I prefer to improve the current club....starting a new one won't fix
anything.
dan
On Jan 1, 2008, at 9:05 PM, AJ DeMarzo wrote:
Hi Wayne;
You've grasped the main concept of my inquiries. This forum in and
of itself is a conduit among owners and enthusiasts and any type
club would be overwhelmed to utilize it as another resource. Look
at the member numbers! I just keep asking myself why a plain old
Yahoo Group has more to offer than a type club? It's the times,
they are a-changin'. And don't worry. The EOC sees everything
that's here.
Some will take offence at the comparison but on the independent
Bonanza email list, the society president, a few directors and one
staffmember are regular contributors. They participate as friends
and colleagues to all, which they are, no different. No dictators
there, they aren't tolerated. If the mother club is slammed, which
happens whenever deserving, the exec is right there explaining or
disputing and fully expects to take her lumps when necessary. No
holding back, no problem, no retaliation, let's meet for coffee
after the discussion ends. When we want to be left alone and
discuss things, she's informed and respects the wish. (We like to
think we chased her away, but we know better!)
If you're new to this type of media, the message is that these
lists equal power and the smart entities see the need not only to
monitor and react but to respect the momentum they carry. It's a
byproduct of the internet age. Don't forget about the story of the
great French bridge builder!
There are different strokes (interests) for different folks.
Mechanical for Wayne, social for others but what's the difference?
A good club should be many things for many types of people. If one
is happy with it's operation, then one continues their support and
renewals. If not and adjustments can't be made, then the support
is just turned off. I can call a spade a spade and admit that
asking "How does this benefit me" before sinking dollars into
anything, including pizza. Nothing personal, just business.
Here's a valid question for folks. Just personal opinion so go
ahead and try to post an answer. Would you rather work with the
old club toward real genuine improvement or would it be better at
this point in time to begin with a fresh face and a new mission
statement more aligned to what the owners now want (which may be
the same as what they've always wanted)? Not a solicitation, just
looking for opinions.
I'm not afraid to kick it off. My own feeling is that I would like
to see the old club enter the new year properly. But, if real
progress wasn't demonstrated in a reasonable amount of time, I
would have no qualms about supporting a brand new one that is more
attuned to modern ownership. One that would be willing and able to
capitalize on the fantastic opportunity that has been presented.
I'll also say that Al DeMarzo has little faith in the ability of
the current type club to be able to initiate change based on what's
been I've seen over the past number of years. That's why DeMarzo
isn't a member. Maybe I'll once again give the benefit of the
doubt and ante up, I haven't decided. See, this discussion may
even get me to open the wallet for another chance!
And I'm also curious about the number of list members who are
following this. Knowing that the large majority are here for the
education and would rather not post, I see we're missing some of
the regulars in this discussion.
Al DeMarzo
Visit the Ercoupe Swap Page - Free and Easy
http://www.ercoupeowners.com/swap/swapbook.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 7:25 PM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-flyin] EOC
In a message dated 1/1/2008 5:41:53 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]:
I do not find it strange that there is seldom if ever input by any
EOC officials.
Lee,
I, for one, find it very strange. From what I can tell, this Yahoo
mailing list is "the" means of communication between Coupe
enthusiasts. Certainly there is more up-to-date technical
information, questions, news, advice, etc, etc, distributed through
this mailing list than by any other means. I would think that
anyone who was publishing a monthly Coupe newsletter would be
monitoring this list, participating in it, soliciting more
information for inclusion in the monthly newsletter, asking people
to write articles about their recent projects or flying
experiences, etc. I would think that when someone mentions that
they just upgraded their original Goodyear brakes to Clevelands, or
replaced all the Plexiglas in their plane, for instance, that
person might be contacted by the newsletter editor(s) and asked to
write up the details of that little project, or at least provide
all the details so that a good informative article could be written
in the newsletter. What did it cost? How many hours did it take,
where did the parts come from? How happy are you with the results?
Why did you decide to upgrade? Etc, etc.
I'm no expert on Coupes, but over the past several years I've done
a few things on my plane (like 1800 hours worth of labor on a
complete restoration) that I've mentioned more than once on the
mailing list, and nobody from the newsletter has ever contacted me
or asked me to contribute a thing to the newsletter. Maybe it's
due to some other reason, but I've interpreted this as a general
lack of interest. Either not enough interest to read the mailing
list, or not enough interest to follow up on anything that's
posted. Yes, I know, I could write an article and send it in, and
I've done that, but why isn't this type of info actively pursued by
the editor(s)? I honestly don't know the answer to that question,
and it is not my intent to bash or attack the editor (or editors).
Like I said before, Coupe Capers has been around for years and
years, and I applaud anyone who has the stick-to-itiveness to
publish a monthly newsletter for that length of time. I've always
believed that if you're not doing at least what the next guy is
doing, then you don't have the right to complain about what that
guy is doing or not doing. And I sure don't have 50 or 100 extra
hours a month to publish my own newsletter, as much as I would like
to.
My original point was, and continues to be, that I'm just not
interested in paying $30.00 a year to get a newsletter that doesn't
hold my interest any more. And it's not the $30.00. I'll probably
spend $30.00 tomorrow just to have $10.00 worth of gaskets sent to
me by overnight mail so I can go flying on Saturday.
There's been a whole lot of discussion about this subject over the
past few days, and prior to that it has been discussed on and off
for years. My interest in the EOC newsletter has been fading over
the past several years, and it's to the point now where I'm just
not interested in renewing. I have to admit that I'm more
interested in technical content than social content - I guess
that's just the engineer in me - and many people might not have any
interest at all in technical info. So it may be that the current
newsletter is fulfilling the needs of the majority of its readers.
If the EOC adds some good tech info, adds some features like a
detailed "plane of the month" article, adds some real reporting on
upgrade projects and rebuilds, etc, to Coupe Capers I'll happily
continue (and contribute) with that. Heck, I think I've been
reading Coupe Capers for 30 years now. It would be a shame to
quit now.
Best Regards,
Wayne DelRossi
Alon N5618F
Hours logged since restoration: 347.5
"Nobody has ever scientifically proven that life is supposed to be
serious."
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