(This is a second of two responses to Jay Miller's previous post)
There certainly was nothing in this part of your message that is of critical
mass. You don't want to change - don't!! I am not trying to change your
beloved "club", I am hoping to offer an option, that's all. An option that
has generated a substantial amount of interest from others that do not have
quite as high an RC factor (resistance to change) as you apparantly have.
But don't try to kid yourself. Your CLUB is a big business, a very big
business. It generates dollars every weekend at the local level, with the
annual income of Solo at the National level arguably the most financially
successful part of the SCCA (despite what appears to be some very creative
accounting to show it's members otherwise). Your leadership wants you to
come, leave your money, and go home after spending your day with them. Same
as your local theater - or the NHRA. The SCCA is not listed as a non-
profit organization at the National level. They are undergoing a major
leadership facelift Nationally so they can achieve more success - financial
success.
Pssst - your club leadership doesn't feel the way you do about growth
(probably for the reason listed above). Your fellow members want TV
coverage, they want the popularity being enjoyed by other motorsports - just
what you say you do not want. Read the interview with your new boss in
Grassroots, read the messages being posted on this list - - you are in the
minority in your position, from what I read and understand.
BTW, if you opt to drop by some DSC in the months to come, so be it. If not,
no major loss.
P.S. - thanks for giving DG a math lesson. Please also note that with paid
course workers, there is not the time lag between sessions, so there is more
course time available. By finishing a session, picking up corner sheets, and
starting the first car in the next session immediately, there is a LOT more
course time available, if my region is any indicator.
If not successful locally, DSC will go away. Dennis Grant has a vested
interest in seeing it's failure, that would only ensure success of his "I"
class. However, it seems that from simply reading about DSC in it's infancy,
and discounting it in it's entirety isn't being very fair and open minded.
(of course, Team.Net is not known for having either characterisitic).
G
----------------
> Jay Mitchell <jemitchell@compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> It's a hobby, for crying out loud. It has no intrinsic spectator appeal -
> nor will your variant, which makes no pretense at improving that
> situation - and yet attendance by _competitors_ keeps growing from
> year to year. Let me make this clear: I do NOT want to see Solo II
> become as popular as drag racing or roundy-round dirt track events.
> Attempts to get there, if carried far enough, are likely to completely
> ruin the sport. Without making it more popular.
>
> This is a (hold on here, big revelation) CLUB, not a business. We are
> members, not stockholders. We joined to participate in activities we
> enjoy, not to generate a profit for somebody else. Why does this have
> to resurface so frequently? SCCA has shot itself in the foot every time
> it went for the "big time" pro racing series, whereas Solo II has
> flourished under the benign neglect of the "top management." I think
> some more benign neglect might be in order myself.
>
> <snip>
|