<VV> Thoughts on CORSA Membership

[Dave & Carole Thomson]

My goodness, you should be on the CORSA board.   A light in the darkness.
Listen up other CORSA folks this has credence.

Dave -  Calgary, 68 Kelmark V8Vair, 66 Corsa 140-4 Vert............


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey B. Aronson" <jrh at foxislands.net>
To: "Virtual Vairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1:33 PM
Subject: <VV> Thoughts on CORSA Membership


> As a fairly new member, I hesitate to enter this fray, but I might well
> represent several sectors of CORSA's membership, so I'm jumping in.
>
> First off, I'm fairly new as a member [2007], the consequence of living
> in a state with no CORSA chapter and not very aware of resources for my
> Monza. I bought my Corvair not because I lusted after one, but because
> it seemed like an interesting, entertaining, well engineered, affordable
> vehicle (as a student I owned one from 1969-71).
>
> Second, I am not a car collector; my vehicles must be road-worthy and
> usable year round, in most any conditions and driving situations. The
> placard on my Corvair at the Bay State-Clark's event this fall read
> "Please Touch."
>
> Third, I am very interested in the design/mechanicals/engineering of the
> car. I love to drive it but club events seem to always occur during the
> spring and summer months when I must work 7 days a week to make the most
> of seasonal income opportunities. I'm a car guy more than a club guy.
>
> Fourth, I must work hard for my modest income and I'm likely to have to
> do that until I am buried in my car. If I'm putting money into something
> other than maintenance and repairs of my car, it had better be worth the
> cash and the time it took to earn it.
>
> Fifth, I'm a professional magazine editor of another automotive
> enthusiast publication, /The Rovers North News.
> <http://www.roversnorth.com/store/t-downloadsrnnews.aspx>/ The magazine
> goes out to 31,000 households, 6 issues a year.
>
> I mention all these because they represent my interest in and connection
> with CORSA.So are some suggestions for CORSA:
>
> 1. CORSA's model is based on needs that predate the internet, cellphones
> and relatively affordable shipping. It pays for a magazine with uneven
> writing quality, some great technical pieces, historical information and
> personal memoirs. By its content you'd assume the magazine presumes a
> healthy interest in chapter activities and expensive national events.
>
> CORSA needs to ask itself if its activities, beloved by many existing
> [but declining in number] members, reach new members. What if a new
> member's work schedule does not give them flexibility and/or income for
> a regional or national meet? Not everyone these days has a 9-5 job with
> defined work schedules and days off.
>
> What could CORSA do to promote the growth of lots of little gatherings,
> all over the country - Corvair MeetUps, instead of a national convention
> that a vast majority of the membership can never attend? What if younger
> car enthusiasts actually found out that the Corvair is wicked
> affordable, wicked usable on a daily basis, and wicked entertaining and
> cheap to drive? What if CORSA took the lead in that effort instead of
> focusing on national events?
>
> 2. How will CORSA attract new members if it does not celebrate the
> Corvair itself? I would never give a copy of the /Communique/, even the
> one with my article :-) , to a potential younger member because it just
> has no appeal to them. Stories about how someone prepared their car to
> be a concours or "trailer queen" winner do not appeal to car buffs.
>
> Maybe the /Communique/ needs to become a Corvair enthusiast magazine
> instead of club publication Many members seem to be parents and/or
> grandparents; why can't CORSA promote young men and women who want to be
> seen in cool cars like Corvairs? I've seen one letter to the editor to
> his point in my 14 months of receiving the /Communique/, and only one
> article.
>
> As an editor, I will remind everyone that finding correspondents to
> write quality articles, for free or for payment, is very time consuming
> and labor intensive. I spend a lot of time working with potential
> writers to get their articles to show up on time and to improve the
> quality of the work for the magazine. It's not a soft volunteer position!
>
> 3. There needs to be a definable benefit to join when you live in an
> area with no local chapter. (BTW, when Maine enthusiasts have reviewed
> the requirements for a local chapter, we've chosen to say "no" and
> retain our loose confederation). Helping an out of state chapter reduce
> their insurance costs doesn't cut it when I'm worried about meeting my
> rent. I've purchased event insurance - it isn't pretty - and commend
> CORSA for that benefit nationally. But I'm going to have increasing
> problems justifying membership when CORSA is looking at a 30-50% dues
> increase.
>
> CORSA could do for me what the Corvair Forum [thank you, San Diego club]
> and VV [thank you, CORSA] do - connect me with other Corvair owners. But
> the only thing I ever hear from CORSA's institutional leadership is
> discussion of dues, of dunning more people. What I want to hear is what
> you want to accomplish to promote the Corvair as an enthusiast automobile.
>
> The CORSA website is, to be blunt, much too oriented to club matters and
> lame in its presentation of our wonderful, exciting, entertaining cars!
> 6 tabs on club matters and 1 on the car? Why not open up the club
> website to ideas that would enliven it? Ask yourselves - do members go
> first to the CORSA website to connect with the enthusiast community, or
> to the Corvair Forum?
>
> 4.  Corvairs are not a "hobby" with an entry fee for every member;
> they're a hugely entertaining classic car that you can own for the sum
> of a used Corolla - and you can drive it every day. Please recognize
> that some members do not own Corvairs as collectors, and they love them
> as daily cars. That's why Clark's and the Corvair Underground, and other
> vendors, get my attention and appreciation. What's CORSA doing to
> promote ownership and enthusiasm, rather than membership?
>
> 5. Maine has an active group of enthusiasts who link together thanks to
> the internet. We're a large state [at least for New England] and we
> can't see each other as often as we'd like, but we are a successful
> "cyber club." We keep in touch online. When we meet in person, we
> celebrate the cars, not the meeting itself. We looked at establishing a
> chapter but after looking at the regulations, wondered "why?" I'll bet
> we're not alone.
>
> 6. Why not invite CORSA members to advertise their services and/or
> businesses in the Communique? Why are the classifieds only Corvair
> related? Why not some pages at a modest cost with "classifieds" of
> member services/businesses? Why not encourage members to do business
> with members?
>
> I write these thoughts as someone who has contributed an article to the
> Communique, looked into forming a CORSA chapter with other local
> enthusiasts, has served on Board of Directors of other organizations,
> and cares about CORSA's success. I have no illusions as to the
> challenges faced by Board members. I do believe that the messages
> implicit in our financial statements make it clear that it's time for
> substantial change - and that the change will be good for the long term
> health of the organization. The structure now in place, with the
> purposes it has set out for itself, may not be the way for the future.
>
> Thanks for reading this LONG missive. I, too, want to see CORSA succeed.
>
> Jeff Aronson
> Vinalhaven, ME
> www.landroverwriter.com <http://www.landroverwriter.com>
>
> '66 Corvair Monza Coupe 110/4
> '66 Land Rover Series II-A [2]
> '80 Triumph TR-7 Spider
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