FLU ELECTIONS-QUESTIONS

[So Cal Mark]

I'm a FLU member, but not really involved I'll admit. I joined when I got the urge to establish a So Cal chapter, but the reality of it has pretty much stalled due to lack of interest from the populace here. So now that the upcoming elections have started a thread here, it's gotten me thinking. I read the "qualifications" of the candidates. Several of them wrote how well they tinker with cars and mechanical things. I'm curious what the duties of a FLU BOD member are. Is there a benefit to having a BOD member in your chapter, or state? Do they plan a direction for the club to take? Plan or work FFO? Try to initiate new chapters, or work with new chapters to become sustainable? How many hours a month do they spend with FLU business?

[maytag]

All very good questions Mark. I have one more for the list:





"Is there an Immunization available?"


ba-da-bing!

[mdrburchette]

Mark, funny you should bring up these quesitons. As you may know, I'm a board member and, with the help of a couple others, have been working on establishing some sort of support system for the local and regional chapters. It's still in it's infancy, but I believe eveyone is realizing the importance of local chapters. As for being a board member, had I realized you were a FLU member, I would have, with your permission, thrown your name in the hat as well.
We meet via a chat room three or four times a year and also, those who can, meet at the annual Freakout for a face to face.

[mbouse]

I'm a FLU member, but not really involved I'll admit. I joined when I got the urge to establish a So Cal chapter, but the reality of it has pretty much stalled due to lack of interest from the populace here. So now that the upcoming elections have started a thread here, it's gotten me thinking. I read the "qualifications" of the candidates. Several of them wrote how well they tinker with cars and mechanical things. I'm curious what the duties of a FLU BOD member are. Is there a benefit to having a BOD member in your chapter, or state? Do they plan a direction for the club to take? Plan or work FFO? Try to initiate new chapters, or work with new chapters to become sustainable? How many hours a month do they spend with FLU business?

i can not over emphasize my urging you to get more involved, Mark. Being an active FLU member would only improve things for you personally as a Fiat enthusiest, but it would also aid things for the region. Buy some club apparel, rally the troops, and start having a grand time together...more than just cruises or car shows, but also dinners and BBQ's. Fly the FLU flag regularly, and sport some logos and banners. Get your own website like Chicago, West Michigan, and Roamin' Chariots did..

i am also a BOD member, and like Denise, regularly attend the meetings having significant input to the processes that drive our club. our duties formally and informally are to represent the populous. i know that sounds mighty puffy and political...but, speaking for the members that we socialize with on a regular basis is what it is about at board meetings. there are not that many changes on a national level; discussions revolve around what is happening regionally.

qualifications? #1-dedication to FLU and the members #2-(see #1)

i am disappointed as you are in the light participation and membership within the club of the left coast residents. i'd dearly love to see more members out west, and would be delighted in seeing a FFO in your area sometime very soon. but, in order for that to happen...interest from ya'll needs to increase substantially. Getting a couple of BOD members from the western third of our continent would be a great help towards accomplishing these goals. We on the board need to hear what your concerns and opportunities are so that the club can evolve to incorporate those desires.

yes, the board oversees the activities of the FFO committees, but the board does not generally produce the FFO.

having a chapter in your area can benefit you greatly by giving a common rally point for social events, regional activites, etc. we all realize that Fiating with a group is much more fun than Fiating solo. a local chapter can help immensely in recruiting additional participants to these events. Far different from a loose group of enthusiests, the sanctioned chapter has the power to provide liability insurance coverage.

on an average month, MOST board members spend an hour a week or so discussing via email various opportunities for the national group. some of us (sub-committee members) spend more than that. As Membership Director, i personally spend at least 3 hours/week on my duties... excluding the overt recruiting efforts i do at the forums like this one.

as the Membership Director, i personally will work with you as far as you want or need to get a local chapter started. But, to be honest...it will take a large commitment on your part to keep the embers burning. Best to find a partner. the national group works best to promote the national meet; but it also works great in supporting the chapter representatives. the real crux of the club is local-regional...not national.

[So Cal Mark]

I haven't given up on the idea of a Calif chapter, but I can't hold all of the BOD positions myself. I just haven't been successful at all in finding people that will serve on a board to get the chapter started. I'm not clear on how a west coast BOD member can help spur a new club without direct involvement. Most everyone I talk with wants events to attend, but wants someone else to do all of the planning, etc.
I've headed up large organizations in the past and done event planning for very large events, and it takes a group of committed people.
So we'll see how it goes if Alvon gets elected. If somehow holding that position enables him to kick-start a chapter then that would be a great thing.

[jimincalif]

I would be willing to help getting a SoCal chapter going. We could have a lot of fun with it. A couple of meet and greets, a few runs, and maybe a couple of weekend get-togethers to learn about/work on our cars.

I've not joined FLU yet, is there time to join and still vote?

Jim

[jprisbe]

Voting will continue for probably another month... so you definitely have time to join and vote.

[So Cal Mark]

the whole idea was to try and schedule about 1 event per month with a mixture of park and shine, runs, tech gatherings, etc. But now that the thread has been hijacked, I'll start a new one about So Cal FLU

[mbouse]

I haven't given up on the idea of a Calif chapter, but I can't hold all of the BOD positions myself. I just haven't been successful at all in finding people that will serve on a board to get the chapter started. I'm not clear on how a west coast BOD member can help spur a new club without direct involvement. Most everyone I talk with wants events to attend, but wants someone else to do all of the planning, etc.
I've headed up large organizations in the past and done event planning for very large events, and it takes a group of committed people.
So we'll see how it goes if Alvon gets elected. If somehow holding that position enables him to kick-start a chapter then that would be a great thing.

it definitely takes a group of dedicated individuals; at least two.. that is why i suggested getting a partner. to be a sanctioned chapter of FLU, you need four individuals total; two of which are local officers... but zero of which need to be on the national board. Nationally, there are four officers and eleven BOD members (total 15); and we have over two dozen sanctioned chapters spread around the continent. please don't predicate chapter activity on a BOD election.

as with any good organization, like you have discovered, 90% of the people expect to be served by the other 10%. that is our society in general. Won't be any different with a car club. i wouldn't fool you on that.

[So Cal Mark]

I'm aware of the 80/20 rule; 20% of the people do 80% of the work. I guess what I was driving at, was the statements of the candidates. As a member from the far-flung reaches of no-chapter land, what does it matter to me who the BOD are? Does the fact that Joe or Jill Schmoe can tinker with his Fiat, and has for 20 yrs have ANY effect at all on me? I was hoping to read a statement with the candidates vision of what FLU will/can be in the future and how that particular person can help guide the organization toward those goals. Are there goals beyond recruiting Fiat/Lancia owners to join? If the point is to be merely a social organization, then are the most-worthy candidates individuals that have made the most friends in the F/L community?
Just questions I've been pondering in the wee hours

[racydave]

There are alot of factors involved with who may or may not be good canidates for the FLU board. I have mixed feelings about this as someday I may want to be part of it all. First, I believe it is important that you have a group of people that communicate well, and can all respect each other, to obtain the best results. This equates to FLU members "in good standing" with the group, which I can not define for you. Of importance also are people that have been involved with the group in the past. It really is all about social skills and the direction of the future. There has been alot of friction in the past between members and other groups. Personally, I would like to see a compassionate approach especially with the west coast groups, Kind of a right to exist platform, that is friendly to everyone or group. A olive branch tastes better than a 2x4! Personally, I believe Alvon would become a great asset as he is well respected and liked in the Fiat Community.

[mbouse]

Mark,

All valid statements. all valid questions that should be raised. unfortunately, Fiat Spider dot Com is not the correct place to be making these statements and raising these issues if you really desire an impact. http://www.flu.org message board (http://fluforum.italiancarclub.com/)
is the correct place to begin these types of conversations. not that i won't, not that Denise won't talk to you here concerning some club business... but for REAL impact, you should be at the club site talking club business and raising challenges to the establishment that is running the club.

BTW-if you do, i will do my best to support you...

the current candidates were responding with biographies according to past practice. Does that make them a good candidate? Well, again i will refer to the 90-10 rule and state that the BOD must contain a certain amount of warm bodies according to the by-laws we are required to uphold. could there be better choices of who fills those seats? prolly, but where are they? Who are they? and why aren't they volunteering? is every current director worthy of his/her seat? i'd question that. is every candidate listed unworthy? absolutely not.

here is one thing i will promise you... without any interest shown by the enthusiastic participation in a LARGE local chapter, we will not see a FFO near Disneyland. FFO venues are chosen based on the ability of the local crew to show that they care enough in the club to host such an event, and are large enough and strong enough to put forth a show that is well received by about 200 car owners and their families. Tell me how i can help you build that chapter.

FLU does not have a standing sub-committee that travels about the country setting up Freak Outs. FFO's are planned and produced by the local chapters.

take the time and ask Desert FLU chapter what the national folks just did for them this past weekend at their #5 anniversary if you want an answer to your question about national support for chapters west of the Mississippi River. look in your next RICAMBI to see what the national organization is doing for the promotion of the Chicago chapter, or for my favorite chapter WMichigan.

if getting a local representative on the BOD is what it takes to spawn a local FLU chapter in California, which is what i hear you saying, then you should care greatly who sits on the board.

no, i do not believe that we (the board) are just a social organization. there have been some heated debates in the recent past that would speak just the opposite. But we are as a whole dedicated to the future enjoyment of the club in every current and potentially future aspect the club is or could be. does everyone have the same degree of dedication to the task that Denise does? prolly not. is everyone on the BOD as outspoken as I, absolutely not. BUT at the same time, the goal of the club is to provide the venue for the mutual enjoyment of Italian cars...(read, for fun).

could our club be different? Absolutely; and getting changes made is what i have worked for each time i discuss FLU business. change is the reason i am on the BOD. what changes do you want to work with me on?

[So Cal Mark]

thanks for the informed response. Because my time is at such a premium these days I haven't found the time to hang out on the FLU forum. I raised the questions here only because of the election thread kick-started some questions.
I have no idea if having a west coast rep would make any difference. After spending a couple of years talking up a chapter, I can't imagine volunteers lining up for that reason. There are some major hurdles to a chapter in so cal and I haven't found all of the answers to them yet. My goal had been to assemble a temporary BOD to get the chapter started with the idea of elections once the chapter was up and running. So far that goal has been out of reach
Keep in mind, I was not being critical of how FLU is set up or operated, just curious.

[mdrburchette]

I have misplaced my FLU bible but maybe Mike can correct me if I'm wrong. For a chapter to be a true chapter, you only need two people. One for President and one for Vice President/secretary. I can't remember how many meetings you need, but it seems like it was one yearly meeting. It really isn't much to get going, but it does take time to build it up. You're lucky where you are, Mark, because you have good weather most of the time. Of course, that could be a curse, since people don't have to wait for an invitation to an event to drive their Fiats.

[fiasco]

I've been following this thread with interest. I have toyed with the idea of getting involved in the SoCal chapter movement as well. Last year we had some discussion of the topic with Mark, Alvon, Ryan and others. Ryan seemed to be very motivated, but then shortly after that he seemed to disappear from the community.

I have served as President of a national software user group and am currently on the board for a local youth soccer league, so I have some sense of the dynamics of an all-volunteer leadership structure for an all-volunteer organization (I'm sure there are some unique opportunities and challenges related to a car club in particular). I am not opposed making that kind of commitment to an organization that is dedicated to an activity that I enjoy, but in my mind there is a fundamental question that I believe is at the root of why we do not have a SoCal FLU chapter at this time.

What would be the purpose of a FLU chapter in SoCal?

Now before the FLU members on the forum get out the flame throwers, I am not trying to be snarky. The plain truth is that we have a pretty good slate of Fiat-related activities out here already. We do the Turkey trot annually, and last year added the SuperBowl Strut. We get together for Best of France and Italy. We get together for meals when Fiaters come in from out of town. We have work parties at people's houses. We send people/cars to FFO every year. We communicate regularly with one another on this forum. It seems to me that we already enjoy most of the previously mentioned benefits of having a local chapter without the burden of organization, structure or financial accountability.

So my question would be (and please take this the right way as I truly would like to hear thoughtful answers from those who are passionate advocates of the FLU) what would the SoCal Fiat community gain from the establishment of a FLU chapter?

Again - hold the flames. I am also not so self centered to think that the only reason for doing anything is for what I get out of it. My guess is that the local chapters are also supportive of each other and of the national organization in various ways. So I'll answer my own question in part by saying that one of the reasons for a SoCal chapter is that the energy and volume of activity in SoCal could contribute a variety of benefits to the national organization and the other local chapters. For some of us, giving back to people/organizations that we've benefited from is an important part of who we are. That group of people are those that are most likely to volunteer and fill leadership positions. However, getting the SoCal Fiat community as a whole to embrace a FLU chapter means convincing the other 80 or 90% that a chapter has something to offer them that they don't already have. I'd love to hear how our ardent FLUers would respond to that question.

Respectfully,
-- se (fiasco)