<VV> CORSA business, was: The tent and PR

[Mark Corbin]

I love it when MY plan succeeds. And that was to get people proposing plans
to help CORSA. 

The board doesn't like seing VV used to discuss CORSA business. Yet they
let the genie out of the bottle by providing the forum. That it is open to
both members and non-members makes it what it is. If they didn't want CORSA
business to be discussed in front of non-members, they should have limited
VV participation to ONLY CORSA members.

But VV is what it is. Discussion of the organization's problems may be
brutal at times, but it is ultimately healthy. Non-members just have to
remember that there really IS more positive things about CORSA than
negative. Unfortunately, without joining, it's hard to know all the
intangible benefits of belonging. And as one poster pointed out, nowadays
EVERY organization is suffering from financial problems brought on by
declining membership.

Regrettably, the younger generations (particularly the under 30 group) are
simply NOT joiners. Their idea of socializing consists of a Facebook page,
and communication to them is texting one another. They have the idea that
they need nothing more than the internet to provide all their needs and
wants. I think they are wrong, but only time will tell who's wrong and
who's right.

Unfortunately, that only makes CORSA's job in recruiting new members even
harder. Which is why I think maybe hiring a PROFESSIONAL PR person may be
the only answer. And pay him based on results. Our first such effort
resulted in hiring Marcus Associates, our first professional management
firm. They managed to increase CORSA membership significantly, as I recall.
Then the CORSA board got the feeling that they were costing too much. Enter
H&M. CORSA membership peaked, and has been declining ever since.
Coincidence? Possibly. But regardless, it's obvious that we NEED a
professional PR person now.

We also need the board to lay out a plan to the membership, and then follow
it. One more thing that the board doesn't like is to publicize its
activities. This only results (IMO) in impressions that they aren't doing
ANYthing.  I really believe (and as a former board member myself) that they
should be more open in keeping the membership informed as to their
activities, and maybe even hold the board meetings in an open-door manner,
similar to town council meetings. In the right format, it may just help
their image, and benefit their efforts.

But the bottom line (no pun intended) is that CORSA needs to get it's
financial house in order - with a specified plan based on statistically
reliable membership projections, and not on a "cash on hand" thinking. As
one poster proposed, keep all expenses within a balanced budget, and work
from there. Here is where an experienced, successful business person or
financial comptroller is needed. (One such person, for example, is Cal
Clark - not that I'm volunteering him, mind you.) Are there any amongst the
board members? Business people know HOW to run a business profitably. And,
despite our image of CORSA, it IS a business. It should be run as such.

Anyway, I'm happy to see that (mostly) positive posts are coming out of
this thread. It shows that CORSA is indeed alive.

-Mark

> [Original Message]
> From: David Neale <david.neale3 at ntlworld.com>
> Subject: <VV> The tent and PR
>
> <<Of Course General Patton said---One minute after H-Hour on D Day, you
don't have a plan anymore---just have to see how things work out.>>
>
> Quite.  Which boxer, (was it Mike Tyson?), who said something along the
lines of ... "everybody has a plan until they get a punch in the face". 
Presumably, most people, having suffered the trifling inconvenience of a
punch in the face from Mike Tyson, would never recall their own name, let
alone whether they ever had a plan or not.  
>
> CORSA is special enough that it simply must succeed ... it has done so
through crises before today, and by the wit of all those involved, it has
survived.  Maybe some things have to change ... that is the case with most
organisations .. but core functions should never be up for disposal. 
Despite Mike Tyson's quip, true insofar as it goes, a plan is always a
prerequisite. 
>
> And, despite the somewhat grim tone of some of the comments from
contributors here, sharp comment, provided it is constructive, is essential
to enable close inspection of all aspects or an organisation's structure
and operation.
>
> If comments are not constructive, they shouldn't be made. It's as simple
as that.  
>
> I'd only add that, being a Brit, there appears precious little that I can
do to assist CORSA month-on-month in any voluntary sense ... but if someone
would entrust me with any chores which can be sent backward and forward by
e-mail, in the form of clerking office work, I would be delighted to help.
>
> David Neale
>
> Poised in anticipation over the keyboard in leafy Leicestershire, England
>
> '65 Monza 140HP 4-speed convertible
>