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The Future of the Club

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 22:39
by richardw
As some members may be aware, prior to the NEC show, Angus stated and subsequently confirmed his intention to stand down from the running of lotusexcel.net and his wish to relocate the stock of parts and merchandise (amongst other things) that he has held at his house over the years.

A group of members came together at the show and agreed to take over the management of the club and its assets (on a voluntary basis) in order to protect the services the club offers to its members. We contacted Angus with a request for information regarding different aspects of the club and asked for dates when we could organise the transfer of stock from his home to the premises of another member who had kindly volunteered to take over the running of the spare parts and merchandise side of the club's activities.

We have received no response from Angus and so are unable to take further steps that will protect the services the club offers to its members. We are therefore standing down from our offer to take on the management of the club.

As we have no information from Angus, all we can do is to advise individual members to contact him directly with any concerns about the future of the club.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 23:29
by Lotus-e-Clan
Can't the person (or persons) who upset him fall on his/her/their sword(s) in order to provide the mind-space for him to return?

I have not perceived an alternative /suitable /obvious forum leader within our midst so perhaps apologies or membership sacrifices should be made to rescue the situation?

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 09:05
by Johnwindwood
Lotus-e-Clan wrote:Can't the person (or persons) who upset him fall on his/her/their sword(s) in order to provide the mind-space for him to return?

I have not perceived an alternative /suitable /obvious forum leader within our midst so perhaps apologies or membership sacrifices should be made to rescue the situation?
I don't think it's a question of that. Although there was a perceived "falling out" Angus has made it quite clear that his time running the forum/club is over permanently. Therefore we have to decide what comes next.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 14:33
by wrxseeker
Now would seem to be the appropriate time to consider whether or not the club should be set up on a more formal basis, potentially with a paid membership etc, officers etc.

Please note I'm not volunteering - just raising the point for people to comment on.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 20:51
by Jason.goad
And the benefit of a paid club would be?
It's a shame to see the death of a decent forum. I think some people have forgotten this forum is "paid" for by the kindness of a few people and when certain people put demands on that kindness the whole system breaks down.
I for one would be abandoning the forum if it becomes a paid club.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 21:52
by Lotus-e-Clan
Jason.goad wrote:And the benefit of a paid club would be?
It's a shame to see the death of a decent forum. I think some people have forgotten this forum is "paid" for by the kindness of a few people and when certain people put demands on that kindness the whole system breaks down.
I for one would be abandoning the forum if it becomes a paid club.
I'm of the same mind Jason.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 22:27
by wrxseeker
Thanks for the replies.

The benefits of a paid "Lotus Elite, Eclat & Excel Owners Club" would be to raise the money for things like the cost of the insurance etc that is required for "the club" to have a stand at things like the classic car show at the NEC etc etc

This has always been organised and dealt with by Angus from the proceeds of things like calendar sales, amazon click through's etc etc

Angus has done a great job organising these things and it is sad that he has stepped down but if people still want to carry on doing things like this as "a club" funding would need to come from somewhere.

Joining the club woud be totally optional - The forum lotusexcel.net could remain total free and separate for anyone to join and I also wouldn't want to see it disappear. The facebook page could still remain as is also.

I believe John Windwood is a member of the allegro club so perhaps he could provide some comment on the potential benefits of a paid club to anyone who wanted to join one - I am not a member of any car club so may be missing something.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 23:39
by P34Fan
Hi Gents,
I'd be happy to pay a small fee to keep the Forum going, but club benefits usually don't work for overseas members.
Upon saying that Angus has always looked after us!
I am only going off what I have read on the forum and have not met anyone in person, but it seems something happened
in the preparations for the NTC show.
I have seen this sort of thing happen in clubs and I can only assume what ever was said was out of line and hurtful.
I think someone close to Angus should at least talk to him to find out what happened "it does not have to be posted on the forum",
but he should be able to discuss it with some friends and vent, perhaps a compromise could be found.
Going forwards maybe the many tasks / roles Angus used to do, could be shared out with a few people with some overview from Angus.
But the issue needs to be addressed front on, or else I'm afraid all will fail.
Please do not take this as a criticism and a judgement on anyone.
Regards
Ken

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 23:47
by TAR
How is the hosting for the club paid for?

If the club looks like its going to end, maybe the option of incorporating it into the Lotus forums would be a way of saving it?

I've not been a very active member but I appreciate the combined knowledge of everyone who contributes. I also realise that there is some social aspect which needs time, organisation and funds to continue.

I live in hope of a continuation. :)

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 00:30
by don.hasi
Yes, someone hopefully has to think about some done action...

In my view there is no need to judge about the board future at the this moment. The running costs of the board are covered by the admin.

The front, the board activities in the real world, the acceptance, the display, the public relations for the cars, all the things which raised the awareness for the cars etc are not time critical. We don't have to manage these sort of things right now.

I don't like the forced time management on these things. It will not guide us to a wise solution.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 09:12
by AndyC
I don't know what has been said regards Angus stepping away, but although he has said publicly that he needs to step away, I don't think I've seen anything which indicates the club nor Forum have an impending deadline of "Take over the running by X date or else it gets shut down", so my preference would be to take time to come to the right outcome rather than act as fast as people can to come to an outcome.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 09:50
by wrxseeker
AndyC wrote:I don't know what has been said regards Angus stepping away, but although he has said publicly that he needs to step away, I don't think I've seen anything which indicates the club nor Forum have an impending deadline of "Take over the running by X date or else it gets shut down", so my preference would be to take time to come to the right outcome rather than act as fast as people can to come to an outcome.
100% agree - my comment regarding a formal club is not a something that needs to be done as a matter of urgency more a case of - as Angus has stepped down, things have changed so if people want the “club” activities to continue its would need to be considered at some point, the time taken being as long as is needed.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 16:24
by Chris Hopper
Sorry for the delayed response to this.

I host this site, currently at my own cost, but other than being a fan of Lotus cars (well lots of cars to be honest!) I don't have any direct affiliation with the Excel beyond being a friend of Spav who use to look after the site. (I did spend some time rebuilding hubs, brakes and diff with him though!)

I have no intention to stop hosting it; I really am quite proud of how good a forum it is.

Whilst I am happy to maintain the site, it is in serious need of some updgrades to keep it secure and to make the membership process a little better (okay, a lot).
This is something I will do during the next 6 months or so. I will post more when I am nearer to doing it.

I am considering if I should ask for donations, or have a very small annual fee, or perhaps start to include advertising on the site, but I am happy to hear your thoughts on this.
I am not looking to make a huge profit out of this, it would just be nice to cover some of my costs.

Plenty more to be said on the subject, but I am just throwing this out there to get peoples thoughts.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 16:57
by Tanz
I for one don't mind paying a small fee for what is an invaluable resource of information and has a social aspect to it as well.
I don't mind an advertising banner either. Chris should not be out of pocket for running this forum.

Re: The Future of the Club

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 17:45
by AndyC
Any of the three options looks fine, or combination of. As Tanz has said there should be no reason for you to fund this yourself when it's for the benefit of others. What's the rough cost that would need to be funded?