Ideas & Suggestions for the future of the MMOC

[Judge]

......., I've never understood why Bill wasn't adding to and updating the site, TBH. Perhaps it was lack of knowhow, I just don't know, but I'm sure he will start to soon - I look forward to it.

You are absolutely right Andrew, I have the time and enthusiasm, but I am unfortunately lacking the knowhow and am awaiting guidance. As soon as I have this I will willingly take an active part.

[jonathon]

Seems rather odd that both BG and Bill spend a fair amount of time on here yet are not 'allowed'? to do this nominated job, be this technical ability or otherwise in makes a mockery of giving willing people a role to play, and in this case a very important one of encouraging and supporting new/ existing members.
I'm sure Jon has a hard time in site maintenance and behind the scenes upkeep but surely with two very capable volunteers some delegation is allowed.
Again not criticizing just a layman's observation

[overider]

back to your origanal question:

I personally think that more should be about this at local club level more than at national level.

Why can’t you set some sort of a goal/target for local clubs to meet a target of recruiting new and young members and give a small reward to the club that does best over a twelve-month period?

Also what about local clubs doing a rally in conjunction with local school or collage events.

[aupickup]

well for me the club is the website

we do have a club fairly local but as with everything all members are over 60 and do not like change and new ideas, so i gave up going, and also i was the only one to take a moris minor

so for me my club is a non starter and is this the general norm of things

i prefer the banter on the website
also questions answered quickly and also the general feeling we get on here

many issues are raised on here and can be discussed nationally which is great

many people do not have a club within easy travel distance in teh evenings

[overider]

It appears that this statement or similar keeps coming up

‘‘All members are over 60 and do not like change and new ideas, so I gave up going''

May be you should do a poll to find out how many people are finding this Bill?? Then you will have your main answer

[bigginger]

Seems rather odd that both BG and Bill spend a fair amount of time on here yet are not 'allowed'?

Both of us are allowed - I choose (for various reasons, including not treading on anyones toes) not to ;)
a

[aupickup]

young members give new ideas and a better insight to how this club will progress in the future

we all have to accept chage whether we like it or not, my trade as a joiner has changed tremendously

so lets here what the younger ones have to say and keep the moggie going for another 60 years after all it will be there club when we are gone

and unfortunately the internet is here to stay

[jonathon]

Ahh, BG

[aupickup]

i would like to see the club spares online and updated
a more involvement within the club on the internet from the higher levels or members

[motherofgod]

I thought this evening after my dog's late night trot how about a sticker that has the web address on it. instead of the normal owners club one (that doesn't have any info on it). I saw a ford focus with FFOC.co.uk on it? Just an idea

James

[rob.hardy1]

I understand that a chat room has been tried and rejected i feel that something like it would be attractive. I have alway thought that sowfamton taaawn had a livley interaction going on.Could local groups be encouraged by having a thread per group? The local groups would have the choice to use it or lose it. It would also give one group an idea of how active a neighbouring group is and possibly work together.
Just a thunk.

[Judge]

Seems rather odd that both BG and Bill spend a fair amount of time on here yet are not 'allowed'?

Both of us are allowed - I choose (for various reasons, including not treading on anyones toes) not to ;)
a

I have access, but until given instruction I naturally will not attempt adding to, or updating anything. I have requested instruction on a number of occasions, but unfortunately get no response

[Judge]

It appears that this statement or similar keeps coming up

‘‘All members are over 60 and do not like change and new ideas, so I gave up going''

May be you should do a poll to find out how many people are finding this Bill?? Then you will have your main answer

I don't know about all members being over 60, but unfortunately I think you are right about not liking change and new ideas. In fact I have personally experienced this rather negative attitude myself

[LouiseM]

Good idea James. I've just bought a new car and joined a forum dedicated to that particular make /model. The website is currently printing up stickers to adverrtise the site and these will be available free of charge to members. This would be an effective and cheap way of promoting the club & website.

With regards to the ages of members, and having attended lots of rallies, I am 40 something but feel like a 'younger' member when I see the average age of attendees!

This site does a great job in promoting the club. Everyone here is friendly and helpful and the site is far more useful to me than Minor Matters. The magazine itself really does need to move with the times. I have owned Minors on and off for more than 20 years but had a year break in membership between 2001/2004. When I re-joined I was very surprised to find that the format of Minor Matters had not changed at all. If anything it seemed even more dated, particularly with the inclusion of a page titled "From a womans angle". There are plenty of women who own Minors and do their own maintenance rather than just sit in the passenger seat whilst their husband drives. To dedicate a special page to the 'ladies' seems like something from the fifties

And I'm probably more likely to see a lowlight tourer on the road than a photo of a member aged under 60 in the magazine! Unlike Minor Monthly, modified / custom cars are rarely featured and the whole magazine looks extremely dated. It shouldn't be too difficult to provide a range of articles that appeal to both the younger and older members (and before anyone says it, yes, I have submitted articles myself).

The club also needs to present younger faces to the media when promoting both the car and the club. For example, the Lancashire branch calendar, showing semi naked Minor owners, was widely publicised in the national press. However (and no offence to the branch members) the pictures just reinforced the stereotype of Minor owners being old. My work colleagues had a good laugh when the photos were spread across the pages of the Daily Mail and I had the usual comments such as "Why do you drive an old mans car?". This type of publicity can do more harm than good to the image of the club amongst young people.

This year is a great opportunity to publicise the club (and the car) as one that moves with the times and appeals to younger people. I hope that when promoting the club in the media the committee is intending to show the public that the car may be 60 this year but a large number of owners are not!

Lou

[Judge]

Very well said Lou.

A look at the 'NEC Team' picture published in the last issue of MM, unfortunately illustrates your point very well

[Orkney]

Sadly the message board is overlooked as a source of new members and information.
This gives the impression that the club is somewhat fuddy duddyish to the ever increasing number of younger owners – and given the club is about preserving the car it should be seen as a priority.
aupickup’s comment that to him the club is the website is a very valid point that applies to many.

It could really do with the board being able to have its own static pages – a subsection of the main site if you like – enabling Mods to add content etc. Set up correctly there would be no danger of the core of the site being able to be broken in any way.

We see some of the greatest information pop up in threads on all aspects of repair / fault finding / servicing. If the best bits could be edited into specific articles / guides it would make for an unbeatable resource to all owners.
Unfortunately because the board search facility is very poor its incredibly difficult to find previously covered topics hence many FAQ’s being regularly repeated.
(many such boards add a google search option to remedy this)

Websites used to be my job, and as such I wouldn’t mind volunteering to become a mod with the sole purpose of helping the likes of Judge to be able to add content etc if it would help in any way.

[alex_holden]

Could we get central club funding for having a batch of website stickers made or would we have to pay for them ourselves? Perhaps it could be done through the club regalia? TBH I don't know why the sticker they sell has a postal address, a fax number, and a phone number but no URL.

[jonathon]

Could we get central club funding for having a batch of website stickers made or would we have to pay for them ourselves? Perhaps it could be done through the club regalia? TBH I don't know why the sticker they sell has a postal address, a fax number, and a phone number but no URL.

It would be very nice to think so Alex, but until recently the message board has been close to being closed down. Some believe that they are subsidizing our fun, when they do not use the message board themselves, bizarrely this also applies to the National Rally.
Maybe the current sticker is a true indication of who the club are aiming at, ie the older generation, who are less likely to be using the internet. Or maybe it simply an oversite.

Lou you make some excellent points in your post, and I really do hope that M Matters can take your observations on board so that it can be brought into the 21st century.
The reason M. Monthly is seen generally as more outgoing and inclusive is that Jon puts in a fantastic amount of work. I've known him for around 13 years now and his energy and commitment has never diminished.
Maybe, and I know this is against a lot of members ideology, but a full time post could be made, to both run the magazine and general promotion of the club. This would allow a strategy to be drawn up rather than the current rush due to other commitments of the magazines editor. In my view the promotion and magazine are crucial for the club and only a full time post can best offer this.

Kevin's input would be fantastic, and the idea of a sub site would work very well in my opinion.The man clearly has plenty of spare time

[LouiseM]

It's a real shame that the website gets so little mention in Minor Matters. There definately seems to be a "them and us" mentally amongst some commitee members. At the National rally we were referred to as "you website lot" by a prominent member of the committee and in the article in Minors Matters we were described as "the website mob". Hardly a phrase which describes us in a flattering light to the elderly readers!

If the committee don't appreciate the value of this site they are not going to make any attempt to promote it. Attitudes need to change but I can't see it happening anytime soon.

[mrmorrisminor]

the pictures just reinforced the stereotype of Minor owners being old.

As someone falling into the'younger' bracket, this is something we need to work on! Both myself and my brother (and he's only 18!) are avid minor fans and use our minors as daily drivers, but we constantly get the michael taken out of us for our chioce of car. . . . And thanks to Eastenders and Dot I now dread driving my Almond green Trav past a group of 'youths' as it causes them no end of amusement! (That's the Medway towns for you!)

As another point, high profile events like the London to Brighton attract a wide and varied audience (Brighton being quite a 'trendy' place). I could not believe my eyes when I stood up on the promenade at Brighton to see around 200 moggies all lined up. . . .HEAVEN! On that day there were many younger members and lots of young people came to watch as I remember, I had a number of poeple come to talk to me about the cars, several saying that grandparents etc used to own one and they didn't realise they were still going!!! I can't believe in the 60th year we do not have an event like this to look forward to.

The final point about being accepted by older folk. . . I have had many great chats with guys at least twice my age about the Moggies and I have met some truly great people because of these cars. However, there are quite a few folk who think us youngsters no nothing! I admit I have a lot still to learn (the amount of swearing that goes on in our garage at the weekend is testament to this!!) but at the age of 29 I'm restoring my 5th minor and I wouldn't class myself as a total novice, so it upsets me no end when someone comes along and picks wholes in my pride and joy(s) because I've used later rear lights or the wheels are the wrong shade of white!