Poor Chapter Representation on TLCA BOD Telecon

[Stumpalama]

So we just concluded the monthly TLCA BOD teleconference and I counted a whopping 7 (SEVEN!) clubs represented. That is an extremely poor showing and unfortunately, not uncommon.

There seems to be plenty of talk about " what does TLCA do for me?", yet I would argue that people don't know what TLCA is doing because the club reps are not getting the info from the telecon to pass on to their club members.

 

[RSHARPfzj80]

I didn't get the email of time/date. Since our club is new we have only been on 1 conference call. Wasn't sure if it was monthly or bi-monthly. Hope to get an email for the next one...... sharpfzj80@gmail.com Appalachia Cruisers president
Rance Sharp


TLCA #13178 Appalachia Cruisers, STLCA

 

[Stumpalama]

I didn't get the email of time/date. Since our club is new we have only been on 1 conference call. Wasn't sure if it was monthly or bi-monthly. Hope to get an email for the next one...... sharpfzj80@gmail.com Appalachia Cruisers president
Rance Sharp


TLCA #13178 Appalachia Cruisers, STLCA

If you have not already, you can sign up to receive the BOD mailing list here:
http://tlca.org/mailman/listinfo/bodreps_tlca.org

State who you are and what club you represent and you will receive an email to confirm your identity. Once you do that, you will get updates from the TLCA executive as well as the dates and times of the call.

Cheers,
Stump

 

[Trollhole]

Maybe it's a sign that the teleconference is a thing of the past. Or maybe it's a sign that the clubs just don't care anymore.

How many clubs are left vs clubs that are active in the mud clubhouse section?

In the past I think clubs felt they needed to or had to join TLCA. I'm pretty sure those numbers have steadily fallen. There is no presence in TLCA in the clubs. The days of sitting back and waiting for the chapter reports and club in good standing forms to roll in are over. Your going to have to start promoting to the clubs. Getting in front of them. Telling them what you can bring to the table. What value you have to them.

 

[esh]

We do video conferencing at work spanning from PST (UTC-08:00) to UTC+01:00 (Germany) every weekday morning via Google Hangouts (voice and/or video). It is the only free service I know of that allows multiple call-ins to conference and has a chat bar to capture information such as links and ask questions that might be missed in a voice only call. Very nice communication mechanism other than the technicalities of getting a mic and/or camera working on your computing device... works on PC systems, tablets and smartphones of all types.

I think a private forum would also work well for ongoing discussion over the mailing list. Forums have features like voting and it could be made mandatory membership as *the* form of communication to TLCA from chapters. I am not anti-email list, it is just times moving on. We still use mostly email-only at work due to the culture and opinions of my bosses.

Speaking for our chapter, we pretty much conduct our business on our forums, in www.cascadecruisers.com land. Mud is for individual use and community participation. I am on the bod list as I was rep for a year, but I think Bill Wright might be back at it. I know for a while the call was pending on whether there was business to talk about that couldn't be done on the mailing list.

In summary, Cascade Cruisers participates in TLCA but probably isn't consistent with BOD participation. If you were to ask me, participation for me is lacking due to my time only. We have a relatively small club (<10 members, roughly) that is focused on our projects when we can get time away from work and family. I have a fairly fierce loyalty to Todd and pretty much run material through him when I having something useful to Trails.


FYI, I go to tlca.org's forum link and get a not found error on 'mud...

 

[Stumpalama]

The fact remains that the BOD telecon occurs monthly and TLCA member clubs designate members to attend. It is worthwhile to participate, if for nothing else than to get the pulse of what is going on within the TLCA board of directors. It also provides an opportunity to help improve the TLCA with input from other points of view.

 

[RSHARPfzj80]

If you have not already, you can sign up to receive the BOD mailing list here:
http://tlca.org/mailman/listinfo/bodreps_tlca.org

State who you are and what club you represent and you will receive an email to confirm your identity. Once you do that, you will get updates from the TLCA executive as well as the dates and times of the call.

Cheers,
Stump

I've tried 8-10 times to register, but it won't let me in. I'll keep trying....


TLCA #13178 Appalachia Cruisers, STLCA

 

[Stumpalama]

Hmm. Have you tried emailing your problem to Woody (TLCA pres, not the 'mud owner) or one of the other execs?

 

[RSHARPfzj80]

Hmm. Have you tried emailing your problem to Woody (TLCA pres, not the 'mud owner) or one of the other execs?

No I haven't. I'm gonna talk to Kyle at GSMTR.


TLCA #13178 Appalachia Cruisers, STLCA

 

[45Kevin]

I apologize for missing the past meeting. I fully intended to and something came up and I just plain forgot until about 7:45 (MST). I didn't miss it purposefully and our club is very much a part of the TLCA. I usually attend and for the most part it is time well spent. Woody (Ross) is pretty good at keeping things moving and 45 minutes is probably about an average meeting.

What I would like to see is written minutes sent out a day or few after the meeting. A recording might be easier if it could be linked somehow.

Over the past few years I have probably averaged about 75% attendance.

 

[ufg8r]

No I haven't. I'm gonna talk to Kyle at GSMTR.


TLCA #13178 Appalachia Cruisers, STLCA

Kyle might can help, but I ended up going through Jen Lorincz and she fixed me up pretty quick, you can reach her here: membership@tlca.org

On the attendance part, I've been attending for our chapter since about October '13. I've missed one or two calls but I've mostly been there. I'll say that for a new rep, and someone that's relatively new to TLCA, I've stayed pretty quiet during the calls as I've tried to learn how things work in the organization.

One positive thing I've noted is that there are a few core people that routinely call in that deserve a lot of credit for making TLCA function and it'll be interesting to see how our relatively new club can possibly play a role in the bigger picture. A downside is that the calls get a little repetitive since there are some recurring issues that are tough to resolve. These are important topics (membership, finances, the store front, etc), but the calls are so centered on these topics that sometimes the calls aren't too effective in getting a pulse on what's going on at the club level - which to me would be interesting and would help build a little interest.

Bottom line is that these calls feel like they are all business and it might be good to add some (brief) discussion that is just meant to be more fun. If only 7 or so clubs are calling in we could do short chapter reports during role call if there is an interest within the group on hearing more from each club.

My 0.02