linderpat

you nailed it Dr Bob. We do things from time to the time with OC sponsorship around here, the PVGP Pitt gathering has been an OC sponsored event since it started, as are other things I've been to. It is up to us individual members to make it relevant and keep it so.
For instance, every member should have it noted as such in his or her signature on all of the 928 forums they participate in. There are lots of little things that can make this well worthwhile. I think Stan did a good job during his tenure, and I have no doubt that Andrew or James will do the same in his own way.

DR

Sorry to go back to a serious topic, but I feel there needs to be a little more clarity on this subject...I would really like to see this supposed rift between the 928OC and Rennlist put to bed for good, it is just plain silly.

IMHO, this was due to a personality conflict between a few individuals.

John Dunkle and I talked about this on the phone many times...usually when I had to contact him so we could smooth things over between the OC and Rennlist because of a very few people...both during and after my tenure as an official of the 928OC.

I assure you John NEVER voiced a problem to me with the 928OC being a part of Rennlist, John is a great person and totally understood the concept of the 928OC and the relationship of it with Rennlist as a positive thing. If anything he encouraged it, at least with me. John was and is all about Community and his actions have always backed that up, I have witnessed it first hand and personally many times.

Again, the 928OC was supposed to be a Technical Asset/Depository and bring strength to the 928 Community via the combined voices/assets/services of it's members coming together as One for the betterment of 928 ownership..and NOT a competing Discussion Forum to any other Forum.

I have full confidence that either Andrew or James(or both) can and will be instrumental in creating harmony between the 928OC and Rennlist going forward and get us back to being a positive part of Rennlist and vice versa.

Cheers,

Dave

Gary Knox

David Roberts,

THANK YOU for all the time, energy information and intelligent thought you've put into your several postings on this topic. I think and hope they have brought value for everyone who has taken the time to read them. Your extensive history with 928's, Rennlist Forums, and 928 Owners Club is invaluable and we don't want to lose track of that. Well Done.

Cheers,

Gary--

Murray

Let me start by saying that I believe I already belong to one of the best "unofficial" car clubs ever; just by virtue of having a 928. My fellow 928ers have been supportive, informative and from all that I've met, a really great bunch of people. They have offered advice, loaner parts and friendship with no greater reason than a shared passion for these great cars. To date I have definitely gained more from this community than I have given. That is a Karma debt I fully expect to pay off over time.

With that said, what would I want to see from an "official" car club? Well I know what I don't need it to be and that is an alternative discussion forum. I am on one, it works, it's active, it's effective and frankly you know that because you're on it too. I don't want the hassle or ambiguity of figuring where to post my questions.

I think the value of the club is in promoting those things that are already happening and making them more accessible. If you are fortunate to live in one of the hot beds of 928 ownership, you probably have a lot of these things going on. For others the gatherings are fun but far away, and experts less accessible or less well known. I would like to see the 928 OC work at developing more local chapters and promoting:
- more local gatherings, get togethers, fun runs, track days, wrenching days
- expand the loaner tool program and maybe sponsor peer to peer sharing so that the 928OC doesn't have to own all the tools in the program
- organize group buys
- tech sessions
- be the repository of technical, DIY and historical information.

As for a web presence, well you can't get by without one these days. The things I would be most interested in would be:
- Technical and DIY library
- Event Calendar
- Member profiles
- 928 registry
- Featured car/owner stories
- New product info
- Recommended vendors/service providers
- 928 goodies store - I'd buy hats, T-shirts, key chains, James' calendars, that kind of stuff if it helped support the club.

I know both candidates share a passion for these cars, heck if you got a vote for each 928 you owned ...
So I expect whoever wins will do well by the 928 community. But they will need our help too.

No matter what happens in the election I will continue to be a 928OC member regardless.

pcar928fan

^^^^^^^
Amen Murray, AMEN! You must have been to the 928OC forum fairly recently and looked around because all of the stuff you mention is there! From the Historical stuff of 928s4vr from Phil Tong (miss him!) to the member profiles to loaner program to calendar (which is woefully under utilized...I as a Regional Rep and guilty of that myself!)


You are charter member #81!

pcar928fan

Dave,

You mentioned last night that I was included in that email and you questioned WHY that might be. As the membership chair and the primary contact (currently) for the Regional Reps I am usually on their email distribution lists. That is why I was on that email...

Now, if I could just get you to email me back about floor mats for my '95 GTS!

(I still don't know how to multi quote here or I would have put your kevlar fender flare quote just above my last line Dave! I do have some carpet questions though so give me a shout when you can!)

pcar928fan

I mentioned over on my thread and I am sure AO agrees that there is NO REASON for there to be ANY animosity between the various forums. It is nice to have a choice on where one can go to hang out too, so there is no reason for any of them to shut down as they cater to different audiences. I think AO mentioned it earlier too and I certainly have no idea what the problems were. I was to late to this party for that. I missed all the fireworks. Story of my life! The 928OC forum is really bulking up on exactly what you are talking about Dave. We have been for the last 2 years and it really is becoming a one stop shop for the tech info so many seek. That said, there are any number of places to get that info anymore, and I think that is also a good thing!

Sorry, again AO for butting in...

Texbuckeye

I hear alot of passion in these comments and I hear a lot of good suggestions being made here. I think the candidates should take some of them up. I think this lively discussion results in a better organization.

How long is the presidential term?

It seems like we have two guys that love the 928 and have great ideas. As a new member of this organization I think that speaks very highly of the car and the owners. I think we need to put more pressure on owners to join, vendors to discount and move all of this discussion to the Owners club website. Why are we paying to use this one when we have one that comes with our membership? Why doesn't the club make money with pop up adds? I only joined Rennlist because I wanted to sell a car here. I joined to get the discount for OCIC. It was a no brainer. People join when they see value. The club needs to offer more value. With the numbers involved I don't think that is unreasonable.

Tony

Pretty simple...just dont clink on the submit reply button.

Hilton

LOL nice pic Tony.

This thread makes great reading over breakfast.

I originally joined 5 years ago because of the tech articles in the journal, and a belief that the OC might work to preserve 928 info per the stated goal on the site, which is something where Rennlist falls short of the mark.

Rennlist doesn't preserve info - many old threads have no more pictures, links are broken etc. The value in Rennlist is the community and people who bother to reply when the same question comes up as last year, and the camaraderie that goes with these great cars (perhaps "fervor" is a more fitting word? ).

The online community is a value the OC won't be able to supplant IMHO, so finding differentiating means of adding value is important and why I thought Andrew's platform post at the start of this thread to be good reading. I might even re-join for the first time in a few years so I can vote.

Like others, I lapsed because there's no value in it for me, even more so because I'm in the minority 56% of 928 owners that are outside the USA (roughly - based on the PET database). Sure I could have had 5% off Roger's profit margins by being a member, and come out ahead personally, but it would be at the expense of Roger's own business, not as a result of any real contribution by the OC. Roger deserves massive props for volunteering to donate that proportion of his profits (and its a huge part), especially as he would likely have taken those orders anyway without the existance of the OC (if he makes 25% margins and gives a 5% discount, thats 20% of his profit being vaporised).

Nowadays the technical content of the 928OC is superseded by Dwayne's write-ups, which Bill Ball already archived from their original Rennlist posts to www.dwaynesgarage.norcal928.org. If the OC could add value, it would be in properly mirroring Bill's archive rather than the PDF printouts of it, and perhaps having someone edit Dwayne's articles and add in the supplementary and often valuable contributions from experienced Rennlisters made in Dwayne's original threads where he posted the write-ups.

The OC could also add value in approaching the owners of other 928 content and asking whether they could grant the rights to the OC to host copies of those pages (e.g. Dave A, John Pirtle, Greg Nichols, Tony Harken and all the rest). More value could come from taking over (if Chuck's willing) administration of the 928 Registry, automating its maintenance with some database-driven web forms so owners can contribute, and including the missing 56% of 928's that are excluded by its current charter.

Now I'm off to go find James' thread and see what his platform is, and decide which future candidate sounds supportive of my ideals, and weigh up whether its worth the money and time to play any part in that decision.

AO

TONY! You and your slutty Llamas!

G8RB8

Good idea. I just did it. Now lets hyperlink to the club site with it and drive some traffic.

Tony

Don't make me post your official campaign poster!

DR

Hi James,

Lloyds cannot do mats Purple Mats with Neon Green embroidery, according to their reply to us they don't have any "purple mat material" to do this with, sorry.

Cheers,

Dave

DR

....reminds me of a story about a hood. :-)

HI TONY!!!!