NorCal 86 Owners Club: Brainstorm and nominations for community leaders
 

Fellow NorCal owners,

I apologize in advance for getting long-winded here.

Our beloved 86/FRS/BRZs have only been out on the market for a short time but we’ve seen tremendous growth in our community and the enthusiasm we share is contagious. I’ve met with many of you at the annual, monthly and weekly meets and we have a great group of people here. Those of you whom I’ve spoken with, openly or privately, I think generally share the same belief: our community needs a more responsible, democratic, and open approach to the leadership of our NorCal 86 Owners Club organization.
What does this organization do? Well at a minimum it helps maintain an official identity for our local community. Here are some of the things the NC86OC can and does participate in:

• organize large scale meets within the NorCal community (i.e. annual meet)
• organize even larger scale meets with other communities (i.e. meet ups and events with SoCal, Las Vegas, Oregon, Washington etc.)
• manufacture and distribute NC86OC “official” merchandise to let members support and represent (i.e. stickers, shirts, etc.)
• organize community-oriented activities to give back to the community (i.e. toy drives, charity work, etc.)
• coordinate and contact with local businesses/shops to arrange group/club discounts or benefits
• raise funds in order to allow the above activities to take place.
• conduct other activities that are in keeping with the spirit/purpose of the organization.

So while the idea of having a club seems easy and fun, it quickly becomes a logistical challenge to those who are entrusted with maintaining it. Behind the scenes there is a lot of work, a lot of effort, time and stress. We need to find one, or several individuals who are willing to take on this challenge, for very little reward or benefit. We also expect these people to act in the best interests of the community, and be honest, open and transparent about their actions and what they are doing on behalf of the community.

So I’m throwing this out there to you all, do you have thoughts on how to best run our collective organization? What activities or principles are important to you? Would you be willing to take part in working to make this organization successfully function?

I’ll share a few ideas of my own on how we can select and self-govern our group.

• one traditional method is to elect a single president who would be in charge of most duties and perhaps select other officers (VP, secretary, treasurer) to support him or her.
• Another method would be select a member council or “board of directors” who would collectively run the organization.
• Since NC86OC should be a community-oriented organization and not a for-profit business, I believe anyone selected for such a responsibility should be selected democratically and for a limited term of service. Perhaps no limit on the number of terms they can serve, but they must be re-elected back into service as opposed to simply remaining on board without accountability. These individuals should receive little or no compensation for their service. (But should be reimbursed for costs they incur on behalf of the club)
• This one’s a little radical. I believe anyone who wants to take on the responsibility in the organization, should be willing to invest and put forth some of their own capital into the organization. One idea would be to have the president, or board members, etc. be required to deposit something, like say $100 into the club funds. This would allow the club to have a functioning budget and actually have means to accomplish things. And gives the leadership incentive to act wisely on behalf of the club. If at the end of the term of service, the club still has the funds to do so, the council or board would refund the deposit to the departing member. And new leaders would deposit their stake in turn.

These are my own opinions and I welcome anyone to disagree or suggest other opinions on how things could be done. The point of this thread is to open up the floor to all of you and get your input on how we could get things done.

TL;DR version - give us your ideas on what the club should be doing for you. And nominate leaders you think will advance the interests of the club. Or volunteer to do so yourself.

Thanks for your time!

I think you just nominated yourself as president just by making this post my friend :thumbsup:

Joking aside, I like the last idea (bullet point), making the officers/board members "invested" in the community/club. How that money is spent, on the other hand, is the more important thing to decide and make clear. All stake holders should be in agreement before funds are spent. For example, I think the fund can be used to front costs for the annual meet, but not necessarily merchandising if not all are in agreement.

I think you'd be a great President Plato!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

whoops. I thank you and anyone else who would think so, but I respectfully decline the nomination to be president. I have other obligations and priorities that would prevent me from doing so. I would not be against being a member of the board or council if we decided to go with that approach. But I do not want to be the numero uno El Presidente. :)

I nominate @finch1750 for the office of El Presidente. :thumbsup:

I second @finch1750 as well.

As I said before in the meets, you are the defacto BOSS! Even though you say you are not. :)

Didn't we already decide on Finch at the last drive :P

I think finch1750 a good canidate just because of the success of the toy drive alone. He represents the active part of Stockton. Of course we'll see what he thinks of this "expansion" of NC86OC

I would be more than happy to help out guys!

AKA I'll help finch.

i like the last bullet point too. i don't like voting. i think there aren't enough people that would vote mostly because they don't care. i mean i think they care about going to meets, they just don't want to be involved with the "politics" of voting and all that. which again i think it's better that people put in some cash to be "allowed" the ability to help make decisions. i would have nominated you too @PMok along with @MyRx. if we did vote then i'd totes vote for @finch1750 if he was interested.

also i hope it is at minimum 2 people so that the burden isn't just on 1 person.

I also vote for PMOK to be Prez. But if we're going with the board council then perhaps we should have each board member be represented from different parts of NorCal based on city or areas. This would help bring different perspectives to the board meetings. This board member would also represent their local 86/BRZers for event planning etc.

+1 for @finch1750 He did such a great job with toy drive.

Agreed, we (unfortunately) all have real lives with real responsibilities, etc. I would hate for this to be a burden for one person or even a couple people.

^This, having a couple of representatives from each area would be great.

+1. He also put together the rear subframe bushing group buy.

So how about @finch1750 and @PMok be Chairman and Vice Chairman of the board? :thumbup:

BunnyRZed is already the defacto community leader for the Sacramento area since you already own the thread for the Sacramento owners and was pretty much the first active member for the area.

And I said with finch1750 he represents Stockton and areas between east bay and Sac.

RC51ed along with PMok is active with the meets around the east and southbay.

I think an actual townhall meeting should be scheduled. Like at a Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, a Chinese buffet, someone's house or garage, etc.

Vote for @PMok and @finch1750 if they're willing to accept!

It'll be a puppet presidency... we all know who's really in charge :P

Thank you everyone for the support. I have discussed with some of you what I feel a club should be and I hope the Holiday ToyDRIVE was an indication of that. I am very interested in growing the community with large annual meets here locally as well as expanding to large meets with other locations. I traveled to 86Fest and 86Expo and know how much I enjoyed it. With events like 86Expo moving each year creating our own meets with other groups is a wonderful idea that I definitely think would be possible.

As others have said this is definitely not a one person job and I know there are many supporting members within the community to help build the NC86OC in the future. I am very open to how this functions and would definitely appreciate input from different regions in Norcal. Whether people would like an official board or more of a council I believe that a centralized leadership is needed and have the appropriate drive and time available to put into event planning and club activities. Most importantly is being transparent in how we function and being open to input from all members.

In short I believe in this community. As something I have not experienced with owner clubs before this car has attracted enthusiasts in the truest form of the word and that is something that makes me proud to be an owner. I want others to feel the same way about this car as I do and I would love to do that by helping progress the NC86OC.

Congratulations finch! You are the face of NC86OC:thumbup:

Lol

I nominate you to serve on the board as well. Cant overlook the work you do for the Sac group. :thumbsup:

wow it's great to see so much enthusiasm and great ideas already contributed. Let's keep the ideas and nominations coming, and give it a little more time... can't expect everyone to weigh in conclusively right away. So I'd suggest we let this remain open for a while longer (maybe a few days? through the weekend?) so more people get a chance to see and contribute to it. Remember this isn't necessarily the voting stage right now, we are still gathering input and sharing ideas/nominations.

But then I think we can probably start to make some decisions to move us in the right direction.
-Single leader, or multiple leaders?
-if multiple leaders, how many? and regional reps or just select by # of votes?
-balance of power. do we need unanimous vote to act or majority, or prez rules all?
-then election of leaders based on the nominations and maybe a chance for people to make official statements before the vote. (No, no electorial debates haha)

Sorry for bringing up the minutia here, I'm sure some of you just faded out haha. But these things could be very important to have us set the ground rules in place.

@dsmcustoms and I have a screen printing and sticker company.. We could help out with manufacturing if anything! :)

i think now that there should be a minimum of 3 people. they can decide things based on a 2/3 vote between themselves. i think there should be no maximum as long as there is a 2/3 vote to make decision although i don't see that being a big deal. i'm sure any people involved in this will be of reasonable personalities.

again i don't think we need to vote. i think it's enough for a person to volunteer to do it. because if you make it about votes then some people won't want to volunteer to be one of these people because they may be worried that no one will vote for them because someone else is more popular blah blah blah. that's why i don't think there should be a maximum number of people and i don't think there should be any major requirements of someone volunteering to do it unless there is a community outcry. but again that's just my opinion... :iono:

If you guys would like to try to organize events with the SoCal community I can help out. I talk with the guys from SoCal Southbay 86 group pretty often I know they would be happy to help out with getting events together I know they are really close with the SoCal community. I talked to them just now and they all said for me to help out with this. And once the norcal club gets started they would like to invite us to the groups 1 year anniversary if it's not to late and there is enough time. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Like other enthusiast in the community I'm willing to help out where I can to grow our wonderful community. With that said, we're still in the beginning stages of planning how things will operate so lets wait until that's done before we move forward with nominations etc. Thanks for your consideration.

I nominate @PMok @finch1750 @MyRx @BigFatFlip :P

I vote for @PMok Chairman @finch1750 President, @RC51ed Vice President, @MyRx Treasure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is by far one of the best threads in the NorCal section. :thumbup::thumbup:

If it is too large you run the risk of not being able to reach a concensus or it too much favoring one group. If there is a group of 3-5 key people to make decisions I think it will be the most fair and effective. They key to success is delegation from that point to get people more involved and then expand if needed down the road in terms of decision makeing. If someone wants to be involved start by contacting a board member and there is always tasks to be done. I do see your point about some being afraid if there is a vote though so I'm glad you brought that to the table.

I like the idea of trying to get people from the different areas and it seems like that can happen. I don't think it should be a requirement we have x number from a, b, c areas as there may not always be someone from the area willing or able to commit.

yeah of course and under normal circumstances i would agree with you, but under the current ones i can't imagine there being more than 3-5 people that would even want to do it due to how quickly this is apparently going to be decided and also based on how i feel like the general feeling of involvement a lot of members want to have toward leadership.

i just worry that there is the one member/lurker that reads all the threads and posts and has a ton to contribute, but is just scared to for xyz reason... :cheers:

Your probably right that not a huge number will step up to really make that a concern. I guess we can just wait and see who throws their name in or gets their name thrown in.

I think all the people listed above would make a fantastic Board of directors for NOC 86 club. I am interested in helping in events/planning/volunuteering. I use to be a VP of an association during my college days and I love this kind of stuff. please let me know if I can help in anyway!

Lol, I'm not sure I deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those other folks :P but like alot of folks here, I definitely would love to help out where I can :D

You should be! You're one of them who help started the community in the first place.:respekt:

Yup, as mentioned before I want to get involved. I'm a newer owner but definitely feel I have what it takes to contribute to the community. Please just let me know.

Let me start with i think a committee is the way to go. this way all of the responsibly is not on one persons shoulders.

+1 for this. I haven't been able to be a regular participant in the meets so my opinion is probably worth a grain of sand but the people listed above are by far some of the most active and influential people on the NorCal forum. Not only are they active they are always active in the most positive way which tells me they would be great leaders for promoting an active, responsible and respectable car club.

Also these people are all know for each of our major NorCal regions. This to me makes the most sense. Each person knows the "lay of the land" in their region and can make educated suggestions for meets/events in their respected areas.

+1 on the idea of board members having a stake in the club. companies have been doing this for years and it seems to work. workers with a stake in the company they work for almost always work harder.

Getting this together is awesome! :happyanim: I can't wait to see more events in NorCal :D and i'd be glad to help whenever i can

More SF people please. Kthx.

I can help out when I'm in town out here in Daly City and am here every other week… the opposite week I'm up in the Oregon/Washington area. I am hoping to get to know the Northwest 86 Owners and possibly serve as a liason between the NorCal and Northwest communities if we have any events :D

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I agree with the people quoted above. If possible, each major area would have a representative or two, and between them they vote on which position they would like to take responsibility for. The representatives could be voluntary or even voted upon in their own respective areas. Up to where they come from.

just my two cents. I have only participated in a couple drives so I don't know if it is can be done. But each drive I went on had a bunch of people from everywhere so it does sound like it is possible.

+1 for @BunnyRZed being Sacramento community leader