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!