I'm gonna ask this question here as I have asked and never got a proper answer.

 

Where does the money from membership/traders fees and advertising go?

I'm aware that there is a cost to maintain websites etc etc but surely the income must far exceed the outgoings from what I can see

 

To be honest I don't feel that the "club" does much in the way of hosting events, this isn't a dig just an observation.

 

Jae 2015 was to be honest a poor attempt by the club IMO

 

We attend public shows as a club but don't seem to organise much as a club dedicated event

 

Don't get me wrong here anyone I appreciate every thing that anyone has done to bring club members together but I feel that with what the club receives in income there must be more that can be done??

 

I could be wrong here but IMO from what I've seen in the last couple of years and chats I've had with others, the club has lost its way a bit?

 

For me club events are an important part of owning cars such as the Z32, and there needs to be more done by the committee to include members from across the country.

 

There are members down south west (you know who you are) that have literally one event a year close by which is Beaulieu, (one of the better gatherings luckily) and that isn't a club event either.

 

Club members are spread far and wide across the country and I bet most would be willing to travel a few miles to a good club event,not one with a tent,crap food,no music and no atmosphere.

 

As said nothing written above is meant to upset anyone or point fingers, it's just something I wish to put out there to hopefully improve the 300zx.co.uk experience :thumbup:

I think a better title would be

'Can we get some more events this year' or 'how can we make the club experience better'

 

Even though you said take no offense, you are still insulting people by saying some events were poor and badly organised there seems to be a lack of effort, even from a very small under manned committee.

 

The comments on Jae have already been discussed and it was pretty much the same answer all round so I insulted nobody, and the reason for my thread title was to attract attention as it has.

If you actually read my op fully it clearly states that I'm not out to upset anyone or suggest that running a club is easy, it's time consuming, time which most people never see put in by the people who make it what it is.

 

But please don't have a go at me for taking the time to actually post what I feel are common thoughts amongst members, if we as a club cannot look back at events and learn how to improve on them then that's very sad.

 

I feel that I'm only saying what a lot of people are thinking. Maybe I'm wrong.....I'll take my chance.

I also agree that the JAE stand could of been much better to promote not only the club but to draw people in to look at the cars.

 

If the events was more organised I think we would have a much better stand and turn out as well as a better following for the z32 it self.

 

Having events that people can enjoy and want to be included in would also bring the members of the club closer together!

 

Even if a raffle or car of the day/ weekend with a small prize would make people appreciate the membership more it's just an idea

I think jae 2016 needs it's own thread really, moving on from last year, as it's more then a committee issue, as members we need to talk to each other, it was my first year on the club stand, and I was pretty bored really, but nothing that we can't improve on this year, I've tried to get Nissan corporate involved but they aren't really interested, Beaulieu might be a different story though. If JAE is a flagship show maybe we should start sorting it sooner rather then later, particularly as it's now more expensive lol.

 

 

had alot of involvement in my previous club, ADL racing, but due to dwindling membership it's a dying club, but I know how much effort goes into running a small club let alone one this size

 

Although as the NEC event is costing so much money, wouldn't it be better to run a poll or something to choose the cars we put forward? Not that I'd put mine its in as there are far better ones out there but seems like something that the members should have a say in? Just a suggestion.

 

I personally enjoyed the Coventry anniversary event, great turn out, location wasn't bad, museum etc, club competition/ raffle, if that's the aim of the dedicated zed event then I'm there.

Choosing the cars for NEC was put forward in a thread to see if any member would be interested, the proviso though is that the car remains for the full weekend from set up and your time on the stand, which i guess then ruled alot of interested parties out.

 

We were lucky enough to have had 4 great examples to show for the weekend, unfortunately Lee didnt make it for reasons we are all aware of. We are able to accommodate more and get a larger stand, but the commitment would need to be made early on and follow through.

 

2014 was the first year we tried showing at the NEC and after a great weekend and interest, it was deemed a valuable tool for aiding the promotion of the marque and the club. Showing at the NEC isnt the financial issue, but accommodating the owners for the weekend is a large cost, but one that is necessary to attract members to show their cars in the first place.

 

JAE has always been a bone of contention, but lack of a dedicated NEO or JAE specific team recently has been an issue in moving forward to make it a better experience for the members.

 

Yes we could have flashing lights and music, play movies or video games, but its supposed to be a social event, drinks and chat etc..

I personally dont think that JAE will raise the Z32 profile as all the Japheads there already have their direction and i dont think as many members of the public attend as they used to in the past.

Shows like Beaulieu are perfect as the site lends itself to petrol heads in every way, in August, usually great weather to boot, which really makes a big difference IMO.

JAE in mid September up North in a field in a tent, doesnt really do for me anymore. The first JAE i went to was Mersea island at the end of August in 2008 and the weather was fab, which made the whole weekend enjoyable and back then we had a BBQ some tables and chairs and that was it.

Its the members who make a great weekend along with the weather, i personally feel JAE has had its day, but we as a club will still have a stand for our members who want to attend, but no point in spending a couple of grand for a handful of people to to camp for the weekend lol

 

Any suggestions for an event we can either host or attend is always welcomed :thumbup:

Firstly ignore my title as NEO. I stepped down almost a year ago due to family commitments.

 

Right - I dislike JAE immensely. Have been with 3 different clubs and it's always been crap. Problem with JAE is its essentially just camping in a field with the onus on the clubS to provide entertainment. Which is very personal taste . Can't please everyone.

 

Now more onto the OP's point. Money.

It would be great to spend cash on good dedicated events. But be realistic. We're a small club.

We can't afford something on the scale of the SXOC weekender - that costs almost £19k to put on. And even with charging members £250 it still loses money.

 

In my opinion the club's money should be spent subsidising tickets to the various UK events already in place.

 

Dedicated events are awkward. It took me a lot of effort to organise Coventry 25th. And I had to fight like hell to get 50 cars there. And the amount of people who said they'd come and then just didn't bother was infuriating.

So imagine if the club did that on a larger scale, threw a few grand at it, and then only a handful of people showed up.

 

Anyway. I digress.

Il have a proper think and reply to this later. Being "one of the guys in the southwest..." What I will say, right now though is that the number of active members off forum who will attend meets is dire. You have to give something more than just a carpark in a pub 100 miles away, you equally can't give too much, it's going to cost you £100 for the day etc. As I say il answer properly later.

Didn't mean it was all down to the club jae failed, previous years I've gone with adl, as simple as members talking to each other so someone brings lights music etc, if I'd know I'd have brought things, this year I will.

 

Still think Silverstone classic is an event we should attend, help raise the profile in the right crowds. But think I'm the only one lol.

 

Think the south East lot are doing alright at the moment plans for meets this year etc.

There's a LOT less going on for Irish members, but I think it's worth the small amount to support the club, if even just for the website.

 

In fairness, yeah, there's only about six of us subscribed.

Ok, I've had a chance to sleep on this and, whilst I have nothing new to offer on the OP's original question, I feel I do have something to offer about the "state" of JAE.

 

As Dutchgold has just said, there's only about 6 Irish members subscribed on this forum, and two of them made the trip across the water to JAE last year! One of them is our membership secretary and the other was pretty much responsible (with assistance from Bird's missus, Janine) for the food that was cooked and on offer on our club stand there! Without that assistance from someone who'd travelled a lot further than most attendees, the stand would've been a complete nightmare (in my opinion).

 

Compare that to the OP's contribution to JAE: staying on the stand for one night before leaving for greener pastures, then saying how poor it was and then refusing to answer whether he'd help out with future club events!

 

I think that the problem with this and plenty of other forums and car clubs out there is social media. Facebook is free and there are plenty of Z32 groups on it, whereas people quite rightly have to pay for full membership on here. A vast percentage of members are also active on the FB groups, which means that it could be argued that full membership is not "required" here, if you're that way inclined.

 

I can imagine that the club coffers are not as full as they once were because of this, which of course has a knock-on effect on available funds for things like JAE or club-specific events. But then the active participation from the membership is hardly mind-blowing, and here's my yardstick for that statement:

 

Car Of The Year 2015. How many people voted in that contest? 46. That's it. 46 members voted!

 

Now, I'm pretty sure that we have more than 46 regularly active members on this forum, so I just can't figure out why the turnout was so low. If only 46 members can be bothered to vote in a free contest, how many are going to be prepared to drive any sort of distance for a club-organised event...?

 

I wasn't overawed by JAE last year, but then JAE doesn't thrill me too much anyway. I pay more to be a member of this forum than the vast percentage, but I don't particularly want to know what my Trader fees are spent on. I know fine well that running and maintaining a website is a costly business and I know that the Commitee put funds towards plenty of goods and events throughout the year and, as has been said, I can tell that that is, for the most part, a thankless task.

 

Peace out!

I'm gonna ask this question here as I have asked and never got a proper answer.

 

Where does the money from membership/traders fees and advertising go?

I'm aware that there is a cost to maintain websites etc etc but surely the income must far exceed the outgoings from what I can see

 

To be honest I don't feel that the "club" does much in the way of hosting events, this isn't a dig just an observation.

 

Jae 2015 was to be honest a poor attempt by the club IMO

 

We attend public shows as a club but don't seem to organise much as a club dedicated event

 

Don't get me wrong here anyone I appreciate every thing that anyone has done to bring club members together but I feel that with what the club receives in income there must be more that can be done??

 

I could be wrong here but IMO from what I've seen in the last couple of years and chats I've had with others, the club has lost its way a bit?

 

For me club events are an important part of owning cars such as the Z32, and there needs to be more done by the committee to include members from across the country.

 

There are members down south west (you know who you are) that have literally one event a year close by which is Beaulieu, (one of the better gatherings luckily) and that isn't a club event either.

 

Club members are spread far and wide across the country and I bet most would be willing to travel a few miles to a good club event,not one with a tent,crap food,no music and no atmosphere.

 

As said nothing written above is meant to upset anyone or point fingers, it's just something I wish to put out there to hopefully improve the 300zx.co.uk experience :thumbup:

 

Whilst I would have asked the same question myself about 10 years ago, membership renewals and new members is extremely low. There are probably under 150 per year. Let's say the majority of those are membership renewals, that's £1500 in total. Now insurance at all these events will eat into that in a huge way, then you have all the other sundries such as stuff for club stands, t-shirts and other promotional stuff, in addition the hosting of the website, you'll begin to see that the spend is probably slightly more than the revenue stream.

 

Club dedicated events are now very hard to organise. I've been involved with club stuff for well over a decade now and it isn't what it used to be. This has nothing to do with the club, it's actually to do with the amount of club members. It wasn't unheard of to get 25-30 cars at a regional event, whereas now, you'd be hard pressed to get more than a handful. We're a small club with a very small membership base, there's really only a few things that can be done.

 

I don't go to JAE and have no plans to, so can't comment on that. But the bigger events that do get organised that I still attend are excellent. There's great camaraderie and lots of passion. Beaulieu is always good and that alone makes it worthwhile. The NEC has also been exciting to be part of. The odd regional meet in recent years that has gone ahead has usually had nice (but small) numbers and has always been fun.

 

The big issue and what it all boils down to is the sum total of the ownership numbers. It's very small and getting smaller. You can say 'organise more', but it's not a case of 'if you create, they will go' as we are such a small club. It won't change either as membership numbers continue to dwindle. There'll always be a membership and I personally think smaller clubs like ourselves are far more personable than large clubs. Members become more friendly and stuff doesn't get diluted. I think the club is in a good position now as the Z becomes of age and I like the size it is. Do I wish we had more events? Probably (I'm very fussy on the events that I go to anyway), but those we do have and the membership ship we've got in my opinion are great!

 

As an REO it is extremely difficult now to have regular gatherings. It's still a lot of work to organize the Beaulieu event despite it being a multi-region turnout. As an REO you have to keep beating the drum. Organising other regional events takes a huge amount of work in promoting it and you'll often have to get other clubs involved.

 

I'd say we're doing 'ok' for the size of club we are and I still love the club. The beauty of a club this small for a car of this age/marque is that the regular members have been here for a very long time so there's a wealth of knowledge and some great friendships have been struck. I'd say that's as key to having loads of events up and down the country, something that a large club with big member numbers would be able to achieve on a regular basis.

Edited January 15, 20169 yr by Funkysi

Speaking as a newbie (just over one year on here and very little posts/experience and not really knowing many of you guys) heres my experience:

 

1) I went to the Classic car show 2014 and saw the 300zx.co.uk stand with 3 cars on it. I'd always wanted a 300, but seeing a red one with balloons in it (sorry i cant remember whos car it was) made me want one even more. Later that year when I got my first one, within 24 hours I had signed up and paid to use this site.

2) Over the past year of using this site, I have made friends, had a laugh at threads, been helped out more times than I can count and bought items from other members helping them financially and stopping ebay from taking my hard earnt cash.

3) I went to my first car show (simply Japanese) and loved it. Even though my car was the worse there (Missing paint on rear bumper, scrape on front, covered in dust from queuing in the car park) I didnt feel shunned or that my car was crap. I met a few of the people I had been posting with here and had a good chat with Phoenix, not to mention seeing all your cars and giving me further enthusiasm to complete mine (and buy another one :lol:).

 

Do I think I got my £20 (£10 for re-sub)? Yes I do. I would happily pay that money for the past year. The help/advice alone has saved me £60/hour getting car problems diagnosed at a garage and it has given me the confidence to work on my own car (i'd never change oil/oil filters, brakes, radiator, etc by myself before)

 

Do I think there is room for improvement?

 

Yes. Meeting regularly would be great, however we all have jobs and most of us have families that take up a lot of time. My job for instant never has the same days off every week, so it hard for me to pin down free time. Also when a meeting is on, some people like to do donuts in a cark park, some like to drive somewhere and others enjoy going on an epic road trip (please see my monte carlo thread). so after pinning down a time, pinning down what a meeting will be makes it even harder. Distance has a part to play too, our nissans do something like 20mpg, so driving 50miles to a meet is getting on for 1/2 tank there and back and thats, what, a good £40? Add on the lunch/dinner/drinks. A lot of people with said families find it hard to blow £100 to stand in a car park and look at the same car they own! That all being said, Im up for more meets, more to meet you guys than do donuts...

 

As Ive never been to JAE (hoping to this year) I cant comment, however as the organisers have changed the location (turned over a new leaf perhaps) maybe this is a cue for us to do the same? Ask the members what they expect for JAE, what they would like and see if we can plan around that?

 

as always my posts are open to criticism and I welcome it, but you will receive a horses head on your pillow the next morning... :lol::lol:

....I'll also add, it also depends on exactly how you get involved. Getting involved at a micro level as well as at a macro level is also a great way to enjoy being part of a club and sharing experiences. My trip to southern France with AndrewG and JoelyP wouldn't have been orchestrated in the way it was if I wasn't part of the club. Sure, we didn't need to be subscribed members to do what we did - but it felt like a mini club meet and was great to be representing the club in that way.

As Ive never been to JAE (hoping to this year) I cant comment, however as the organisers have changed the location (turned over a new leaf perhaps) maybe this is a cue for us to do the same? Ask the members what they expect for JAE, what they would like and see if we can plan around that?

 

:

 

JAE locations seem to change every few years, I think you're maybe thinking of Japfest that has been at Castle Coomb for about 10 years and is now moving to Silverstone?

As much as the club has the funds to buy into many big events if we did so all in one year there would be nothing left.

 

Over the last three years if anything we have increased our presence and advertisements for the club.

 

When I joined the club back in 2009 and then proceeded on my first road trip of over 700 miles round trip to JAE and since

then I haven't missed a JAE event yet, with or without my zed I was there to support in any way I could.

 

Back then we had two fairly worn out national banners and a blue pvc banner, and the current website was running on software

that was really outdated and full of security issues and bugs.

 

Shortly after joining the committee I solely took on the task to migrate everything to a more modern solution, the design was

completely redone and we followed suit with new national banners and gave every region there own banner.

 

The upgrade to keep this forum and your information save from being an information target also cost us.

 

Our first separate event to celebrate the 25th anniversary was organised fully by Lexx which done an amazing job, the turn out

for that event was higher than any jae event we've had and if we could guarantee those numbers then it would have become a

club annual meet and likely the new place for the AGM.

 

Two years ago we hosted the our first NEC show which was also a massive success, my own zed was under rebuild at this time

but I still joined the club and was on the stand for the full event. we also had Simon, Joely and Roobarb attending the event, and

no more than 3 other committee members showed face to support the club.

 

Last years event we were aiming a lot higher and had a plot big enough for 4 zeds, unfortunately on route my own zed was involved

in a collision and I had to return home feeling like I badly let my club down - even though we all know my zed was a total loss.

 

This year we have a few major events coming up and i'm sure the club will be attending as much as we can but we need the full

support of the members, no matter if you are just registered, are fully subscribed or are a fully paid Trader.

 

If you know of an event in your area then make your say and prompt your REO to organise something for that region.

 

National events take more effort to organise and at the moment being short of an NEO limits our abilities to personal commitments.

 

The committee is always trying to advance this club as much as we can but we are against social media formats and as a relatively small

club the funds available to use will shortly run aground and downgrades of functionality may happen - but don't worry we have enough

funds for the next few years as long as we are wise to the spending.

 

My last words would be if you support the events and actually attend then we can increase our overall profile.

 

Go 300zx.co.uk and GO to the events of 2016 :)

Edited January 15, 20169 yr by JaiKai

JAE locations seem to change every few years, I think you're maybe thinking of Japfest that has been at Castle Coomb for about 10 years and is now moving to Silverstone?

 

 

Yes that's my bad. I was thinking of japfest!

I have aired my opinions many times on JAE and would support a move away from using that as our main get together. I got nothing against the crowd on our stand but the rest of the show is mostly full of chavs with their tops off drinking Carling

 

15 years ago I would have been doing the same granted but these days I am more inclined to enjoy shows such as the NEC and Simply Japanese.

been a member for 10 years now and i live near St Ives in cornwall my nearest REO is near Bristol around 220 miles away and all Z events are even further away so dont see many of you unless your down ere on holiday! lol as long as Z help and advise is given freely can sell the odd item and perhaps some free stickers would be nice! :whistling: Im happy keep up the good work. :thumbup:

 

dan. :yes:

I'd just like point out two things.

Firstly I don't have and neither does Howard a South central banner. When I need one I borrow it from Si. If we're at the same event that's fine however last time I needed it off him I had to drive to Northampton to get it. Granted I was passing for work so it worked out. That's the kind of thing people don't see. There are countless examples of what's done for the membership that's just never seen. I'm not painting myself a hero, don't take it that way please just an example.

 

Secondly the praise for Simply is clear and that's great to hear. So il take the opertunity to remind everyone that this great event is in August and is down the Hampshire in the heart of the new forest. If we can drag enough of you out for the day. Let's say 30 z32s we will look at doing a BBQ or something.

been a member for 10 years now and i live near St Ives in cornwall my nearest REO is near Bristol around 220 miles away and all Z events are even further away so dont see many of you unless your down ere on holiday! lol as long as Z help and advise is given freely can sell the odd item and perhaps some free stickers would be nice! :whistling: Im happy keep up the good work. :thumbup:

 

dan. :yes:

 

 

The southwest my friend is britians forgotten region. At least Cornwall is sort of on the political radar, it's Daves holiday destination after all. Devon and west Dorset are just some empty space as far as the countries concerned lol.

I'd just like point out two things.

Firstly I don't have and neither does Howard a South central banner. When I need one I borrow it from Si. If we're at the same event that's fine however last time I needed it off him I had to drive to Northampton to get it. Granted I was passing for work so it worked out. That's the kind of thing people don't see. There are countless examples of what's done for the membership that's just never seen. I'm not painting myself a hero, don't take it that way please just an example.

 

Secondly the praise for Simply is clear and that's great to hear. So il take the opertunity to remind everyone that this great event is in August and is down the Hampshire in the heart of the new forest. If we can drag enough of you out for the day. Let's say 30 z32s we will look at doing a BBQ or something.

 

Isnt in on July 31st this year mate?

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

I'd just like point out two things.

Firstly I don't have and neither does Howard a South central banner. When I need one I borrow it from Si. If we're at the same event that's fine however last time I needed it off him I had to drive to Northampton to get it. Granted I was passing for work so it worked out. That's the kind of thing people don't see. There are countless examples of what's done for the membership that's just never seen. I'm not painting myself a hero, don't take it that way please just an example.

 

Secondly the praise for Simply is clear and that's great to hear. So il take the opertunity to remind everyone that this great event is in August and is down the Hampshire in the heart of the new forest. If we can drag enough of you out for the day. Let's say 30 z32s we will look at doing a BBQ or something.

 

Isnt in on July 31st this year mate?

It is indeed well done. It's usually early August. That may free us up to do another show that's historically been the same day.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

In fact I just checked, Wilton house classic and super car is the event but it's cancelled this year. Due to return in 2017

. I got nothing against the crowd on our stand but the rest of the show is mostly full of chavs with their tops off drinking Carling

 

 

And this is why I am quite fussy and selective about the shows I personally attend! :)

Edited January 15, 20169 yr by Funkysi

what about letting other z models in the club to you would open up to new members that way lets face it the 300zx in getting rare so over time you will end up with less and less members letting other z models in the club would boost you cash issues and make the club a lot bigger indeed, just an idea ?

what about letting other z models in the club to you would open up to new members that way lets face it the 300zx in getting rare so over time you will end up with less and less members letting other z models in the club would boost you cash issues and make the club a lot bigger indeed, just an idea ?

 

zclub.net have that covered