Somebody has to come out and just Say It.

[billy-j]

Hello. Our own  members rarely frequent  dockside anymore. And I tried the same post in Dockside for the reason you cited and it generated very little response. This post will move down the list shortly and casual viewers will have no interest in this post at all . But us members should be very interested in the situation at hand. I like this club a lot. It has a long history, good people that give accurate advice and genuinely nice people all around. I think the administrator’s and officials are good people and try to do the best job with the tools they have to work with. I have read many post’s about the financial conditions. I know the administrators are trying to get thru a tough time and have made some changes. I have had some thoughts also about what to do to try to improve the situation.  FIRST. the quarterly magazine is great it makes this club. SECOND. the directory is great also but I do not feel it would have to be printed every year. I would think you could print one every 3 years. And to those members that already have directories you could include  in one of the quarterly magazines a list on a separate piece of paper the list of new members and the ones that dropped out of paying dues. I am sure there are extra printed directories that AOMCI  has left over and those could be given to new members with the added list included in their initial mailing. 3RD. If AOMCI administrators have control of the face page of the free 19,600 in think on the front page where you join that group have a very visual redirect to the AOMCI web page stating if people interested in a long term interest in antique outboards and would like to participate in actual wet meets have the information that they can just click on our site and be directed instantly. I am sure if they get directed to the club website maybe 500 or a 1000 or however many may be interested in a more involving way.  I would be interested in all administrators and members thoughts. PS. my capitalizing 1, 2, and 3 is not meant to be shouting I just did not know how to make them be easily visual Sincerly Bill,

[ftruntz]

Bill;

As an executive council member I welcome and encourage your opinion and remarks.  Rest assured your officers care greatly for AOMCI and work diligently to do what is best for our clubs well being and success.  Please contact me and I will be happy to discuss all of this with you.  My contact info is in the Outboarder.

Fred Truntz

VP Technical Service

[outboardnut]

Some of the suggestions that Billy J has made are good in my opinion but PLEASE move this subject to a members only forum. Would you want to join an organization with dirty laundry?

[fleetwin]

I guess that is one of the problems with this site, too darn many forums/discussion sites.  Impossible to keep up with them all.

Nonetheless, everyone is right, this discussion should not take place here in the public forum…

[Shear Pin]

Trying to force people to join isn’t the answer and the problem isn’t 19500 face book members either. Some of the 500 paying members likely found the club on Facebook and started out as part of the 19500. What you need to find out is why the people that have paid for the whole experience decide drop out.  We have their contact info.  “I see you haven’t renewed? Could we ask why?” I got a friend to join. I also know why he chose not to renew. When you discover a trend you see what can be done to make a correction or an improvement. As Judy Webber said decades ago “the problem isn’t getting people to join, the problem is keeping them.”

[crosbyman]

Just my 2 cents ……as a paying member with no local chapter !

My hobby started when a buddy  at work gave  me his dad’s pre 60s QD (10 hp)   which did not run so good anymore…After  finding  the aomci site and  folks willing to share their knowledge to get my QD running ( cracked coils & condensers)   I embarked on a 25 + year trek of keeping busy  fixing up JW,AD, CD, QD,FDs   and yes a few small Mercs ….  Most engines were  resold at cost  having less and less room  and time to take in more patients.

Paid   dues I considered a good investment for what I got back if only to  to keep me busy  between  my snowblower duties  and my  “winter projects”     🙂

Now  74 with a  dozen engines  still to be sold  (small Mers, CD’s , 9.5) my interest  is  gradually shifting  more  from repairing  to  coaching  while  trying to minize occasions to put my foot in my mouth and eating crow.

Thankfully  we have  our Jedi’s to  guide us all out of the swamp.

Will  I keep paying dues .. probably  a few years while  I focus more  on selling out  my antiques and  migrating to  the  intellectual side of the force.

Getting  new members hooked on this hobby ..well there is a real challenge!

Newbies  including my 2  grandsons in their teens   have  little  interest…for now  in mecanical things  with all these  mind numbing social networks , wasting  endless hours on gaming and  possibly  a more modern versions  of Playboy.

Times are  changing, tree hunging a growing  fad,  dandelions are  the new  bee savers  and disdain  on everything  oily increasing all the time.  Even my faithfull “emergency back-up” stove oil burning  pot burner is on the way out with new  city  regulations against burning heating oil and soon….. kitchen gas stoves  will be  out like in California !

Times are changing… and  hey  !  I haven’t even mentionned  cost of living !

Just my 2  cents…

 

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

1 user thanked author for this post.

Matthew Pieklik

[Bill Roth]

I totally agree with discontinuing the calendars because I have a hard time throwing them away.  The only people that want them to see if they are on it.  Who uses calendars anyway?  Our club is no different than Antique Auto Club (AACA) which I’ve belong to for 53 years.  Our clubs is attended mostly by grey haired males like me.  They too have articles, every so often, about getting young people involved.  They had one solution was to raise the maximum age of the member vehicles from 1936 to just 25 years old to participate. This brought in the younger members, but this won’t work for eithers use because we will eventually not be able to work the modern motors with all the electronics.

Has anyone from AOMCI contacted AACA in Hershey, PA to see what other things they have tried? Maybe AACA would give AOMCI a write up and a photo article in their publication?  The two clubs are in the same business of restoration and preservation.

I loved restoring early vehicles and  it was my segway to vintage outboards. I would bet many antique auto collectors have vintage outboards in there garages! Bill in MN

[westwind]

AOMCI gets the free advertising with the Facebook page.  They should have attractive reasons to join like a fantastic Members only page that is a one stop location for everything you want to know.

1 user thanked author for this post.

stanley

[stanley]

westwind wrote:

AOMCI gets the free advertising with the Facebook page.  They should have attractive reasons to join like a fantastic Members only page that is a one stop location for everything you want to know.

We often comment on the waning interest in old outboards but  from what I’ve seen there is still a sizable  audience for antique and classic outboard information/help.The public Facebook group is particularly active and seems to attract a lot of younger people and that’s good news.There are also several “special interest” groups that are active.The fact is most younger people look for info on a mobile phone and this site is pretty “clunky”to use.

[george-emmanuel]

There are a lot of things that affect membership. Here in the Florida Chapter, our well attended meets are those where we have a weekend of events and cruising. Meets with lesser attendance are those where it’s a one day meet with no activity other than displaying motors and sitting around and talking. Young folks find the sitting around part BORING! So, if you want to improve attendance, and possibly increase membership, plan some boating activities that the entire family can enjoy. I do understand that the area you live in has seasonal challenges, but, in months where climate is good, go boating and make it fun! Do a wine tasting,–picnic lunch–cruise with other organizations. If I were a young person and attended a “meet” where all the men are sitting in chairs, I’d go find find something interesting to do. This weekend for example, the Florida Chapter is having the Braden River Cruise. We launch and cruise the Braden River at idle speed for about an hour and end  up at a great restaurant on the water. We enjoy lunch and comradery, then idle back. The trip goes through wilderness and developed areas and the ladies love it! Typically we’ll have 15-20 boats full of people.

George

[Author]

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