Things they should have at KFOCI Meets

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Hi,

Here are a few suggestions about activities that I fell would be worthwile parts of National Conventions or Midwest Division meets (having been to what was considered a normal Eastern Division meet it doesn't work there):

1.  A primer session for new members covering good things to know about their projects and "kits" they should put together along with manuals and related items to help them through their activities.
2. An information session at National Conventions covering duties and expectations for club officers and those interested in being a club officer so people know in advance what to expect in a job slot.

Anything else anyone want's to see added?

[HJ-ETEX]

Jack:
I understand your intentions but I think rather than a formal construction, we should work on how our members behave. For instance:
 Members should

[HJ-ETEX]

Jack:
I understand your intentions but I think rather than a formal construction, we should work on how our members behave. For instance:
   At a Meet Members should look for unfamilar people who may be new members and be ready to greet them. I know a number of members don't particularly talk or associate with anyone they don't already know and hang around with anyway. You need to expand your horizons. I have been a member of Clubs where this is worse but it is not good to have it occur at all! Talk to a new member! I remember at the Matamoras National I talked to a fellow with a 53 Manhattan and advised him to use small caps - if he was going to drive the car - instead of full coverage wheel covers because he had lost 2 wheel covers on driving to the hotel. I even pointed out a vendor I thought had what he needed.
   When the Club Constitution was revised, provisions were made for a Nominating Commitee. This was to avoid the silence and members looking at their feet when nominations for Officers were called at the National. The theory was that at least 1 candidate would be supplied for each position. It may be the same officer running for reelection or it could be an officer retiring or looking to move up and thus suggesting his replacement. But the point was, a name would be supplied and that person would have some some knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of the post.
   So to sum up it up, we need to work on getting our members to talk to new people and we need to talk to the people we already know in the Club about the mechanics of the Club instead just the cars.

[Logan]

I was very gratified last summer at the National in Kerrville that Larry Barker, and several others--sorry I forgot names!--came up to me and talked to me in the few hours I was able to attend.  My family and I really enjoyed it and we will try to make it to others.  So yes, having people come up and talk to you does make a difference.

[GA Kaiser]

Without new members, there won't be a club for very long.  People join the club because they are interested, but if no one talks to them or makes them feel welcome, they won't be there for long.  Some of us have vehicles that will never win awards, but that's no reason not to talk to me. (not saying that happened to me).  I look forward to meeting people and seeing their vehicles and hope no one ever ignores me because I am new or my vehicle is not perfect.

[Gordie]

Enjoying the cars and displays are some of the reasons that we go to National Meets but talking to new and old members are what really makes the meets fun and I look forward to seeing them again at future meets.  Going to a National Meet takes lots of preparation and time and money for all of us.  I try to talk to everyone there if I can even if it is just in a waiting line.  The people really make the meets and we are all there for the same reasons!  We've all made life long friends at the meets.

[Aeroman]

Whenever I go to a National, I like to spend my time just hanging around the cars, the vendors and the parking lot. Kicking tires and swapping lies is what I like and I get to meet new people and chat with old friends. As long as those are there for members to partake in, I'm happy.

Let's see, we'll need some sort of socializing to acquaint and re-acquaint ourselves at the beginning - the ice cream social! We'll need a driving tour to some sort of interesting museum, car collection, manufacturer, boatyard, trainyard, anything. We'll also need something for the ladies to do (Ladies Luncheon), a general business meeting of the assembled multitudes and at least one technical seminar about something to do with fixin' or restorin' our cars. In addition, there's the Darrin Breakfast and we used to have the Chat Room meeting (do we still have that?). A car show would be nice, too. And a banquet with an interesting guest speaker for our last nite together. Awards presentation. Hmmm, looks like our conventions are perfect, no real need to change, eh?

We have a lot of stuff already crammed into our week that there's not a lot of room to add. But that's not the real point of this discussion. What to improve our National with?

Now that our club is over half a century old, perhaps we should have some sort of history class or a memorabilia presentation from club events of the past. Brian Choate brought a board with as many National Meet dash plaques as he could find to the Matamoras National. Maybe someone could bring old Quarterlies and other stuff for the newer members to learn from and old members to reminisce.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know. Just wish I could get to every National.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Should the Constitution of the KFOCI be revised?  I believe we are now one of the few old car clubs in this country that requires National Conventions to be rotated each year around the country.   This provision was put in at a time when gas was under 30 cents a gallon and Motel 6 stood for rooms at $6.00/night.  Given the current numbers, the current cost of going cross-country is a bit pricey.   Why not let overall distance from all directions be a consideration rather than Midwest, Eastern or Western Division locations.

[HJ-ETEX]

So we should have the National each year in Kansas City or Omaha? Those are centrally located, but I can't say they are very exciting locales. With out that provision in the KF Consitution, I know we would not have had meets in Prescott & Flagstaff. It puts pressure on the Regional Director (especially the Western Director) to develop interest in his area to put on a National so his members have an opportunity to drive to a National and hopefully bring their car.
The Studebaker Drivers Club started out with the provision that their National would be in South Bend every other year and then it slipped to every 3rd year and finally they were forced to ignored it. Basically they were asking the same people to put on a big party every other year. Those members got burned out, the people of South Bend got slightly hostile (Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Bureau liked the potential money spent though) and the SDC members got tired of the same place so often, especially a declining place like South Bend.
It may be that we have to remove that provision in the KF Constitution, but I think it will be due to aging membership being unable to organize a National rather than gas prices.   

[Terry T]

re last post...

Aging membership and gas prices are intimately related and possibly the issue...FIXED (if not falling) INCOME, with new hidden taxes on the horizon.
If one doesn't think that $3/gal is high enough to prevent travel, what about the possibility of $4+ this summer?
I believe that travel distance/cost is an issue.
I'm 65 and this will probably be my last time driving to the West Coast.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The intent in my suggestion is to rotate the National in the mid-section only.  Over 50% of our plunging membership still live in the Midwest Division area (we've lost close to 400 members in the last 2 years...this is a NET loss after adding in all the new members we took on during that time) and there are plenty of cities to check out.  I do not say that each year should be in the geographic middle of the country.  If we took Alaska and Hawaii into account (along with Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, etc) no telling where the middle of the United States would be!

[Logan]

Good point, KaiserFrazerlibrary, about the center of the country.  I am sorry to hear we have lost 400 members.  How can we encourage higher membership?  I am probably one of the younger ones at 35.  I joined when I bought my first Kaiser when I was around 18, but I eventually lost interest in that restoration project (the only part of the "restoration" I actually accomplished was to tear it down!).  It wasn't until about 2 or 3 years ago that the Kaiser bug bit again and I bought another Kaiser and renewed my membership.  It's a tough thing to attract new members, especially younger members.  The reason I really got into the club was because I was in to old cars as a teenager, and happened to be neighbors to Sterling Weber in Logan, Utah, who had a 54 Manhattan, 50 frazer, 49 Traveler or Vagabond--I can't remember which, but it was LOW mileage, like 20,000, and a 48 Frazer--I think Manhattan, but can't remember--for which he had 2 NOS seats in the correct color for his car still in the factory boxes.  I remember at that point he had the front clip off of the Frazer and had the rebuilt and repainted engine back in, and was doing other body work.  Sterling kind of took me under his wing, lent me Last Onslaught, talked KF to me, and got me really interested.  Sterling passed away recently and I'm not sure where all of his cars went, but Larry Barker knew where a few of them had gone when I talked to him in Texas last summer.

[joefrazer]

With gasoline approaching $4 a gallon and the median age of our club's membership (and that of many others) rising, the traditional midsummer meet moving around the country may no longer be as viable as it once was. The AACA, aside from the grand national meets, recognized this long ago and now holds winter meets in warm weather locations. This brings the snowbirds in as many either have already flown south for the winter, or use the meet as an excuse to get out of the snowy weather. Sure, that means fewer cars to see but heck, it's the people who make up a club anyway, right?!

[Gordie]

The Early Ford V-8 Club has over 10.000 members and has the same problems as we do but their chapters hold three meets a year in Eastern, Central, and Western locations each year making it easier for members anywhere to attend meets.  We actually have local meets in many areas of the country now and most are well attended.  I doubt that Eastern and Western members would want to travel to the Midwest every year.  Most of us would love to attend all of the meets and a few lucky ones do but having various locations across the country seems the best way to afford everyone the opportunity to attend meets at least every few years.  One thing that does need to change is our rule that only allow meet attendees the opportunity to vote on important new rule changes that affect all members and the election of officers.  The meets are getting expensive and driving our cars across the country is getting more perilous every year but the fun of the meets makes it all worth while.

[KWZ]

After reading this thread, I'm curious, what is the size of the KFOCI current membership?  Also, I'd love to know the average current age of a KFOCI member.  I'm 34 and I have yet to run into a member younger than me.  There are not many car people my generation who even know about KF cars.  I think I am also unique in that I developed the KF interest on my own.  I am not the son of a KFOCI member, like most of the other young (in their 40s and 50s) members.  My old man is a '55 Chevy guy.  The National is very hard to attend for a young guy with two small kids unless it is in my backyard.  Maybe someday I can start hitting every one of them.....