Why the site has been down, how you may help!!

How About dropping the membership,

that might attract current non-members

Lower price higher volume

allana13 said

How About dropping the membership,

that might attract current non-members

Lower price higher volume

this gamble was tried it used to be £20 its now £15 and we have fewer members than when it was £20 and lets be fair here if your struggling to find £15 per year im not sure dropping it any further is going to tempt anyone.

Kenno said

I very much agree with what you say, this post was started with alot of inaccurate info, but yet I never started this post the chairman did.

Yes the post i started did have some inacurate info based on the current users being 10-15000 they are not all still active this is true and i think Graham with his post has cleared this issue up.

The only other info i gave out was based on info received from kenno in a e-mail message

All i wanted to do with this thread was to highlight the basic reason the site was down the possible remedy and the cost implications and also the fact many many unpaid users, 80% we are informed use the site and have large post counts and don't pay towards the running of the site, this was done in the bleak hope we could raise more money to pay for a better system for the club.

looking back at the start of this thread the basic info on why the site was down is in keeping with the info given to me at that time.

a50py i think your missing my point, the club is asking ways of making more money the agm can survive,

and clearly pointed out if 150 out 470 paid members are attending the agm why do you expect the 320 that dont attend to pay extra money in there membership fee so 150 people can party once a year,

this is not me trying to tell the goverment how to spend my tax money,

but instead me paying £15 out of my pocket because i wont to pay and keep a club alive not a agm, yet i personaly recieve no benifit from it and probly like most of the 320 that dont attend, to read that 150 people wont 320 to pay more so once a year they can have a agm

not being funny and i repeat not trying to make online fight but why does anyone on this club have the cheek to think that charging more money stuffing up those like my self who gain no benifit from being a member,

cos i'l tell you now if it goes up, i'l donate instead off being a member all the time i own a mk1 golf and it will be what i feel like cos i feel really strong about this, and i really like the club but the answer is not upping the membership cost like i and someone else has pointed out we can have a leveled membership with different things to be gained,
and if you got 470 members now at £15 think how many more you would gain from basic membership packages from a fiver you only have to triple the amount off members to have same income if they all took basic package which is unlikely becuase people would wont the discount codes and privliages and cheaper insurance

or take ur own idea and have a agm once every 2 years

i dont wont fall out with you, but if its decided the fees got to be upped before even considering other ways off making the club self sufficient then i belive its just going to have a huge negitive effect on the club and i'm only airing the thoughts off those not brave enough to say it out loud there selfs

sorry

since_1983 said

a50py i think your missing my point, the club is asking ways of making more money the agm can survive,

and clearly pointed out if 150 out 470 paid members are attending the agm why do you expect the 320 that dont attend to pay extra money in there membership fee so 150 people can party once a year,

this is not me trying to tell the goverment how to spend my tax money,

but instead me paying £15 out of my pocket because i wont to pay and keep a club alive not a agm, yet i personaly recieve no benifit from it and probly like most of the 320 that dont attend, to read that 150 people wont 320 to pay more so once a year they can have a agm

not being funny and i repeat not trying to make online fight but why does anyone on this club have the cheek to think that charging more money stuffing up those like my self who gain no benifit from being a member,

cos i'l tell you now if it goes up, i'l donate instead off being a member all the time i own a mk1 golf and it will be what i feel like cos i feel really strong about this, and i really like the club but the answer is not upping the membership cost like i and someone else has pointed out we can have a leveled membership with different things to be gained,
and if you got 470 members now at £15 think how many more you would gain from basic membership packages from a fiver you only have to triple the amount off members to have same income if they all took basic package which is unlikely becuase people would wont the discount codes and privliages and cheaper insurance

or take ur own idea and have a agm once every 2 years

i dont wont fall out with you, but if its decided the fees got to be upped before even considering other ways off making the club self sufficient then i belive its just going to have a huge negitive effect on the club and i'm only airing the thoughts off those not brave enough to say it out loud there selfs

sorry

Hey your entitled to your opinion everyone is and I'm glad you feel you can speak free.

Now the membership fee used to be £20 2 years ago it was reduced to £15 when you paid your 1st subscription
the question is if it had never dropped and was still £20 would you now be a member?? i have a feeling £5 would have made no difference as you would have never known any different.

we all know that prices for everything we buy go up year after year like fuel etc so it would be unreasonable to expect any service or goods you buy to stay the same price for ever as it don't work like that its simple economics.

I give to children in need every year i will never directly benefit from that payment
so far I have never been lost as sea but i give at least £50 to the RNLI per year.

To have the AGM every 2 years for me would be a God send as the organisation and hours put in by myself and others on the committee could be better spent elsewhere like riding my CBR600 for example but i do it because the AGM is a good weekend its a chance for the club to give ALL members a weekend to remember all they have to do is turn up believe me if 470 cars turned up id be over the moon (its not a private select club for the few)

I'm sure there are other members out there who may feel the same about any price increase in the membership fees but if there are then this club,the agm and the lot are doomed and that's a simple fact

I have never used or posted on some areas of the site as they hold no interest to me do i suggest they are pulled to save money just because i don't use them?

and how am i ever going to benefit from the Milton Keynes region having a banner, or the Staffordshire or Nottinghamshire having banners, come to think of it i wont but I'm still happy for my membership fees going to pay for these and there are many other things this club pays for that i will never see anything for me in it.

If we can get the 80% to help and become members then we will be in a good position to please everyone
the problem we have is this club and site is very easy going and we have never tried to restricted anyone from viewing or posting on the site many other forums have restrictions and rules.

I don't intend to restrict or cancel any of the things this club does or offers its members and if a price increase in the membership is needed to fund improvements then thats what we would have to do, if we start saying oh stop the Agm every year or don't spend on the stand at the NEC etc etc then the interest in the club will dwindle and who then would pay £15 for less services and activities ?
_________________

i totaly get your point i really do and yes if it was £20 at the time i would probly off still paid, and i'm glad you taken no offense,

but no disrespect but maybe the agm should perhaps if its to be kept yearly take a budget cut, i took the micky in a post before about it being held at wylands international becuase it would cheap its closer to me for a start,

take the joke away and keep the idea not saying wylands move that but somewhere similar

 it would cost few hundred pounds to rent the campsite for a weekend, there would be tolets there etc just no pub onsite or playpark, but it would drive down the cost,

maybe saving on costs would help, no expect but a freind fishys a water in the middle of a race course its 1700 pounds a year for the ticket and restrictions on when they can fish

so i guess holding a agm at a race course aint going to be cheap ether

and lets be totaly honest do we need the use off a club house just cos they sell pints you can hire a big tent and disco for the saturday night for less then you think,

becuase at the end of the day if you have already cut the costs of membership to try and gain more members providing more money for the club, upping it up again aint gonna help clearly,

then a solutions got to be provided else were


and maybe this idea off membership fee should disappear for now and if it comes back to it, it does but everyone saying they think it should go up for the sake of trying to keep the club alive is just going to kill the club right now, the few people that have said its a good idea to up it and like ur self donate to other worthy things threw out the year clearly can afford it, and i'm afraid everyone is in different boats, i'm ok for money in my life and can afford the things i wont etc and the next person could be struggling to make ends meat and to became a member so personaly i think for the time bein we should close the lid on this price hike and consentrate on how the club can survive long term, becuase in 12 months time again we will just have the same topic revisited

I go totally against what you're saying there since_1983. And as you say, nothing personal but once you've seen things 'from within' you get a different perspective on the club.

Firstly, for those of you who are relatively new to the site, have a read of the club history. You'll where it started and hows its progressed to last years AGM.

To start hold bi-annual events would seem like a backward step.

To reduce in size would also be a backward step.

To reduce the facilities for the attendees would bring a chorus of "Oh it's not as good as last year" or "They've not made as much of an effort this time" or "We had to walk miles for the toilet".

I can hear them now!

We've done the one day car park event.

We've done a pitch in a field, have 1 events tent just big enough for a DJ in 2006 and a field event the next day (rained off)

Same again in 2007

Then we began to get brave.

Billing Aquadrome in 2008 was a massive turning point for the AGM. A road rally, BBQ, disco and large show and shine set a new high for the yearly event.

Coombe Abbey in 2009 followed a similar format

Uttoxeter Racecourse - well we all know how that went - very well.

Successive committee members have worked very hard, and still do to put on the event. Yes it is expensive, yes it takes about 6 months to put together so things don't go wrong. But, it still has to be paid for.
The date isn't a secret. Its out there at least 7 months prior to it all happening. For some people, it isn't their bag but for others it a big event for the years calendar.

For me, if subs had to go up by £5.00 - so what?  :dontknow:

I'm doing my cabby restoration at present and you can't buy much for a fiver. Divide that up by the years entertainment that you get on here. The laughs per penny and £5.00 is very cheap. If members are quibbling about paying a £5.00 increase in subs then really, they should consider if running an old, often in need of restoration, car is where the money should be spent.

Come on, get real - £5.00 increase in 3 years is hardly the club grabbing for cash is it?

As A5OPY says, everything has gone up in value so is it so unusual or unexpected that this situation was going to occur?

After all, 2 days of down time and most of us missed the site - I bet you spent £5.00 on something else when you'd normally have been sat on here!!!  

Dan

Some very interesting points there from since 1983.

You cannot and must not single out the subsidised AGM benefit in isolation, it forms part of the whole package of discounts that being a member brings. If after all of this you feel that there is no benefit to you then it is your choice not to become a member whether it is £15 or £20. I find it difficult to believe that you cannot recover your membership costs from the discounts on offer, seeing as you own and run a mk1 Golf.

Having a multi level system will just increase the admin overhead, time and effort is given freely by the committee and the great guys like yourself for MOTM so I believe that there really doesn't want to be anything done that increases the load.

For me it's about keeping the club alive, having been in it since the start -  but also keeping the scene alive too. How many of us have gym memberships we don't use or don't think twice about having another beer. A £5 increase if it's justified isn't even two pints of beer!!

I do appreciate a lot of us are on tight budgets, I could argue that as my Mk1 is in bits I don't benefit from my membership as not using an insurance discount. However, what I do know is that whenever I bother my (hairy ) ass to get in the garage to work on my MK1, if I run in to trouble, there's one place I come - HERE!

£15 or even £20 a year to me for keeping this club and spirit alive is nothing. It's a few beers, it's a few gallons of petrol. Very small price in my opinion and I know that as soon as my MK1 is back on the road (it will be one day! :wink: ) then I'm going to get a discount on my insurance - happy days!

I don't know the in's and out's of the club financially as it stands right now - to be honest I don't need to - but having been on the committee previously and having helped start this club, let's not get too embroiled in the fine detail. At the end of the day this club is still run by us - by enthusiasts for the marque, who in their own time and for no profit attempt to keep this going. So let's just support it and if you can dip your hand in your pocket to become a member, or simply donate, then many thanks for your support

Cheers
Andy

Basically it looks like a choice, this site for £15 per year or this site plus agm for £20, personally i have no plans to go to the agm.

for me it will be £20 a year and the agm

it's a amazing show, the best i've been to! it's just like a big fmily camping trip but with lot of cars

i think the merchandise is fantastic and have bought plenty of it. and will continue to do so as and when it come out

it is interesting the 80% of the post on this thread are from members of the club

becasue non members are given the site for free they will us it get what they want and alot will not return until another problem happens with there car. which is why i think there should be a registation fee, it could only be a one off payment of £2.50 but it means they have contributed toward the information they have take away with them

you wouldn't go to halfords and stand there reading the haynes manual would you!

thats what this site is, it's a massive online haynes maunal and commuity so why should it be free to use

Or more paying members at £15 !!!
Approximately 156.66666667 more :-)

That's like saying:
I dont want the insurance discount - £12 membership,
Don't use Crazy - £11 membership
No AGM for me - £15 membership
etc etc
Would you like to administer that ?

That starts to create a class system within the club, the very thing I love about this club is that it is so classless, everyone from all walks of life are welcomed with open arms. The experience of the AGM Confirms that year on year.

lhasadreams said

That's like saying:
I dont want the insurance discount - £12 membership,
Don't use Crazy - £11 membership
No AGM for me - £15 membership
etc etc
Would you like to administer that ?

not saying there should be different membership level.

member ship should be £20 or £15

they when you first register on the site there is a charge of £2.50 to do so

as my late granddad always told me "nothing in life is free"

I think we are on a slippery slope if we start to get into arguments about picking and choosing what the subs are spent on. It’s like saying I’m going to pay 10% less tax as that’s what the govn spend on weapons and I don’t like it.

The club organisers are voted for and the club has aways run a website and AGM so subscribers can’t claim not to know where their £ is spent. If they don’t agree that much they can stop (or never start) paying their joining fee. It’s bit like cutting your nose off though.

I’ve been a member for most of the life of the club and for a year £15 or £20 doesn’t really make that much difference.  For me it’s is good value for money but there are other sites I use (Land Rover, Ford Fester, DBTC) occasionally and would struggle to justify even a £15 fee. There will be similar MK1 Golf posters that find the same here.

Think I’ve been to 3 AGMs and a couple of NEC classic shows and enjoyed them all but compared to standing on a windswept Gaydon car park, events like Uttoxeter are brilliant, even if only attending 1 day. 150 cars is an impressive result.

I think more effort should be spent on coming up with carrots and sticks to get the 100+posters to sign up.

It is a tricky one, restrictions mean that expert advice and good items for sale etc go elsewhere or never get aired anywhere. But relying on goodwill also means that some people never get around to it.  I much prefer encouragement rather than coercion and there are some clever people on here so lets try and come up with some positive ideas instead of getting into a slanging match.

jellybelly said

you wouldn't go to halfords and stand there reading the haynes manual would you!

I would if they weren't sealed  
 :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:

Hi everyone.

I may be lucky as I am a young 40 year old who bought my sportline for my 40th birthday present toy.
This club has been a revelation for me as I am totally useless when it comes to hands on stuff and the advice that I have received has been invaluable.
I paid my fees virtually straight away and saved it and more when I bought all my new brake parts from brakes4u.
I prob will never make the AGM, even though I want to, as I live bloody miles away but would love to come down and meet some of the people off the forums.
I for one would pay £20 - £30 no probs for my subs and if a donations section pops up I will donate as much as possible at the time.

I go online to the forums nearly every day, even just for a couple of mins as I never know what I can buy or what little bit of knowledge that I could find useful.

When you live up here in Scotland there does not seem to be much happening around and many clubs or meets so the people that I have met on this site have given me the info that I have needed on every post that I have put up, even though some questions have prob been embarrassing.

I know that money can be tight for people just now but the average user like myself must get their fees back just in tips and help from others, never mind the discounts from the insurance and other advertisers and parts for sale on the various forums.

So if people can afford to join up then they should do so that everyone can continue benefitting from all the help given.

I will now get back to work to pay for my new parts for my car   and to keep her indoors happy a new handbag  

Its great to see people willing to pay £20 instead of £15, but not all 470 members have posted to indicate they're willing to pay this new amount. Price elasticity of demand suggests that the higher the cost, the less members you'll have.

Why don't the people who are willing to pay £20 instead of £15, simply donate the extra £5?

How about dropping it to £5 or even £7.5

I am sure you will attract more people at £5 than at £20

Try it for a few months

To be honest i dont know whaere i would be without this club, so for me personally even £25 is a bargain,

But not everyone thinks like me, and its those guys we need to target

Well it's good that there's a lot of passion floating around.  Been thinking of some other ideas to try and help…

You could have 2 ways of paying for membership… £15 (or £20) up front or a monthly direct debit of £1.50 (or £2).  Although the direct debit ends up paying a little more I think more people will be inclined to sign up…I don't know how much hassle this would be for the club to set up though.

It has also been mentioned (and no offence to the site designers) but things like signing up and buying merchandise should definitely be large and important links.

It would be interesting to know how many people since seeing all this have now paid for membership.  The reason I ask is that people may think they're just signing up for discounts and no other reason.  If on the membership page you begin with a few details of why it helps the club to sign up then people may be more aware and willing to pay £15 (or whatever it is decided to be).

I'm sure it was mentioned here before, but you see it a lot…brand new members signing up to sell something.  It seems unfair that people can make money out of use of the club without contributing a thing!!!  There is also the problem of not being able to trace non members so it makes sense to make it so only members can sell items.  Yes we may miss out on a few items, but I'm sure these will crop up on ebay or something instead…and lets be honest…we all trawl through the bay as well.

What about more presence of the club.  I see there's a facebook manager (Ansar) but facebook activity seems minimal.  Twitter and facebook are unfortunately part and parcel of the modern age, but if used effectively can be of great advantage.  The facebook group for example is nowadays obsolete and 'fan' pages used more regularly.  It means people see on a feed 'joe blogs now likes mk1golf owners club' and that kind of thing so the word is spread.

I am by no means saying that anybody is doing a bad job.  I think the club is great, but it has obviously come to a point where things need to be looked at and changed…and the club will benefit

Oh and on the twitter/facebook front…most sites have a button to like on facebook, or follow on twitter.  I know there is the share button but I don't think many use it.  I know things like this are small…but lots of small improvements is probably better than one drastic one