<VV> CORSA Future.

[Roger Gault]

Bryan,
To some extent, I agree, but not entirely.  I think we have to look at it
both ways.

I've been driving Corvairs since 1969, the last one for 28 years.  But I've
only been a member for part of that time.  There was a long stretch in the
middle when I didn't "subscribe to the magazine".  That's the way I looked
at it and the mag wasn't worth it to me (still not).  Then, some years back,
the guys on VV unknowingly shamed me into joining again.  I pay my CORSA
dues because I think the organization is worth having and somebody has to
pay for it.  The magazine is secondary - I'd be a member without it.

But, we (were) talking about increasing income.  Read that, increase the
dues, or increase the membership count.  Short of an evangelical campaign
touting the deep spiritual benefits of being a CORSA member, the only way I
can see one way to make new members join up - improve the "product" that
they see, the magazine.  We ran off VV's only preacher, so we seem to be
stuck with spiffing up the magazine.

If Corvair owners were as interested in the "volunteer" aspect of CORSA and
the Communique as you (and I) would like, we'd see a bunch of VV chatter
saying, "Losing money?  Unacceptable.  Raise the dues."   Despite the super
quality of certain websites <ggg>, and the "entertaining" VV, the mag is
still the primary communication tool of CORSA, and will remain in that
position as long as nearly 90% of our membership isn't active on-line.

Roger


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryan Blackwell" <bryan at skiblack.com>
To: "james rice" <ricebugg at mtco.com>
Cc: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 2:24 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> CORSA Future.


> James and others,
>
> I've seen this same comparison made, and I disagree with it, and I
> think this is part of the problem that many volunteer or charitable
> organizations have right now.  We aren't "customers", we are a group
> with a common interest and this group has expenses.  I may not be
> explaining this well enough, but I see a similar problem in our local
> Little League baseball.  The problem is, the organization runs on
> volunteer power, but many parents view it as a business.  It isn't.
> It's an organization where kids can play baseball, and that takes
> money for bats and balls and all that stuff.  CORSA needs money
> mostly for communication - so we can find out what other Corvair
> owners are doing, for our own benefit.  While we need to make good
> monetary decisions, treating CORSA - or any other volunteer
> organization - too much like a business is a mistake, IMO.
>
> --Bryan
>
> Bryan Blackwell bryan at skiblack.com
> http://autoxer.skiblack.com/
>    Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
>    '69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
> "Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"
>
>
> On May 4, 2008, at 4:32 PM, james rice wrote:
>
> > Income vs expense is really an issue about those
> > providing, at a cost customers are willing to pay, goods and
> > services.  How
> > do we get and keep customers?  The cost of the goods and services
> > has to be
> > what customers wants, including by not limited to, quality and
> > timeliness of
> > the goods and services.
>
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