<VV> Bob's (typically different) viewpoint on 100%

Wed Dec 16 18:45:23 EST 2009

Bob,

I posted this on the Chapter list a few days ago, but I can see based on
your post it would be good to post it here as well.  The simple answer to
your question is that no, I do not think one has to be a member of a local
chapter to be a member of a national organization, but I do think that if
the chapter gains any benefit from being associated with the national
organization than that benefit is realized by all chapter members and that
is why they should all belong to the national organization.  If, however,
the chapter sees no benefit in belonging to the national organization then
they should separate and let their members belong or not, according to their
desires.

Individuals are free to make their own decisions about membership in either
local or national organizations - the issue is whether Chapters should be
receiving benefits they do not pay for.

Here is the post I made to the chapters list - Bill Hubbell

From: chapters-bounces at corvair.org [mailto:chapters-bounces at corvair.org] On
Behalf Of Bill Hubbell
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 9:10 AM
To: 'tim mahler'
Cc: 'CORSA Chapters'; CORSA/CPF BoD; Allen Bristow
Subject: Re: <CORSA Chapters> 100% CORSA Membership

Whenever this issue comes up, people address it by asking and answering the
wrong question.  They ask, "What is the benefit of the INDIVIDUAL to be a
member of CORSA?", when what they should be asking is "What is the benefit
of the CHAPTER to be a member of CORSA?"

Simply put, if there IS a benefit to the chapter to be a member of CORSA
then that benefit applies downward to all of the chapter members to some
extent, and therefore CORSA membership should be required of all CORSA
chapter members.

Conversely, if a chapter feels it gains NO benefit from being a member of
CORSA then it should, of course, drop its CORSA membership and not require
the same of CORSA.  Nothing would preclude individuals within that chapter
from joining CORSA as free agents, but their local club would not have any
CORSA benefits, including insurance.

Therefore, the only question CORSA should be asking is why it grants Chapter
membership to chapters which feel they do not get benefit from CORSA.

Speaking as a member of Tidewater Corvair Club (which DOES require 100%
CORSA membership), I do believe that our chapter perceives benefit from
being a CORSA chapter and that is why we require our members to belong to
CORSA as well.  While I can probably count on one hand the number of TCC
members who have attended a CORSA convention in the past 5 years, most of us
have attended local events covered by CORSA insurance and we ALL were
involved in a recent car raffle that was very successful due to publicity in
the Communiqué.  I could list several other benefits (as I have in the
past), but the bottom line is that we have a strong club that is 100% CORSA
and I have heard no complaints about this.

I wonder if the clubs that say they do not want to require 100% CORSA
membership would be willing to give up having their club names, news and
publicity of club events included in the Communiqué?  I wonder if they would
ALL be willing to purchase their own insurance whenever they attend or host
local events (such as the DACC Homecoming)?  I wonder if their members who
DO attend CORSA conventions would be happy to attend as Free Agents and not
as representatives of their local chapters which do not perceive a value to
CORSA membership?  Gee, imagine the "roll call" at the annual banquet and
there is no DACC, CCE, etc.
----------------------------------------------
Here is an additional post (originally posted to an individual - I have
modified it to apply generically)
---------------------------------------------
It is a valid point to state that the chapters act as a recruiting tool for
CORSA; in fact, the chapters are the very heart and soul of CORSA.  It is
certainly reasonable, therefore, to offer new prospects a certain period of
time to "sample the wares" before requiring full membership, but I would
argue that "several years" is too long of a trial.

CORSA's biggest problem is that they have done a horrible job of selling the
value of membership.  Let's face the facts; very few (if any) chapters would
still be in existence some 40 years after the demise of the Corvair were it
not for the presence of a strong national organization that ties them
together and gives them a national presence.  Therefore, were it not for
CORSA, it is very likely that these non-CORSA members would never had the
opportunity to be a member of a (insert your chapter name here) for "several
years" before joining CORSA because (your local club) would likely have
faded away for lack of publicity or a reason to exist.

Think, too, of all the technical advice published in the Communiqué over the
past 40 years (Tech Guide now up to Volume 3), as well as the numerous parts
and vendor services available largely due to the presence of a large
national organization.  Can anybody honestly say that non-CORSA members of a
chapter did not benefit from any of that?

It is time for CORSA to realize that there is value given to granting a club
charter membership in CORSA and it is only reasonable that CORSA receive
fair compensation for that value.  Do we really think that has been
happening these past 40 years?

If indeed "financial hardship" is the only reason preventing CORSA
membership, then the CORSA BOD should be able to create a "pay what you can"
category of membership to keep interested parties in the fold.  The point
is, though, that if you receive a benefit, you should pay something.  If
your club really believes they receive no benefit, they should leave CORSA
and see how they fare without it.  I suspect they might be surprised to find
it is not so easy being all alone.

Bill Hubbell

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Vairtec Corporation
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 6:08 PM
To: Virtual Vairs
Subject: Re: <VV> Bob's (typically different) viewpoint on 100%

I knew that it would take only a couple of minutes for the "suppose you 
live far away from a chapter" argument to arise.

That argument does not impress me in the slightest.  If you, the local 
club member, must join CORSA, then it is only fair that you, the CORSA 
member, must join a local club.  Which of those clubs is up to you.

First off, where, exactly, is a local club situated?  It is the club's 
mailing address as listed with CORSA?  Is it where the club holds 
meetings?  Is it where the club holds shows-tech 
sessions-tours-dinners-whatnot?

Or is it the collective geography of its membership?

If you join a local club, even one that appears to be not near you, you 
will at the very least begin to receive that club's communications, be 
they digital or printed or both.  You will begin to interact with other 
members of that club -- some of which likely live much closer to you 
that you think.  As the geographic distribution of the local clubs' 
membership evolves over time, so will the "home base" of those clubs.

There simply is no valid reason to not require all CORSA members to join 
a chapter IF we are going to require all chapter members to join CORSA.

Are you 100% advocates telling me that we must rend our local clubs 
apart by imposing a you-must-join-CORSA edict, without CORSA 
reciprocating and telling CORSA members to join a local?  There's a word 
for that, and the VV rules prevent me from using it, but it implies 
bovine waste.

--Bob

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