Paul raises an interesting point...to which I would say that, in MY opinion, there is seldom an agreed upon "value" to most of these sorts of endeavors. That said, I personally find the membership cost to be perfectly in line in today's world. There are obvious benefits to the membership that were fairly well spelled out in past communications. However, at present, I do NOT SEE a copy of these benefits EASILY available to the average Viper owner. It seems to me that a link to "Advantages of a VCA membership" should appear on the home page of this board. I have recently communicated with 2 Nat'l officers concerning this possibility as Paul's question is a frequent one.
I recently attempted to answer the benefit question at a Ind/Ky meeting. Included in the benefit list were the obvious affinity group, K&K event insurance (non-track) Snake-bytes notes, regional minutes (monthly in our region) that include event schedules as well as a directory of members plus assorted mailers from other clubs, activity fliers etc., shows, charity events tech sessions, and access to driving events. While we try to figure a way to include everyone (guests, other Regional members, and potential members are ALWAYS WELCOME), there comes a point,in MY opinion, where the elected Club officers need to remember that there is an inherent responsibility to serve the PAYING MEMBERS (otherwise, WHY should anyone EVER pay??). This may become a much more serious issue in the future as the Club stands more on it's own two feet.
Geography is always an issue...ESPECIALLY in 2 state regions. This is the reason behind our Region's attempt to provide activities "LOCALLY" through a Southern (read that KY ) Director and a Northern Director (serving Inniana's "Upper Pennsula" that includes those living just across the Mich.border who work in Ind.) In fact, this last summer, one weekend our Region had events going on in 3 states attended by separate sets of folks. I PERSONALLY consider that GOOD SERVICE on the part of our Club. I recently published in the Ind/Ky Region's newsletter, "As we look toward activities for 2002, it should be noted that the usual place for the monthly business meetings will continue to be at Fast Freddy's unless otherwise noted. As you know, in 2001, we held meeting ALL AROUND the 2 state region, including Lawrenceburg, IN, Columbus, IN, Frankfort, KY, Muncie, IN, Putnam Park Racetrack in Mt. Meridian, IN, and Rising Sun, IN. YES, we ARE TRYING to reach more members with these meetings!!! We hope to continue this trend in 2002. It should also be noted that activities took members to several nearby states this year (Mich, ILL, Ky, Tenn, and Ohio )." There has been a marked shift of activity location to better serve our scattered members. There were 3 separate events in KY ... and an additional 2 "along the Ohio River". Hopefully our activities will continue to be more widespread in coming years.
Membership is stall a personnal choice and subject to one's OWN value judgement. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to ALL the VIPER NATION !!!
Respectfully submitted,
Seve Fess Sec. Ind/Ky VCA
