<VV> Corsa Board of Director service - A differing view (Long)

[Sethracer at aol.com]

There has been a lot of talk on Virtual Vairs  recently about the Corsa Board 
of Directors (BOD) and the work load and BS load  capacity for people running 
and holding that office. I joined the Corsa Board in  1980, at the first 
Atlanta (Marietta, really) GA  convention. The Corvair organization was, at that 
time, being run by a paid  professional “Association Management” company, 
supplemented by a group of active  volunteers. The BOD set policy and provided 
strategic direction to the  management company. The problem with this set-up, 
besides being too expensive  for the Society, was that the fit was wrong between 
the Professional Management  company – designed to be able to manage any kind 
of association, and Corsa, a  car club. Corsa was not a group of businesses 
seeking an honest broker to help  their businesses grow and prosper, the regular 
customer for the management  company, it was a group of individuals, most of 
which had only the love of the  Corvair in common. The BOD decided that a 
change was needed. After reviewing  proposals from several sources, all of which 
were submitted by Car-oriented,  Corvair-oriented, organizations, the choice 
was made to go with Management &  Publishing, still performing admirably. The 
reason I brought up this change is  that it also changed the responsibilities of 
the BOD members, although the BOD  was still responsible for providing 
strategic direction. What the BOD members  were now expected to do is bring in the 
concerns and desires of society members,  (that’s you and me - if you are a 
Corsa member), convey them to the rest of the  BOD, formulate any action needed 
to implement requested changes and present the  choice to the BOD for approval. 
Usually those choices will result in a policy  change, say – adding a 
required event to the National Convention – or adding a  requirement that 
indecipherable advertising would be banned from the Communiqué!  (ain’t gonna happen). I 
exited the BOD for the last time in 2006. During my  tenure, I observed many 
directors come and go. Some were the proverbial  one-issue candidates, who 
brought with them their (sometimes internal) mandate  to accomplish this one goal. 
Several were egomaniacs (relax, I am not naming  names) and only sought the “
Director” ribbon for their convention badge. A few  were disinterested enough 
to barely show up at meetings, and might as well have  phoned in their 
service.  Along the  way, however, I met and worked with some of the most dedicated, 
selfless folks I  have ever encountered. Some of those folks are still on the 
BOD. I looked at BOD  service as a way of giving back to Corsa some of the 
help and guidance I had  received in my (now) 40 years of fooling with Corvairs. 
During that time, I have  owned other cars and, on occasion, joined other car 
clubs for short periods. (I  am not including racing clubs -  I just received 
my 30 year pin from SCCA).  But I have yet to find a better overall 
organization than Corsa. Perhaps some of  it results from the “underdog/neglected” exper
ience of the car itself. It does  tend to gravitate to the owners as well. 
Corsa has its share of members who own  Corvairs along with a dozen other 
vintage cars, as well as members who own  nothing but Corvairs and have never owned 
anything else. I doubt if you will  find many of those in the Ferrari club! 
(disclaimer – I have never owned a  Ferrari, nor joined a Ferrari club). This 
diverse membership of the Corvair club  is both one of its strengths and one of 
its weaknesses.  But it does provide an almost endless  supply of potential 
candidates for the BOD, as folks are either internally  driven, or externally 
pushed, to share some of their knowledge and enthusiasm  with the National 
organization. People who have an idea or cause could opt to  run for the Board, but 
can also seek out someone who is already a representative  and ask their 
assistance. One of the most gratifying aspects of Board service  was providing a 
service or assistance to a fellow Corsa member. I do caution you  that the BOD, 
since it is so diverse, can also be frustrating. BOD members have  to keep an 
open mind, both to Corsa Members and to the other directors. As  others have 
alluded, that does not always happen. I enjoyed my times on the BOD  and I 
think that, at least for most of my service, provided reasonable counsel  and 
criticism both at and between face-to-face BOD meetings. I do think it is  
important to rotate people off of the Board, not only for their own sake, but  also 
to provide the fresh insight needed to address the new problems which will  
never cease to pop-up. I suppose, like most mentally healthy people, I have  
suppressed any really bad memories of my service <grin> but remember the  good 
ones.  Yep, mostly good ones. –  Seth Emerson