Eurodrivers Management.

[Danaldson]

Re: I still rock the Eurodrivers decal

I think this thread is getting quite intense here. From my past few years of experience at Eurodrivers this place is the best place for the Calgary VAG community, can things be improved? Sure!

I'm gonna write out a story of why I love Eurodrivers so much and still try really hard to hang with the crew, I'm not particularly good at telling stories so if you don't want to read it, don't read it.

I hope the people that care about this thread reads and can somewhat understand what I'm trying to express, and I hope to see Eurodrivers steadily become even better.

Thanks for your input jerry, I love that ideas you have for the website and i think theyre great, i also agree with you that eurodrivers should lose the community aspect of it. Were a family and i love that about us.

I dont want to see eurodrivers develop into something as big as vortex or even as big as beyond. but i do want to see it grow and be more active. and i think to do so we need to make changes.

[Danaldson]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

From what I can see, we are short on team. We don't need two VPs, one would be fine, but we do need someone to be responsible for memberships, someone for any PR(marketing, social media, and any possible media contact), some one for events and someone to help make sure the finances are in order. These 6 individuals would need to be people that have the drive and passion for this, as well as the ability to commit and the open mindedness to include others, their ideas and suggestions.

We need to have ideas and a plan to support a vision of growing the membership, becoming a larger member in the community(leading by example, and hosting more events), and above all making sure everyone enjoys the environment and culture that is EuroDrivers.

Ill quote bryan and say that i think this is where we begin.

[GTi]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

This is great guys, keep the positivity and ideas flowing!

Jerry, I think your story and ideas are awesome. It helps diversify and be inclusive. I think for many years people have steered away from the forum because some move to fast, and other don't know where they want to post.

Keep it up guys!

[CGY_GTI]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

Well I hope to see a big turnout at the meet tomorrow so that we can hear people's ideas and discuss any possible changes going forward.

That being said, I think Bryan's idea of holding an AGM is worth exploring, as I suspect that's where we will be able to get the strongest turnout and generate the most ideas for the future direction of the club. I think an AGM is something that should be discussed tomorrow and possibly organized for later this month. I'm hopeful that we can make good headway tomorrow, but there's only so much you can do on short notice and while working in a BP's.

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

Well I hope to see a big turnout at the meet tomorrow so that we can hear people's ideas and discuss any possible changes going forward.

That being said, I think Bryan's idea of holding an AGM is worth exploring, as I suspect that's where we will be able to get the strongest turnout and generate the most ideas for the future direction of the club. I think an AGM is something that should be discussed tomorrow and possibly organized for later this month. I'm hopeful that we can make good headway tomorrow, but there's only so much you can do on short notice and while working in a BP's.

Yup. Tomorrow will be a good starting point. But I suggest we plan on an AGM at the end of March to see where we are as I will be out of town until about the 24th or so. Like I said earlier I hold no ill will to any on here. Heated can be good because it means people care.

Thanks to all.

[P Arkus]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

There's been some great ideas being brought out in this thread, and some great stories like Kuji's as well. Tomorrow will be a good starting point, but I hope it doesn't get out of hand with some of the ideas. More ideas are good, but lets focus on taking baby steps and taking one step/action at a time to resolve the issues. We do not want to become Calgary construction team, tear into 50 different projects and then take 4 years to complete them! AGM at the end of the month is a great start so we can prioritize what actions need to be completed first.

[popp]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

This is the first time i've been on this site in months and I only came on because I was told to look at this thread....

I think what has happened here is that you damn Millennials expect things to happen without lifting a finger hahahahaha....

But seriously, If you look at the "join date" for those of you with issues, you are fairly new to the club (and I would suspect, fairly new to "life" haha). You all have great points and valid beefs and it shows a sign of the times... I can't speak for the rest of us "old" folks, but I have distanced myself not by choice but by life... I'm heavily involved in my 3 kids hockey and extracurricular activities which take up eight days a week, work, travel, hanging out with other friends, etc.... As most of us, old and new members, we have built great friendships as a result of the club and that is 100% why I joined and stayed...Cars are second. That being said, I find that on a blue moon when the stars align and I can make it out to a meet, the majority of the members that attend are 16-25 years of age and show us old asses the same amount of "inclusion" as you feel the "new comers" get... It is human nature and I get it, and that is why I stay away....

Danny has legit concerns and I agree the torch has to be passed to the new younger members, but still need that old member input as well. If Rod is willing to stay on as President, then I agree more execs should be added who are willing to drive the club forward... As social meets are important, AGM's are absolutely needed as venting on an online forum gets nothing done except needing to talk to millennial's mothers about how their child's feelings were hurt.

PS: Roger, I miss you!!!

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

This is the first time i've been on this site in months and I only came on because I was told to look at this thread....

I think what has happened here is that you damn Millennials expect things to happen without lifting a finger hahahahaha....

But seriously, If you look at the "join date" for those of you with issues, you are fairly new to the club (and I would suspect, fairly new to "life" haha). You all have great points and valid beefs and it shows a sign of the times... I can't speak for the rest of us "old" folks, but I have distanced myself not by choice but by life... I'm heavily involved in my 3 kids hockey and extracurricular activities which take up eight days a week, work, travel, hanging out with other friends, etc.... As most of us, old and new members, we have built great friendships as a result of the club and that is 100% why I joined and stayed...Cars are second. That being said, I find that on a blue moon when the stars align and I can make it out to a meet, the majority of the members that attend are 16-25 years of age and show us old asses the same amount of "inclusion" as you feel the "new comers" get... It is human nature and I get it, and that is why I stay away....

Danny has legit concerns and I agree the torch has to be passed to the new younger members, but still need that old member input as well. If Rod is willing to stay on as President, then I agree more execs should be added who are willing to drive the club forward... As social meets are important, AGM's are absolutely needed as venting on an online forum gets nothing done except needing to talk to millennial's mothers about how their child's feelings were hurt.

PS: Roger, I miss you!!!

We miss you too Popp you dirty Mexican!!!

[GingerBeef]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

First off, there needs to be more than a one day notice for a huge meeting like this. I have a midterm both Thursday night, and Friday night as well as entire subteam of greenhorns that requires my attention at Schulich Racing during our Thursday night meetings/work hours. That being said, I have contacted my subteam and let them know I will not be making it tomorrow and instead will be coming to this right after my midterm.

My points/concerns here will be fairly brief as I am writing this during my study break but here it goes:
I honestly don't think the management is the biggest concern with this club. Yes, it has flaws, and could definitely use alot of improvement which this thread has already brought up. Alot of these are great ideas, and I am in no means discrediting whats already been discussed, its just that I feel like a fairly large elephant in the room has been ignored thus far. Its been brought up a few times but ignored or brushed off.

It really boils down to a matter of inclusion.

The demise of CVD needs to be taken as a warning for all. Over the years it morphed into a very cliquey group that wasn't welcoming and often shunned new people that were interested, especially ones that wanted to take a larger role in the club, but were relatively unknown. People felt like they weren't wanted, and some people even felt like they were discriminated against. This group was founded on the principles of being different, to be more. The opportunity is here, and there are ways to bring like minded people together, to help with fragmentation...

...We just need to make sure that we don't do the cliquey circle thing and go out of our way to talk to new people and introduce ourselves.

I could not agree with Bryan more here, his concerns are spoken from experience and I think this is the direction the Eurodrivers has been heading for the last few years (on a far lesser extent). This is definitely not a huge issue yet, but overtime this only gets worse and without acknowledgement history shall repeat itself.

... And I don't think it's one person or the management to blame, it's the members I feel. How many people have come out to events in the past few years that never came back? How come it seems to be a common thing that the regular attendees all have the newer higher end cars in the VAG scene? Where are all the pre 2000 year cars that we know there is a lot of around and have some pretty cool builds. I don't particularly find ED to be the most welcoming to potential new members because it seems everyone in ED gets an opinion about someone based on what they drive, what they look like, they're first impression. And then we never let that new person really become part of the club. I know each of us have said or been less than kind to someone new or even current members. And yes I know that happens everywhere in life it seems now but there are other car clubs that are more like family and less like high school cliques...

Another thing I can relate to. I have personally attempted to introduce almost 10 members to this club in the last few years I've been a part of this awesome community. Not a single one of them has stayed passed their 2nd coffee meeting. Many of them told me afterwards that they didnt feel particularly welcomed and that members seemed to be dodging conversations with the newcomers. A few never even made it out to a meet as lurking the forums turned them away before they had the chance to. Even two of my current room mates who drive euros have told me that they are intimidated to come out and get judged by the "stockness" of their cars.

I dont think anyone in the Eurdrivers club has intentionally pushed anyone away, or made it feel unwelcoming. but i feel i agree with erics comments. Other members have expressed this to me as well.

And finally, intentionally or not, this is happening and I firmly believe this is the underlying problem in this club. In my personal experience, this club was at its best when I first joined 3 years ago. Im not saying that the club itself peaked 3 years ago, its just that in my very short time with the club thus far, its been going downhill slowly every year since I joined. And thats a little tough to say from someone who has literally grown up in this community.

Anyways, see you all tomorrow evening.
-Jason

[CGY_GTI]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

First off, there needs to be more than a one day notice for a huge meeting like this.

Agreed, but I don't think anyone was planning on this meeting being different than any of our regular monthly meets, hence why we will be doing an AGM later this month.

A few never even made it out to a meet as lurking the forums turned them away before they even made it out. Even two of my current room mates who drive euros have told me that they are intimidated to come out and get judged by the "stockness" of their cars.

I have heard this as well from at least one person, although they have been slowly changing their feelings about this. They still haven't made it out to a meet just because the timing never works out, but I'm hoping that'll change soon. I can't say I full understand that though... I joined so that I could sell a stock GLI and I owned a totally stock GTI for the first ~6 months I was on here, yet I still felt welcomed.

And finally, intentionally or not, this is happening and I firmly believe this is the underlying problem in this club.

I have also heard this. I don't think it's being done intentionally, but I think it is happening.

[RSS]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

I thought I smelt mexican food!

All we are missing now is boyband but he is probably stuck under that scooter he calls a race bike!

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

We've had a good back and forth on the forum and off. We all feel that this needs some tuning up and we have people that have volunteered that are very qualified to help in certain areas of the club. Tomorrow we will have an open and positive discussion on the club to lay some ground work for a general meeting to be held at the end of the month. We will see what comes out of tomorrow and then we will set a plan up for this season that we will discuss at the general meeting.

Thanks to all for your feedback.

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

I thought I smelt mexican food!

All we are missing now is boyband but he is probably stuck under that scooter he calls a race bike!

Lol!

[Mantis]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

I thought I smelt mexican food!

All we are missing now is boyband but he is probably stuck under that scooter he calls a race bike!

I wouldn't miss this for the world! Right here with my popcorn and pellet gun!

[gheron]

Re: Eurodrivers Management.

When it comes to members joining shows like driven with other clubs, its because these other clubs have discipline and organization. Deny all you want, but humans crave discipline. We do not want to commit to something slopy and disorganized. Remember back in the day when Eurodrivers used to send a 15 car convoy down to Vegas for Wuste? Now we can't even get people down to driven??? I'm sorry but that's a bit embarrassing.

to be fair this convoy still exists and we have made the drive down annually, although its smaller we are a much tighter group... anyone is welcome.... to that end may i suggest AGM at Wuste yearly... starting this year i feel this trip would really bring the group together... i can just imagine the fun we will have discussing club politics around a table at Treasures we just need a less lame member core that are willing to join us on this adventure.. yup thats right im calling everyone out

in all seriousness i love ED and what it stands for, i have made some of my best friends on this board and have never felt i wasn't welcome at any gathering.... maybe its just my pretty face... lots of talk about having a bigger presence at shows etc... i think a conscious effort should have been made here to get as large as a group together as possible for driven last year as appose to some members branching off... as an example im sure if we talk to Mark he would be willing to combine scrape squad and ED booth's if both party's agree and we can have a grand spectacle of cars, i think 2017 is going to bring on more crazy cars and as long as people are wiling to show them off it would be a great place to start and get ED the attention it deserves... i understand that shows outside the province are hard to get a large attendance to but we should be able to get a big following to the local show ill motion, World of Wheels Driven in both Calgary and Edmonton, das volks, close to home... those would be good places to start... I know that Rod put allot of time into getting the group together for driven last year, now maybe management does need to step up but as do the members of the forums i can only imagine how frustrating it is to have people bail on events last minute like many have, and i can see why someone would choose to spend thier time elsewhere when it happens time after time.