Thoughts on raising TLCA dues??? (1 Viewer)

[Green Lantern]

Mi casa, su casa Tony,

You're always welcome in Texas!
Happy Trails! N

ah yes, the everlasting question about TLCA... what have you done for me lately.

The challenge is to be everything for everyone. Problem is, not only are we each uniquely different, but we also change over time. For instance, when I bought my 1st land cruiser, I needed knowledge. TLCA provided the avenue and the value was priceless.

When our club publicized our swap meet and the new McGrew Trail ride, Trails was priceless.

As I became a TLCA delegate and started wheeling at events around the country, Trails and TLCA members were priceless.

Today I spend my time working my butt off and looking towards retirement... my TLCA friends are priceless.

Am I as active as I was? No, but times have changed and so have I. But TLCA remains stable and there will become a time when TLCA is priceless to me again.

 

[rusty_tlc]

My take as a past TLCA delegate;

I was a delegate for a lot of years, I kind of lost count how many. At least through three Presidents.

Towards the end I just quit calling in.
Why?
No real reason to listen to the same old rhetoric.

The only real discussion was the budget and how to increase revenues and how to increase membership (but really only as a way to increase revenue). I've sat through a whole lot of business meetings that had the basically same theme. Like it or not there is a commercial aspect to the club. It is trying to sell a product.

I mentioned on more than one occasion that if the club increased the value to members everything else would fall in place. (ie have a better product to sell) For whatever reason I don't feel that I was taken seriously.

Three ideas I advanced;

Direct contributions from TLCA to land use organizations such as BRC. Not contributions from affiliated clubs, contributions directly from TLCA. This way guys like me who don't attend events will feel like their $$ are somehow making a difference.

Offer custom car insurance for club members. I put a lot of effort into this but I'm just not the right guy, I have no background in this area. I'm pretty sure there a lot of guys that would join just to get their rigs insured at the real value not just the book value.

Recruit younger membership. Things may have changed but when I was there the BOD was pretty much the same old gang of guys, occasionally recycled to different post. Nothing against those individuals, in fact I have a lot of respect for them; they were the ones that were willing to step up and do the job. The problem is without new blood and new ideas the club will just keep doing the same things over and over. I don't have any concrete suggestion on how to implement this but I feel it is an imperative for the organization.​

If TLCA were to implement any of the three ideas I'd join up again.

And one more thing, dump the mail list and start using a forum format for BOD communications. I ignored about 70% of the emails because they were just "me too" with a full quote of the original mail plus all the other "me too" reply's. I probably missed a lot of good content because it was lost in the noise. All the BOD and delegates are volunteers, don't waste their time. Let them go one place read the pertinent information and be done with it.

 

[Rzeppa]

For instance, when I bought my 1st land cruiser...

I didn't know you had a Land Cruiser Tony? I always knew about your mini that you wheeled at events.

Speaking of priceless - the networking in the TLCA community is awesome.

You alluded in your post about working your ass off to retire.

When the company I was working for went belly up and I lost my job this past summer and was thinking about starting a new business of my own, some friends suggested starting a new Land Cruiser business. I decided I didn't want to compete with all my good friends who are already doing that and instead started a 3D printing business.

I have more Land Cruiser-related 3D design and printing jobs than I ever could have imagined, thanks to TLCA. And hats off to Woody to make our TLCA world so connected via IH8MUD.

 

[landcrusher909]

Since joining TLCA we have had the chance to meet and wheel in places I never would have expected. I have seen a few post what does TLCA do for me ? Well and this is just me. maybe we should focus on what it can do. new members should be aware of the opportunites offered via Road Trips, Special events and such. I have been able to meet some of the most amaizing people, wheel in some of the most beautiful country and all because of TLCA. I will admit IH8MUD was there from the start also ( Thanks Brian ). Wendy and I have opened up our home over the years for other Toyota Folks and its been a great experance. I know TT is limited for space and its hard to put into words just how amaizing this Family is. I do know that I would gladly pay another 3 to 5 heck 10.00 a year to keep this around for my Children and Grand children

 

[77cruiser]

Since joining TLCA we have had the chance to meet and wheel in places I never would have expected. I have seen a few post what does TLCA do for me ? Well and this is just me. maybe we should focus on what it can do. new members should be aware of the opportunites offered via Road Trips, Special events and such. I have been able to meet some of the most amaizing people, wheel in some of the most beautiful country and all because of TLCA. I will admit IH8MUD was there from the start also ( Thanks Brian ). Wendy and I have opened up our home over the years for other Toyota Folks and its been a great experance. I know TT is limited for space and its hard to put into words just how amaizing this Family is. I do know that I would gladly pay another 3 to 5 heck 10.00 a year to keep this around for my Children and Grand children

Very well said!!!

 

[DTSkyCop]

As a new TLCA member this year, I was itching to get my first cruiser and join the Cruiser Association. Not to throw my money away or anything, but to belong to a group that is comprised of people of similar likes to me. I being new to this group did chose the regular bulk deliver of my Toyota Trails and can honestly say I have only seen two of these magazines since I joined. I am not sure if I am a victims of the USPS bulk mail gremlins or not...

That said, I might be okay with a small increase in dues and understand the need for it... But why not go to a digital magazine format... A simple PDF file members who prefer this method could get... Easier to store and search for stuff if need be. That said, I am not sure what the costs are for the magazine, which I have enjoyed reading the issues I have gotten... But the volume of magazines printed have be a contributing factor as to why the costs are so high.

I looked into buying past issues but again saw the price of this and immediately put the brakes on. I could not afford this purchase. But if it was a one time access fee, or a dollar per magazine charge or something like that, I would gladly pay that to access the library of issues etc digitally. Again, I would be better able to get through them and search through them for articles specific to what I was looking for...

I am as I stated NEW to TLCA so I am only speaking as a new member with limited experiences currently. I am happy to be a member of TLCA currently, but if the price of membership gets too high, I might have to reconsider my membership due to budgetary reasons. I do like the magazine as stated previously. It definitely was not my only reason for joining TLCA though. The land cruiser I bought does have a couple TLCA dash plaques on it currently and I really like that aspect of the membership. It is part of the nostalgia of belonging to the group. I personally would like to see those brought back or see them available in the online store or something.

This is just my two cents and I am happy to be here with my "new" 40.

 

[Rzeppa]

The land cruiser I bought does have a couple TLCA dash plaques on it currently and I really like that aspect of the membership.

I REALLY REALLY want dash plaques put back in as an automatic part of being a member.

 

[paflytyer]

As a new TLCA member this year, I was itching to get my first cruiser and join the Cruiser Association. Not to throw my money away or anything, but to belong to a group that is comprised of people of similar likes to me. I being new to this group did chose the regular bulk deliver of my Toyota Trails and can honestly say I have only seen two of these magazines since I joined. I am not sure if I am a victims of the USPS bulk mail gremlins or not...

The magazine is printed every other month. If your membership was processed just after an issue went to print, it could take a while to see your first edition. Once they start coming, it will be every 8 weeks or so. Upgrading to the First Class mail membership will get you the magazine much quicker than bulk mail. Make sure your address is correct as well, bulk mail will not forward to a new address.

But why not go to a digital magazine format... A simple PDF file members who prefer this method could get... Easier to store and search for stuff if need be. That said, I am not sure what the costs are for the magazine, which I have enjoyed reading the issues I have gotten... But the volume of magazines printed have be a contributing factor as to why the costs are so high.

There is a PDF only option coming in July. Cost will be $25 per year. Are you saying that the current $30 per year cost is high? The costs involved in printing the magazine are the same up to a certain number of issues printed. It's a very wide margin, like 1-5000.

I looked into buying past issues but again saw the price of this and immediately put the brakes on. I could not afford this purchase. But if it was a one time access fee, or a dollar per magazine charge or something like that, I would gladly pay that to access the library of issues etc digitally. Again, I would be better able to get through them and search through them for articles specific to what I was looking for...

Something like this may be in the very near future. Please stay tuned. Most likely it will be well priced actual printed issues rather than a digital library though.

I am as I stated NEW to TLCA so I am only speaking as a new member with limited experiences currently. I am happy to be a member of TLCA currently, but if the price of membership gets too high, I might have to reconsider my membership due to budgetary reasons. I do like the magazine as stated previously. It definitely was not my only reason for joining TLCA though. The land cruiser I bought does have a couple TLCA dash plaques on it currently and I really like that aspect of the membership. It is part of the nostalgia of belonging to the group. I personally would like to see those brought back or see them available in the online store or something.

What price would you consider "too high"?

Thank you for doing your part to preserve the history and legacy of the Land Cruiser. Please look for us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Instagram is "toyotatrails" and Twitter is @T_L_C_A

You will find updates, news, event info and fantastic Toyota photo content on there.

 

[DTSkyCop]

I am okay with the costs currently... $30 dollars is fine... If the first class rate being $45 is what we need to all do to keep the organization in good standing financially etc, I am okay with that also. If the price goes up to even $50 dollars, it could be bearable but if at renewal time time something comes up, it might have to wait... The renewal that is..! I think I would still value the membership enough though to join. But, higher definitely would cause me to think about what I am getting in return. I do like the TLCA plaques on my dash though... And it would definitely make a higher cost bearable..!!!

I am glad to hear about the digital side of Toyota Trails. As I said, I considered buying the back issues but it was going to be to outrageous an expense to justify the purchase. I do like the thought of having them and reading through them etc... But again, if the costs are to high there, I will do without... I am not sure what a reasonable price would be to justify this purchase, but if it was a one time $50 or $60 dollar purchase for the "library," I would consider that cost seriously. I enjoy seeing the magazine and know that I would enjoy seeing more of what TLCAis about through Toyota Trails. (plus it gives me great ideas for my rig!! )

I did not know about all the other sources of media outlets for TLCA. Facebook, Twitter etc. I will be joining these now... Thanks for the heads up. No need to thank me for preserving the LC heritage at all... I love my 40 for sure... Nothing like driving it... The simplicity is awesome... I have a smile on my face from ear to ear as I cruise up the road. In my short owner time of 4 months, I have gotten two stumps up, a horn hone, and two offers to buy. I love it!!

I guess I am doing my part to preserve the heritage and I am definitely glad to do so... I am also glad to be a part of this community which clearly helps me understand and keep my cruiser running. I love the Mud Forum as well... Clearly there is a wealth of information in this community...

 

[brew8]

So does this mean we get the great one Brother Andy back????

 

[Metal Spice]

Here's the deal on dash plaques. They are very expensive to produce, they cost an additional $.20 to mail on top of regular postage which now is almost $.50 per membership pack because the post office considers them unmachinable, and only 4% of the membership wants them or buys them from the store. This is an expensive item to produce, costs us more money to mail a membership packet and is simply not a good roi for tlca right now. We didn't come to the decision lightly when the BOD voted on it a few years ago. We are looking into other alternatives for this item. Remember, TLCA is a non profit organization run by volunteers and we have to cut costs where we can when necessary. Publishing costs increase, printing costs increase, postage costs increase, with that we haven't raised dues in 7 years. Again, it wasn't a decision we spontaneously decided on, but everybody says "what do I get for my money?", "what does TLCA do for me?", "I want this", "I don't like x", etc. TLCA is YOU and what you do with your membership.I think of all the friends I have across the country and even around the world because of TLCA, the events I've been to, the people who have opened their doors to me as I was passing through town, and all the wonderful friendships I have and all of that was because of my membership in this organization. That has been well worth every penny paid in dues.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using IH8MUD

 

[Rzeppa]

Here's the deal on dash plaques. They are very expensive to produce, they cost an additional $.20 to mail on top of regular postage which now is almost $.50 per membership pack because the post office considers them unmachinable, and only 4% of the membership wants them or buys them from the store. This is an expensive item to produce, costs us more money to mail a membership packet and is simply not a good roi for tlca right now. We didn't come to the decision lightly when the BOD voted on it a few years ago. We are looking into other alternatives for this item. Remember, TLCA is a non profit organization run by volunteers and we have to cut costs where we can when necessary. Publishing costs increase, printing costs increase, postage costs increase, with that we haven't raised dues in 7 years. Again, it wasn't a decision we spontaneously decided on, but everybody says "what do I get for my money?", "what does TLCA do for me?", "I want this", "I don't like x", etc. TLCA is YOU and what you do with your membership.I think of all the friends I have across the country and even around the world because of TLCA, the events I've been to, the people who have opened their doors to me as I was passing through town, and all the wonderful friendships I have and all of that was because of my membership in this organization. That has been well worth every penny paid in dues.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using IH8MUD

I am well aware of all of these facts about the dash plaques (although the term "VERY EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE" is highly subjective and pejorative in this context).

The fact is, it is a PITA to have to go out to the store just to buy a dash plaque. It was MUCH more convenient when they came with my annual renewal letter, and around a quarter of membership (according to the last time we asked) really value them. I happen to fall into that rabid quarter of membership, and REALLY MISS MY DASH PLAQUES!

 

[Metal Spice]

It is not a quarter of the membership, sorry but you are incorrect. Regardless, we held it up to a vote of the bod and it passed by a wide margin. We have a bod member looking at other options for a plaque, producing in smaller quantities, different style etc., but they will continue to be an item in the store if and when they are produced again. I'm sorry that this is is such a pain the ass for you. We will never please everybody.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using IH8MUD

 

[woooody]

Jeff - while it seems so little on a per member basis, if even only 1/4 of the membership wants the plaque, that still equates to 4 times the needed cost, plus the headache of determining who wants it, plus dealing with the additional hassles for our Admin. That's why the BOD voted to drop them.

Our last 2 years of plaques were garbage, both of mine delaminated. I also want them, but I've also accepted the fact that the majority of our members have told us they don't want or need them. Seems silly to spend $1000 + each year for something that so few want.

There's really nothing more to be said about it on this thread. The dues have been increased. Let's move on to other matters.

Thanks