding this, but Id be more than happy to make a donation towards the upkeep.

All that aside, I think thats as much as is needed at this time, and lets see how things go.

I see Steve (Ego) is now shouting out for the DATP line up ..... good man!

 

[MMMC]

to quote a lyric.....'I love you just the way you are'

 

[EgoTrippin]

I see Steve (Ego) is now shouting out for the DATP line up ..... good man!

Thanks Clem - can't leave all the line-up orgainsing to one person.

 

[carole]

stay as we are..... :wink:

great forum, really friendly people, all sharing the same interest in EB's. Simple.

I get enough politics at work, never mind in my spare time.... :roll: Whichever way you look at it, all clubs with committee's and meetings end up with politics, it's unavoidable.

So many other forums are overly complicated, snotty and unfriendly, which this one certainly isn't 8) , and that's what makes it so enjoyable to use.

If it ain't broke.....

Carole :wink:

 

[dubberdaz]

Not for me, get money involved and it'll all go to s**t. I like this site just as it is :wink:
If it's a donation to run the site (like VZi), i would give to that, but not to join a club.

 

[faux]

It all depends what constitutes a club, I consider this a club already. It has loads of members without the pressure of being at every show representing. If people want to meet up they have at least got the Earlybay mob to make them feel welcome.

I like the club idea, but the informal group of Earlybayers that we are already.

Hello everyone...

 

[Justin & Muttley]

I've just re-read this thread and noticed that I've already posted differing opinions - I guess that just shows how unsure I am!

I guess I think that if becoming more formal will damage the original idea then I'm against it - I think we've got a good thing going here and we're all doing a great job of promoting Earlies!

I would hope that if Mike needed/wanted a financial contribution towards forum costs, he'd be happy to ask for it - I'd certainly be pleased to help finance things!

We've all got a lot of structure/rules/formality in our lives already - I'm in the 'let's wait and see' camp!

 

[sparkywig]

stay as we are..... :wink:

great forum, really friendly people, all sharing the same interest in EB's. Simple.

I get enough politics at work, never mind in my spare time.... :roll: Whichever way you look at it, all clubs with committee's and meetings end up with politics, it's unavoidable.

So many other forums are overly complicated, snotty and unfriendly, which this one certainly isn't 8) , and that's what makes it so enjoyable to use.

If it ain't broke.....

Carole :wink:

Here, here.
Couldn't agree more.

 

[Mike F]

If I can ever get a reply from the Assoc. of British VW Clubs about affiliation, then there 'may' be a requirement for some sort of subscription to cover these fee's .... this is of course the start of a rocky slope into financial intervention :?

I cant speak for MikeF regarding hosting fees, and I dont know the cost/situation reagrding this, but Id be more than happy to make a donation towards the upkeep.

All that aside, I think thats as much as is needed at this time, and lets see how things go.

I see Steve (Ego) is now shouting out for the DATP line up ..... good man!

Don't forget that Mr earlybay is actually Mike P, not to be confused with me, Mike F!

Another question is do we do another calendar, and if so how can we sell more of them? Do we use the spare space for sponsors to help pay the printing costs?

It's great to hear new members saying how good the feel is on here and that time and growing bigger has not spoilt it.

 

[Araon]

Gotta have a new calendar.....and yeah get some sponsors on there if they are willing to part with a few quid...