Let's Get to Work!

And by "Work", I don't mean work. Let's get to Fun is more like it.

Winter sucks, plain and simple. After being in the OHV community this long, you know as soon as September roles around you're going to start feeling the pings of discontent coming on like a dark cloud on the horizon. Every winter it's the same: wheeling starts to taper off, forums start seeing more mis-communication, meetings start to lose attendance. Yup, it's like there's a book that outlines what's coming.
So, we're in the next chapter of that book and it's January, 2009. You've made it this far, so don't put the book down just yet!
Our Region held its quarterly meeting last Sunday, January 18th at EVB in Danbury CT. As those that were there know, and no doubt at least a few others, we've been hard at work trying to keep those winter doldrums from taking too much of a toll. Okay, not so much the doldrums, but just the fact that what is in the best interest of EC4WDA-NE Region isn't exactly what the parent Association thinks is best. As I said in our meeting (which was available to view via web-cam, btw!), I've decided to march into the wind and face the challenge of getting what we need rather than throw in the towel and give up. Yup, there's definately something wrong with EC4WDA, but I think it can be made better. I've said it often enough, but I do not like re-inventing the wheel over and over again. That's the easy way out. It seems harder at first, but it's much easier to start from scratch than it is to win over people and change an organization from the grass roots. That's why we see clubs rise and fall, split and split again.

Well, I went a little side tracked there. I'm typing as I think... ;)

Where were we? Ahhhh....

We've pushed the Association hard to get what we need to prosper. We have certainly met resistance, but with the exception of 3 clubs, the Region has pulled together to forge ahead. I GREATLY APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT FROM ALL OF YOU! I won't give up this year and will work harder than ever for our needs. You know it's much more than recreation. You know the difference between us and "them" is that we're motivated by our recreation. "They're" motivated by a cause. We only want to pay to play for ourselves, but they pay to save for all.

Hey look, I'm back there again...

So this year we're at a cross-roads. Our Region will be working hard to get the our relationship with the Association on equal footing with the others. We're pushing to get more out of it, yet pressing also to get the Association into the mainstream. I, for one, am damn sick and tired of having "the second largest 4WD Association" or whatever, unknown throughout the U.S. except within its own membership. We want progress? We want a voice? We want to make a difference? It won't happen with our current atmosphere of apathy and ignorance.

In April I'll be attending the Association meeting. You know my agenda...OUR agenda. I'll be calling on the Association to help us, and in return we can help them. More so than they can even think of, unfortunately. Our Region meeting will follow within a week, and there we'll discuss the results of the Association meeting. We talked at the January meeting about the Region's future. April will be the first "test". Then, in November, we'll meet the second test during the Fall Association meeting. EC4WDA will be holding it's elections and we can be an aggressive Region that brings about the change we all want and need, or a submissive Region that fails to step up when our challenges are too great.

However, sometimes "the easy way out" may be the only way out. We're not so naive as to not plan for it also.

So wheel, volunteer, write, stay involved, and enjoy. Get involved when you can, support those that do, and if you hate "politics", let the politicos do it. We've all got a part to play in this.

Has it been THAT long???

I apologize for letting this one get away. Life...well, you know the story.

To update since October, we've had our Association meeting in Pennsylvania. Representing the Northeast Region, I went there with the issues that are pressing our region the hardest; land and money. Here's the text of the speech I gave for those that haven't seen it yet;

The winds of change are blowing.
Throughout the world economies are crippled and with that, every aspect of our lives is affected. This past year we’ve witnessed first hand what it’s doing to our beloved past time; membership numbers are dropping, volunteer hours falling off, even whole clubs ready to implode. It’s been a year where our Region has been hurt by the economy in such a way that members are now looking harder than ever at how far their dues go and for what. We’re thinking far outside the box now, trying to appeal to the needs of the members, beyond the recreation itself.

Since last year when I spoke, the Northeast Region has instituted numerous changes and policies that I think have begun to create a much more appealing organization. Mentioned in the spring report, we’ve cataloged each club’s trail ride schedule into a Region calendar. This makes it much easier to track trail usage and find club conflicts, easing over-crowding on the few trails we have. We’ve co-created a new website with the Northeast Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs, called the North East Trails and Roads Coalition (or NETRoC). This website is set up to help foster good relations between the two Associations, create non-binding trail policy, and disseminate trail and land action alerts much faster than before.

At the Region’s October meeting we implemented many new changes for the immediate and long term future of our organization. Beginning with a comprehensive, first ever budget projection, we outlined our income and expenses to the end of 2009 to help format what we’re able to do and what our financial needs would be. This is the backbone of our programs, yet still flexible in its format.

We’ve created a Club Insurance Subsidy Program whereby EC4WDA Northeast will subsidize $100 toward the purchase of general liability insurance for individual clubs. Anticipating matching funds from our parent organization, we’ll be making insurance a reality for many uninsured clubs throughout the Northeast.

We’ve instituted a partial refund policy for clubs based on trail scheduling and availability. In a nutshell, if a club gets bumped from the schedule through no fault of their own, they’ll get a partial refund of their Region dues.

To create more of an interest in keeping these dates available and possibly allowing more runs, our Region has created a Trail Point of Contact/Club Incentive Program, giving cash back to the people who work at obtaining property permission, cutting the trails, and keeping the landowners happy.

Beginning in 2010, EC4WDA Northeast Region (D) will be offering to its members and immediate family members a College Scholarship Program. While details will be worked out during 2009, we hope to award the first $500 scholarship to one lucky recipient in early 2010 and help with one of the most important, yet most expensive parts of our lives.

The most difficult issues facing our Region are retention, land, and of course money. With an organization such as the NEA operating in the Northeast also, we face the challenge of making our Region the best it can be if we want to retain our member clubs. With a dues structure that’s equal to our Region dues, yet 64% cheaper than our overall EC4WDA dues, even if we offered the exact things the NEA offers we’re being “out-priced” by our “competitor”. The only way to change this is to better our product, of which I’ve already described, or lower our dues across the board to stay relative.

A combination of both would be ideal. Our priority shouldn’t be membership numbers, the total clubs under our umbrella, nor the amount of money in our coffers. It’s about being the best Association we can be. Financially affordable, offering as much as we can with the manpower and money we have, and keeping it enjoyable. Focus on the members more, on our volunteers more, and especially our sponsors, instead of so much on luring potential members and clubs into our organization. Make our current members excited to be here and potential members will notice. Doing that, the Association sells itself and we all win.

Steven J. Alheim
Chairman – EC4WDA Northeast Region (D)

We're continually striving to make sure our clubs are getting the most they can for the dues they pay, and remember that YOU are EC4WDA and by helping other clubs, all clubs benefit.

The next Region meeting is being held January 18th at EVB in Danbury, CT from 10am to 2pm. JT4x4 is scheduled to bring breakfast and I'll have an agenda posted on the forum by the end of the month.

REMEMBER: We'll be doing our Trail Lottery at the January meeting. Open dates for private property will be posted THIS WEEK.

Steve A.

Silence isn't as silent as you think.

The Region newsletter hit a snag recently. Mainly, it hasn't been too much of a priority, so it may or may not be published in time for distribution at the Region meeting. I'm no longer asking for anyone to step up to be the editor because I think it may all be falling on deaf ears anyway. It'll be published so long as I find the time or someone offers, but I don't see that in the future.

Gas is down, economy is down, attendance is down, motivation is down, membership is down, and communication is down. I hope not only do the delegates bring their complaints, but also their suggestions on how to help turn it around throughout the sport. Clubs and Associations all over the U.S. are in a state of upheaval, and now is not the time to throw in the towel, quit, or start yet another organization that suits your needs.

Now is the time to put your head down, buck the trends, face the wind, and help guide us through the changes that need to be made.

The next EC4WDA Northeast Region (D) meeting will be held at EVB in Danbury CT. I've posted the agenda and details on the EC4WDA forum for all the club delegates to distribute as needed. I'm looking forward to this meeting as it'll set the tone for the Association meeting in November as well as 2009 (and perhaps beyond that).

Reform, Re-org, and Renew

In an effort to keep every member of EC4WDA Northeast Region (D) informed and up-to-date on the activity of your Association, we started this blog back in the spring. Well, it got away from me and instead of keeping the updates coming; I lost the focus of it. While I’ve heard from clubs outside of our Region express the blog was informative and motivational to them, the primary goal for you, the members, got lost. So let’s get back to business!

Trailfest 2008: It came together finally and proved to be a big hit! Special thanks to Don Roy of HV4W. He worked extremely hard zipping it all together into one event and we all learned a great deal from it. Thank you to ALL our Region volunteers for coming together for this, and thanks to ALL the participants for coming! 2009 planning is underway and we’ll be that much better as a result. We’ll definitely have an easier registration, a pricing level that will be more affordable, more t-shirts, and more raffle items!

Newsletter: Our newsletters have been going out during the month of the Region meetings. I’d like to bump it up to at least two weeks prior to make distribution easier (and cheaper!). Therefore, the October newsletter will be printed by the end of September, with articles and advertisements due no later than September 15th. Please spread the word, and if your business is interested in advertising in the Trail Register, email me at the address listed here on the “profile”.
The newsletter format is set, most content is driven from outside the Region with some from member clubs, and advertiser rates are posted. What we need now is an editor to pull it together and print it. If you’re interested in giving back to your clubs and your Region (not to mention you get a seat on the Region BOD as Region D Editor), please let me know. I’ll be sure the transition is seamless and you won’t get left “holding the bag”.

October Region Meeting: The October meeting is just over a month away (October 19th), but this meeting will be the foundation to start building into 2009 as January is the “action” month. The tentative agenda will be posted on our members’ forum in the next few weeks, so if you or your club has something to add to it, send it in so we can allocate sufficient time to address it.
We’re moving the meeting to EVB in Danbury CT. (EVB is an active supporter of OHV recreation and a proud sponsor of our Region.) While our meetings have been set at 4 hours for as long as I can remember, I’d like to see it expanded to 5 hours (10am to 3pm). Having it at the EVB building will allow us more flexibility if we decide to do this, and also allow us to have a much more productive meeting where important decisions can be thoroughly discussed AND ACTED ON. The October meeting will only run 4 hours however.
In anticipation of 2009, I need each club delegate to work out what they’d like to see from the Association and the Region. Since this meeting is a precursor to our November Association meeting, it allows me a chance to take some of our Region concerns and comments to the national level. I know what I’d like to see from above, but I need your input to make it work of you. Outline your goals and critiques and give us all a chance to make it happen.
We’re already planning Region-sponsored trail work for next year. This will be in place by the time your club schedules start forming, so please make sure to check Region events before you fill in the dates. Of course it’s not required, but it’ll make volunteering for these “parties” much easier to plan for.
Also, our private property “policy” regarding inter-club rides will be undergoing a reform to allow easier scheduling with fewer conflicts. One idea being floated is a calendar “lottery”, whereas each POC will release open dates and clubs will pick which ones they want. Then depending on if a date has multiple clubs wanting it, we’ll select it from a hat in January. We certainly don’t want the POC’s to feel like tour guides all year, so please don’t expect an enormous amount of open dates for each trail. We’re looking to make it fair and equitable for all the clubs involved. Perhaps even an “auction” for desired trails and dates?

During the course of the next few months we’re also going to be seeing the Land Use re-organization mentioned in an earlier post be implemented, as well as instill an aggressive public relations branch.

We need to fill the Community Service position also. Please send in your name if you're interested.

On a final note, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it), EC4WDA Northeast Region (D) has a NO ALCOHOL ON THE TRAIL policy for Region events.
Please do not drink on the trail. It’s a bad idea.

So there's a snapshot of your Region this month. You can reach me anytime at my email address! I need to hear what you need to say!

PUSH THROUGH IT!!!

If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would
literally astound ourselves.

Thomas Alva Edison

Everybody knows what the focus of 4x4 clubs is; wheeling. But what happens when the wheeling just isn’t enough? Should we fight the tide of membership loss and start pushing ways to retain the numbers or should we accept the change and work with the numbers we end up with? Man, those are some difficult questions really. Let’s look at both of ‘em.

Acceptance and decline:
So the membership numbers are falling off, sometimes in droves. As I’ve stated before, there are numerous reasons why this happens; the economy, trail closures, personal reasons, politics, etc. Remember that the reason there’s a club to begin with is that we’re a group of guys and gals that enjoy what we do, and that’s go wheelin’! So when someone…or quite of few someone’s, no longer enjoy it or simply can’t go during the club’s trail rides, the numbers shrink. To choose this course to let run, we can weigh some of our positives and negatives:
Negatives –
Fewer volunteers for events, charity work, trail work, etc.
Fewer members mean less money in our accounts. If we’re actually doing something with that money, that could be a big negative. If it’s not doing much, trim what expenses you can…like a PO Box or newsletter or stickers. Big events might be out of the question of course.
Fewer members mean fewer voices on our political issues. That is probably the worst thing to happen. We need everyone to be involved when it comes to our representation!
Positives –
Fewer members mean fewer trail users mean easier trail rides and scheduling (mostly).
Less “paperwork” dealing with the membership and less “administration”.
Generally, fewer people means it’ll be a little easier (again, for the most part).

Retain and grow:
So the membership numbers are falling off, sometimes in droves (still). Look at it like a business, with customers, employees, services, etc.
Negatives –
It takes a lot of hard work to keep the group together during good times, let alone the hard.
Your “service” better be worth it.
Your application process may become lax or too lenient.
Positives –
There’s strength in numbers!
You’re resolving to continue could lead to a renewed interest in the club, region, or anything really.

There’s really no right answer, but every club and most organizations will go through this all. Let’s look at ways to ride it out or take it by the horns;

Money: Perhaps a dues structure to take advantage of everyone’s passion without compromising their membership? For example, limited membership benefits such as forum access or events at a lower cost to the member. If $50 a year gets you full membership, perhaps a $30 membership would get you just the forum access but no member rides. Or $20 or $10 or even free…the key here is to retain an active number of voices within our organizations and also, not to lose friends and acquaintances based on money alone. Eventually things will get better and those members won’t feel as alienated later on.

Politics: There’s just no way around this one. We’re all going to get ticked at other members and they’re all going to get ticked at you. How you handle it is the key. Learning to disagree AND ACCEPT THE OUTCOME is very difficult. Hell, I’ve damn near tossed in the towel countless times, pretty recently too! LISTEN to what the club wants, whether you’re the club president or just a member…LISTEN. If it’s one item like where to wheel this weekend, suck it up. If it’s the entire course of the club’s future, speak up. Then if it still doesn’t go your way, run for office! Call people, talk to everyone, convince them WHY you’re way is better! DON’T JUST QUIT.

Trails: There just really aren’t enough, are there? This is the Holy Grail right here. I got nothin’

Incentives: A way to help attendance is FREE STUFF! Gas cards, 50/50’s (yeah, not really free, but kinda!), old t-shirts, etc. Give people a reason to show up. Kill off some of the formalities if need be, at least once in a while.

Diversify: One way to draw new members with similar interests is to open up the club to other user groups. The obvious ones being motorized users, but thinking outside the box would be to enlist the members of organizations that may have the same issues you do; like government land closures and the anti-access groups. Organizations like equestrian, ATV, OHM's...they need trails too. Just be sure the trails you may offer are just as open to them as the seat you offer at the table. Step away and "think outside the box" is the point.

Remember, during difficult times it can become almost impossible. DON’T GIVE UP! Think like a lighthouse; sure, you can shut off the light if you don’t see any boats, but WHAT ABOUT THE BOATS STILL OUT THERE??? Seriously, there’s always a boat on the horizon, or an up and coming OHV’er ready to learn more. Always. Bring ‘em in as far as you can, then smack ‘em with a rock and tell them to friggin help ya with dinner once in a while.

On to the specifics;

TRAILFEST 2008 IS ALMOST HERE!!! Are you frikkin' kidding me?

This week is make or break time for the event I feel.

We've only received a small number of registrations, so the opportunity to win something at the raffle will be pretty damn good. T-shirts are iffy right now based on the number of registrants, though. Remember to support your Region! If you can’t make it, THEN HELP BY SPREADING THE WORD PLEASE!

http://www.ec4wda.org/regiond/TF08/TF08_reg.pdf

4WD TRAILFEST 2008 AUGUST 15-17, WINDSOR CT
Book your room today! http://www.clarionhotel.com/

Clarion Inn & Suites of East Windsor
161 Bridge Street, East Windsor CT 06088

The July newsletter is out. Find it online at http://www.ec4wda.org/regiond/doc/july08_trailregister.pdf

If you want hardcopies, email me.

Keep together out there. We really can’t afford not to right now.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Albert Einstein

Past, Present, and Future

Looking back...

By now you've seen (I hope) Dave's Land Use Blog referencing the closures in CT, the DEC changes in the wind in NY, and the MA legislation. REMEMBER TO WRITE IN AND THEN CALL ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO US! We constantly ask ourselves "How do the greenies get us everytime?". It's obvious; they get mad, get organized, and ACT!!! We're getting outgunned on the front. When we let alerts slip through our emails or ignore the issues, we're getting outflanked from the sides. And when we fail to act at all until it's too late, we getting hit from behind. How can we hope to achieve our goals if we don't ACT? We can't.

Ever see "Bug's Life"? One ant gets his tail kicked...until the rest actually step up.

Find out who YOU should write to at http://www.votesmart.org/

Here in the present...

The July newsletter is available for download now at http://www.ec4wda.org/regiond/doc/july08_trailregister.pdf . As mentioned at the Region meeting in June, the hardcopy prints will be mailed out the club presidents should they request them, so contact me if you'd like them sent for your members.

The Trailfest registration is now available at http://www.ec4wda.org/regiond/TF08/TF08_reg.pdf. Understanding that we're in a time of belt-tightening, Trailfest is still an enormous value. Trails, t-shirts, a full dinner banquet, dash plaque, and a raffle to name a few. Please help support your entire Region by attending the re-birth of our premier event here. Check out the newsletter for a chance to win free tickets!

On to the future...

EC4WDA-North East (D) will be undergoing an organizational change sometime this year. The premise is simple; get more out of the members based on their interests and abilities while streamlining many of the facets of our Land Use "branch". Instead of burdening an already taxed member base, I'm hoping to spread the workload over a greater area.

As it works now, each club should have a Land Use representative that organizes with other clubs within our region via the State Land Use Chair. Each state has an individual State Land Use Chairman that reports to Dave Brill, our Region Land Use Chair. The Land Use reps oversee (or should at least) the issues that deal with their respective state, be it trail research, documenting, scouting, closures, trail maintenance, etc., getting their information directly from each club. That's alot of information for one guy to coordinate! Then by the time it gets up to the Region, there's alot of stuff to do. The less that gets done at the "ground level", the more that NEEDS to get done further up the ladder. Obviously, there'll be some stuff that gets lost in the shuffle or prioritized off the list, especially as our personal lives necessitate.

Now, what our proposal seeks to do is split these responsibilities to the members with the best resources (time, computer, vehicle, etc) to handle them.

Each club should still have their own Land Use representative, dealing at the ground level with local trails, trail issues, and (lest we forget) obtaining land. At the State level, the Land Use Chairman (LU) will now focus on political action items pertinent to our sport, as well as the research and documentation of new and existing trails within their state. Eventually I'd like to see trail "histories" available showing what we've done for each road and trail, including cleanups and research, legality and surveys. Action Alerts are another important item the State Land Use Chair should focus on, sending these to Dave AND up to the Sema Action Network and BRC. This will be a great fit for someone with good computer skills, a desire to sit in front of it, and interested in the political stuff.
The second part of the split will be the State Trails Coordinator (TC). I'd like to see this person coordinating our trail cuts, scouting, and trail maintenance amongst our clubs...the "Field Team" part of Land Use. Having a vehicle is a plus!
We'll still be sending our stuff up to the Region LU Chair, but I hope this decreases the amount of responsibility on each member's backs as it is now. Plus we'll have some cool new titles to hand out!

I've no idea on the date we'll implement this as there are a few tweaks to make.

Also, we're toying with the idea of having a Region multi-day meeting one weekend a year, incorporating a trail ride for participating delegates.

Starting at the last meeting, the North East Region has begun a "Door Prize" incentive program for delegates; we gave away a $50 check just for attending!

Finally, CHECK THE SCHEDULE OFTEN!

Where do you go for motivation?

The last month and a half or so things have slowed to a crawl in our region. Trail rides, communication, volunteering; they’ve all been shelved for one reason or another. Unfortunately, my motivation tanked recently and I couldn't find the ladder to get out of that hole. I have a general feeling that it's a wider issue than me, too.

I know the price of gas has many of us shaking our heads as we re-schedule rides in favor of closer ones or just cancel them altogether. It’s going to create a shake-up in our activities and sooner or later a shake-up in our membership. I'm hoping to brainstorm soon with some of you on ways to help us all out and continue our current trend of growth and communication.
Keep an eye out for those wonderful tidbits of info on the web concerning saving gas. They pop up quite often, but I’ll hit on a few here;

• Fill up in the morning before fuel vapors and condensation develop. Not sure what effect it’ll actually have, but I read it somewhere so it must be true.
• Slow down! On the convoy to the trailhead, keep it below 70mph (or whatever the limit is of course). Start slow, speed up gradually, and slow down well before your stop.
• Keep your tires inflated on the road. It’ll make a HUGE difference when dealing with over-sized tires that have more rolling resistance to begin with.
• Get your gas in Vermont. Wow, it’s like 20 cents difference. What the hell?

I’m no fuel expert obviously, but if something seems like it’ll save you a few bucks a week, give it a shot. I started carpooling to work and I’m saving around $20 a week now. Not too shabby. Plus I can brag my carbon footprint can fit up a…nevermind.

Getting members “politicized”? Most of you just want to wheel, but there are a few that want to wheel and make a difference to the community at the same time. There’s nothing wrong with either position and we all cross the line in both directions. Last year I wheeled my tail off without much input in the club I’m in. This year it’s the opposite. Yeah, having a Jeep in the driveway down to the frame makes it easy to change focus, too. The point being is that, like not being able to please everyone all the time, you can’t be expected to “spearhead the cause” all the time either. Motivation ebbs and sways, changing as personal or club politics create unfavorable feelings or difficult circumstances. In some cases, all it takes is one person to create the issue; fellow member, other club member, wife, kids, boss. Then one morning you realize (or someone helps you realize) your priorities. I learned long ago that life is like trying to keep plates spinning on a stick; there are only so many you can keep spinning at the same time. The more you focus on the few, the more you’ll risk losing others. And the wobbly ones can really tick ya off, too. Let those ones fall.

I haven’t been as active in the past 6 weeks or so. Lots of plates spinning and not all OHV related. Some of those plates were motivation killers, too, so I understand when someone says they can’t make a meeting or trail cut. Being a member of a club shouldn’t make you feel obligated to volunteer for every event, position, or opportunity that gets brought up. If each member could commit to one or two a year though…imagine the things we could accomplish!
And if one of your club’s elected officials can’t make an event or isn’t around as much, give ‘em a break if you could. Better yet, give ‘em a hand. We all need one sooner or later. I babble...

The next Region meeting is in July, which means our quarterly newsletter will be getting put together soon. We have one sponsor on board already but if you know of one that would be interested, please pass along the information and a copy of our April issue. Check the Region website for the link. We still need a full-time editor, so contact me if you’re interested.

We’re still working on the 2008 goals we set out months ago; Trailfest, the Economic Assessment, by-law updates, advertising, member packets, Region publications, etc. Our July agenda looks to be quite busy as the people involved with these items report on the updates.

A brighter outlook, a relaxed attitude, and priorities reset, I look forward to relaxing on the trail soon. Hope to see you all out there eventually!

Let's all try to find the ladder out of this damn hole! (If you aren't having that problem, grab someone who is and pull 'em up!)