Encouraging newcomers?

[Henrietta]

The fact remains that this could happen at any club, on any day, at any time. Don is right, hit any person at the wrong time, and the impression could be bad. Not intentional in the least. Preston is a great guy and Don is right about his hard work for others.

Lesson to be learned for all of us is simple. Be open for the new racers, welcome them in and make room for them. That is the only theme needed from this subject. Smacking a club, it's members or a person in it will serve no useful purpose. EVER.

Your right, lesson learned. Maybe this thread caught ME on one of those days I never try and go out of my way to stick my nose were it doesnt belong and in this case I did. To those my comments offended,my appologies. I guess sometimes it seems to me like the different power sources (gas-nitro and f/e) dont always co-exist as a whole, thats a shame,it gets under my skin and in this case I let it. Sorry guys/gals, and ODMBA.

It's all good - we can take it

 

[FatChanceLarry]

Now it is my time to respond. As President of the offending club, I take offense at the way this thread has gone. I know for a fact that generally all clubs have as part of their constitutation and by/laws something that says their purpose is to encourage the hobby and to help it grow as a family event. My purpose this year has been just that! I also supported our past president for 3 years as Sec/Treasurer and we increased our membership and replaced many that had stopped racing. As I have observed and mentioned at most of our meetings and races, we as a group have increased our membership, and clearly have invited past members back to the fold as well as welcomed new members. We have a ratio of about 30 % new members because of this effort. Not one race goes by that either myself or another member is talking to our visitors. If one got a bad experience or bad info then that is the exception vs the rule. I had a conversation today at our local hobby shop with a person that has a .12 boat and wanted to know about the club. The propriator (also a club member) asked me to join in to his conversation since he knew we currently don't run an A class. That person left with an invite to the upcoming race so he could see all types of boats in action. He also understood that we have a Novice class in which he will be able to run initially. This was a normal conversation I have had with at least 5 possible members this year.

Ask anyone and they will tell you we are begging for Nitro Boats. I know there is a place for them within our club. it is just that many of the nitro guys have shifted. Still I ask for them to bring their Nitro boats back so that others can continue to run. We have encouraged all classes to the point that the last score sheet has 14 classes on it. We managed to go from no Tunnels to 2 Tunnel classes this last race. A fun time was had by all. I even got a past member to finally come out to fill a tunnel class after 8 years without regular tunnel racing. They all had a great time and put on a terrific show. We are one of few club to run 10 races a season, so we have many oppurtunities to run and get experiance. You see how your day goes running three rounds of 14 classes in 4 hours. Some of our heats are now being split because there are 15 entries. Still think we turn away people?

The negitive response was an unusual situation which we have addressed, but I will not accept that our club is in the habit of turning off possible members. NO WAY!!!

Now off the soap box. Lets make this more positive. This thread should be addressed on methods on how to increase membership. What clubs have done to encourage participation, interest etc. Negatives are not useful. We should be helping and encouraging clubs new and old on lessons learned, positive responses to new methods of recruitment, and what works what doesn't. Let turn this b/s session into positive results. What works for you?

 

[Scott Norris]

And a big ole AMEN on that one. All I know is I'm looking forward to going to ODMBA in a few weeks and having myself a LARGE TIME!! Do I hear a second to that Motion!

 

[Preston_Hall]

I didn't even bother wasting my time reading all the chatter. You guys got this so far off topic! The facts are that you were not there and nobody has ever been treated like the guy claims. PERIOD

A for some retarded reason you have twisted this into "Preston supports gas and shuns nitro". WHAT A BUNCH OF BS. I just said that if you want to have the most fun then this is the time to have gas at ODMBA.

And if some of you NC guys that are throwing stones will go and look at your race entries then you will see that gas classes were 4 or 5 times bigger than nitro at your own race. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

In the words of "The Bull", TAKE ANOTHER HIT

AND GET OFF MY BACK.

For the rest that have been mislead by all this, come on over and enjoy the Southern Hospility.

 

[piper_chuck]

I didn't even bother wasting my time reading all the chatter.

Not a surprise.

You guys got this so far off topic! The facts are that you were not there and nobody has ever been treated like the guy claims. PERIOD

Actually, not true, he knows others, but that's not the subject of this thread. It was supposed to get clubs thinking about how they handle newcomers and sharing ideas for welcoming them. YOU single handedly screwed it up by identifying the club. If there had not also been some private communication, the way individual club problems should be handled, NONE of you would have had ANY idea where this happened.

As was requested by Larry and Christi, can YOU STOP posting about the specific event and START posting solutions that ALL clubs can use to grow their membership?

It's all good - we can take it

Yup, it sure is. Look forward to seeing you, Larry, Don, and all the rest in a few weeks.

 

[Preston_Hall]

The only reason I jumped in is because it was turning into some kind of Jerry Springer free-for-all.

I don't mind speaking up for the people and things I believe in.

As for the smaller nitro boat the guy had, I was thinking .......... If anybody in the entire district has promoted the below 21 engines it is me.

 

[Ron Olson]

Let's go back to square one. The sanctioning bodies and clubs are now being hit with new boaters that have bought boats that don't really have a class for them. Most RTR boats coming from any of the mass-produced manufacturers have engines that don't really fit into any one class or if they did would be smoked in competition. I'm sure that they are aware of this so that is why they are building them that way. Sorry Aquacraft, ProBoat and now Aeromarine among others but you people know what the classes are and why aren't boats like the Miss Vegas, Bud/LLumar/Elam, Shockwave 36, Thunder-Cat 31 either made to fit in the "A", "B", "C" or "D" classes being built? People buy these and get pissed off because sanctioning bodies and clubs aren't allowing them to race against their peers. It is not our fault that the mass-producers can't conform to our rules.

Throwing them into a novice class isn't going to help as most allow boats up to .45's.

 

[Rigged]

I'm sure that they are aware of this so that is why they are building them that way. Sorry Aquacraft, ProBoat and now Aeromarine among others but you people know what the classes are and why aren't boats like the Miss Vegas, Bud/LLumar/Elam, Shockwave 36, Thunder-Cat 31 either made to fit in the "A", "B", "C" or "D" classes being built? People buy these and get pissed off because sanctioning bodies and clubs aren't allowing them to race against their peers. It is not our fault that the mass-producers can't conform to our rules.

Throwing them into a novice class isn't going to help as most allow boats up to .45's.

I dont think these companys really care about building a boat to any organization's class specs. To them its just about getting the product out there on the water for the buyer to enjoy.

2 pennys from a 'sport' boaters point of view.

 

[Don Ferrette]

As for the smaller nitro boat the guy had, I was thinking .......... If anybody in the entire district has promoted the below 21 engines it is me.

Absofrikkinlutely!!! Up until quite recently Preston held ALL the mono & hydro A class records & still holds most of them. Fact remains the the Miss Vegas is a B class (0.130-0.219) boat since it is an .18. So if a couple more of these show up we'll run them seperate but for now TECHNICALLY it is a B HYDRO! I do know of one more in the ODMBA ranks but don't think we'll see it out until '07. :blink: