<VV> Director`s Comments in Communique

[Louis Armer]

Well said Kent. My Corvair Atlanta club just recently voted down ( 5 
to 2, one abstain ) my motion to make us a 100% Corsa club
and that was with provisions/exemptions for existing non Corsa 
members and Corvair Atlanta life time members. Many current Corsa 
members still don't understand the gravity of the situation and even 
worse they see Corsa as an adversary when Corsa is
all of us including them. We need change and support of change and we 
need it very soon. I am an older member who sees very clearly why 30 
+- year olds see this necessary change as the future of our International club.

Chuck Armer
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At 12:56 PM 12/3/2009, you wrote:
>Let me start by saying that I am a friend of Jackson. He restored his '65
>Corsa coupe in my shop. So of course my comments are going to be somewhat
>biased--unavoidable.
>
>Jackson and I did not talk about his column before he wrote it but I have to
>say that I agree with a lot of what he wrote. CORSA is in serious trouble,
>folks, and there is no magic way to right this ship. Membership is declining
>overall, and it's unclear how to reverse this trend. We have to have a plan
>that deals with this very likely reality.
>
>Jackson's language may be a bit tart, but I certainly prefer it to another
>round of "well, things aren't that bad--we only need people to get out there
>and recruit a few new members". Articles like that are not telling the real
>truth about what's happening and do a disservice to the CORSA membership.
>
>The hardest thing for an organization to do is to have the courage and the
>foresight to reinvent itself before the landscape changes so much that it
>has become irrelevant. That's what I see is happening to CORSA. The
>"business model" is one that has been around for 100 years or more for a
>non-profit club--but I believe it's clear that this model is going by the
>wayside, and fast. We can either choose to take the risk of changing before
>it's too late or essentially do nothing, and accept the risk that the
>organization will continue to lose members until it can't survive.
>
>So, specifically--I think CORSA has to take a hard look at the wisdom of a
>yearly rotating national convention. I don't think events like this make
>sense in a world where gasoline is $4 a gallon (which will be back--we are
>just having a temporary reprieve) and where there are far more efficient
>ways of having smaller, regional get-togethers that use the power of the new
>networking tools to connect people. A yearly face-to-face convention made
>the most sense when the ways of people staying in touch when they weren't
>face-to-face were primitive. That's not the case any longer and the
>sophistication of social networking tools is increasing. And, an additional
>factor is the spread-out-ness of clubs in the Western Division. The clubs
>are overall smaller and are very far apart compared to the Eastern Division.
>Just getting a club to take on the task of holding a national convention in
>the West is a challenge now--we almost didn't get a bid for 2011. Denver
>took it on, and I don't consider them a Western club geographically. They
>are certainly in the Western Division so their bid is valid. I just mean
>that the fact that they are doing the convention is illuminating--no clubs
>west of the Rockies submitted a bid, from what I can tell.
>
>Jackson and I both work in the tech industry and we are all too familiar
>with how rapidly-changing demographics are affecting what people expect an
>organization to be. Mike says "lead, follow, or get out of the way" and I
>see Jackson trying to lead. It might just be that the direction he is
>proposing is one that is pretty radical and therefore shocking to some or
>many current members. I can tell you that it's not at all shocking to people
>under the age of 30; in fact, it's becoming the expected way of doing
>business.
>
>--Kent
>
>P.S. For those of you who don't know me, I served 7 years on the CORSA BoD
>and am a past president of the CPF.
>
>P.P.S. If you send Jackson private email, please be respectful. He is only
>trying to help CORSA and if people fly off the handle at him, it's not going
>to help.

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>-----Original Message-----
>From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
>[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Michael Kovacs
>Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 7:28 AM
>To: John Howell
>Cc: VV
>Subject: Re: <VV> Director`s Comments in Communique
>
>I was of the same opinion after reading his "comments" last night. All
>negative, not positive.
>
>"LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY"
>
>  I'll contact his email and make my thoughts clear to him too.
>  MIKE KOVACS
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>----- Original Message ----
>From: John Howell <32chevy at 0306.org>
>To: VV <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Sent: Thu, December 3, 2009 12:44:50 AM
>Subject: <VV> Director`s Comments in Communique
>
>I hope the Western Director Jackson Dell Weaver is one that is being
>replaced in the next election. After reading his comments in the December
>issue of the CORSA Communique I would like to see him replaced, we don`t
>need officers with that attitude. So I say Jackson you are part of the
>problem not part of the answer, if you don`t like CORSA just LEAVE !
>
>John Howell
>
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CORSA Member
Corvanatics Member
Corvair Atlanta Director
1965 Corsa Coupe
1964 Greenbrier
http://darthvair.com
SECC Member
1965 Corsa Autocross car 1/2 owner
http://www.wtbrt.com/