VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Brainstorming ideas for growing VCCA membership

Here's a picture of part of the parking lot where lots of cars will be "on display" during the entire week!!!

Photo taken from my motel room.

We've had public displays at the last two big meets that I've been to. Hitting the Bricks on Saginaw Street in Flint was one of the highlights of Flint 2011, and the public was invited. The parade of 300+ cars through the city to Saginaw Street was fun as well!



We did the same type of cruise in during the 50th Central Meet in Port Huron, and let the public add their cars to the display as well. The Lower Michigan Region also set a table up to recruit members. It was a great idea. The key is to get members to commit to bringing out their cars for the duration of an event like this.

Must have been the "Penthouse Suite".

Actually I did NOT realize that they built Prisons with that many floors !!

To get this thread back on track (ideas for growing the VCCA club), here are a few ideas:

1. Proactive estate planning for your 'extra' projects. Let's face it folks, in 20+ years a lot of us are not going to be here. How many good Chevy project vehicles are on your property that will not get back on the road because you ran out of time? Be realistic.

Now that you have those 'extra' vehicles in mind, why not start selling them off NOW to folks who will bring them back to life? If you include a 2 year membership in the VCCA with every sale, the club will grow organically.

2. Donate a project vehicle to your local high school or college auto shop. They will love to work on the old iron and can sell it after the rebuild to finance their program. Chances are this donation is tax deductible. ;-)

3. Plan with your VCCA buddies to visit high school and college auto shops ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE (at least annually) to generate interest in originality. Be sure to take some drivers that the kids can get in and explore. Also, leave a few G&D magazines. Maybe even sponsor the teacher as a VCCA member so the shop will get the G&D's regularly.

Come on folks. It's up to us to figure out how to keep the VCCA alive and do something about it now.

Young people who are thrilled about yesteryear are the ticket.

Cheers, Dean

Dean,
I don't want to throw too much "cold water" on your ideas as they do have some potential to increase VCCA membership or old Chevrolet ownership in 20 to 30 years. Besides it can be a bunch of fun for our members go see the joy that younger folks get from seeing and touching our old Chevys. Just trying to spend our combined available time to maximize increasing membership.

With our limited resources (amount of time members will spend promoting the hobby) (number of members who will bother to take the time) I firmly believe that it is the 50 & 60 year-olds that represent our immediate future and demand more of our attention. The younger folks have limited extra money, family commitments and relate to drifting and megaphone exhausts more than old Chevys. Now if Grandpa gives a family heirloom old Chevy a few youngsters will covet it, more will street rod it and others will let it deteriorate. Sad but true.

That idea of including a two year membership is a great idea! Imagine getting our magazine, right at the time you're planning what to do with your new project!

Chipper, I agree that the 50-60 year old folks are the prime short-term target of recruitment.

These folks are the ones who might be interested in buying the 'extra' projects. Finding new homes for neglected vehicles can only be done by individual VCCA members because they are the owners of the project vehicles that need attention.

As a group (the club), we need to engage the younger folks in school NOW to grow interest in Chevy originality for the future. Not to do so is 'kicking-the-can-down-the-street'.

For the club to live into the future, BOTH activities in parallel might help.

Dean

Dean,
I've been trying to get my Region to reduce our local Region membership fee for the past couple of years. My rationale is that a new member needs to ALSO join the National CLUB in order to join the Region. With the National US dues being $40 and our Region dues being $30, that means that each NEW MEMBER has to pony up $70 just to be a part of our group.

I KNOW FOR SURE that we've lost some folks because of that issue. (Especially younger families.)

My next proposal has been that all new members who join National, can join our Region for FREE for the first year. This would significantly reduce the pain of a first-time new member.

So far, I've been unsuccessful getting this "policy" enacted.


But -- other Regions might think about this as a way to "lower the bar to membership".

--Bill B

And overseas membership fees are high too Bill,that's why I never renewed my membership.No real value for the cost involved.

Bill and others,
Our region dues are $ 10 per year. It is more than enough to pay for newsletter distribution (most are now emailed) and other normal expenses. To charge more than that in our opinion is not justified.

We have sponsored a swap meet for 25 years that pays for extraordinary expenses like BBQ at the swap meet for all members who help, a memorial BBQ, AutoRama entry, charitable contributions, partial payment for end of year party, etc. If we ever quit sponsoring the swap meet we still should have enough income to support our normal expenses but will have to reduce the extra benes to which we treat ourselves.

Just wish I had a LOCAL Club nearby, VCCA that is...

We have a local AACA close by that I venture to.

In another thread, Bill said:


I agree that touring is certainly one piece of the future puzzle. That brings up a couple of questions in my mind:

1. What attributes of a tour need to go into the design of a tour to get folks who do not current tour out and on the road?

2. What is a possible profile of future members, so that we can design activities that interest that individual?

I suggest that one 'profile' of a future member is an individual (not a family) who decides to play with old cars as a hobby because he/she is seeing retirement in their future, but doesn't know what they would do with all the time on their hands.

This hypothetical person might not be able to get the spouse excited about the hobby. Another possibility is that the new member is a caregiver, so it's a solo hobby.

For this person (who is still working), one day tours on the weekends would be a draw. This person might like to drive with a group to a museum, out for lunch, or attend a one-day show.

Overnight tours would not interest this person (especially if he or she is a caregiver).

I know one local chapter that mostly plans tours during the week. And, they wonder why so few folks show up.

Food for thought when designing tours that appeal to a broader spectrum of folks. Designing mini-tours that might interest a different kind of member might help grow membership.

Cheers, Dean

The best quote that I had heard on this topic was that we should each focus on people 20 years younger than you are.

Wait Wait Wait...What's this about a national and local fee's, Bill...? I'm confused...Which is normal for me...lol I'm okay with what I'm paying, but I see a "wrench" in your post...Excuse me for asking...I just didn't understand...More "par" for the course...Kevin

Kevin, are you not in a local Region? Most local region's charge a membership fee to cover the cost of a 5 page paper newsletter six times a year. And a beer fund...

Part of the reason people don't tour is the cost. I don't even blink when throwing down my $700 USD for a week on the Six Cylinder tour (Hotel+events and tour admissions and meals), but others can't fathom spending that in five days. The memories last a lifetime. I forget about the money a week later…

Thirty years ago we used to be a campground bunch, but I think our elders have become too accustomed to the fancy hotels. That's driven the costs up as well!

Good point: Cost.

Another reason for more one-day, local tours.

Cheers, Dean

Brewster...As far as I know there is no "local" region thing going on in my "neck of the woods"...I did get a letter when I joined the VCCA of a club for Chevy's in the next county...But, it was for get-togethers and touring...They weren't asking for any "Fee's"...It was a ways off, so I kinda forgot about it...

I guess "my neck of the woods" is subjective. There are 13 regions in California, and only 3 in all of Canada. I drive at least an hour to any of our meets or tours, and often more. You should try out a couple of the regions near you. Pick a one day tour and go on it. It's the people that "make" the region. Hook up with a fun bunch, and you will enjoy yourself. In your area, those "All Cali" meets look fun too! The Region's are not meant to be local "coffee club" sort of thing, but are meant to draw people from a wide local area.

It has been a while since this thread was active, so I'll bump it up with this post.

Now is the time to start thinking about what you can do to increase interest in the VCCA. Then, DO IT.

FYI, I just found out that San Leandro High School posted photos of one of the times I took Lurch to the Auto Shop. Here they are: Lurch visits with high school students

This is an easy way to generate interest in young minds (planting seeds for the future).

Cheers, Dean

That's cool Dean. Did you just have someone invite you to come and show Lurch off? I'm guessing the purpose was to show the advances in mechanicary? (is that a word?)

Dean,
One thing I've been doing is attending local cruise-ins like "Cars n Coffee". For those who aren't familiar, these are informal show up events where anyone can just park and chat with no registration or fees. It's a great place to talk up the VCCA and hand out brochures.

I think our Prez is doing a great job putting the word out, but IMHO I don't think Concours events are great places to advertise, as I worry our club will move in that direction as other national clubs have. We need to keep VCCA open to all folks, and in my experience Concours turns a lot of people off with their "champagne tastes" in cars. I'm probably opening a bees nest with this, but this is only my humble opinion. I have left other clubs because of the snobbory that exists there.

I contacted the Auto Shop teacher a few years ago and have been bringing Lurch and Justin to his shop at least once per year so a new flock of students can get the old car bug. I also leave a few G&D magazines for the classroom.

It's a lot of fun for me too. Blows their minds that something like that can still be working and on the road.

It also blows them away to learn that I graduated from that school in 1971.

Cheers, Dean

Rick, Snobbery is a good word to describe what I have seen go on, in other International Clubs. If an individual does not feel welcome, the club dues for the following year go unpaid.
Been there, done that.