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:

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 ?

 

There's ZClub.net for that and the clubs do some joint stuff together - we usually go with them to Beaulieu.

still could be done here to ?

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 ?

 

I don't think that's a good idea - there's a HUGE difference between the sort of people that drive a 350Z or 370Z compared to a Z32, on average. Older models, I don't expect we'd get too many members anyway - how many Z31 owners do you know here?

It's not worth it knowing the different model scenes. It has been tried over the years and it doesn't really work. The best thing out there is ZClub

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 ?

 

Mr Burns will love you Dan lol This is a z32 300zx forum. Zclub are well established on the Z cars and the 350z/370z are well established on the later models.

One thing that would help is the mailing list. It can be used to remind people about upcoming events. I forgot completely about the NEC this year and I was disappointed because I really wanted to go.

I can easily setup a mailing list with reminders but I did try this once before and it pissed a lot of people off.

 

Although we can do it again with an opt in this time :)

I've attempted this. A monthly update to the region with upcoming news and events. I had a few problems.

1. In order to mail people you need them to be subscribed members. You also need there PM settings set up to accept your mails.

 

2. I was having about a 25% rate of rejection. So say you have 20 people in your area and 15 opt in to have the email. 10 arnt subbed and

2 or 3 of those the mail won't send. I was literally sending the mail to about 5 people.

 

3. Then you need something to put in there. Regurgitating what's been said on the forum is pants and as previously discussed meets get no where.

 

Unsurprisingly it failed quickly.

 

If we were to do it it would have to be club wide. Sent out to subbed and unsubbed members to their personal email. It could contain car of the month winner. Show photos etc and upcoming events. The trouble is WE the members must facilitate the ability to do something like this by participating. If no one enters car of month, if no meets happen, if no photos are taken and if no one shows up to stuff it's going to be a bloody boring mail shot.

"Hi guys, this month everyone parked up their cars at home. No one entered car of the month and next month we won't be doing anything because no ones interested and are too busy. So we will tell you what happened online in January. Someone blew a fuse and someone else removed a spioler. Oh and there was some moaning about not enough shows."

That would quickly be ending up in the spam folder.

Personally, I'm quite happy to pay for the help and support that's available here online, I've only met up with Dutchgold (Jay), so far:thumbup1:, but as he stated, it's a lot harder for the Irish contingency to get time and money to travel across the water. Saying that I would like to go camping at Beaulieu this year with the wife and kids:thumbup:. I feel I've gotten to know a few of you from here and that is what the Club is about, Camaraderie:thumbup1:. Am I concerned about what my subs is spent on ?? Not one bit!!. I was on the local residents association for two years, an estate of 90 houses and the time and effort to keep the place maintained, subscriptions and organising a summer BBQ was a total headache!!! That was a group of 90 houses all within walking distance, a stones throw from each other!!!. I know it costs money to run a website and organise meets etc. For the £10 re-sub you get an awful lot:thumbup1: I mean what else could you buy with £10 over 52 weeks?? Can anyone tell me a better way to spend circa 18p a week?? If you can, I'm all ears:thumbup1:

Personally, I'm quite happy to pay for the help and support that's available here online, I've only met up with Dutchgold (Jay), so far:thumbup1:, but as he stated, it's a lot harder for the Irish contingency to get time and money to travel across the water. Saying that I would like to go camping at Beaulieu this year with the wife and kids:thumbup:. I feel I've gotten to know a few of you from here and that is what the Club is about, Camaraderie:thumbup1:. Am I concerned about what my subs is spent on ?? Not one bit!!. I was on the local residents association for two years, an estate of 90 houses and the time and effort to keep the place maintained, subscriptions and organising a summer BBQ was a total headache!!! That was a group of 90 houses all within walking distance, a stones throw from each other!!!. I know it costs money to run a website and organise meets etc. For the £10 re-sub you get an awful lot:thumbup1: I mean what else could you buy with £10 over 52 weeks?? Can anyone tell me a better way to spend circa 18p a week?? If you can, I'm all ears:thumbup1:

 

 

or 0.6 pence a day lol

Personally, I'm quite happy to pay for the help and support that's available here online, I've only met up with Dutchgold (Jay), so far:thumbup1:, but as he stated, it's a lot harder for the Irish contingency to get time and money to travel across the water. Saying that I would like to go camping at Beaulieu this year with the wife and kids:thumbup:. I feel I've gotten to know a few of you from here and that is what the Club is about, Camaraderie:thumbup1:. Am I concerned about what my subs is spent on ?? Not one bit!!. I was on the local residents association for two years, an estate of 90 houses and the time and effort to keep the place maintained, subscriptions and organising a summer BBQ was a total headache!!! That was a group of 90 houses all within walking distance, a stones throw from each other!!!. I know it costs money to run a website and organise meets etc. For the £10 re-sub you get an awful lot:thumbup1: I mean what else could you buy with £10 over 52 weeks?? Can anyone tell me a better way to spend circa 18p a week?? If you can, I'm all ears:thumbup1:

 

I've been told a tenner goes quite far in Bangkok

or 0.6 pence a day lol

Ha!! didn't have the time or calculator to work it out mate!! :thumbup:. It's true though, what could you get for 18p a week:innocent::whistling:. F*CK ALL!. The other day I was talking about maybe getting a spare set of window switches to carbon dip, Mondo offered to give me a set for free!!:thumbup: Isn't that worth 18p a week. Some people always think someone is screwing someone else over and start looking for conspiracy's, as Funky has stated, how many people actually subscribe to the Club??? 100-200?? Do the maths people, there's no one on the committee going on foreign holidays on the years takings from here!!:innocent:

I've been told a tenner goes quite far in Bangkok

 

Not over a year it wouldn't:biggrin: No happy endings for Charlie:laugh::thumbup:

Ha!! didn't have the time or calculator to work it out mate!! :thumbup:. It's true though, what could you get for 18p a week:innocent::whistling:. F*CK ALL!. The other day I was talking about maybe getting a spare set of window switches to carbon dip, Mondo offered to give me a set for free!!:thumbup: Isn't that worth 18p a week. Some people always think someone is screwing someone else over and start looking for conspiracy's, as Funky has stated, how many people actually subscribe to the Club??? 100-200?? Do the maths people, there's no one on the committee going on foreign holidays on the years takings from here!!:innocent:

 

I have given ££££ loads of stuff away on here for free am sure many have seen so that's got to be worth 0.6p a day for every one

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:

 

Well said, I'm a 3 month newbie and I totally agree with the above comments. I will go out of my way to attend a meet......as and when I can.....

However, there does not seem to be much in meets to-date, I have signed up for Jap Fest at Silverstone and I drove for an hour or two to meet a couple of Z32 club owners last weekend. It was great fun, a Z club meet..... with one 240, one 280zx and 4 300ZX motors, I had to laugh. I had a chat with the lads, made a couple of friends and enjoyed myself.

 

What's to stop members simply posting on a thread that they themselves are driving to a location this Sunday, anyone fancy meeting there. If others do go, great, if not, nothing lost.

I often just get in my motor on a weekend and drive to a local place of beauty or better still a country pub, just to get out and drive my Zed , where I go is not really that important, its having fun getting there.

I guess its who will take the time to meet up and a will to get out that needs to be promoted within the current membership, how is another question.

 

I am actively looking at websites and forums for other car meets, be they classic, Jap, German, old, new, whatever, just so I have somewhere to aim for on a weekend. Boxing day I turned up at a right posh car meet with loads of really classic cars and guess what, within 10 minutes I met a chap, who by luck was a club member with a Zed 32, we had a great laugh as his car rumbled onto the car park.....

 

I would love to be able to come on to our forum and see what's around for the weekend, not just the mainstream shows and events but the fact that Tom and Dick are going to the Wagon & Horses in Yorkshire that weekend or Harry is going to Stonehenge for a spin out on Saturday. If we all just stick a post on whatever we are doing that weekend, maybe others will have an opportunity to join you/them?

 

Anyway, that's my thoughts, if anyone's interested, I will be going to Lee Dents, LA Autos on the 30th for some light work on Purple Haze and an afternoon of Zed related chit chat and tea, lots of tea....

You state that "Jae and NEC cost the club a lot of money" Could you expand on that and clarify exactly how much each event costs please. Cheers.

We have been there and worn the Tshirt, where to start with events :whistling:

 

Jae and NEC cost the club alot of money, but dont forget JAE has moved further North and now for this year even more costly to members for the tickets fuel etc so if members choose not to go, its not the clubs fault for poor attendance.

JAE is a Jap car event and we attend as a club and apart from forcing members to go, what do you expect us to do?

NEC helps promote the club and has attracted new members, so although its not a meet, its an event which is considered a worthwhile campaign.

Cost of banners for national and regional events, advertising is free as part of the traders fee, so we dont get income from advertising.

 

We are looking at a dedicated 300zx event for the summer but there are generally too few numbers to host several events, so we try to have a stand at any event an REO can organise.

 

REO's are responsible for arranging regional meets or monthly get togethers, but im sure if you look back a through the last few years, getting the numbers to attend is truly disappointing and frustrating.

 

The bank balance is not what it used to be a few years ago and we also have to make sure that we can afford the hosting for the foreseeable until the coffers are repleted.

AndyP would be be best placed for the exact amounts, JAE the club pay for the pitch, marquee, power, tables and chairs, food, refrigeration I would say around £1500 from past JAE's

 

NEC the stand area is free for the club, accommodation, barriers and promotional material makes up the cost, of which i personally cannot hazard a guess.

PLI ( public liabilty insurance) is fairly high, but a legal requirement for the club when attending such events.

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully Andy will be able to provide more accurate information if he sees this. Cheers.

AndyP would be be best placed for the exact amounts, JAE the club pay for the pitch, marquee, power, tables and chairs, food, refrigeration I would say around £1500 from past JAE's

 

NEC the stand area is free for the club, accommodation, barriers and promotional material makes up the cost, of which i personally cannot hazard a guess.

PLI ( public liabilty insurance) is fairly high, but a legal requirement for the club when attending such events.

Agree the club could do better and we the Committee strive to make it better. We try our best but our work, health and family come first then the club comes fourth. in that small amount of time left in the day we do a lot behind the scenes with no thanks from the masses but thats ok we do it for the love of the z32.

 

I'll also wade in and second Gary on that!

 

And from looking at the statistics, I believe we have c216 subbed members and 5 traders - so equate that to annual "income" of circa £2,160.

 

Our outgoings in the past few years have definitely exceeded what we received! What with public liability insurance, web and server hosting, JAE, the NEC shows for 2014 and 2015, the 25th anniversary at Coventry..... And as Gaz says, all the membership packs, the competition prizes....

 

....And we stopped publishing the accounts each month, as (in all honesty) no-one was interested!

 

And as for other events, we will happily consider a club presence at any event our members suggest. However whether it's worthwhile depends on the number of attendees; coupled with who would be prepared to organise the event on the club's behalf. The REOs would certainly get involved in their relevant areas - but it still depends on numbers at the end of the day. JAE is a case-in-point. It's a national event in the middle of the country; and we have struggled to get members there for the last 2 years!

 

We are looking at another 300zx/Zclub only event (like Coventry) this year; to be held at a location where there is another point of interest. That should make it more attractive to people, as they can bring along wives, girlfriends, children etc etc; and make a day of it.

 

And as for the NEC, we could indeed put potential exhibitors to the vote. However as Graham said, it's not like your typical car show, where you can rock up for a few hours and then leave. You have to commit your car (and, if possible, yourself) to the event from 8am Thursday to 6pm Sunday. So you can vote for who you like, but if the car's owner can't commit to that, it's pointless! Furthermore, the NEC is an international classic car show, featuring some of the best cars in the world. Without meaning to sound elitist, if we are prepared to put ourselves on the world stage, we need to guarantee that our exhibitors can meet that standard - and do both the club and the 300zx proud. And to be fair, whilst we have had (almost) the same cars each time, they were (pretty much) voted for by everyone in the COTM/COTY competitions...:wink:

 

Rest assured, we do value feedback like this; and whilst some posts might appear "direct" or "harsh" I believe that is mostly down to how the written word is interpreted - and no offence is intended. As committee, we want the best for the club and its members - and we can only get it right with your help and input. It's your club too!

 

Richard:cool:

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.

 

You are not the only one thinking that Dean! The event has changed, moved venue, and for 2016 the ticket price has suddenly shot up.

 

Hence we will be putting it to the members' vote any day now, as to how we support JAE; and whether we do move away from JAE being the club's big event of the year. Watch this space....:wink:

Well put Richard, agreed.

I would like to add though, I commend the courage of the op for being brave enough to go public, It is this openness that helps organisations develop and evolve through debate. I am not saying I agree with all that was initially stated, I am just applauding the fact that without people being brave enough to raise challenging points of view, we would possible stagnate.

I don't understand, Surely it's a privilege enough to be on display at the NEC, without expecting the club to pay everything for you?

 

I agree cars on display should be of a certain standard, but what my opinion of a show quality 300zx and say Funkysi's are probably very different, ( no offence intended si)

 

All I'd like to see is a list of how can attend and commit to the weekend then a vote between those cars... We'll probably end up with the same ones anyway I know I'd have voted for JaiKai s car (and hopefully his new one) but at least those of us with substandard zeds get to fell we have a say in how the club portrayed...

 

Sorry if I'm being narrow minded, not trying to offend anyone, just feel too much elitism actually puts potential new members off.

 

Now I'm off to order the biggest spoiler I can find and some dump valves.. Hehe

Edited January 16, 20169 yr by (adl) phoenix

My father is a member of the MX5 owners club and he pays nearly £50 per year and gets a magazine a few times a year. Hes never got any bits for free from the forum and hasnt made use of any free advice (although I would worry if he was topping up his oil, let alone fitting new brakes!), So i think ours is a bargin.

 

In terms of meets, how about each area manager posts a list of events going on in his/her areas and people can attend if they can? Members could be on the look out for events and let them know. For example this year its the Eastbourne Magnificient Motors on Saturday 30th April and Sunday the 1st May 2016. I would be more than happy to turn up with one of our banners. Ive got 2 cars and my mate has five, so just the two of us could make a pretty good stand, add on the 5 others ive seen in Eastbourne and that doesnt include all the other guys down here in the south.

 

In terms of meets, how about each area manager posts a list of events going on in his/her areas and people can attend if they can? Members could be on the look out for events and let them know.

 

This is what REOs do my friend.

 

The problem, as so many people have already pointed out is that there just isn't the numbers of Zeds left. My better half is also in the MX5 club and like this one it is full of helpful people; and here lies the difference, IT IS FULL. The summer run they organised for the East Anglia area had an attendance of over 70 MX5s.

 

As you well know, if there is an event that you feel that others would be interested in, start a thread bud. It's just very hard to herd us altogether under one marque.

That's a good idea Chris, could we maybe get a sticky "Where I'm Going to be", or something similar that members can post up, ie. "I'll be in Kildare Village next Saturday if anyone's around" or "Heading to Jimmers next weekend if anyone's around" you get my drift. I know we have our "Events and Meetings" section but truth be told, I hardly look at this section (unless I see something in the "Latest Posts" area)

Just an idea:thumbup1: