If it were only true. One national umbrella Rootes club management
structure to take care of all of the heavy
administrative/finance/publishing chores, and then the regions could
just have fun. Some clubs already work that way. A friend was in
the BMW club, and they have chapters of the same club all over the
place. Doesn't the Shelby club do the same thing?
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they start as one club, then
break up into regional chapters to better serve the local members?
Think for a second. What's the chance of the reverse happening? All
of our clubs forming up under one set of officers? Not bloody likely,
if you ask me.
Or, what about forming an entirely new club? The American Sunbeam
Register or something like that. Might work, but a lot of folks don't
join every club that comes along. You might need two conventions a
year, east and west, but that's not impossible if you have enough
members. This would be something to think about.
There are two main reasons for forming these clubs. Activities and
information. Used to be that both of these needs could be served well
by the same outfit, but with the internet, these functions could be
better served separately.
In case no one has noticed there is a club that serves one of these
needs nationwide, even worldwide. Membership requirements are quite
simple, and dues are minimal. And their newsletter comes out
frequently, a dozen times a DAY, or more. What club is that? It's
US. The internet permits more, and better, communication than any
individual club ever could in the past.
I think the role of the present clubs will evolve away from the
National scene, and become more regionalized. These will still be the
outfits that organize the Uniteds, and the one day regional
gatherings. As more people get on the web, the information flow will
move there.
So that's it. The new National club is already forming. Combine our
network with that of our Alpine cousins, mix in links to a few of the
good local club and advertising web pages, and there you have it.
Tech tips and real time consultants, history, parts for sale, photo
archives, links to regional activities, the works, all at your
fingertips. It would only take a little more organization of what we
have now to produce something really powerful. Imagine if all of our
ramblings on this network could be cataloged by topic. Imagine one
nationwide calendar of Sunbeam or Rootes or British car events.
Going to be in St. Louis next weekend? What's up?
Comments?
Stu Brennan
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