How come???

[Texican]

A lot of TLCA clubs throw requirements in to being members?
I have heard
We have a limit if 20 members, and when it is reached thats it.
You have to attend 3 meetings.
You must be voted on.
Land Cruisers only.
If you miss so many meetings we can vote you out.



I'm not wanting to throw stones, but if your club does this, explain the reasons for this dumb a$$ redneck.........I have an easy time finding volunteers for dang near any crazy idea we come up with....but can't imagine what I would have to choose from if LSLC had these in place.

Butch

[Romer]

I know the rising sun has no limit on the number of members. To be a voting member, you must have a Toyota with selectable 4WD, you must have gone on at least one club run and you get voted on. Then once you pay your dues, your in with no other requirements.


I think the going on one run is a good idea. It makes newbies go on a wheeling trip and figure out if it is really what they want to do before they join the club

[Gumby]

I don't think that would work around here. Many cruiser owners in the Windy don't wheel. In fact, that may have been part of why it died the first time. I suspect the minimum meeting thing might have been a knee jerk reaction to the same few people doing all the work, while others don't even bother to go to the meetings.

Hell, if you pay your dues, you can be in my club. Actually, that's not true. Windy City is very exclusive. You have to be able to put up with the other members. So far, I'm the only member.

[dd113]

Our only real requirement is that you are a TLCA member but we will let that slide for a while. Generally, if we think you are a tard you are not invited back. We also have no issue with "outsider" vehicles being members. One of our best members has a brother that drivers a lifted Subaru! He is more than invited to our runs. Too much fun!

It all gets back to the post from Butch above. Why do you want a club? WHo do you want in it and why?

[woody]

I know a number of clubs like this, none of which I'd consider belonging to...I don't get it either...

[Kaderabek]

The club closest to me requires attendance at meetings. I'm not a member.

TJK

[Junk]

Our club is just now rising from the ashes.

Limit on number of members? Seems odd a club would want that.

Mandatory attendance to meetings? Uh, we have guys that travel several hours for meetings, I'm not telling anyone they have to be anywhere.

Voted on to become a member? Then I would have never made it in.

Our by-laws are pretty simple and revolve around the TLCA by-laws. Top priority is to be safe, then to have fun. Without fun why would anyone want to be in a club? This is a hobby not a job.

[informationjunky]

Originally Posted by Kaderabek

The club closest to me requires attendance at meetings. I'm not a member.

TJK

Hmm, I thought the Upstate Cruisers would be the closest to ya... I don't think they require attendance at meetings.

[Kaderabek]

Originally Posted by Junk

Top priority is to be safe, then to have fun. Without fun why would anyone want to be in a club? This is a hobby not a job.

Speak for yourself.

TJK

[Kaderabek]

Originally Posted by informationjunky

Hmm, I thought the Upstate Cruisers would be the closest to ya... I don't think they require attendance at meetings.

When I looked into joining years ago I was told they did. Maybe they've changed that rule.

TJK

[Kaderabek]

Went over to Upstate's site, clicked join now. Here's what I got:

"Welcome to Upstate Cruisers
The first step in joining this group is telling us who you are. You do this through your unique .NET Passport. We use your .NET Passport sign-in name and password to identify you.

Sign in with your .NET Passport.
If you already have a .NET Passport, sign in now.
Tip: Your Hotmail account works as a .NET Passport.

Get a .NET Passport. Don't have a Hotmail or .NET Passport account? Sign up for one now. It's free."

I don't have or want a .Net Passport. And I'm sorry to be making an example with Upstate b/c I've always had great experiences with these guys, but this is the sort of impediment that limits membership. I have to sign up for something I don't want in order to find out if I have to come to meetings to be a member. Not very conducive to growing membership.

Again, no slam on Upstate.

TJK

[Texican]

Originally Posted by Kaderabek

The club closest to me requires attendance at meetings. I'm not a member.

TJK

You are a mmber of LSLC, by attending the Roundup

Butch

[informationjunky]

shoot one of these guys a e-mail and they should be able to sign you up. David and Travis are on the LCML also. I don't think the web sight has been maintained in quite a while.

Joel Sudduth (PRES) rebeccasudduth@yahoo.com or jscruiser3@hotmail.com
David Harrison (last year pres) dharri53@bellsouth.net
Travis Brown (VP) travis_amy@charter.net

They will be camping out this weekend if you want to drop down, unfortunatly I will be at Aberdene one again @#$%@$

>
> Hey everybody don't forget about next weekend, September 10,11 and
> 12th. Camping at Oconee State Park. Ought to be a great time. I am
> sure we will hit the trails at Burrels Ford, depending on what is
> open. It all depends, either way we will cruiser the backwoods on the
> other roads in the forest. So if trail riding is not your thing don't
> worry about it, come out and camp with us and catch up with your
> fellow cruiserheads. Hope to see a good turn out. As always if anyone
> has any questions please just give me a holler. Here is the link for
> Oconee.
>
>

[woody]

BTW: let the Upstate gang know I can add a free forum corner if they are interested...public or private...

And I agree that forcing a Passport registration is a PITA...one of our local Assoc's requires you have Yahoo to participate in their yahoogroups stuff, another major irritation...

[Kaderabek]

Originally Posted by Texican

You are a mmber of LSLC, by attending the Roundup

Butch

Hell, I joined before that.

TJK

[Kaderabek]

Originally Posted by informationjunky

shoot one of these guys a e-mail and they should be able to sign you up. David and Travis are on the LCML also. I don't think the web sight has been maintained in quite a while.

Joel Sudduth (PRES) rebeccasudduth@yahoo.com or jscruiser3@hotmail.com
David Harrison (last year pres) dharri53@bellsouth.net
Travis Brown (VP) travis_amy@charter.net

Yeah, I know all those guys, and know they'd do whatever was needed to sign me (or anyone else) up. I was just pointing out how it can sometimes be difficult (or cumbersome) to join a TLCA chapter. Shouldn't be that way.

TJK

[informationjunky]

Originally Posted by Kaderabek

Yeah, I know all those guys, and know they'd do whatever was needed to sign me (or anyone else) up. I was just pointing out how it can sometimes be difficult (or cumbersome) to join a TLCA chapter. Shouldn't be that way.

TJK

Yep, I definitely agree it shouldn't be difficult. Chapters loose out on what could be quality people that often only get a chance to wheel or visit once or twice a year (that was my case up until recent.... the part about attendance, quality is still up in the air)

[TRT2]

I've had the great fortune to speak with many clubs, some TLCA and some not.

The primary comment about stringent membership requirements was to limit club size. Lets face it, not everyone wants a large club...

Meeting/run attendance gives an opportunity for Club members to have direct input about new members. The larger clubs whom accept anyone remove member input.

Now I am not going to present my personal views here for they are not required, but PMC has always taken a very open approach to new members and has actively sought to have a large membership. Thus we have low membership requirements and as noted, its probably a good thing otherwise I could not have gotten in myself.

And by removing mandatory meeting and run attendance, we have folks (great friends) who are involved whom might not be able to if mandatory attendance was required.

The downfall.... often our runs are small with only 3 to 8 trucks. Occasionally some runs are extremely full with nearly 30+. Wait, I can't really see any downfall there.

More downfall... often we are hard pressed to commit full club support... afterall, not everyone is there to commit.

the Up side... we have a robust club kitty. You always see PMC Members at nearly every event. I have made great friends whom I probably would have never met, or worse, stereo typed before I really got to know them. Hey, at least I'm honest.

More up side, as Butch notes, volunteers abound! I never have a problem finding a volunteer. When we field the swap meet and its many jobs, there are always plenty of volunteers, enough to simply have folks waiting.

I'm sorry, what was the question? Too much rambling again.

Yes, membership requirements can limit club size but usually, that is what the club desires. It also allows current members to have input about future members.

While it is not a bad thing, I caution smaller clubs on it or clubs in geographic areas where TLCA members are few and far between.

[Gumby]

When I was thinking about getting WCLC going again, I was contimplating a cool t-shirt/sticker/membership deal. Buy the swag, get a membership. Who cares if you ever do anything. Get a web site up with a big ol' member's rides section. Obviously, that's not much of a club, but might have gotten things rolling and we could boast of a large membership again. Wasn't Windy one of the biggest at one time? before clubs started springing up all over.

[Texican]

Originally Posted by Gumby

Wasn't Windy one of the biggest at one time? before clubs started springing up all over.

When I first got involved with TLCA back in about 95 WC was one of the movers and shakers. One of the best investments we ever made in LSLC is the logo we created and Adam Tolman fine tuned into one of the most recognized, and popular, as far as sales go, in the TLCA.

Butch

[Man Jerk]

Our club does require someone attend 2 meetings and 1 event to be a member. The rules are kept pretty loose though. An event could be just about anything. Could be our tri-yearly adopt a highway, or just about anything else. We do also vote our members in. Can't say that in the 1.5 years I've been a member that I've ever seen anyone not voted in.
No maximum size neither.

We don't require that members attend meetings. Some people's schedules do not allow them to attend.

You do make some great points though Butch.

[nakman]

Actually Romer, we aced the "voting each other in" rule, last year some time. Like the Minnesota folks, can't remember not voting someone in, and it sorta seemed silly to do it in meetings. So (cmiiw) the Rising Sun requirements are now: 1. you have to attend at least one meeting, and 2. you have to attend at least one Rising Sun event. Doesn't have to be a wheeling event, can be a clean-up, or our summer picnic, or the Xmas party, heck you could probably just ride shotgun on a run with someone else and count that.

I don't think these little barriers have hurt membership much, and in fact it makes it a little more special to the guys who do join as new members, for completing these little prerequisites. Also gives the rest of the club a chance to get to know the new guys, and more importantly gives the new guys a chance to meet some of the other members. One thing that probably shocks folks (surprised me a little) is how darn family-oriented we are.. we don't drink & smoke pot on runs, instead we bring our kids & parents along... and we actually donate money to police. There are plenty of other clubs around here that are more about partying it up, fabbing up the cheapest lift possible then bashing through mud holes..

Also we're not Cruiser-only, like you said even Jeep and Zuki guys can join they just can't vote. And I think it's cool that everyone's required to join TLCA regardless of how many Cruisers they have, though I don't hear any of the Runner guys complaining about getting Trails 6x a year, that mag flat out rules no matter what you drive. Good post, Butch, makes us all look at how we do things, if something else doesn't seem right we'll toss it. -tim

[cruiseroutfit]

Wasatch Cruisers have both a run & activity attendance policy...

[Texican]

Originally Posted by cruiseroutfit

Wasatch Cruisers have both a run & activity attendance policy...

This does not tell us much, what type policy?
If someone fails do you boot him?
Butch

[cruiseroutfit]

Originally Posted by Texican

This does not tell us much, what type policy?
If someone fails do you boot him?
Butch

Sorry, sent it before I was finished typing...

The Wasatch Cruisers require at least 2 activities (club social, dinner, etc) and one run (we have montly runs). They also must pay the WCC dues and be a current TLCA member. This was voted on by our Presidency (I am not an elected, voting member, I am the Land-Use dude)... Members that fail to comply, or don't make an effort to improve, are removed from the club mailing list, thus preventing them from receiving club info.

The reasoning was to keep a high-standard within the members... Kindve a toss up for me, I am the President of the U4WDA and we have ZERO requirements to join besides paying your dues. The U4WDA (includes ~20 Utah clubs) focuses solely on keeping trails OPEN... so we can use all the $$$ and member support (even if just a number) that we can get.

Hope that helps...

[Texican]

[quote=cruiseroutfit] The reasoning was to keep a high-standard within the members... QUOTE]


note to self: "Don't move to SLC cause they won't let you in the Cruiser Club there"