Ex-MMOC member thinking of rejoining MMOC

[Dryad]

I have a couple of questions regarding MMOC membership;

1) I was a member of the MMOC until about 12 years ago until (and this might be a touch controversial so I hope this doesn't offend anyone!) I found myself getting extremely bored with how the club magazine was filled with often rather bland articles, and photos of Minors with picnic baskets and teddy bears on outings, rather than interesting articles on things like in-depth restoration tips (as opposed to just doing a light service) and people who use their Minor as their daily driver or work vehicle. Has this changed yet?

2) If I were to rejoin would I be allowed to keep my original membership number?

[Bill_qaz]

Why not get hold of a couple of recent magazines and have a look through to see if its suits.
It's very much a personal taste thing. I'm not a regional branch member but joined mmoc 3 years ago when I got a Minor.
Enjoy some of the magazine articles but feel it's worthwhile to to support the owners club, not just for the magazine.
I suppose like all clubs, you pay your membership and get out or put in what suites your requirements.

[Dryad]

Thanks Bill, I do appreciate that being a member helps support the club but I also feel that the club would be greatly helped by making the magazine appeal to as many members as possible, rather than just the 'picnic basket brigade', which I didn't feel was the case 12 years ago. I will try and get some recent Minor Matters to see what they're like.

[geoberni]

Well, in true Award Ceremony fashion, in reverse order....

2) No idea, simplest answer, call the office in Derby. Number over on the main site, accessed by clicking on the MMOC Logo top left of this page.

1) Is the quality, or not, of the magazine really your sole arbiter of whether the club is worth rejoining?

I can tell you that it, the magazine, certainly seems changed tack in recent issues and I find it more interesting. There was talk at the AGM recently, of perhaps publishing an occasional supplement.
There is an increasing focus in the past few years on how classic/historic vehicles are supported, how different clubs approach their marque.
Speaking personally, I find it frustrating that some club websites have technical libraries of different styles, but the MMOC has nothing of that ilk, despite being a major player in many respects.....

I'm sure you'll get lots of answers, although perhaps some may be guarded for individual's personal reasons...

Not wishing to reveal anything that someone might deem a breach of any rules, this is the content list for the Nov/Dec 2024 edition...
Perhaps you can decide if it's just for the 'Picnic Box brigade'....

MM contents.JPG (17.15 KiB) Viewed 185 times

[Dryad]

Thanks for your answer geoberni, the index certainly seems more appealing than it did! As regards to "Is the quality, or not, of the magazine really your sole arbiter of whether the club is worth rejoining?", obviously not entirely, but I did only use the club spares service once so the annual fee did start to feel a little steep considering my opinion of the magazine as it was. I will, however consider rejoining.

[les]

Join for a year, see what you think, if no good, off you go ! (again)

[Dryad]

Good point!

[firedrake1942]

As for the original number (I was 1054 - We few, we happy few, we band of brothers) - I had to leave when every penny mattered -the answer was an unsympathetic 'No!' - No explanation offered.

[unclealec]

I joined the MMOC largely because I believe strongly in supporting one make/one marque clubs.
They are the bottom brick in a tier of organisations such as the FBHVC, and the more noise clubs can make the better our chances of influencing possible adverse political decisions that relate to our hobby.
Being the editor of a car club magazine, I rate Minor Matters as a very professional-looking publication that doesn't lose the feel of a Club journal.
I have found that searching the MMOC Forum can dig up some excellent advice, but it is shall we say capable of delivering a more robust performance in this regard.
More technical articles in Minor Matters would be welcomed by me, but as I have not submitted any I am not in a position to complain at their absence.
I haven't partaken of the delights of the MMOC social scene. I am hopelessly tied to the social scene of my main love in life, the Riley RM series.
One problem facing car clubs these days is that there is a way of savouring herd admiration of a make or marque without having to join anything nor pay a membership fee; I refer of course to the internet, Facebook et al. I am a bit long in the tooth to take full advantage of the various platforms; but as I started out by saying, I would prioritise membership of a dedicated club above free access to relevant matters hosted by I know not whom.

[philipkearney]

As a long time member, I do agree, the focus of Minor Matters has changed, ebbed and flowed over the years with different editors and club members. It is important to note, the editor only writes some articles, they mainly publish articles written and submitted by club members, branches etc, so if the trend is towards the 'picnic basket' brigade, then that is the type of articles and photos people are submitting. Rob Thomasson, who was the club technical lead, has long since stood and any technical articles are submitted by ordinary members.

So I think the challenge to everyone is, either write in to letters page and suggest articles, tech tips that would be useful or better than that, submit some articles to the editor.

Personally speaking, I rate the magazine highly. The publication is very high quality and always worth reading and I do accept that after nearly 50 years of MM, it get's harder and harder to come up with new articles and technical tips and guidance that hasn't been covered before.

I would encourage you to support the club and the work that they do but as Les has suggested, join up for a year, see how you feel after that.

[svenedin]

I can't claim that my membership goes back as far as many but I did join when I first got my Minor in 1989 (the same car that I have now). I got quite bored with the magazine, I was short of money and I worked ridiculous hours trying to build a career so I let my membership lapse for a long time. Now I am older my car is not my daily driver but it is the second car of the household and so used a lot. I rejoined the MMOC some years back and also joined a local branch and I have been on Minors on Tour to Europe for the last 2 years. This encouraged me to work on getting my car into a better condition mechanically (which it now is) but the cosmetics are still a work in progress. I think the club magazine is very professionally presented these days and I usually read it from cover to cover. I would encourage the OP to rejoin MMOC and a local branch and try it for a year.

Stephen

[Dryad]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think I probably will give it a go for a year and see how it goes.