VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions VCCA PR ??

Does VCCA have a PR Firm, or person ??

I've noticed what seems to be a lack of PR about our VCCA Anniversary Event in Colorado. :confused:

I had been looking for VCCA Anniversary Ads in other car magazines and publications, to support my duties for the event, BUT so far nothing.

Not a word in Hemming's, Classic Car, Automobile, Collectors Automobile & twelve {12} other magazines & auto publications I reviewed. :confused:

In addition I checked "On-Line" with about 14 web sites that list various car events, shows, auctions, etc. etc. etc. NOT ONE LISTING !! Not even a note on Colorado's web page or or Grand Junction's web site.

I have never heard of an organization NOT PUBLISHING it's functions. Especially it's 45 Year event. Hells-Bells, 6-12 old Chevy's should be making the rounds on the "Today" show, Jay Leno's, Good Morning America, News Papers, Magazines, Auto web sites, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.!!

Seems sad that so many are investing so much, with no support in a conventional manner. Truth is, no organization has ever grown or even sustained itself with out good press.

Just my view, but it is the truth,
Michael41

Because its a "members only" event it usually advertised only in the club publication.This is also the way three other auto clubs I belong to operate.
If some one likes after the mmet thay can send a picture or two of the meet, etc. and a short story to various auto publications and most will publish it.It gives an example of what the club does.etc. and is free advertising.
I am sure Prospectius at Hemmings Classic Car will bre glad to do this for us.Last year he published a picture of my car and short story I sent in concerning our trip to Vermont and the 6 Cylinder Tour in the area.

Yes, it is definately a Members only event and there isn't any need to publish the event outside the VCCA.

Absolutely! "Members Only" events, such as the Anniversary Meet, should only be advertised in the G&D and in VCCA regional newsletters.

Paaa-Leeze tell me these are a jokes and your just pulling my leg:

"Yes, it is definitely a Members only event and there isn't any need to publish the event outside the VCCA."

"Absolutely! "Members Only" events, such as the Anniversary Meet, should only be advertised in the G&D and in VCCA regional newsletters."

I was under the impression that on, or near the top of many members list is the "problem" of not enough NEW members.

If that's the case, I feel this event WAS one of the greatest opportunities VCCA has had in the past 4 years to get the attention of prospective NEW members and show them the many values of the club.

It is so unfortunate to have MISSED this clearly wonderful opportunity to share, notify, welcome, advise, clarify, learn, gain, position, advertise, announce, learn and grow VCCA.

I will say that during a my brief search regarding VCCA's event,
I did find 36 other "members only" Car Club events listed along with a note, "Come one come all."

Very puzzling and as noted, very unfortunate.

Michael41

Please tell me these are a jokes:
"Yes, it is definitely a Members only event and there isn't any need to publish the event outside the VCCA."

"Absolutely! "Members Only" events, such as the Anniversary Meet, should only be advertised in the G&D and in VCCA regional newsletters."

These are the saddest and most depleting replies I could have read. Ever. I was under the impression VCCA wanted to grow.

Very puzzling and very unfortunate in so many ways.

Michael41

This "event" sould not be confused with a local car show.Only members can register to attend and be included in the activities.This would include judging,tours,etc.
Now if it were advertised I doubt if many folks would drive several hundred miles to come and view the cars only.Note that many of the cars will be in enclosed trailers and will be seen only during judging.Other cars will be out on tours the remaining days and seldom will there be more than 60 percent of the cars parked together at one time.
The local papers always show up and take some pictures to publish and the local TV stations will give it coverage.In small populaton area of GJ this will be of little value.(for enlisting new members).
Don't misunderstand, anyone is welcomed to come and view us and our cars and no one is excluded...consider it more like an anniversary party and you rent a hall for the event.
Just go thru any of the old car publications.You will se shows advertised but never meets.

In such a large group activity that an Anniversity Meet is, most facilities are filled to the limit and it is impossible to fit non expected members or the general public to this meet. There is a hefty Meet Registration charge of about $100 plus some lunch and dinners which needs to be paid for at least 6 weeks before for planning purposes. With the exception of perhaps buyers at the swapmeet, non paying non registered members or guest are considered gate crashers and should be asked to leave. I day paid reservations for say only the car show during juging is not practical because it can cause judging interference
KenK

So let me see if I understand.
Not enough hotel rooms.
High prices.
Active members only.
Not much for "non-members" to do.
Non-invitees are "gate crashers"
No Need to publish info.
Not practical.
Swap meet buyers are OK, as long as they buy, and leave.
Potential members would be, "judging interference."
and more......

Does any one see a pattern of thought here ? or is it me?

Clearly, I do not understand.
Michael41

Michael41,
All that you are suggesting may be applied to an Anniversary Show. (or "event" as you put it)

I believe the purpose of this "Anniversary Meet" is just a meet and greet of members regardless as to your activity, or non activity. I believe (although not really sure) it is an opportunity to finally meet some of the people in this Club.
In that way, I can understand why it's members only.

I would like to go but I've used up my vacation days on family plans. (although I'm still trying to work it out)

In regards to you seeing this as an event that the whole Nation should hear about, maybe so. I agree that an ad in Hemmings or other mags would be a good idea to recruit new members. Just the fact that this club throws a big shindig for it's members every 4 yrs is attractive.

The VCCA hold a lot of shows through out the year, and the opportunity to do exactly what you are suggesting is a very welcome thought at those shows. I'm sure some of those sanctioned car shows can use some very needed exsposure. So I don't think your thoughts should go unnoticed.

Well said RG, I am not clear either, only been a member for 1.5 years.

But the single largest conversation I've read and heard is, "We must recruiting NEW members." So VCCA holds the biggest event in 5 years, at a dynomte local, spends who knows how much money and does NOT publish it, or share it with others, {??????}.

Clearly, I just hate to waste a GREAT opportunity to gain potential members, share the value of the club, raise our positioning, make a stronger statement, grow our name in the auto market place, show our colors and make more people aware of us.

As one auto parts supplier told me last week, "You guys {VCCA} have a lowest profile of any club I know of." Those were not comforting words to a club where new & younger members are welcome & needed.

So passing on PR or promoting this event was a big mistake, as I see it. And the arguments against no promotion or PR are weak as the club's future goes. This was a Board member {s}, marketing or PR person's dream.

I understand the "purpose" of the Anniversary eventand I appreciate it. Just not sure why that purpose is limited. Simply doesn't make since to me.

With my view stated, it appears no changes are needed. So I'll sign off.

Thank you all for your comments and replies.
Michael41

Michael41,
The VCCA has never been good at promoting itself. Current members recruit the vast majority of new members. Advertising has been of limited success in the past. Even the potential of the VCCAchat.org site being a membership recruiting tool has been poo poo'd by the Board.

What we desperately need is professional help but apparently are not willing to accept any suggestions toward that end. Keep trying eventually enough people will begin to understand.

1. Public Relations: Selecting a venue & investing in the opportunity to make the public aware of your "club's" value and uniqueness.

2. Public Affairs: A method of communicating your “clubs” message in a variety of forms. Both PR, and PA allow stronger and better relationships with your community.

3. Advertising: The opportunity to increase your value and improve your "club" through increased revenues.

4. Branding: Creating a recognizable "mark" that allows your Current and POTENTIAL clint base { new members} to know who you are and recognize your values and strengths.

5. Recruiting: The opportunity to use common marketing tools to gain new members and secure both the growth and well being of the "club".

6. Strategic Marketing: Increasing your value through precise planning of PR., Advertising, Branding & Marketing plans to achieve your “clubs” goals.

1.-6. “Must be well planned, coordinated and managed. They will be successful in multiple ways. Not developing, planning and managing these basic programs in today’s market place's, be it business or nonprofit will bring down any organization
and weaken it's standing with in the market place.”
Professional Marketing Session, October, 2005

Marketing: 101. :confused:

"VCCA's Advertising has been of limited success in the past."

This is because VCCA advertising stinks. It is limited to a small "circle," it is weak, old, outdated and does not capture or SELL the true value of the organization or membership.

Advertising: 101 :confused:

I'd like to see Chevrolet pick up the Meet awards as in the past. Just because they say they are having a bad year is not acceptable.

Maybe one of the execs can forgo 1/100th of his golden parachute and supply the awards to this Club that promotes Chevrolet every time we get the car out of the garage and show it to the public.

Matter of fact, it would serve Chevy (and GM) well to be more involved in our activities. I could never understand why we as a club don't see more involvement by Corporate Chevrolet.

Perhaps some of Michael's therory should be put to use involving Corporate Chevrolet. Not on a simpathetic note, but a real partnership as it should be.

I am greatly pleased to read the concerns about the marketing issues discussed in the above. For 2 years I have suggested to the BOD that if we are truly concerned about the decline in membership, we need to initiate a significant marketing program. What better way to showcase our organization and its purposes than to advertise the 45th Anniversary Meet in a variety of ways. A member-only organization can only continue to prosper if it tells potential members of the services and advantages that come with membership. If I had not been invited to attend a Northwest Regional Meet as a non-member, I likely wouldn’t be a VCCA member today. I am hopeful that with your support the BOD will begin to look for professional help in addressing this issue. It is still on my agenda.

Leigh Wilcox
Area 3 Director

Michael41,

I don't know if you are planning to attend the Anniversary Meet but if you are consider this.

Pehaps you can find a little time during the Meet to use one of the conference rooms for a short presentation to Area and Region directors on PR.

If you can't do it then maybe someone else can. We should plan something like this for the future.

RayG

Michael, I have asked along with others why the VCCA does not advertise itself in all of the places that car nuts go or read....in your first post change the name "GJ Meet" to VCCA and the same non-advertising applies to the club in general.

IMHO, I would rather spend some dues money on advertising and even if it meant lowing the quality of the G&D for a short period of time. After all if the ads bring in new members there will be more money available for ads and the G&D. On the other hand if the membership continues to go down the G&D will slowly go down along with the club.

Does not make sense to me either...

When I tell people about the VCCA at car shows/meets most say that they have never heard of the VCCA. Now I direct them to Chatter and the web site, don't know how many boot it up.

I think a lot of us stumbled onto the VCCA by accident not because of any effort by the club.

In my town there used to be a Brass T club, a Model T club, a Model A club, all of them are gone and all of them were ruled by purist who chose to die instead of changing anything. Something to think about?

Louis C, I respect your theory on using dues money for advertising in other magazines, which I have seen before, in Hemmings and probably in Cars and Parts, and "reduceing the quality of the G&D for a little while" I respect your theory , but I think it is dead wrong. We have this site and the VCCA.org site and 8000 members of the club supporting its aspirations.
Advertising in National Magazines is too expensive , in my humble opinion. We have more avenues that we need to travel before we start a large recruiting campaign. Let's concentrate on improving the way the club's BOD operates in order to improve the members' benefits. Maybe there will be less attrition and we won't need a revolveing door for members in & members out.

I think that the best advertising we as a club can do is to get out from behind that keyboard, get the cars out of the garages, the unmarked car haulers, Drive them and show them, The old Chevrolets will bring in more potential members than a small advertisment in a magazine. have a meet and a tour, display your cars in a new town each day, be friendly, happy, and answer questions. Wave at all the rubber neckers and school kids.We have a good time and keep the cars used to running. Show the good clean family oriented face of this great club, quit whineing.

I'm not at all certain it's necessary or the right time to "advertise" the VCCA. It seems we've had plenty of folks join. If we had "kept" (say) 33% of the 40k folks who have been members, we'd have around 13k members. Instead, we've "kept" only about 20% at best and have around 8k members.

(Just for example sakes, it might be worth noting the example above would mean 5000 more members at $30 per year equals $150,000. That would be $150,000 EACH year!!)

It seems we need to know why "they" left. What didn't the VCCA provide that they thought would be here?? I understand people change focus, intersts and so on. But it seems hard to believe that's why ALL of them left.

Could it be the purists looking down their long noses?? Could it be the heavy emphasis on the early year cars?? Could it be what some feel is an outdated mission statement?? Could it be the perceived lack of vision of (some of) the Board members and some Regional chapters and their officers?? Heck, it could be a lot of things.

It seems to me we should consider what to do to get the house in better order before we invite (by spending money on advertising) more folks into the house.

Bill.

Yep, on this issue Bill 42 you and I think alike...spooky ain't it?

We need to promote this site any chance we have.
Maybe to our members of the National VCCA Board as well as the general membership.

(One more reason for a lively presence at Grand Junction)

In my humble opinion it is the best communication tool the club has ever had. Not only for the old and new members but also for those that consider getting started into the hobby or that are looking for a place to meet other old Chevrolet lovers and to get the information they seek in their project.

As Bill says, "I'm not at all certain it's necessary or the right time to "advertise" the VCCA." :confused:

While I am not an "ad-man" I assure you this is the BEST TIME to advertise. Providing it is not to late.

Advertising & PR are a multi path process, NOT a one path process or one method process. As many have mentioned here, "we must shore member involvement, be direct in getting other people aware of VCCA, spread the word via car shows etc., and use our current tools to aid those efforts." which is true and valuable.

BUT VCCA can NOT and will NOT survive relaying only on this methods to grow. Clearly there must also be a PLANNED, ORGANIZED and well MANAGED advertising & PR. campaign.
This process would support each path and method and bring success. But just one way won't cut it. History tells us that.
If in doubt check our voting numbers record.

Now get this, yesterday I had a conversation with person who has over 20 years of employment with major auto parts supply companies. His primary position is working {PR} with car clubs all around the world and he told me, "I never know VCCA was as big or valuable as it is. I am shocked."

It's not good news that deep within our own industry some one with that level of experience does not know the REAL value and story of our club. Especially a 45 year old club. Heck! we have Board members that are not aware of our "value" :confused:

So for those in the camp of keeping things the way they are, not increasing our public awareness or advertising our value and importance both to the industry AND potential new members
I say this, "Some buddy turn off the lights. The party's over."

I've been talking to a lot of "auto parts and service suppliers" over the past 2 weeks attempting to gain some support {positioning & money} and this is a VERY competitive process. And no where near enough information about VCCA is out there. :(

Yes! one effective way to increase value and participation is direct member contact, I agree totally. But a club can not survive or grow on just that method. Just look at VCCA voting numbers, falling steadily. :confused:

So shoring up internal support and value is the key to one lock, but there are several other locks on the door of progress. If only one method worked Chevy would ask all the employees to go out and tell some one about Chevrolets and they could stop advertising. Great idea just not effective enough.

That's my humble opinion and I appreciate you time reviewing them. :)
Michael41

I think the VCCA spends $28 dollars out of the $30 dues on the G&D right now...if true how many members do we need to lose to have all $30 going to the G&D and then if we lose more members what are we going to do?

Raise dues is the only answer I can think of and has been looked at by the VCCA already, at this rate the future will be fewer and fewer members paying more and more...until what?

"There are many fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is yours is the present."

Grenville Kleiser

Yip, life & hobbies cost money.

When I was a young guy a speed shop near my house had a cool sign, "Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"

Same-o in life, business and clubs, ya gets whats ya pays for.
No exceptions. As for me, I am willing to spend more, depending on what I get for it!!

Another old saying when I grew up was, "Is what I am getting, worth what I am spending ?" {I cleaned this up a lot but it still sends the same message}

Michael41

VCCA MEMBERSHIP;

I AM AREA 9 DIRECTOR AND ALSO MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN FOR THE VCCA. I FEEL ALL MEMBERS NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AT THEIR SELVES AND ASK
" WHAT AM I DOING TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP ". EACH AND EVERYONE OF US NEEDS TO CARRY SOME OLD G & D'S WITH US, SO WHEN WE SEE AN OLD CHEVROLET, WE THAN CAN WALK UP TO THAT DRIVER AND SAY, Have you ever considered joining a antique chevrolet club. at this time you can really promote, advertise and recruite a new member. try to get him signed up at that time. if you only give him a G & D , he will most likely go home and forget us. in the last 5 years that I have been on the Board I have started 7 New Regions. This system does work. For every negative comment I have been reading all of us needs a solution. Each of you can run for the Board when ever you want. We are always looking for new Board Members.

Bob Denison
AREA 9 DIRECTOR
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN