How about this clubs direction?

All though I began to create a new sections to the club, it is apperantly not needed. But read on because there is a lot of good stuff in here that will help develop our direction in the future>

Post your comments here; I am looking for feed back on starting a Suzuki divisin to our club, they are versital, cheap and easy to lift if you roll...LOL.

Tell me your stories.....

If you do that you need a board of directors. But its point less who ever said this was a jeep club to start with. We have members with Toyota's, Suzuki's, Jeeps's and just about half of the club has either a Ford or chevy part under there rig. This club needs a real deal board of directors (BOD) if its ever going to get anywhere. You need a

-president (the guy will over see the club as a whole)
-vice president (the guy that helps over see the club and help the board)
-treasure (someone good with money that keeps track of it and how it is spent)
-secretary (makes everything offical keeps note and record of all club actions, helps with the board with BOD meetings and keeping things organized)
-member at large (I thought I was that guy ) ( Rep. the members and make sure that the members have a voice in the BOD and to handle any comments or issues that club members have with the club)

Then below that needs to be assistant or junior directors that support trail rides, events, show detail and other club functions that need help

Real quarterly meetings and doing something will help with the growth of the club. Then if the club shows that if needs more support in its developement we can elect BOD member to rep. VA, PA and break down Maryland in to areas where club members live (i.e. Lots of members in the Fredrick area and lots in the the Balitmore area) That way if the club and a meeting and only one from that area can make it there voice is still heard thru there local rep.

Its a very simple system that has worked for years and years its a wonderful system that many of us know all to well and may hate at times but is what makes this country we leave in the most kick ass place to live. It works for clubs too

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a rant but its just what I had in mind. My .02 if you will thanks for reading.

Im alittle confused... What exactly are you talking about doing with this Suzuki division. What will be different in the club?

Man.. I could kept the buggy (sidekick powered) and Adams could of put their stickers all over it....

makitupthehardway wrote:

If you do that you need a board of directors. But its point less who ever said this was a jeep club to start with. We have members with Toyota's, Suzuki's, Jeeps's and just about half of the club has either a Ford or chevy part under there rig. This club needs a real deal board of directors (BOD) if its ever going to get anywhere. You need a

-president (the guy will over see the club as a whole)
-vice president (the guy that helps over see the club and help the board)
-treasure (someone good with money that keeps track of it and how it is spent)
-secretary (makes everything offical keeps note and record of all club actions, helps with the board with BOD meetings and keeping things organized)
-member at large (I thought I was that guy ) ( Rep. the members and make sure that the members have a voice in the BOD and to handle any comments or issues that club members have with the club)

Then below that needs to be assistant or junior directors that support trail rides, events, show detail and other club functions that need help

Real quarterly meetings and doing something will help with the growth of the club. Then if the club shows that if needs more support in its developement we can elect BOD member to rep. VA, PA and break down Maryland in to areas where club members live (i.e. Lots of members in the Fredrick area and lots in the the Balitmore area) That way if the club and a meeting and only one from that area can make it there voice is still heard thru there local rep.

Its a very simple system that has worked for years and years its a wonderful system that many of us know all to well and may hate at times but is what makes this country we leave in the most kick ass place to live. It works for clubs too

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a rant but its just what I had in mind. My .02 if you will thanks for reading.

It's been read. comments will be made in MP.

UPNOVER wrote:

Im alittle confused... What exactly are you talking about doing with this Suzuki division. What will be different in the club?

Man.. I could kept the buggy (sidekick powered) and Adams could of put their stickers all over it....

I will reply later to this question.

Yeah, this is the "Rock Raiders" not the "jeep raiders" or anything else like that. It doesn't specify jeep in the club guidelines either. I don't care what people drive as long as the vehicle is safe.

I'm confused also.

makitupthehardway wrote:

If you do that you need a board of directors. But its point less who ever said this was a jeep club to start with. We have members with Toyota's, Suzuki's, Jeeps's and just about half of the club has either a Ford or chevy part under there rig. This club needs a real deal board of directors (BOD) if its ever going to get anywhere. You need a

-president (the guy will over see the club as a whole)
-vice president (the guy that helps over see the club and help the board)
-treasure (someone good with money that keeps track of it and how it is spent)
-secretary (makes everything offical keeps note and record of all club actions, helps with the board with BOD meetings and keeping things organized)
-member at large (I thought I was that guy ) ( Rep. the members and make sure that the members have a voice in the BOD and to handle any comments or issues that club members have with the club)

Then below that needs to be assistant or junior directors that support trail rides, events, show detail and other club functions that need help

Real quarterly meetings and doing something will help with the growth of the club. Then if the club shows that if needs more support in its developement we can elect BOD member to rep. VA, PA and break down Maryland in to areas where club members live (i.e. Lots of members in the Fredrick area and lots in the the Balitmore area) That way if the club and a meeting and only one from that area can make it there voice is still heard thru there local rep.

Its a very simple system that has worked for years and years its a wonderful system that many of us know all to well and may hate at times but is what makes this country we leave in the most kick ass place to live. It works for clubs too

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a rant but its just what I had in mind. My .02 if you will thanks for reading.

I agree with Nester this a 4X4 club not a jeep only club. We voted people in once for all these jobs and nothing has ever happen. local chapters would be good it would make meetings easier for people.

X2

A meet and greet not on the trails would be a great idea, or a club meeting. I have met alot of you on the trails but would not recognize you with out the rig... I saw Joe and Nick at the Comp but did not recognize Nick cause he was not with "Locked and Loaded"

There are 73 members signed up, now I want you to look at how many replies there have been to this subject. This is the issue at hand when it comes to meetings too. Less than 10% show for anything organized, other than trials. I agree that a structured enviroment would be beneficial, but what, make us unique is how we are now.

I am glad I stured up the group, I like discussions and the comments I want to see more.....

Come on people you all have paid dues and are part of this club.. Tico is asking you to get involved...voice your opinions..

I pulled up the word club on the first online dictionary I googled at it said..

A group of people organized for a common purpose, especially a group that meets regularly


Tico has done all the hard work over the years to get all this started. Now its time for the majority to get involved and show him what else the CLUB MEMBERS can do to make MRR one of the largest 4WD organizations on the east coast. I just opened the mailbox and got my issue of UFWDA and the center pages of this magazine is a 2 page write up on the PA Jeep show. That is awesome.. Well next year this time wouldnt it be nice to see MRR's ADA run...

I talk to alot of wheelers from other clubs in this area and I can tell you that they have nothing on MRR.

Alot of mention about meetings and board of directors and I agree with all of you but there is only one way to make it happen. That is to show that these things you are asking for actually happen.. All these ideas have been done in the past and alot of the times no one takes the time to get involved.
How many members actually made it out to cut trails at Rausch? I can tell you that I can count the members on one hand. It was kind of embarassing.
I left the club for awhile and now I am back and I want to see it get even bigger than it is.. I have never been out with the group and not had a great time. I enjoy speaking to every member of MRR and I have always tried to help in any way I could..The best part of the club is being able to wheel with people you know and people you just met and then having rigs around you that are sometimes more capable than your own and others that are just starting.
The foundation is so strong and the materials to make this such a fantastic organization is at your fingertips. Why not get over the silliness or what ever it is that is stopping you from getting involved. I have the ability to be on and off line alot during the day and I constantly see members on and off the website but it is usually only a few that are constantly in contact.
Voice your opinions and get involved.. Its only to make YOUR club grow.

Sorry, but I had to spill my $.02 because I am tired of talking to Tico, Nester and a few others that are willing to speak up..

You have to have regular meetings to get people involved. If you throw one out there and none for a long time then who is going to show up. I attend the meetings almost every month in one of my other clubs. we gather around and eat pizza and bs for a couple hours. usually there are between 20-40 members there because it is a regular thing. And the other club I belong to has meetings regularly that I would attend to as well but considering it is an hour and twenty minutes each way it just isn't feasable to do that any more. It is nice to have a group you can drink beer, eat pizza and BS with on a regular basis outside of wheeling. If you put it together and keep the admin stuff brief and have it in a place that is fun to gather at then people will show. Oh yeah and have it at a time that doesn't conflict with traffic or football games. And the other club I'm with doesn't have meetings. we just wheel. Damn shame it takes 4 clubs to meet my needs.

Bill,
Are the members of your other clubs spread out as much as MRR. If so how do you work around that? Or what are your suggestions since you and Nester (only ones I know exactly where you live) are a good drive from Tico, myself and others.

I really like the people I have met here in that past few months. I think the MDRR name is a misnomer since we have people from at least 4 states and of various degrees of "uberness" (sorry Im also an online gamer)

If I may suggest VP based on geographical locations just to promote maybe quarterly functions or at least be the hingepin for any type of coordination be it group help me fix or just i need a bbq. But also VP's for builds -IE green/stock, black and blue mods, and beat me silly blacks.

I have always felt welcome here even running a stocker that needed maybe a dozen push/pull may first couple outings. I talk MDRR up all the time. The main thing I like about the club is I learn from the Chris Lloyds, Nestor, Matts etc that do the blacks and from Auction Paul (thats how I remember the name) that took me on my first black. But I like hanging with the Cam, Chicks, Mud boy who run the blues. But I also like they young bucks, the old farts and the families. We each get a little bit from each but also have different needs (ie Nestor, Chris wanting blacks but having to deal with us and sticking with us).

Heck even though we know we have the 2nd weekend of the month runs I like the fact that the Chics (ya I am going by the maybe more common screen name id) are putting together a run for this weekend taht i can take my daughter on. Also that Tico mentioned maybe even some fed land runs.

Bottom line I'll help where ever. maybe we need a sit down end of January after the holidays (well Im on vacation during the club run in january). We have great people - and Im here, now we just need the 10% to help Tico takeit to teh next level.

we had way more than 7 members at the last meeting

This pretty much sums up why I believe a separate club is not needed " A group of persons with a common interest organized for a social, literary, athletic, political, or other purpose " . Heck if you want to do that why split the club by the types of Jeeps. " A BROTHERHOOD OF OFF ROAD ENTHUSIASTS "
And the definition of Brotherhood "all those engaged in sharing a common interest ". I just do not see what purpose a separate club would serve. Now if we had enough members to support geographical divisions that would be understandable.
As far as meeting go I how valid or productive it could be being tagged on to a group outing. In the past car clubs I belonged to always had monthly or bi-monthly meeting separate from club function so no ones day got ruined by political BS, which sometime happens at club meetings.

Mark

UPNOVER wrote:

Bill,
Are the members of your other clubs spread out as much as MRR. If so how do you work around that? Or what are your suggestions since you and Nester (only ones I know exactly where you live) are a good drive from Tico, myself and others.

The baltimore club has a lot of local members but there are a few that have a long drive, one from hancock, MD. they dont' make all the meetings but they make a couple a year. with more meetings a year it is easy to make at least one meeting. The baltimore club also has a very structured meeting so you take care of business by an agenda and at the end there is time to bs. The Frederick/Annapolis club has 2 divisions of the same club so they don't has as much of an issue with the long drive. They meet only to have fun and may spend 5 or 10 minutes to clear up any issues they have. Since they meet monthly the agenda is usually very short. To get more people involved and especially with gas heading to $4 a gallon you could set up an online meeting/chat room to resolve some issues. I'd say take advantage of all the people online by discussing issures there but also have bimonthly meetings. It would only work if the club isn't controlled by just one person and the board would have to have some decision making power. I have no interest in participating in a board due to my busy schedule.

All right i'll throw my .02 then i'll shut up. First off having a board is pointless. What power would they have? To some it up they would have none. They would be more for show then anything, and this has been proven in the past. I'm going to take it a step futher and say having a president is pointless because when that person puts his foot down what can he do, nothing if the group of people he calls a club decides hes wrong. What makes a club work is when all the people in the club like each other and go out of their way to help each other. So basically what i'm saying is what makes the MRR a club is not that we all pay tico dues and he says that we can be in his club but the fact that we all like each other and get along. To prove this point if the MRR was dispanded tomorow would we all stop talking and wheeling together? We all know that awnser as NO. So the bottom line is if you want to keep this club going you need to make it a democracy were everybody has a equal say. Were important things a are brought up and round tabled till a happy medium is reached. A good example of this would be the ADA run. if the date would have been thrown up for a vote you would of seen alot better turn out. So now the question is do we continue on the way were going and continue fracuring out like we have been or do we change the way and adapt to a style that will hold up in the long term. I have no interest in being involved with the biggest club around but I do have a interest in being involved with people I enjoy to 4wheel with and socialize with.

I agree that the board should not be a Dictatorship...

But without dedicated jobs and individuals that are working to improve and make the club grow then nothing gets done and nothing gets accomplished..

How many people actually helped with the ADA run organization?

How many people actually showed up for the trail cutting?

How many people showed up for the Mid Atlantic meeting?


What happens if Rausch closes like Paragon did? Where are you going to wheel then? The clubs that are out there are helping to maintain what we have now.

Why did you join MRR in the first place??? Was it to find more people to wheel with? If the answer is yes and we dont continue to recruit and get new faces into the club than there will not be a place to find others to wheel with.

I just had a conversation with a guy today about another local club that was alot larger than it is now and due to some personality conflicts and lack of organization that club is loosing alot of its members..


We all get on here and talk about running blacks and rolling our rigs and breaking driveshafts and the new guys with the stock jeeps are looking at this and saying I cant take my daily driver out there and do that. Then if this continues how many members do you think will join next year? Wheeling with a club is alot more than running blacks every time out.

A club is not about just wheeling with a core group and excluding the rest of the people around you... Thats the problem....

first off the reason paragon closed was because the people who were renting the land to PAP decideded to sell that land. Their was nothing that anyone could do about that unless they were a judge hearing that case. And honestly if the people who own RC decide to do the same theirs not a damn thing we can do about it. Thats the reality of this world. As for trail cutting that was one day, in how many years. schedule a couple more before you can get an Idea of whos working on it and whos not. The ADA is a mute issue due to conflicting dates of other runs that club members wanted to attened. As for running the black trails, if that what some members want to do, thats what they want to do. Why should you stop them from doing it. we all pay good money to go up and wheel. why should those with the more capible rigs who have payed to make them more capable and payed to be in the park be obligated to run green and blue trails. Expecially when their are members of the club who don't mind running those trails with the new guys. Lastly why are you so worried about the new members, be more concerned about the ones you have. You make a great club with what you have others will want to join.

Last post edited... Its not worth it.. You totally lost the point..

1. Never said you shouldnt wheel what you want.. Most harder runs are set up behind the scenes.. We all do it.. I said we should concentrate on newbie getting involved..

2. Never said Paragon was anyone's fault but their own.. Have you heard of certain clubs wheeling on private land? We need to get involved.

3. "Why am I concerned with the new guys".

--to quote a new guy without saying names..
"I was going to comment but I felt I was too new"

I enjoy the club and my OPINION is that we need to get more involved with club and help it grow.. My OPINION is that a board will help...

md4wheelin wrote:

All right i'll throw my .02 then i'll shut up. First off having a board is pointless. What power would they have? To some it up they would have none. They would be more for show then anything, and this has been proven in the past. I'm going to take it a step futher and say having a president is pointless because when that person puts his foot down what can he do, nothing if the group of people he calls a club decides hes wrong. What makes a club work is when all the people in the club like each other and go out of their way to help each other. So basically what i'm saying is what makes the MRR a club is not that we all pay tico dues and he says that we can be in his club but the fact that we all like each other and get along. To prove this point if the MRR was dispanded tomorow would we all stop talking and wheeling together? We all know that awnser as NO. So the bottom line is if you want to keep this club going you need to make it a democracy were everybody has a equal say. Were important things a are brought up and round tabled till a happy medium is reached. A good example of this would be the ADA run. if the date would have been thrown up for a vote you would of seen alot better turn out. So now the question is do we continue on the way were going and continue fracuring out like we have been or do we change the way and adapt to a style that will hold up in the long term. I have no interest in being involved with the biggest club around but I do have a interest in being involved with people I enjoy to 4wheel with and socialize with.

UPNOVER wrote:

Last post edited... Its not worth it.. You totally lost the point..

1. Never said you shouldnt wheel what you want.. Most harder runs are set up behind the scenes.. We all do it.. I said we should concentrate on newbie getting involved..

If you paid to go skiing and were restricted to the bunny trails every time you went out then why go skiing?

2. Never said Paragon was anyone's fault but their own.. Have you heard of certain clubs wheeling on private land? We need to get involved.

Paragon's fault is "the system and politics", it was all about the buck and dirty polititians with a financial gain in mind. I don't know of any clubs wheeling on private land. if you know of any then sure, we could get involved.

3. "Why am I concerned with the new guys".

--to quote a new guy without saying names..
"I was going to comment but I felt I was too new"

I enjoy the club and my OPINION is that we need to get more involved with club and help it grow.. My OPINION is that a board will help...

Yeah, but a board has to have decision making power. if a decision is made by the board and the president doesn't change it then what good is a board? New members are important but do you open your doors to everyone. Most clubs have minimum requirements for attending a meeting and attending at least one event and then being voted into the club. Except Maryland Jeep Club, they let everyone in but that is a different story.

As far as trail cuttings I don't mind doing that and have been to 2 at Paragon and 2 at Rausch Creek but when it comes down to it they are in the business for the money. I support them by being a paying customer. I just bought an annual pass even though I may not benefit from it fully. We do have united and mid atlantic 4 wheel associations to help with issues of access to public lands etc. You can become involved there and everyone should be a member and if possible attend the meetings so our voices are heard.

What do you mean when you say Do you open your doors to everyone? Why not? As long as they meet the Bi-laws and treat everyone fair.


Would it be better to require meetings?

Joe said that a board is not necessary and you salute that with a beer but then you say that board needs more power..

I think there is more to the story here that I dont know and I dont think I want to know...

The Rausch trail cutting had nothing to do with benefiting Rausch. I went because I wanted to get involved. The point I was making was that if we get together and do some of the things other groups do to make 4 wheeling a better sport than that helps the 4 wheeling community and gets our club involved.

UPNOVER wrote:

The Rausch trail cutting had nothing to do with benefiting Rausch. I went because I wanted to get involved. The point I was making was that if we get together and do some of the things other groups do to make 4 wheeling a better sport than that helps the 4 wheeling community and gets our club involved.

I totaly agree with you on this part. I'm just disagreeing with you on how the club should be run thats all. I think we should have a semi mandatory meeting one friday or saturday night in the near future so everyone can discuss this and come to a conclusion on what direction the club is going to head in. Second thought we can kill to birds with one stone and make it a x-mas party also