<VV> Director`s Comments in Communique -- LONG

[Steven J. Serenska]

Hello Non-Annoying VVers:

My CORSA Communique arrived today.  Based on the 350,000 posts on VV on 
this subject over the past few days (give or take), the first thing I 
did when I got my Communique, of course, was to turn to Jackson Dell 
Weaver's "Director's Turn at the Wheel" column.

I can see what the furor was about. 

Statements such as "I can't see that anything CORSA does adds much to 
the enjoyment of the cars or the groups we hang with" are designed to be 
provocative, no more, no less.  They certainly are not productive.  Nor 
particularly fair.

After re-reading the column, I found that JDW's overall message could be 
boiled down to the following six points:

  1) The CORSA BOD does not accomplish much

  2) CORSA has no real benefits to offer members

  3) Printing the Communique is a waste of time

  4) CORSA Membership is declining and there is no viable way to reverse 
that

  5) Running CORSA is a waste of time

  6) CORSA should be blown up tomorrow.

As far as solutions go, JDW suggests that the Communique either be sold 
as a magazine subscription or abandoned altogether, and that Corvair 
owners' communications be conducted via online channels such as Facebook 
or LinkedIn (i.e., anywhere but on VV, the "world's most annoying 
forum").  I think it is important to notice these suggestions address 
Point #3, but little else.  It bothers me that JDW offers no concrete 
solutions -- nothing -- for his points 1, 2, 4, and 5 other than a 
flippant last sentence (which I paraphrased as #6). 

I am nothing more than a dues-paying member of CORSA, but I do serve on 
a BOD of a non-profit organization in my town.  If I stood up at a board 
meeting and said "If this organization were my client, I'd blow it up 
tomorrow", I would fully expect the other directors to demand my 
resignation on the spot.  Such a demand would be appropriate because, by 
saying such a thing, I would be making it clear that I was no longer 
capable of acting as a prudent steward of the organization. 

I tell my employees that someone who offers nothing but complaints and 
criticisms without having any actionable solutions in mind is my 
personal definition of a whiner.  I would expand on that by saying that 
someone who offers complaints and (non-constructive) criticisms 
regarding the work of volunteers is something even worse.

Here's my suggestion: Let's turn this thread into something positive.  
The 700 or so members of this "world's most annoying forum" should 
challenge ourselves to develop a 10-point action list of "Ways to 
Increase CORSA's Membership".  I would be happy to serve as the group's 
recording secretary and to transmit the ideas to both the BOD and/or a 
letter to the Communique.  Then, we should task ourselves with acting on 
the points on the list.  I have a great deal of confidence that the 
group that was able to get the Corvair Basics Manual published -- all 
the way published -- can make a huge difference. 

If you agree, I'll throw in the first suggestion as my next post.  If 
you'd like me to shut up about it and move on, please let me know offline.

Sorry if this was "annoying". 

Grrr.

Steven "throwing more than necker nobs" Serenska