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

Volunteers

• The April Region meeting has been rescheduled to April 2oth.
• Deadline for submitting articles to the Region newsletter is MARCH 15th. Remember, members will receive $25 for each article you submit that gets published (one per issue). Gas? Membership dues? EC4WDA Northeast Region merchandise? Use it for whatever!
  

___________________________________________

I almost didn't sit to write today. It was one of those days where the creativity just didn't really materialize, but that got me thinking (funny how that works!)

Our greatest asset, as an Association, is our membership. If you could add it up, there are hundreds of years of experience at our fingertips within our Region alone. Each member brings something special, something tangible to their club. It may not be apparent at first, or ever for that matter, but that member should never be discounted or forgotten.
As our calendar fills up and events start to appear on the horizon, our members will be asked to step up and lend a much needed hand. Many already have in regards to TrailFest and I'm greatly appreciative of that. Many more are ready to throw their hat in the ring and help out. Still, some may think that there's already enough help or that they won't have much to offer. Trust me when I say whatever help offered is a welcome gift. This year we'll need people to just sit at a booth handing out pamphlets, or selling raffle tickets someplace, or handing out pins or leaflets or sometimes even t-shirts. If you're not comfortable handling money or selling tickets, we'll still need help elsewhere. And there are times when we do have plenty of volunteers, believe it or not, but knowing somebody can count on you for help is a blessing.
YOU are a key component of this organization. YOU are the force that drives it forward. YOU MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN.

The topic of volunteering frequently comes up in club discussions. "How do we motivate volunteers?" or "How do we get people to volunteer?"
I don't profess to know myself, but here are some great tips I picked up in book somewhere*;

• ASK. Don't wait for help to come to you. Go ahead and ask for help directly.
• Keep the members up to speed on what is going on and encourage idea/responsibility sharing.
  
• Although the chances of having a definitive job description for most of our events is slim, try to lay out as much information about the task as can be done. Then listen for suggestions that could help save time, manpower, and possibly money.
• Publicize and acknowledge the work of the volunteers, even before the event is finished.
  
• Guilt won't work for long.
  
• Volunteers that are dissatisfied with the job most often feel underutilized.

It all begins and ends with volunteering. From getting out the winch for a buddy to sitting here writing this blog, from scouting for trails to posting a really great link, we're all volunteers.

Raise your hand. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

*Pick up "Marketing Nonprofit Programs and Services" by Douglas Herron.

Public Relations (PR)

Public relations is one of the most important aspects of our sport, but unfortunately most of us really don't know how to do it effectively. Keeping our name in the news, generating newsworthy articles, and spreading the word about what we do and who we are makes it easier for us to move around within political circles as well as with private landowners.
There are three major groups to target when dealing with public relations, at least from our point of view; our members and potential members, the general public, and our legislators. Each group has a specific approach we need to apply when trying to promote our sport in a positive light.
While members and potential members demand more "detail", like where the trails are and what events would a club participate in, the general public is unconcerned about that. So we "market" ourselves differently. We promote each club and what is offered, like private acreage, educational classes, and more with most information generated at meetings and online forums. The general public sees our fundraising and community service events in newspaper articles or bulletins. The legislators however, are not "marketed". What we have failed to realize until recently is the importance of getting our word out not only to our members and the general public, but directly to our representatives.
The easiest way for a club to target all three groups is with a newsletter. EC4WDA Northeast Region has, as previously discussed, brought back our long forgotten quarterly newsletter, but let's not stop there. The benefits of a newsletter to the membership are that they are kept up to date and can see specifically what their club is doing. It's also nice to have your rig in print, too! A few extra copies left at your local library, post office, or mailed to your local paper brings your name to people who otherwise may not know what your club is about or even if it exists. And the greatest thing about the newsletter is the ease of putting it in an envelope and mailing it to your state representative's office.
Another item of interest is specifically addressed to the private landowner. OHV OPTIONS - A GUIDE FOR LANDOWNERS isn't loaded with new information, but it is a functional pamphlet that lays out the benefits of allowing OHV use on private property. I encourage members and non-members alike to use it when possible. More information can be found at the Adirondack Jeeps website or by emailing me.
One PR item your Northeast Region has begun work on is an educational, behind the scenes video similar to a Discovery Channel documentary. Storyboarding has just begun, but by using collegiate production classes we'll be able to create a quality video at affordable costs for use in mass media applications.
Our economic assessment is scheduled to be complete by May 1st and the 4x4 What's the Score booklet is scheduled for completion April 1st.
Finally, we have the help of a woman with many years of public relations experience creating media packets and press releases for a corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon. She has agreed to look through our blogs, minutes, websites, and by-laws to find our "message" and the best way to present it. Being from outside the OHV world, her viewpoints should prove invaluable to our marketing strategy.
It is about marketing ourselves and creating our own "image". We've been the subject of "negative marketing" by the anti-access groups for too long.
Working together, we counter that with the truth today.

Litte, big issues (and still no PR)

How do you ask for volunteers to hold positions in your clubs, disseminate information as you get it, and hope like hell everyone trusts each other and plays nicely?

Small Issue #1. Suggestions.
If I don't get back to you right away, it's not because the suggestion wasn't a good one. I currently spend over an hour a day checking OHV related emails/posts/phone calls. I do suggest before making a suggestion to check around all the forums you can think of as you may be able to apply your idea to a pre-existing one. If you don't find one, ask if there is something like that in place. "xalexjx" did just that and I appreciate it immensely. Teamwork gets us further, faster.

Small Issue #2. Leadership.
Club presidents, this comes from your members; we need you more than you know. We need your enthusiasm. We need your ideas. We need your help making your club the best club in the Northeast. If nobody is talking, talk. If nobody is working, work. YOU are the leader of a club. Yeah, I know it's work and we're all supposed to be in this for fun, but it's like going to a dance with no DJ. You may eventually get canned, but you'll get at least a few people dancing to at least a few songs. At least you tried.

Big Issue #1. Public property.
We all know if it's a public road we schedule it and run it. While the NETMaP idea seems to be gaining ground (please spread the word about it), we haven't really used it yet. I urge the members of both Associations to be patient with it before throwing it out the window and giving alternatives. I realize there are other ways we could do it and would be happy to change things as needed, but we haven't done anything with it to know what tweaks need to be made. If it fails miserably, we start over. If it works at Gutter, we can try to apply it elsewhere. But we need to buy into it and work to make it happen.

Big Issue #2. Private property.
We need to answer this and answer this now;

• Is it okay to contact a landowner if the landowner has already been knowingly contacted by an OHV representative?
  

This is the single biggest problem we have (Okay, not single biggest. Volunteers, complacency, and apathy are up there as well). This question pits member against member, club against club, and association against association. Think about your answer from all sides; initial contact person, landowner, and subsequent contact person.

It better be pretty damn good wheeling if you're willing to risk friendships, reputations, and respect by undermining another man's...another club's...another associations hard work. Get with your club and region representatives before you pick up the phone.

Essentially, we're all in the same club. Let's start acting like it before it's too late.