"Time to Grow Up" or "Becoming a real car clu

[smorison]

In response to G1's questions on another thread i'm posting up this.

Please note i have not gone through all the thinking and discussions that would be involved for the ideas below so i don't have all the answers its simply for public opinion

i'm looking into that club membership what i'm thinking (this is a whole new topic we should start) is:

1. club card (easy)
2. affilitating with a national Car Club
why?well -
2.1 instant CAMS approval for the club (everyone can get a CAMS license)
2.2 Can hold track days
2.3 Included in their Club Discounts (wider selectoin nation wide)
2.4 Inclusion in Club activities such as track days / hill climbs / cruises.
2.5 Public Liability covered by other car club (most important thing)

the big things to me are 2.1 2.2 2.4 (oh and 2.5 as i host this site and organise a lot of things).

The management structure how i see it would be

club secretary
Club representative deligate to National Car Club.
responsible for a broad range of activities relating to the FTO club as a national entity

State secretary (or representative)
pretty much what mikey (GPXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) is doing for melbourne now. Organising events, getting people together, plus other activities such as handling state membership, negotiating deals with state performance shops for pricing etc.

(these are all unpaid postings and should be voted in / out if the need arises,).

This seems to me like a good way to go it will probably be more expensive than just a club car deal but the benefits are there. I imagine we could have 2 levels of members being basic (only FTO club discounts + car) and Full being all of the above and whatever else we come up with.

question comes down to how many people want to get CAM's licenses and all that sort of thing?

The basic club thing is pretty damn easy to organise Without public liability i'm a little tense on club activities so i'd want everyone to sign some sort of disclosure document relating to their car and any acitivities promoted on this site (i.e. if someone put their car into a wall when dirving through sutherland national park - i won't name anyone here).

this is just a broad picture at the moment, don't even know if my (that's my as in my opinion) would be accepted by another national car club.

Please post your thoughts and feedback on this[/quote]

[TimmyD]

well firstly wats a CAM licence?
and what would the cost be (if there is any) for the memberships??

Cheers
Tim

[FTO338]

I think is a fantastic idea, cause then we can have more variety event! hmmmm i think u also need to think about a marketing person for sponsorship, so we can have more funding 4 bigger & better event.

Cheers
Kev

[ruchi]

I'm all for it.

I used to be a member of another car club and had my CAMs license etc. It offers a whole new avenue of events and fun.

Go for it.

CAMS = Confederation of Australian Motor Sport
http://www.cams.com.au/

You need a CAMS license to get on a race track etc. As a proper car club, the members could get CAMS licenses and we could have get togethers at a race track, and drive on the track etc.

[JagerMarty]

Eassier acces to CAMS would be good, Mikey could organise a trip to Winton for us in Vic

[WILL]

Sounds great

Getting CAMS would be bloody good!!!

Instead of going to Winton we should go to Philp Island for track days.

[GPXXX]

all I wanna say is:

COUNT ME IN!

I'm sure there are other tracks we can attend other than Winton, such as Philip Island, Sandown, Heathcote and perhaps Calder??

..but yeh, a membership card would be an excellent start. If y'all are absolutely serious about this, I'll get started on this right away and hopefully we can have 'em ready by early next year or so...

[smorison]

Mikey,
i think first we need to discuss in this open forum, what people want from the club and form a strategy around that.

so please everyone tell us what you want from a club and we (mikey + me + whoever) will come up with a plan and present it to you.

This is your club so make sure you have your say!

[d_stroy_r]

everything sounds great...........but, whats the cost?

With the cams license u can get race spec cars from jap ey?

i want to know more about the cams license,thanx.

all in all a gr8 move, cause we have nearly 1000 members and if our group isn't seeing as a real car club especially after all the hardwork it must be to set-up such a world class forum.

so it's going to be a "Australian car club" or individual states?

We already have a leader in WA anyways.

[GPXXX]

With the cams license u can get race spec cars from jap ey?

i want to know more about the cams license,thanx.

don't tempt yourself into thinking that importing race-spec cars from Japan will allow you to drive them on public roads daily, because their registration only allows you to drive the vehicle on the road to and from official CAMS events (incl the actual event itself).

and also you will require a CAMS level-3 licence (which costs heaps $$$ to obtain) before you can bring them into the country.

[Robb]

Sounds like a ripper of an idea.... I think we can make this into a massive 'PROFESSIONAL' club provided... EVERYONE gets behind it cos I know that there are a lot of ppl in the club that we have never heard from... and that whole liability thing sound really good especially with the way I drive.... Muhahahahaahah hehehehehe haahahhhaah ~relises that its medication time~ :O

Robb...

[MADFTO]

Public Liability is always a headache =///

Anyways, always been interested in motor sport, always will be.

So CAMS certification is the path that I'm hoping the club will take, though it'll take a fair bit of work.

Buy yeah, if we can get a Mistu Based CAMS club together, and get some form of income going based on membership to keep the club going, this could take off.

[smorison]

for CAMS pricing goto the CAM's website (www.cams.com.au) there are different levels that can be obtained.

what i am trying to do is circumvent the CAM's requirements (for CAR club accreditation) by being affiliated (or a branch of) another car club. this will allow us to run Track days. This is the easiest way to get things done. It will also provide everyone with the ability to get a CAM's license if they want one and then participate in any track / hill climb / rally event they want to (assuming they have a valid CAM's license for that event).

cost well that i don't know yet that'll be part of the negotiation thing i have to start. i don't know what car clubs charge to be a member but i can't see us being any more expensive than your average club.

don't be fooled by our membership numbers of this site i estimate there are 100-150 active people here. If we actually get that number of people then every car club in australia would want us as a branch.

i see there being 2 levels of membership.

NonFinanical
access to site
can attend cruises and events
10-15% surcharge on events such as track days / hill climbs / rally's etc

Finanical
Cost: TBA
Access to site (special rank on site showing you are a financial member)
Can attend everything
No surcharge on events
Club card with discounts at named stores nationwide
Ability to vote at club Meetings (AGM / State Meetings)
Can be nominated and elected to a mangement position

i'm hoping the cost will be under 100.00 per year but as i've already said i have no idea what car clubs charge (if you do let me know)

does this align with what you guys have as an expectation?

[ruchi]

A few years ago, I used to be a member of the Toyota Car Club. From memory, the cost of the membership, which included the basic CAMS license, was $60/year

[Robb]

STEVE - I think what you are saying is definately a step in the right direction for the club... I think what we need is for peeps to put up their hands if they have any expertise that could assist you.. eg been a financial member of a club before.. have a friend affiliated with large car clubs that can give advise and so forth.. I dont think its fair if everyone expects you to organise everything NOT that I'm saying everyone thinks that... but with the amount of members we have surely there are ppeps out there that have first hand experience of the issues that are going to arise from this....

Ok that was my story... Damn this caffine is good.... next...

Robb...

[G1]

To put blatantly. who would not want to benefit from discounts on their performance upgrades? I probably could have got my brakes upgrade down from $470 to $400 - because they know that we will come back to them and give good reviews to the rest of the club.

i think just getting the basic membership organised for discounts would immediately benefit everyone, and lure more users to the club.

I suggest to get the basic membership out of the way (Phase 1)... then we will have an idea of how many of the 940 memebers are really interested and we can take it from there.

CAMs/public liability etc. (Phase 2) is going to be a slow and carefully planned process which will take some time to eventuate...

just my quick 2 cents

[GPXXX]

i totally agree with Jiwan on the membership... get the easy stuff out of the way first...

[Bluntman]

I also agree on the basic membership as well.... at least then we can slowly build ourselves up as a club.... the money from membership fees should also go back into the club to help the club
The club definiately needs some structure if it is going to grow, share the responsiblity around...

[Robb]

You got my vote...

Robb...