jcloving

This is my local club:

http://www.countrycorvetteclub.com/

We went to this show last month and it was fun:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...-car-show.html

We have monthly meetings where we eat and talk about upcoming events and feeback about the last event. No dues. Usually 40-50 folks show up.

There are lots of C4,C5 and C6 folks and a few C3 (10?) and a handfull of C1/C2 folks.

We cruise to shows or to dinner at different scenic places. We also go to VIR, cruise to Carlisle and the Autofair at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. There are a few technical events, like fiberglass repair, that some owners put together.

Our big event is a charity evnet for the Brenner's Childrens Hospital. We go to other clubs' car shows in hopes to boost their participation in our event.

Overall, it is a good club. Good leaders that listen.

I'm one of the young bucks in the club, and I'm 39.

John

builder

Have a raffle for new and renewing members, with a caveat that they have to also make all the meeting you have in a years time to win. Give away a Corvette.

Tim H

100% agree!!!

When I judge, whatever the stuffed animal is placed in, on or up against gets a big fat 0 !!!!!!!!

JohnnyLT1Runner

Are you talking about RCCC?

I went to one meeting when I was still in the market for a C3. Seemed pretty dull.
I'd show up to the meetings if I didn't have work on Sundays.
It'd be cool to have cruise ins, BBQs and fish frys at local parks, or something along those lines. Something more than a unorganized eat in where everyone just drives a vette to the restaurant.

jozf

A lot of times clubs, do get boring. Only about 10% of the members take part. Sometimes you have to think out of the box. For example I was a member of chapter 1026 in the Expermintal aircraft association and we had the same problem. What I did was to start a club project and it took off from there.
Your club could build a vett project, and also help other owners with their projects. When a bunch of menbers get togeather it dosent take long. It dosent take a lot of money like you think. I have a ton of old parts that I replaced, think how many members have old parts in thier garage that need to be brought back to life. Big thing is to find a place to work on projects and have mettings. A lot of times airports have hangers for rent or lease. You can use a hanger for storage in the winter, you can put a lot of vehicles in there and split the cost. Small airports are the best. We parked our cars on the grass right by the hanger, when we had our monthly meetings. Hangers cost anywhere from $150. to $400. A month. and the airport would be glad to get your business. They make a nice meeting place and a good shop for projects.
Just an Idea hope it helps.

Uintah

I am constantly encouraged by my neighbor to join the local Corvette club, but I don’t believe them to be real gearheads and too elitists. To see if they were I asked if I could show my Cadillac XLR at the Corvette show a few weekends ago, since it is simply a Vette in a tuxedo. The board said no, the show was for Corvettes only.

Okay, since I have a C3 I went anyway to see the older Vettes. It was nice seeing the faded paint, worn out weather strips, failing parts etc… and the enthusiasm the owners of the “diamonds in the rough” had for their cars.

The C5/C6 group represented about 80% of the cars and it was about exciting as cruising a new/used car dealership. No one even gave me the time of day; they just visited with each other or stared at the ground.

Next year when I go to the show I will see if some of the early Vette owners would like to get together for some road tours and wrench days.

Uintah

relic1864

The main reason a club looses members is that the head people are not very well liked by the regular members. The head people are mostly do as I say to do type of people and never try and get a new person in a leadership position in the club. They always manage to get their best friends in the top spots. Therefore new ideas are not being heard and if they are heard they are rejected by these head people. Try and vote them out will only make you look bad because usually the top people are pretty high up in their community. They want the club their way and not anyone else's ideas or plans. I dropped out of my club because of these reasons. I join no club now but I go to cruise in's at all the different clubs and shows.Its best to just go and enjoy events and let the clubs leaders just keep on killing it for the rest of us.

couperdecar

Not different when I was there, Think I joined in '95? Lasted a year. Lots of meetings. Accomplishing noda.
Brother-in Law lasted another year , then he left.

vetteguy75

Yes, RCCC unfortunately. I'm thinking of starting another Corvette Club in Shreveport. Thoughts?

JohnnyLT1Runner

If you can get the crowd then I see no reason why not. I see plenty of people who are in the know enough to give the corvette wave, so there's no lack of people for it.
The problem would be getting people together for common interest activities.
A lot of the younger people who are into cars are into either street or drag racing. They are not vehicle specific, but activity specific. They have no problem getting members.
The problem with Corvette owners is that they are a mixed bag. We all like the cars, but we may have different reasons for owning them and the demographics vary.
We need to do something that involves the cars, instead of just talking about them.
I don't really have any preferences as what to do, I like it all. Shows, wrenching, drag strip, cruises.
Is there any way of taking the defibrillators to jumpstart new life into the club?
What do you have in mind?

694speed350

Find out what the club wants. Find a dealer that will help the club. Wife is president of our local jaguar club. Our local Jag dealer opens the repair shop twice a year on saturdays for our club to come in and work on thier cars with the shop mechanics avaible to help the repair. They also give 10% discounts on parts etc for club members.( you think corvette parts are expensive check out Jaguar parts). The thing is if you keep doing the same things over and over your membership will decline.

Legacy Stables

earlier in this thread there is mention of stuffed animals.

the only stuffed animal I want to see at a car show cruse in ect is a coyote under the wheel of a road runner

Legacy Stables

I am 24 my 72 is my first car and my 76 is my fixer uper. Those are the only cars I have ever owned and those are my credentials for this post.

You want me to show up be willing to talk to me and enlighten me on how to work on my car. Don’t drone on about how you took your c5 to the dealer to change the oil. (actually happened) I make less than 20k a year don’t try and get me to shell out just to be able to claim that I am a member. Lets do something other than sit. I can sit at home and play video games . . .
with someone in hong kong . . .
and have more fun not understanding a word they are saying.

Here is an idea for the Chicago people. I know some one at Arlington Park Race Track (ponies) that can get us one hell of a good deal. lets get together with a dealership have a cruse in at the track during live racing. Exhibit our cars before and after the races and enjoy a day of gambling and showing off. Have the sponsor dealership trot out some new cars, and let them get sappy over the past (our cars) I bet we could even get the entire million room to our selves and maybe a race named after us(depend on the generosity of the sponsor) I will even teach you how to read the racing forum and the various wagers to be made. Lets see if D&M Corvettes or AmericanMuscleCars (AMC) wouldn’t mind coming out with some of the beauties they have in their show rooms.

Or you can ignore this post by an enthusiast and insomniac

tyancey00

this is the kind of guy you want!

Dantana

dude, you should start a corvette club, i'm in!

rdroe

I'm in ....

builder

Unfortunately for some, clubs tend to change. The few who keep it running tend to get burned out and when new members come in to run the show and make big changes and don't pay attention to bylaws, the older members don't like the changes, or the changes kill the club faster because of lack of practical experiences.
After being a member of a club for 20 years, I also find that I have other things that passify my interests. If you look at some of the people from 20 years ago, they are wearing the same clothes (meteforically speaking). I wear too many hats and too many shoes to always do the same thing. Things change. Sometimes you have to go with the flow, or do something else.

vetteguy75

I was thinking of have Chevyland of Shreveport become our main sponsor. Also, I was going to talk to them about have a "tech day" about 1 month or once every 2 months. The tech day would be held on a Saturday morning (8am-Noon) (when the service dept is normally closed), the dealership would provide 1-2 mechanics who would put our Vettes on the racks and we would work on them...change the oil, clean the under carriage, rotate tires, etc etc etc. The mechanics would be there to advise (not work on anything or adjust anything), just merely advise.

Also, every other Saturday, all the members who want to meet and have breakfast at a discounted rate at a really nice place (one we would normally not go to because of $$$).

For every member who participates throughout the year, they would earn points based on the amount of cruises, car shows, dinners, meetings, etc that they particpate with the club. It would be the top 5 points earners...At year end, the winner would get a nice Corvette leather jacket. 2nd place would receive

vetteguy75

I was thinking of having Chevyland of Shreveport become our main sponsor. Also, I was going to talk to them about have a "tech day" about 1 month or once every 2 months. The tech day would be held on a Saturday morning (8am-Noon) (when the service dept is normally closed), the dealership would provide 1-2 mechanics who would put our Vettes on the racks and we would work on them...change the oil, clean the under carriage, rotate tires, etc etc etc. The mechanics would be there to advise (not work on anything or adjust anything), just merely advise.

Also, every other Saturday, all the members who want to meet and have breakfast at a discounted rate at a really nice place (one we would normally not go to because of $$$).

For every member who participates throughout the year, they would earn points based on the amount of cruises, car shows, dinners, meetings, etc that they particpate with the club. It would be the top 5 points earners...At year end, the winner would get a nice Corvette leather jacket. 2nd through 5th place would receive some VERY nice Corvette gifts.

These are just some of the things I've been thinking about. Of course it takes the efforts of many to make a successful club.

eagle275

Hey John, you're gonna show your car at the Cruise-In, yes? Nice car!