affiliation

[Flash]

thank you Janet, I have read both the suggestion April VMCC meeting and the fact nothing would be happening July meeting VMCC, however at the July meeting 'tis quite complimentary the reasons given and maybe the discussion should be aired on this medium, I cannot see it being contentious I,m sure we all want for the betterment, if possible, of the club even though as I often state I believe this is probably one of the most informative clubs to which I belong, I also say that being frugal with facts and information from the committee of the VMCC is causing considerable ire among the membership kind regards .

May I suggest that if you want (betterment for the club) then why don't you support the AJS/Matchless owners club more, by trying to encourage more owners to attend the local branch (which you don't seem to want to be involved with). With all due respect, the only reason I can see why you want to merge with the VMCC is because of your involvement with them, this club would not benifit at all by comming under one banner, in fact, I beleive would dilute the one name clubs altogether.

[GOLDSTAR]

what on earth is your tirade about John?,
I made no wish to affiliate with the VMCC I am a member of the VMCC, I simple raise a question of approach to the VMCC which hadn't been aired on here certainly didn't warrant a tirade of nonsense from you,
exploring avenues to better the club if possible must be a legitimate move wherever it is made
should you wish to know why more folks don't support you just look at the local BSA section you became acidic to.
kind regards

[Flash]

Richard.
I was not getting angy with you personally, it was your suggestion that we, as a club should affiliate with the VMCC and as for the BSAOC local branch, it was not only me that resigned from that, Peter Twyman, international secretary, god rest his soul, also resigned and you know why.
If you want the full details, I'll give them to you but you would not appreciate them, so I would not publish them on this forum.

Regards John

[GOLDSTAR]

read my posting again John, if you cannot understand it I'm sure there are those who will explain it to you in simple syllable's. I won't comment on Peter.
Kind regards

[pkr87]

Steady Boys. This is the sort of sniping that I read about in the V.M.C.C. magazine and it has achieved nothing there. At grass roots level I am a happy V.M.C.C member but do not wish to be involved with all the politicking. Involvement with any club that has problems can only be a disadvantage for us. Regards. Paul

[ajscomboman]

Reading the original posting by Goldstar I too am rather worried that the club chairman felt the need to go down the VMCC route given their previous history. Having a meeting with other club chairmen/women is fair enough but reading the minutes from the VMCC it clearly went further than that. What's more or possibly worse is it's rumoured to have taken place without full committee consent/approval. The other point raised by Goldstar is that the membership wasn't given any heads up on this matter to voice their opinions beforehand. Whilst it's clearly obvious that not every decision made by the management should have to go to the main membership beforehand (they are after all voted in for that reason) a radical shake-up of the status quo should always be with the consent of the membership.
As a club we've spent decades forging our own individual identity and to merge under the umbrella of the VMCC or the like would ultimately end up with us losing it. It's fair to say that we, like many other clubs, do suffer from the lack of willing volunteers to run the management side but rather than merge/pay for professionals to fill post maybe we need to think about scaling back operations. Sell off the parts operation, close down Kettering and simply produce a monthly mag and run scaled down Jampots or drop them completely? The club would still exist (given we currently have 3500 approx members I'd say it's healthy) but it'd be more web based with sections possibly getting together to host and run various events (much as they do now). The requirement for all the equipment to be stored and transported from Kettering isn't strictly needed as Hampshire have run very successful Jampots and Alternatives without support, true the cost for the event would be more but a small sacrifice.

Have we reached a turning point in our history?

[Rob Harknett]

I think Rob has hit the nail on the head about a turning point of the club.
I have hinted upon this. e.g. The club was first formed for AMC machine owners. The machines at the time, quite new. By the late 60's early 70's there was a decline in membership. The club almost folded. Committee members at the time using there own money to fund and keep the club going. This led to a turning point when members became owners of then, old machines. They became restorers, to ride machines, mainly for pleasure. There was a new demand for many more spare parts. It was during the second phase membership age started to rise. We have now begun a third phase, members now becoming collectors. This has led to a fall in members riding machines and attending runs and rallies. Mainly due to the ageing membership. I firmly believe the strong will survive. That's us. As time goes by we will adjust to this new era. We will adjust events to suit the new era. e.g. rules at events springs to mind, like Alterative rally rules, which has come under question. For this rally to survive, changes will be need to be made. Spares will also adapt to a new demand upon what is needed. In other areas there may need to be changes and cost cutting. I think the well established sections will also have a role to play in organising more local events. Like of long ago really. But now for a different reason. That being, our aging membership no longer wish to travel great distances. So we do need to be a little patient, while we evolve into a new era.

[242017]

Turning point is one thing....Being a small club under the "guidence of the VMCC is quite another....I for one would not like to have anything to do with that organisation

[Rob Harknett]

Turning point is one thing....Being a small club under the "guidence of the VMCC is quite another....I for one would not like to have anything to do with that organisation

I do not think we are at the stage we need any help from any other club. A bit more help from our own members would be good, you are the club. It is from the club a committee is formed. Or not as present trends seem to imply. That's is one of the main reasons most clubs have in common and that needs to be addressed. Rest assured we are well aware the VMCC also has problems as have other clubs. That is in fact any club of any interest.

[Janet]

Turning point is one thing....Being a small club under the "guidence of the VMCC is quite another....I for one would not like to have anything to do with that organisation

I know very little about the VMCC, only what is in the public domain, but I would fight fang and claw to remain an independent club. That doesn't mean I'm opposed to sharing information with other clubs, and by that I don't mean documents and such like. Perhaps I should better use the word 'knowledge'. For example, if any of the clubs ( the VMCC is only one) is having to pare down the huge list of candidates volunteering for committee/worker posts, it may be useful for us to discover what they're doing that is so attractive. Clearly, having a marvellous female president isn't sufficient.

I don't know who wrote the piece Roy posted and I can't comment on it except to say that it doesn't correspond with my understanding of the purpose of the meeting. It also doesn't mention the approximately 20 other clubs who attended. Certainly their idea of 'confidential' and then having it publicly posted on the internet wouldn't fit with my definition. I'm aware that no-one will believe me, but no changes have been made, no decisions for any changes have been made, and no proposal for any changes have been made.

As the newbie on the committee last year with most other key members being relatively long-standing, I'm beginning to think there may be something personal ill-feeling going on towards the new kid on the block and I feel a little empathy with Theresa May. I suppose I should be grateful that Grant Shapps isn't a member of our club or it will be a race to see whose term of office ends first.