<VV> Jay Maechtlen's comments re: membership

[wrsssatty at aol.com]

<From: Jay Maechtlen 
Re clubs in general:
I wonder if "belonging to a club"  is in overall decline?
With the various online/social media stuff, I wonder if that doesn't 
satisfy some percentage of those who might otherwise belong to one or 
more clubs.

I'd expect that to be seen especially in the younger demographics - 20s 
and 30s.

Any data/opinions?
>
 

Excellent point and precisely the premise of this book:


http://www.amazon.com/Bowling-Alone-Collapse-American-Community/dp/0743203046/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394034700&sr=1-11&keywords=bowling


 <
As far as demographics we should be targeting - I would say "all".
It's nice to get someone in the 20s, but don't forget there are lots of 
folks in the 40s and 50s (and 60s) with time and talent.
>

Again, an excellent point and one I've often considered.  I think if we want to attract "younger" membership the first step is to ascertain the current average, mean and median age of CORSA members and realistically aim to lower that by 10-15 years.  I bet that would mean looking at folks in their early 40s.  And that would target people at an age when they are usually coming into a bit more disposable income and are ripe for coming into the collector car hobby.  Too often, I think, when current CORSA members think of trying to attract a younger membership they think in terms of when they bought their first Corvair and think of new drivers in their teens and early twenties.  While we do have some new members in that age bracket I think that it's unrealistic to think that folks that age these days are interested in Corvairs and can afford to get into the collector car hobby.

~Bill Stanley



Excellent point and precisely the premise of this book:


http://www.amazon.com/Bowling-Alone-Collapse-American-Community/dp/0743203046/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394034700&sr=1-11&keywords=bowling


 <
As far as demographics we should be targeting - I would say "all".
It's nice to get someone in the 20s, but don't forget there are lots of 
folks in the 40s and 50s (and 60s) with time and talent.
>

Again, an excellent point and one I've often considered.  I think if we want to attract "younger" membership the first step is to ascertain the current average, mean and median age of CORSA members and realistically aim to lower that by 10-15 years.  I bet that would mean looking at folks in their early 40s.  And that would target people at an age when they are usually coming into a bit more disposable income and are ripe for coming into the collector car hobby.  Too often, I think, when current CORSA members think of trying to attract a younger membership they think in terms of when they bought their first Corvair and think of new drivers in their teens and early twenties.  While we do have some new members in that age bracket I think that it's unrealistic to think that folks that age these days are interested in Corvairs and can afford to get into the collector car hobby.

~Bill Stanley