EOI: A Riverina Based Ford Club

[b2tf]

Well guys,

after the relative success of our first ever meet in Wagga, i have decided to explore the idea of setting up a proper, committee based Ford vehicle Club here in Wagga Wagga and the surrounding area.
As i'm sure some of you already know, there are numerous Ford clubs in the area (Albury-Wodonga, FPVXR Club of ACT, FPVXR Sydney etc), but in Wagga itself there is a real lack of car clubs - about the only one i know of here is the Mini Cooper club, and obviously we cant join that.

The goal would be to establish a register of vehicles and owners who can be contacted and work together to plan events such as cruises, dinners etc. It would most definately be a family orientated club, and would cater for pretty much anyone who drives a Ford (regardless of what model, year etc). There are already numerous events around such as the Albury AFD in January, and the Hillis Ford All Ford Day which is held every 2 years. Therefore, there are already enough things on a yearly basis to have a club presence at, and on top of that, there is always the oppotunity to have weekend cruise and dinner occasions etc etc.

So, please give me your input, and in particular let me know if you would be interested in joining. I will talk to a few of the guys who turned up to our meet a few nights back and see what they think, but i would love to hear from people who have been involved in the formation and running of similar clubs, as well as anyone who thinks they might be interested in joining.

Any suggestions or input are most welcome, and very much appreciated!

[TIKFD6]

Sounds like a great idea Austin, if you need any help im just a keyboard click away, or a phonecall, or 90 mins drive.
:P

[b2tf]

Thanks Kerry, um, i think ill pick the click.

[TIKFD6]

hahahaa, i mean im willing to help out where i can.

[b2tf]

Hehe yeah, i know. And thanks ;) .

[Bucknaked]

Good luck. I hope the club gets up and going. Teza can be Herrod Technical Specialist.

[jaytyn]

I have lived in Griffith forever, and I would have loved to had a Riverina based ford club...., BUT I have finally seen the light and am moving to Melbourne in less than a month... so Sorry cannot join!!!

[DRU842]

Good luck with this. We need more broad based Ford Clubs IMHO.

[b2tf]

Ok. After today, i am going to go ahead with this.

I've seen an F6, 2 GT's, numerous XR's and a lot of other very, very nice Fords, so i'd say there is more than enough potential to begin a club.

I will also get in contact with a friend of the family who works at Hillis Ford, and we should be able to come up with something. May also contact russ+minge etc to see what suggestions they have.

So here we go, we're on our way to creating a new Ford club!

Hey b2tf, sorry I didnt make it to the meet in wagga, I was away all chrissie. Im all for the club, and would love to become a member if it goes ahead.

By the way, I see you mentioned the cars going around Wagga, have you seen the MK2 GTP yet, with the number plates the same? I saw it going down the main last week some time...

[b2tf]

Hambo,

no worries mate. And yes i have seen it, very, very nice indeed.

I will write up a brief outline of what I hope to achieve, as well as some other things, and post it on here tonight. Anyone who is interested is more than welcome to download it, and i would value your suggestions and comments.

The AFD meet here in Wagga will hopefully be the first sorta official meet for the new club (definately not the last though ;) ).

[Tote]

Have you thought about:
Incorporation - necessary to protect members from individual liability in case of legal action
What needs to be done to satisfy insurers that you are a club as being a member may provide premium discounts. (the above may be the answer)
I would probably be interested even though we live in Yass.
Regards,
Tote

[b2tf]

Now this is the kind of stuff we need to be talking about! Thanks tote.

Incorporation would be nice but for now i'm aiming just to get it off the ground. It is definately something to be looked at later on though.

With regards to insurance claims etc against club members, most likely they would become individual matters and the club will not be involved. There's a few things members will need to agree to/abide by before joining anyway.

[b2tf]

Guys,

Could you please have a look at the file here (Save As), and tell me what yuo think. This is for anyone who's interested in becoming part of the club, but id be interested in any comments or suggestions anyone has, particularly those who are already in clubs.

Thanks to Dwayne (Bucky) for hosting it for me.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dwayn...gaFordClub.doc

If there are any questions etc, please either post up here, or PM me.

Thanks.

[Tote]

Your doc looks pretty good,
What about limiting full membership to people with a registered ford, associate membership could be offered to those who are too young, dont own a ford etc. This might create more problems than it fixes so disregard if not suitable. Another way of "filtering" members so that the direction of the club is maintained would be to have all new members needing to be nominated by an existing member ie you must be invited to join
I have been in service clubs in the past and this process works quite well, it also adds a bit of prestige to the club. This does not mean that non members are not welcome at the club meets, just that people cannot attend meetings forever without contributing.
regards,
Tote

[b2tf]

Tote,

Associate membership is a good idea, but at the start, our first priority is just to get a good sized member base happening. It is definately something we will look at once the club is properly established though.

The only problem i can see with having to be referred to join is that it may limit who is able to become a member. In the doc i wrote up, i mentioned that before a car (and its owners) become members of the club, it would need to be 'passed' by the committee. This allows us to screen who we have, as well as the quality of the car, i.e. we don't want a rusted out XD in the club.

Terry (XR84TS) mentioned that in the FPVXR Club of SA, members are required to attend as many meets as they can. If they're a no-show for 3 meets in a row, they are issued a 'please explain'. This is a system i like, because it gives everyone flexibility i.e. if theyre outta town etc, they're not kicked out of the club. It also means that we won't end up with a whole list of members who turn up once to get their membership lerks and perks and then bugger off.

Another thing we'll look at in the future is for members of other clubs. We may (and i emphasise may) be able to organise some affiliations with other clubs, so the 2 clubs can meet together, show n shine together etc etc. But the main priority is establishing a firm member base (and a big enough one), as well as a committee.

Thanks a whole lot for your ideas and please keep them coming.

looks pretty good, the only thing I dont know is the part about the 3 things that make the person eligeble for memebership. The third one "something that makes the car unique or desirable".

Does this mean a standard ford doesnt fit the description, or am I missing the point?

[b2tf]

well what i meant by that is that a stock EF with hubbies isnt exactly impressive material. Nice enough car, just not one you'd be interested in putting in a display etc.

Stock cars are ok tho, we'd have to decide it on an individual basis.

Put it this way - if you want in, youre in. Your ute poses no problems at all.

Being a founding member of the FPV&XR Car CLub - SA, I think the first thing I have to say is gently does it, steady as you go and keep it simple......

Before getting to bogged down in the peripheral stuff, the important things such as constitution, insurance, and registration of the club is absolutely essential.

As I said to B2tf earlier, we need a few interested people to get together to nut a plan out.