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!)

Ups, downs, and in betweens

Next Region meeting is scheduled for June 22nd. Agenda will be done by the end of May. If you have something you’d like to add to it, email me so we can schedule the time to include it. One item of concern is the private trail network and our POC’s, as well as by-law issues.

Remember to plan your trip to Trailfest soon and book your rooms. More information can be found by emailing Bruce at organizeordie24@snet.net Subject: TRAILFEST.

We’re already working on the July issue of our newsletter. However, I just want to remind everyone I had no intention of doing it full-time. We’re still looking for a Region Newsletter Editor so please, if you’re interested in helping or contributing to it, please let me know.

Also, if anyone has interest in working on the new 4x4 What’s the Score book or helping on the Economic Assessment, email me or call. We've got things on tap, we just need more resources to pull from and volunteers are the key to our growth and the growth of our sport.

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.