Morris Minor Owners Club

mike.perry wrote:So are Morris Minors!

Sorry Mike, thats the wrong way of thinking
That is the problem minors might be, but not all the people that own them are in there 60!
Unfortunately the only way to change things is to vote with your feet and stay away until things get better. I can’t believe the national committee are not paying attention to this thread.

have to agree there,i went to my first branch meeting(not a member yet) a couple of weeks ago,around 15 people there,i was the only one below retirement age

DanRodd wrote:have to agree there,i went to my first branch meeting(not a member yet) a couple of weeks ago,around 15 people there,i was the only one below retirement age

Well that's hardly the fault of the people there is it !

I'm planning to go to the national - I'm not retired (more's the pity). I'm hoping to see some cars, buy some stuff, meet other owners and drink some beer. If you go along expecting to be entertained.. well, maybe you should go to the cinema instead.

i didnt mean it like that,all i was saying is i was the only young person to turn up,ie,where are the others,and why dont they get involved?

aupickup wrote:sorry mike but the national is still in the 60`s butlins era
glorified summer fete

I'm a younger member and I like the idea of taking my 60's car back to the 60's for a weekend

As with everything its what you make of it!!! I have been to around 10 nationals and enjoyed every one of them. I have camped at about 5 of them and the crack is great!! Much better to be on site and you dont miss anything. There are lots of different characters who own Minors from the old folks who have had them from new to the customised and everyrhing in between, they will all be there. As well as this you will find all the parts you could ever need for you minor including rare stuff for the older ones.

Go and experience it, open your mouth and talk to people, we all there with one thing in common that we enjoy owning and driving minors

The solution is not to stay away, the correct solution is to make your suggetions to Andrew Stone, the Rally Organiser and to offer to help out with marshalling for a couple of hours.
The National Rally is for everyone, I was considerably younger when I started going and I have aged a lot since then.

I'm with David in this one, sure we're all mad and we can make the best of it!!! Ive been to all the nationals since 2004 and can say i really look forward to each one and really enjoy the format. In fact I never have enough time to see anything, ive not had the time to wonder round the stately homes theres always something else to see.

mike.perry wrote:

dalebrignall wrote:what about the showers

It will probably rain
Just to answer some of ratmogs points:-
Show and Shine = Concours
Live Music - Sometimes booked for Sat evening entertainment. I agree a good live band is better than a disco.
Tuning workshops - Visit the Series MM area, there is usually a car in pieces!
Track Action - We certainly had that at Sparkford
Barbecues - Plenty going on in the campsite, book yourself in with a group and do your own thing
Fireworks - Tried to get that at Blenheim but too many restrictions

Sorry Mike but not all correct IMO.
Show and shine - any Morris, not just concours, that the owner wants to get unbelievably clean.
Live Music - A live band that plays to appeal to all age groups(probably hard to fing though )
Tuning workshops - a dedicated area that covers a wide range of tuning posibilities from a lightly tuned A-series to a 300BHP Zetec or V8
BBQ's - something better than the 1 food van last year
Fireworks - I agree, probably hard to get but the kids love it.

mike.perry wrote:The solution is not to stay away, the correct solution is to make your suggetions to Andrew Stone, the Rally Organiser and to offer to help out with marshalling for a couple of hours.
The National Rally is for everyone, I was considerably younger when I started going and I have aged a lot since then.

Andrew Stone is not the problem, he hands most of the organising over to a third party (two main people) and it is them that is not listening to every one. It is them that organise the entertainment and theam etc.

and maybe the whole problem with all the club
the club will not advance if they do not listen

My opinion is that the MMOC have a formula that they believe is giving a risk free National Rally.
On average £12-£16K is spent on the National, and most break even, or make a slight loss.
The weather can play havoc with profit margins, if its bad and no one attends , and on the other hand, good weather will see plenty of attendees and higher profits.
So to be sure that you do not loose too much money one can see that facilities, loos and showers, are top of the 'we don't need these' list, as has shown to be the case ever since Donnington.
This approach is fine if one is concerned about saving money, but it is I feel, falling very short of what other clubs offer their members, and indeed short changing members of the MMOC.
I have suggested to Andrew, that ,as the MMOC have now won awards for the NEC show and the Magazine, that they now turn their attention to producing an award winning National Rally. The gamble can be taken for 3 years by which time, if the Rallies prove successful, attendance will have grown as will profits. If this doesn't happen and attendace is the same or less then either the formula needs to be adjusted, or we go back to the village fete scenario.
Several folk on here have said how good the National is, and indeed for meeting fellow enthusiasts it is good, but this could take place down the pub or at branch meetings, the National is a representative event for our enthusiasm and dedication to the Minor, as well as a meeting place of international members to chat, drink etc.
I have also suggested to Andrew that the basic ammenities of the Rally are given over to a Professional Event Organiser who will arrange appropriate , bands, groups, food outlets and other entertainment. This will minimise the need for the vast amount of time that the volunteers need to spend on non Minor organisation. They then simply need to populate the rally with Minor specific functions.
From a trade perspective, the effort required to show at the national now outweighs the benefits of attending, even the likes of Bully seldom take much more than and ordinary work day, and as such a lot of traders have pulled out of attending, C Ware, ESM, B'Ham MMC and many others including ourselves have pulled out of the National, except for the 60th meeting.
The majority of trade now is second hand parts , not a good and vibrant advert for new members to latch onto , when it could be so much better.
To change the attitude of the MMOC from within will never happen, and to simply attend a village fete will never attract new members nor I fear inspire current members to attend future events.
3/10 must try much harder MMOC, the membership deserve better.

I 100% agree with you Jonathon. Maybe a poll should be started to see how many people feel the National should change?

ratrodmog wrote:I 100% agree with you Jonathon. Maybe a poll should be started to see how many people feel the National should change?

By all means see what you can organise, but there is not much point it doing it here because only a tiny amount of the membership use the website unfortunately

Kevin, I didn't mean this to sound like a dig at anyone as I know that all the events take a lot of organising and everyone does a great job . I have thought about trying to organise my own Morris based events here in Bournemouth but again have been met with mixed comments. Is there any way one could get involved in helping out at the national or organising events?

ratrodmog wrote:I 100% agree with you Jonathon. Maybe a poll should be started to see how many people feel the National should change?

I agree with both jonathon and ratrodmog poll idea.

I do also believe the new concourse judge Mr Lee is trying to involve the customised Morris Minors, in a bid to attract the younger member. (a step in the right direction I would say) It tends to be the younger end, more than the older people who go for the more modern customisations. Now I will have all you older members with custom Minors telling me your ages and proving me wrong...

I`snt it marvelous ? Age, all the time !!! I WILL tell you that I`m past 70, and have owned and driven Classics ( mostly Moggie of all types), even when they were NOT classics. Wolseley, Landcrabs, Rovers and even American Cars and trucks and attending their shows, National and otherwise all over this country and others. Yes, there always is a familiarity about these shows, and how they are run. Moffat, in Scotland is one of the best I`ve been to, but even they had their failings, and did not please everyone. Three times I have been, and I hope I can go again.
My wife and I have booked in to a nice `Pub` for bed and breakfast for thee nights, (`fraid we are passed the Camping lark). We will admire other cars and talk to lots of people and this will be our enjoyment......I agree something for the younger folk would be nice, but you won`t get me on some of those crazy things in a fairground. Those of you who are obviously not happy, Get your ideas to the `powers that be` or even offer your services to help change things.
Sorry folks, I know you mean well, but lets hear about the things you `enjoyed` for a change[frame][/frame]

ratrodmog wrote: Is there any way one could get involved in helping out at the national or organising events?

I would think that Andrew Stone would be the person to contact as I am sure he would welcome any help offered. If you like I have to go to the Branch liason meeting towards the end of the month and could ask then if you like.

You can please some of the people all of the time or all of the people some of the time, you can't please all of the people all of the time. With an age spectrum as wide as ours it would surely be futile to try and arrange a one size fits all event. Our interests ,the car apart, are just too diverse. The Morris Minor should take centre-stage and rightfully so. Personally I'd like to see Bryan Ferry there,he did after all have 2 saloons and a Traveller.