Club Direction

[robG]

I think I'm with Rob (was it?) who questioned the payback of kit for a club stand, but that's only an opinion. Maybe we look at this again when we've got numbers on new members from Utoxeter? Can I make another suggestion? Lets get some business cards we can dish out to prospective members anywhere?

Merchandise is risky, Stock can be on the books forever but it sounds good. Can I suggest we need something humorous/different along the lines of the MZ club "wouldn't be seen dead on one of those" or our own "Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow" rather than your basic club logo on a mug? If we all buy a shirt or mug and profits go to the stock, we start at break even? Paypal waiting here, especially if I can pay my subs at the same time. Super membership with a T-shirt?

Andy

If I read this right , Andy ,what I'm suggesting is any profit from kit sales goes towards The maintaining of the website and other administration .The purchase of banners etc , which will be used now and again , is some what frivolous to say the least,IMHO of course.
I agree merchandise is risky.What I propose is nothing is ordered without prepayment . As to the format then yes , a limited range . As I say , I'm happy to take this on and take it forward . Keep it simple ,with a tight rein .

Rob .  

[beeman]

I'm with Andy M it seems a lot of common sense. I like this club for exactly the same reasons.
Being Hamstrung financially etc I rarely have a day off at the weekend so attending anything at the moment is impossible. This makes the forum my only link with the club and will be for a while, but I would be happy to pay subs to let the club continue in its own meandering way.
beeman

[Andy M]

Keep it simple ,with a tight rein .
 

Sounds good 

Minimum order quantities are the usual issue. If you get to the point of needing suppliers drop me a mail. I've some contacts who do our freebies at work that might do a mates rate deal. On mugs they seem to talk in 50's, on shirts it gets gets cheaper at 50 but they will do 10's. I don't think we really want 2500 Thumperclub pens!

Andy

[guest7]

Interesting stuff. What's worrying is that several people hadn't realised that you've been able to pay a reduced internet-only subscription for a while now. You get no paper and your sub only covers the website and PLI costs.

The other thing to consider is that when we last put this to a vote a lot of members opted to stick with the higher sub and paper newsletter. One problem with the debate here is that it's here, online, and doesn't include the members who are not on the 'net and/or prefer not to visit the forums. A consensus of forum users isn't enough to dictate club policy.

If we turn our back on the show issue and concentrate on the membership details, the simple fact is that an internet option exists and was included in the manifesto. That, surely is enough to satisfy the concerns raised above? If a member wants to interact with the club without using the 'net then they can opt to pay a higher sub which fully covers the cost of their printed newsletter, etc. The internet members would not be paying for the paper members.

Given this I feel that the arguments are groundless. I can't see why the internet members would deny other members access to the club if there was no additional financial burden.

In an attempt to set this in stone, if you want an internet club then pay the internet sub. The maintenance of the 'paper' members needn't concern you, nor cost you any money. The work that is required to maintain an internet club is mostly conterminous with the that required for a 'paper' club.

GC

[guest7]

Minimum order quantities are the usual issue.

There's way much more to it than that. I'm lucky in that my wife is a print specialist and she guided me through our early forays in merchandise. Without her advice our shirts would probably be the same sort of lacklustre digi-print items that other clubs knock out. Hands up how many members are still wearing club t-shirts many years after they bought them, lots I'm guessing. We went for the quality route and to do this you need to pre-order set amounts of kit. We stuck with screenprinting because it gives the best quality, but you can't order 4 shirts at a time, you have to order a batch to make the price attractive. Digi-printed shirts are cheap, can be ordered in ones or twos, but will not last beyond a couple of years.

I'm not sure we've had a problem with merchandise, other than the fact that we haven't renewed our stocks for while. What we had sold well and was well-made.

Funding the club through merchandise is a risky venture. Merchandise can supplement the funds, but sometimes, if the stock lays unsold, it can deplete resources. Trust me, I know. The subs are the only guaranteed way to meet costs.

I'll do a bit of calculating later and get back to you on what the two rates of membership are likely to be. In each case the amount will cover costs and no more. As I have said, we cannot consider operating the club without PLI cover and, from experience, the most effective (and cheapest) way of getting this is via MAG or the BMF. Let's see what the subs will be before getting het up about PLI.

GC

[guest7]

IMHO I think it's time to move on. We had some excellent times at the Annual Rally, but times have changed.

Okay, point taken, but if we all just turn up at Dent would the meet be as enjoyable as previous rallies without Steve D's magnificent organisation? Would it be as much fun without the Marquee, the food, the hot drinks on tap and the organised rideouts?

GC

[guest18]

Still mulling over many of the other issues but I have to say the club merchandise has always been excellent, a possible option to printed clothing I might suggest is embroidered logos, something we tend to always use at work. Looks good, lasts and if you go to the right place can be a similar price to printed (sometimes cheaper!)
Although not as cheap as they once were I've had good service from Lizard workwear (now Safety direct iirc) in Swansea. No minimum order, no setup charge and decent gear (also a forces discount if you know any servicemen/women.... )

[robG]

IMHO I think it's time to move on. We had some excellent times at the Annual Rally, but times have changed.

Okay, point taken, but if we all just turn up at Dent would the meet be as enjoyable as previous rallies without Steve D's magnificent organisation? Would it be as much fun without the Marquee, the food, the hot drinks on tap and the organised rideouts?

Totally agree Gc ,and I for one will be forever in Steve D 's debt as a result of the magnificent greeting myself and the memsahib had , having swum to Dent in 2007.The hot meal and drink was fantastic.,but people can only do this for so long due to the time and commitment required to organise such an event.Times have changed and I think we can draw up quite a calender of informal events between the members ,across the country to allow the maximum opportunities for members to meet and socialise .
No one is saying that there is a problem with merchandise ,but whats available ?How much ?How do I get it ? I can't be the only one to be asking this.What I said earlier was any profit from merchandise goes towards the running of the club , not fund it .That would be asking too much .Any monies raised are ploughed straight back in . Merchandise is an easy way to raise money.It has no other purpose ,I mean it's not free is it.If stock remains unsold then it's not being punted correctly . Other clubs advertise and push the merchandise . It's not being driven by money ,but nothing sells if it's in a box in someones house .

Rob .  

[Andy M]

Okay, point taken, but if we all just turn up at Dent would the meet be as enjoyable as previous rallies without Steve D's magnificent organisation? Would it be as much fun without the Marquee, the food, the hot drinks on tap and the organised rideouts?

GC

Without wishing to in any way denegrate Steve D's magnificent efforts, my answer would be yes. Llanthony, while smaller due to the time of year has been one of the best bike events I've ever done and that of course lacks all the "extra's" so thoughtfully laid on at Dent. I sure we all appreciate Steve D's effort, but to me the main item in what he organised was the camping, we turned up knowing there'd be space (not a problem in Novenber if we know it's open, a huge problem in July). After that, I think it's the usual horrid question of what people want to do. If we are trying to get new members, I'd ask if we are trying to meet their expectations based on other clubs or trying to introduce them to the TC way of doing it?

Apologies if it was me who started the confusion over net membership. It's a personal thing, I understand the differences and fully support them, I'd simply be willing to pay full price for the net only if I still avoided bits of paper. Add a box to the membership renual and I'll add a voluntary contribution to the tune of the difference.

You are spot on with the notion that the people here are only part of the club. I do hope my comments are only taken as the views of one member, not in any way trying to change the club in a way that would reduce it's value to the guy's who aren't active on line.

Andy

[guest18]

Some interesting points, as someone who often travels quite a long way to attend the annual rally I'm all for informal meets around the country (up here is good  ) but I still think there should be one nominated rally/event/meet which is designated as the primary "annual". What form that should take is very much open to debate, there is nothing wrong at all with tacking onto a pre-existing event for instance.
If we meet up at the Dragon/Elefant/Monotreffen etc etc etc then good, but it's nice to have a primary event to pen into the calendar.

As always, imho and only the opinions of an individual member 

[guest7]

t's not being driven by money ,but nothing sells if it's in a box in someones house .

That's not the case with us, from what I know we are simply sold out. Boyd would know more about this, I believe he was the last custodian of the club t-shirts, badges and patches.

GC

[squirrelciv]

Well that seems to be sorted then. Out of 242 forum members we had a brief debate consisting of 10 contributors and shall be forging blindly ahead to where we started

A result! Everyone of us would fair well in Brussels.

Me, I'm off to my shed, safe there.

Just incase this should continue may I state for the record...I AGREE TO EVERYTHING!!

(Exit stage left)

[robG]

Oi !

You can't just bury your head in your shed . You started this .


Rob .

[002]

I've got a sore head.....!!!!

  Does that count ?   Got to get a new hat too!


Jethro

[guest24]

My turn. Erm, I want the club to continue. I also want to one day come to another rally, as my record to date is very poor to say the least!! I am happy to pay full membership as a proper fanzine is nicer to read. Oh, the Manifesto makes sense as well.