Hand outs and more quick hits!!!

There's alot of things on the table right now after attending the Association meetings and then the Region meetings a week later.

The Economic Assessment, somewhat in a state of disarray, is now back on track to be completed within few months.

Hand outs at the Region meeting:

The Region Newsletter was handed out in hardcopy to all the club delegates at the Region meeting April 20th. It's also online at http://www.ec4wda.org/regiond/doc/trail_register.pdf

Our 2008 Jeep Raffle tickets were distributed at the meeting, so contact your club presidents to get your tickets. They're only $5.00 each and just 8000 will be sold!

***Club presidents, please return the stubs and money to me at PO BOX 1546, South Glens Falls, NY 12803 or during upcoming Region meetings***

Membership directories were handed out also to club representatives. Contact your club president if you didn't get yours. Also, we have stickers but were unable to get them out to everybody, so at the next meeting we'll be sure to have those again.

Dave had an informational "Trails in Trouble" DVD for distribution to all EC4WDA clubs.

At the Association meeting, we discussed the need for more advertising on behalf of our sport, and Barry Kellerman mentioned that EC will pursue creating, producing, or distributing an informational video on the basics of 4 wheeling.

The Association newsletter looks like it'll get a major makeover as well. Look for that next issue soon!

Bruce Conroy has stepped up to lead our Trailfest 2008 Team. Questions and volunteers can contact him for more information at organizeordie24@snet.net Subject: TRAILFEST

With the difficulties of getting and keeping good leaders in place for our clubs and our Region, we're going to be creating a Region and club-specific leadership course or seminar to begin next year. Many times when club elections occur, an often heard reply to "Why don't you run?" is "I don't know what to do or expect." Hopefully we'll get some interest in attending and the people who have experience as club and/or region representatives will step up to help shape the next generation of leaders.

Now that Trail Season is in high gear, remember to be smart, drive safely, and stay legal! See you out there!

Reminder

EC4WDA Northeast Region (D) quarterly meeting is Sunday, April 20th in Brookfield, CT from 10am to 2pm. If you are a club delegate or officer, the agenda is posted HERE.

Adirondack Jeeps will be providing coffee/donuts.

New clubs interested in attending please contact me at adktj@adirondackjeeps.com

From Dubois PA

This weekend is the Association meeting in Dubois. There's plenty for us to do, and I hope to come back with a few things to help our region even more. First, the newsletter...

The April (2nd quarter) newsletter is printed and ready to go. We were looking to have it mailed to each member, but after seeing the cost of postage and the lack of timely advertisers, I've decided to hand out individual newsletters at the Region meeting next week and let the club delegates distribute them. Also, the newsletter in pdf format will be available for download next week direct from the region website. We did have two advertisers interested right away, but missed the deadline by a week. Since it was sent to the printer, we've heard from 4 more interested businesses which makes our July issue practically paid for!

Vermonster is fast approaching, so PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! Randy needs our support and as a MAJOR sponsor of our Trailfest 08, we should do just that. Visit the website for more information: http://www.vermonster4x4.com/

As I said earlier, this weekend I'll be trying to get more EC4WDA publications into the hands of the clubs and also trying to get more funds for our Region to advertise more. More on that next week (if it happens at all).

At the meeting, each Region will be giving our report. The Northeast Region report follows (basically a recap of the last few months);

April 2008

The Northeast Region is in overdrive and the upheaval is noticeable. Since taking the helm a few short months ago, we’ve pushed the gas pedal to the floor and seen unbelievable returns in the process!

Immediately after my election to Chairman we began the process of increasing public awareness of our organization, our clubs, and our members. The first item we addressed was the need to create a more recognizable “brand”. It was determined that, because the general public will never understand what “Region D” means, we altered our name and Region logo to “East Coast 4 Wheel Drive Association Northeast Region (D)”. This change brings to focus our area of operation and creates an image easily identifiable to the public and legislators alike. Each club was then asked to add EC4WDA specific meta-tags to their websites to increase the amount of search engine “hits”, bringing EC4WDA to the top of sites such as Yahoo and Google. As well as internal changes, cosmetic changes will be researched also, such as adding EC4WDA to each individual club logo if possible. The goal of this effort is to help pull together each club into a recognizable national organization.

The second major initiative we’ve pushed for is opening better lines of communication with the other major association in the Northeast, the North East Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs (NEA4WDC). Together with the key players of the NEA, we’ve created NETMaP; the NorthEast Trails Management Plan. Under this plan, all public roads currently being utilized in support of our recreation are “adopted” by member clubs of each organization. As stewards of these trails, clubs can report on environmental problem areas, publicity items, and scheduling conflicts. These clubs become our first line of defense in dealing with issues that often occur and may need immediate attention. Volunteer work groups can then be called to action quicker and organized better. Currently, this is in a trial phase using only two trails, but recent events have shown the plan can work and will most likely be adopted Region-wide. We’ve also tentatively agreed to place strategic public advertisements in local papers to increase awareness of our organizations and our responsibilities to keep our trails open and maintained.

The success of NETMaP depends on the third initiative of our Region; club scheduling. In the past we’ve had numerous clubs posting schedules in a number of areas and not always including the trail name and/or location. This year that changed with the adoption of our Trail Schedule Matrix. With each club doing an outstanding job of stepping up and submitting their schedules, Chris Ryan of Underground Jeeps compiled the information into an easy to read table showing what club will be where and when. This information is an invaluable tool when identifying over-used trails or other problem areas, such as illegal activity. Illegal activity such as trespassing has been given a “no-tolerance” label with each club ready to identify and “police our own.” Members and non-members alike now know both Associations will be watch dogs for the trails.

Communication is the key to a successful organization, and as such we’ve also taken steps to foster a more open dialogue with our members and supporters. Early this year, I began a weekly web-log, or Blog, that keeps our membership up to date on Region activities. From tips on leadership skills to organizing trail cleanups, up-to-the-minute event news to individual member accolades, I try to keep the members informed and involved. Shortly after, the Land Use Blog was also created for Dave Brill to bring up-to-the-minute news on trail closures and land use issues. Both have been enthusiastically received throughout the clubs. You can find those by visiting www.ec4wda.org/regiond .

Our first newsletter in years is currently at the printers and should be distributed throughout the entire Region membership by the time you read this. As we all know, getting newsletter items submitted by members can sometimes be difficult, so to attract more input our Region now offers $25 per submitted article/trail report to each member. Although only one article may be used at a time, with four newsletters a year each member has the potential to earn $100 during the course of the year! Newsletter ads help fray the costs of printing, but it will also be available for download if members wish to opt out of the mailing.

As you may know, our largest event of the year, the Essex Junction Jamboree, has been cancelled. Unfortunately a high volume of raffle Jeep ticket sales occur during this event so our efforts are now focusing on other events. One event we’re going to be involved in is Vermonster, and Mike Chapline of Berkshire 4 Wheelers has stepped up to lead our volunteer group in this new endeavor.

Our premier event of the year, On the Rocks, is now once again returning to the northeast in August as Trailfest. Organizing is underway to make that bigger and better than ever before.

With all the accomplishments we’ve done, and with the plans in place to accomplish much more, we haven’t forgotten the most important aspect of our organization; the members. We have welcomed three new clubs into the Region (Underground Jeeps, Cape Cod Jeep Club, and Ocean State Jeepsters) and hundreds of new members in the past few months. Already their involvement, particularly Dan Stepnik, John Songy, and Chris Paul, have shown our Region to be stronger and more capable than ever before. The efforts of Aili McKeen in CT legislation continue to stand out. Her work and experience working with other user groups such as ATV’s continue to show that different trail groups can and should work together when possible. Mike Belben continues to spearhead legislative action in MA, and Dave Brill’s work for our Region and the Association sustains the high standards we now almost take for granted. I’d also like to take a moment to thank some very important people to the Region; people I may have taken for granted before becoming Chairman of Northeast Region (D). Scott Brown, Joan Blair, and Bob Blair all deserve a loud, public thank you for their work for the Region.

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a part of East Coast 4 Wheel Drive Association, and it’s only looking to get better.

Quick Hits

Did I mention if you submit an article to the newsletter and it gets used we send you $25? A trip report, a position statement, something like that? Unfortunately, the April issue may be rather one-sided, but hopefully next quarter we'll get some real variety.
That said, I HOPE to get the issue out the door the second week of April, with the other two items close behind.

• One of my goals is for each club to have it's own public relations box full of brochures, economic assessments, pr packets, newsletters, magnets, stickers, etc. If you've ever seen the layout at one of the Essex or Bloomsburg shows, that's the idea. So when a club is doing an event, any event, they can have this readily available to show interested parties. In two weeks I'll be heading down to the Association meeting in PA and will press the need for more informational tools to hand out to our members and legislators. There's a wealth of knowledge on tap and we just need to turn the faucet on.

$25 per used article. Twenty five.

• COY HILL CLEANUP scheduled for May 10th. If you're interested, go HERE. If you're not, disregard. Regardless of the reason, a group of volunteers are organized to go in there and clean up the area. It's not about future access but about the damaged image our sport has taken. We all hope it helps, but remember to support the group even if you don't support the event itself. They're doing it for all of us and I thank them.

• The agenda for the April meeting will be out this week. REMEMBER IT'S STILL AT GOLFQUEST, at least for this month. We should be moving the meetings this summer to a place in Danbury if all goes as planned.

• As stated previously, the bus to Dubois was too expensive, but we're looking at renting a small van for carpooling purposes. More posted once the numbers come back.

• If you haven't scheduled a Land Use seminar with Dave yet, I encourage you to do so. It's very informative and actually interesting.

Well that's pretty much it. April is exceedingly busy for me, so once again if I don't get back to you on something, keep buggin' me. ($25 an article).

Listen, lather, rinse, repeat...

• Raffle Jeep tickets should be around soon.
  
• EC4WDA Northeast Region and Adirondack Jeeps are being featured in a political gazette in May, targeting NY's representatives.
• Aili at CTJEEP.ORG has shown me the light regarding some ideas on motorized recreation partnerships. Her work with the ATV'ers in CT is showing extreme promise. And she's working on tweaking the colors of the logo because I'm colorblind!
  
• Mike B. with NTC continues his tireless efforts in MA regarding Land Use and beginning the steps to build relationships with other land interests.
  
• Dave at E4W is extremely busy. So busy his posts are getting shorter I think!!! (by the way, check out their new website!)
• Stacey S. from E4W will have our membership books and stickers out very soon.
  
• UJ, CCJC, OSJ, and JT4x4 are busy getting the entire Region trail information all over the northeast. With gas prices approaching "insane", my hats off to all the clubs doing the scouting. 100% work with 20% return, but it benefits us ALL.
• Dan S. with CCJC is working on the "Trailfest" flyer and it looks great!
  
• Don R. with with HV4W is doing some important legwork pertaining to some trails in NY.
• Mike C. with B4W, as busy as this guy is these days, is working on our joint EC/NEA booth at Vermonster. We'll be showing the "gentle" side of wheeling surrounded by mud drags and monster trucks!
  
• Bob R. at LIOR continues to work out the bugs and tweaks of our new forum and getting us an easier to navigate website.
• I'm still working on the Economic Assessment, 4x4 What's the Score, our newsletter (send articles, pics, and trail reports to me if you have 'em), and more.

Coming April 7th (I hope)!

Winter's blues almost over

What club hasn't seen a little turmoil this winter? Shake ups and shake downs.
I've seen it first hand over and over; during the winter, when trail rides slow down and clubs start to stagnate a little, the focus on club activities turn toward what to do to keep interest levels high. Without the prospect of a trail ride, members sometimes look toward the officers to keep things together while officers may think the members need time to relax.

It's terribly difficult at times. Club officers can be looked at as being too involved and controlling or not involved enough and not caring. Either way it can eat at the identity of the organization.

So what can you do as a member or as a club officer? Listen to each other.

Members, if your club isn't giving you what you want, listen to what it IS giving you. Seriously, sit down for 5 minutes with a pen and paper and write down all that is good AND bad with the club you're involved in. Think about how you fit into each of those items you just wrote down and how you could help in each. If you find something you love about it and want to see more of it, write it down! Something just not working for you and you have an idea? Write it down! Then send it off to your president. How can he know what's he's doing right or wrong? If members are silent, he's doing something right. But really, how does he know? If he's doing something wrong, he'll surely know though. Be tactful, too. It's easier to get an answer and an ally if the person you're directing your critique to isn't on the defense.
Remember that just because you want it, doesn't mean the entire club wants the same thing.
Also, if you're content with the way things are and just wanna wheel, that's great too! Send a note saying "Hey, I like the club. Keep up the good work." That's helping right there.

Officers, if your members (and even the other officers) aren't giving you what you want, listen to what they want from you. It's scary, but ask. Make a call to one or two or all. PM/email a few and ask for opinions on stuff. You may not agree, but if a majority of the club is asking for something, and it's an easy thing to do, seriously consider it. Pick your battles, stand firm in your decisions, BUT realize that the more information you get the more you can consider the situation. Some can call it flip-flopping, but if 2 people tell you something won't work and you agree only to find weeks later 30 people say it does work, it's called making an educated decision.
Keep the members up to date, hand out tasks you and your members would like done, and listen to the feedback from the membership.
It's certainly not a glorious position, and history tells us the chances of club elections being "hotly contested" are few and far between, but as you create a feeling of "ownership" within the club, more members will become owners.

I'd like to see all the EC4WDA Northeast Region presidents and/or reps do the same. Sit down and fire an email off to me with a little feedback. Let me have it; the good and bad. I may not get back to you right away (or I'll just delete your email LOL) and this is the busiest I've been in months, but drop me a line.

Spring is almost here. We've got trails to cut, areas that need signage put up (yup, we've got signs for ya'll!), and of course, politicians to bother!

Now is the time to pull together and get things rolling!

What about private land?

I try not to delve into Land Use at all (Dave covers it quite enough) , but today I will a little.

We're seeing alot of groups ready to get out scouting for new trails and roads this spring, but let's not forget our private property land owners!
When your club goes out looking at a road or one you may have found on a map, remember to look around the area for posted signs away from the road. Many times, these signs (should) have contact information on the owner. Head back to your computer and see if the town or county has a GIS site and try to find the acreage and, in some cases, more info on the property owner. Contact your club president or land use guy and let him know what's up, and spread the word that you may have a property worth contacting. If it's not already a part of our database, go ahead make the move! It's a difficult call to make, like cold calling sales, but the worst thing to happen is they slam the phone down. The best thing? Well, there are ALOT of good things that can happen. If you don't feel comfortable making the initial contact, let someone in on it. We'll certainly help you because it'll definitely help us. Plus, many clubs give free membership for the time the landowner allows the club access!
So get out there and check out the trails, but remember to check the posted signs!

I had thought a great way to promote attendance at our Association meeting in November would be to charter a bus. Well, it's a tad cost prohibitive, so we'll be looking at other ways to make the trip a little more enticing.

This Saturday, March 15th we'll be in Worcester, MA for a second "summit" meeting between your elected reps of EC4WDA-D and the NEA4WDA. Some items we'll hit are NETMaP tweaks, Coy Hill, Ma Bell, some private land issues, signs on the trails, and advertising/PR campaigns.

There's more, but gotta run for now.

Nothing is so bad you give up everything...

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
~Buddhist Saying

Sometimes something happens and you realize just how trivial our priorities can be. I'll be back next week. Til then, get your newsletter articles to me at adktj@adirondackjeeps.com