n4v4nod

Huh... didn't realize there was a club already... Is this the NorCal group? I know there is a general Facebook group.

Milehigh981

sure, count me in.

carrerafanboy

I'm in!

CAlexio

700+ members, pretty well established

Marine Blue

I know this has come up in the past and it's not in my interest to be difficult here but I and I know many others who are not on Facebook. It's no issue using Facebook as a means to facilitate and initiate meets but it would be nice if there was an alternative method of communication for those of us not interested in using Facebook.

Suggestions on how this could be accomplished for the tech savvy?

CAlexio

Marine Blue I respect your point, and I have no dog in this fight except for happily owning FB stock for the past few years and watching it grow way faster than the market. The issue as I see it though is that you're fighting against the tide.. or almost an entire ocean. Facebook has just become a very efficient and comprehensive tool for organizing events, updating attendees, creating useful links like route maps, and group communication, as well as an integrated payment mechanism. Facebook is pretty much THE universally accepted tool for people to organize themselves socially, and sometimes professionally also.

I know there are a few late-adopters who are not on Facebook, however, a large portion of the population, especially gearheads like us are on the platform. As an example, all the car clubs I belong to, organize and advertise events exclusively on FB, many don't even have their own website as the level of functionality required would cost disproportionally to create.

If you have a better solution, or one that even comes close in it's ability to alert and involve people for an event like this, please put the proposal forward. However, there is a reason it's one of the most valuable companies in the world and it's CEO is one of the richest humans on earth… Because it just works. You may have to bite the bullet and create a profile just for car-related participation, you can keep it private and just use it as a tool for staying updated. Lots of options within that context.

Suitcase

I'm in.

CAlexio

I'm not sure I'm the best person to organize and no one has really asked, but I'll put together a few ideas for debate if this picks up steam?

My suggestions are:
-3-4 day event to make it worthwhile for anyone who is trucking in or transporting vehicles.
-mid to late September so that days are still reasonably long and warm
-itinerary including something like: San Francisco-Sonoma trackday-wine country-lake Tahoe
-Minimal pre-payment.. just a list of places where we would stay.. I call ahead to ask for a group discount.. we put the hotels and locations up and people take care of their own reservations.
-an OPTIONAL Facebook page for those interested, and then every effort to copy paste as much of that info here for the #resisters

-we invite the entire USA Spyder group, as well as anyone here on Rennlist?

Based on the above, who would realistically be interested and able to join for a Northern California Porsche Spyder Meet?

CARS INVITED: 981, 987, & 918 Spyder
TENTATIVE LOCATION: Northern California:
TENTATIVE ITINERARY: SF-Sonoma-Napa Valley-Lake Tahoe.
TENTATIVE DATES: sept 21-24th
IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS:
ATTENDEES: copy paste and add your name below. Also add any special skills, assistance or ideas you would like to contribute.
1. CAlexio
2. Suitcase
3.
4.
5.
6....

guab

Add another to that list of people who have one in Scottsdale. Mine shows up in a week or so. Can't wait!!

Driving-oriented trips as suggested above would be cool -- don't think I'd be able to make a September event unfortunately.

n4v4nod

CAlexio,
First, Thanks for the suggestion for NorCal. My wife and drove the area back in late March and loved it.

Maybe my interpretation is wrong, but the Facebook isn't really considered a club, but more a enthusiast destination similar to Rennlist, but in a different format. There isn't a regular meetings or structure like the two clubs in Europe: Spyders Owners Club in Germany and the Porsche Club Spyder-Speedster in France. They are both super strong groups that are both recognized by Porsche.

Before we rush into a place and time, I wanted to gauge interest first and the assess where the broader demographic is... then open it up to the group to vote on a location and time. At the moment I am assuming that most owners are on the western side of the states, but I could be wrong.

Nor Cal is a great spot and I would love to go there, but there are multiple events there already and some might want a different location to change it up? Maybe I am wrong, and others will vote for NorCal which I have no problem with as it a beautiful area and I would love to go down again. The general point I want to say is I don't want to assume anything and we should be more diplomatic on decisions.

Based on the poll and and the replies I got on facebook I think there is enough interest in creating a club and meet, but figured to wait to get more visibility/interest before making the call as this post as well as the one on FB has been up for only a couple days.

CAlexio

Absolutely, I was just trying to set a direction so people have something to focus on. By all means if you have the time and willingness, please take the lead and make this your baby at all levels. I'm sure whatever is set up will be great.

-eztrader-

interested but wrong part of the country - could be tempted to ship for this

backeddy

I am in, lot's of great roads in Nor Cal and we could squeeze in a Laguna track day too!

DaveGee

Definitely interested.

But agree with Afshin re Facebook. Not on it. Not interested. Yes, caveman.

The GroupMe app is an invite-only alternative to communicating group events. I'm on several for Porsche-related events. We should consider it if this picks up momentum.

And under the category of "you can't make everyone happy", September 21-24 doesn't work for me.

DaveGee
2011 Spyder

CAlexio

I'm glad you see or at least hints at the difficulty of making everybody happy… Can you imagine what it's going to be like to get everybody to agree to exactly which app they want to get their information and login to?

It used to be just about agreeing on a date and a location… Now we've taken a step back LOL, and have to decide which electronic medium nobody is morally opposed to joining just to even start the dance…

I swear I have no interest in promoting Facebook, but I am curious about how we are OK with giving our information to some obscure app where we don't even know the security protocol, then refuse to create a login for the worlds foremost social network which has never been hacked, and employees the cream of the crop of software engineers to keep it safe and running.
I think I'll leave it up to somebody else to lead the proceedings until we can agree on what medium to use, and I'll be happy to help where needed if asked.