Buried in other threads in these forums are many ideas about how to increase the membership of the VCCA.
I am creating this thread to capture these ideas.
I'll start things off with something I did recently.
I took my 1928 Chevy AB Canopy Express (Justin) for a 'show and tell' day at the local high school auto shop. I spent the entire day. It was a blast!
Five separate classes spent their class time exploring my truck and asking questions about it. I also left a handful of G&D magazines for the students to read.
To say they were excited and interested is an understatement. They snapped pictures and both they and I had a ball.
Evidently, Justin was talked about the next week at 'Back to School' night. A lot of the students' parents had great things to say about Justin's visit to school. In a few days, pictures appeared in the slideshow on the high school's web site (http://www.slhs.net).
I think 'grass roots' efforts like this help generate interest in our hobby and club.
Just think how much more interest you would have had had you installed a Mustang front end, a 454, loud pipes, a twelve-bolt differential, South-of-the-border type interior, flames on the paint and some hydraulics that made it rear up a side of the back end like a dog taking a leak? Just kidding! Sort of.
I commend you for showing your car to the youngsters. Maybe some of them will catch the notion that sometimes "more is less", i.e. like there is valued satisfaction and a challenge in keeping an old Chevrolet in reasonably original condition and appearance rather than look at it and say to themselves, "What more can I do to this car to make it a one-of-a-kind street rod", etc. I hope they caught the enthusiasm for preservation and restoration you demonstrated by showing it to them.
We need more folks coming aboard the club with the true motto of preservation and restoration foremost in their minds. If not the motto will soon be only an insignificant issue. Just something to annoy the Rod folk. If things keep going the way they are, it will soon be necessary to change the motto it to "Modification and Imagination" so as not to offend the Rod, Modified, Rat-rod, Street Rod, et al folk. Mercy!
Thank you for your thoughtfulness by taking your car to school. I believe such efforts will bear fruit. I do hope so.
I wonder how many of us are willing to fall on our sword in the effort to maintain the true intent of the club when it was formed. Count me as one.
For the record: I don't dislike Rod, et al, folk. All I've met are great people, too. What I don't care for is what they do to the cars, albeit, all the popular rage and fine art that it is.
When we are young we try to differentiate ourselves and standout from the crowd. Our parents become the dumbest people on the face of the earth. They are to strict, backward and just don't understand modern ways and things. I suspect that hormones have something to do with it. After a while we began to experience life outside the home and then realize that those folks who reared us aren't that stupid after all. Older people look back at their past and select moments that were significant enough to recall. One of those just maybe the opportunity to see, touch and appreciate and old Chevy. Mine was not an old Chevy but a Ford. I didn't need to have one exactly like it but at least close. I still have a soft spot for old pickups. I would guess that all you others that read this have a similar pleasant memory that helped decide to purchase that old Chevy and become part of the hobby.
Older folks tend to savor and appreciate the past. Those are the people that VCCA needs to try and recruit. That is not to say that giving young people a pleasant experience with an old car is not a good thing. Sorta like planting an acorn. Can't enjoy the shade until many seasons have passed. Let's plant the seeds and harvest the crop that was planted by someone else in the past.
Considering how these kids reacted to Justin, I'd say that my truck is a differentiator. One girl asked me how much it was worth. After I told her what I had into it, she said that she paid the same for her modern piece of crap. She then said that it would be WAY cooler to be driving around in something this old and original. ;-)
I agree that a short-term objective for the club is to harvest the trees that grew from acorns planted in the past. A good long-term goal would be to plant acorns now to facilitate future harvests.
As a member of the "younger set" recently (only 34 now) I do as much as I can with the kids that come to the shows. I'll talk to them, invite them to sit in whatever ride I have that day, and just make it as positive as I can.
It wasn't too many years ago that I was the kid wandering around the show grounds being ignored by the seemingly tight groups of old fahrts speaking a different language with words like spark advance, generator, F head, etc...
I get dirty looks from some of those guys today who view me as running a playground at a car show. I have yet to notice any dings, dents, or scratches from allowing supervised kids to explore my cars. While I understand the amount of work and $$$ that goes into a restoration I don't understand the lack of enthusiasm for getting the next generation fired up.
Nigel wrote: " A downloaded form of the [G&D] magazine which automatically pushes to a VCCA App would be incredible and really be a draw to younger members."
I think this is an awesome suggestion.
I am surprised that folks haven't added their ideas to this thread, considering that this topic is discussed in other threads all quite often.
Can not look at AGE or any other sort of factor of that sort. approach them and educate them all, out of 100 you may get one. Just remember that one, is one more then there was !!
We talked about the Facebook situation in another thread last week. I think that if it is done right, and monitored correctly, it would be a great tool to recruit new members both young and older. I'm constantly posting pictures of our events, both National and Regional that I attend. My FB profile is all cars, antiques, and vintage stuff. I love sharing our lifestyle with others. We all lead the best lives!
All of you have leaned over a fender,watched from the sidelines while the best,oldest ,new or old car was put on display .at the drive-in ,main street or the local hangout. Do it again with the younger group....works every time.
There has some discussion about the recently approved Motion to establish a non-geographic "personalized" Chapter of the VCCA. This is not a new subject, but one that required the attention of the BOD given the growth of interest throughout the hobby in "personalized" Chevrolets. It was felt that upon the receipt of an application from an interested group of members, the approval of a non-geographic Chapter responsible for their own judging standards, newsletter, dues and activities would offer existing and new VCCA members a separate, additional opportunity to enjoy their "personalized" Chevrolets and their common interests with other owners. Since each Regional, Area and National meet chairman has the ability to decide to invite "personalized" Chevrolets to participate....this is an optional not mandatory offering. Some Areas and Regions have already embraced "personalized" Chevrolets and they has co-existed with "originals" at shows and activities for many years. Others may not be willing to do so at this time. The Motion was carried by an 8 to 3 majority based on feedback provided from Regions to each Area Director. The majority of the Board of Directors agreed that the VCCA needed to broaden our member offerings to stimulate participation, activities and the enjoyment of all Chevrolets. Jim Gebhardt VCCA Vice President Area 9 Southeast Director
As a member of the "younger set" recently (only 34 now) I do as much as I can with the kids that come to the shows. I'll talk to them, invite them to sit in whatever ride I have that day, and just make it as positive as I can.
I do the same thing when my wife & I take the '47 out. She has pushed me because I'm still a little shy when it comes to that, but she says "it ain't gonna hurt anything to let a kid touch the car". And its so true. We've enjoyed having kids ask "what's this thing?" and "Why are there 4 pedals on the floor", stuff like that. Its huge. Good suggestion for everyone, even with show cars...but I'd be a little more protective of the interior if that were the case. Fingerprints wipe off, and that's why they make Meguiar's. :)
I'll try to chime in with more thoughts soon. This is a fantastic thread and its good dialogue for the club.
I think there is a trend going and I do not know how to stop it. I went to a 100th Birthday party for a friend yesterday and I kept hearing "our camping club keeps getting smaller, our Thunderbird clup gets smaller and amaller, our square dance club keeps getting smaller, our breakfast group is getting smaller".
I think the public has less interest in our cars. They like to see the pre WW II cars and think of the newer cars as used cars. We don't parade our old cars so the parades fill with Corvettes and Jeeps.
I think a lot of times we miss the boat on promoting our club to the public. While some regions are fairly active and have shows open to the public, anytime we meet as a group is an opportunity to promote our club. As an example the Eastern National Six Cylinder Tour has had many tours, but the public only learns of them by a chance meeting or a news media story after the event. Setting aside a time for "display to the public" and promoting it PRIOR to an event would give us some needed exposure. Having club information and handouts at the time would be good too. Maybe even throw in free ice cream to the first 100 or so visitors. You could probably even get the local dealer to pick up the tab for the ice cream if you let him display a couple of new chevies. The only time that I know of a display during a meet was at the Anniversary Meet in Springfield Illinois, however most participants did not realize their cars would be on display prior to the event.
The fact is that the VCCA is not dramatically decreasing in membership. It has been 8400 +/-5% for the past 20 years (maybe more). There was not the anticipated increase in membership with the inclusion of all years of Chevrolets. Doubt that the recent changes will increase the membership either. Just hope that it will not dramatically decrease because current members feel that it no longer appeals to their preservation and restoration principals and don't renew.
49% of the members who joined the VCCA in 2013 stated that they own 1955 and newer Chevrolets. Almost half of all new members. For some of us, we think that vintage is 1931 or 1917 or whatever. The reality is that the VCCA has a lot of new members who own: Novas, Malibu's, Chevelles, Corvettes, Chevy II's, Monte Carlos, Citations, Vegas, Camaros, Caprice, Impala, Silverados, etc, etc. Whether we believe these Chevrolets are vintage or not, these are the vehicles that we see on many VCCA tours and on the highways. Many members leave their old Chevy ( 1910's, 1920's, 1930's) at home and they drive their 1950's, 1960's or 1970's Chevrolet on VCCA tours. Why? Because we are all getting older and it is easier to drive a 1970 Impala on a tour and leave our 1932 sedan at home in the garage. When I go on a 1929-1954 Six Cylinder Tour, almost 50% of the Chevys on the tour drive 1950-1954 Chevys. Why? Automatic transmissions, power steering, more horsepower, etc.
I understand the logistics and reasons that some of the tours are the way that they are… but… one huge thing that limits spreading the gospel of VCCA is the fact that the good tours are booked solid before they are even offered to "the public". I tell everyone I know about how awesome the Eastern Six Cylinder is… but can't get them into it because it is booked! If only we had unlimited space available. The tour in Verona this year has a great idea of inviting for one day only all of the new members in that area (it's being hosted by a newer region) out to enjoy a day of touring with the Six Cylinder group. I believe it may be regardless of the age of car they have as well. Great idea!
I would have to agree on the lack of promotion, but think that comes down to the club level in the area. I know the local club I belong to here does tours, meets, etc... BUT it is not publicly advertised or promoted, I only know because I am active in the club and get the emails.
and part of the INVOLVEMENT I support is putting the word out there and doing a little advertising. I like the Pyramid effect, If I tell 2 People, and those People tell 2 People, etc... Word of mouth travels fast. But also as the times change so must the ways we communicate and pass the word. The current generation does almost everything electronically. So to get them involved and in the know have to advertise and communicate electronically. if you have to do a club site on facebook for the local chapter, twitter, or what have you. Our local AACA chapter just started working with the local Community college and has drummed up a lot of interest from the younger generation, Funny part was that many of them stated that they did not KNOW there was a club for Old cars and think it is Cool.
A few years ago we attended another Regional meet in another State.(I will not name the State) During the Directors meeting it was suggested that the public be invited to view our vehicles. The answer was: NO THIS IS OUR MEET WE WILL NOT INVITE THE PUBLIC, I thought that was a bad decision.
Our local branch of the Veteran and Vintage Chevrolet Association of Australia held an open day for anyone interested in Chevrolets, we advertised in local car magazines, on the local radio as well as inviting other car clubs and anyone we thought might be interested. We had a lot of Chevrolet literature and collectables on display along with a good turn out of members vehicles and a good number of non members vehicles, it was a good day and we will do it again. If you can find the right venue I think you could do something much bigger and better with the number of Chevrolets in America.
Speaking of VCCA meets, we have a great opportunity to promote the club at the upcoming National meet in 2016.
If there is a car show at this meet, why not let the public know about it so we are overflowing with spectators? I am not suggesting letting non-VCCA folks enter vehicles, but we could let the general public know that a gathering of great Chevys is going to occur.
If non-VCCA folks want to park their special car in an adjacent parking lot, I would not complain. ;-)
I've never been to a National meet, but South Lake Tahoe is on my calendar.
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.
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.
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, 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 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.
...I think that the FUTURE of the club is with Touring, not Judging.
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.
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!
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).
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.
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.
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.
How true. The best way to vote one's displeasure is with one's wallet.
Dean's idea of visiting schools is great. It's the best way to keep the young folks interested and most shop teachers welcome the opportunity to teach old technology. My old club in VT did that.
Unfortunately in CA, I'm told by locals that most school districts have done away with Vocational Ed and closed most auto tech programs. Very sad.
A good bit of this discussion has been about how to target folks to join the VCCA. Future members - get young people involved. Adults - give out flyers at events, word of mouth, etc..
All good ideas.
Here's something to ponder. I asked the web-powers-that-be how many registered Chat forum folks are VCCA members.
Since the forums were created in 2001, there have been over 15,000 registered users. The current number of folks with a VCCA member number in their Chat profile is a little over 2400. Certainly there are VCCA members who choose not to list their VCCA number in their profile for whatever reason.
So, in very round numbers, 20% of the people who have registered for Chatter are VCCA members.
I suspect that there are a lot of current Chat folks that are not VCCA members.
Sign up! Even if your only/main connection is online, it is worth the club dues to support this wonderful online world and gain access to the full resources that are available.
Not all people want to join a region or go on tours. But, obviously, the online content is valuable to you.
I’m guilty of not reading the whole thread so not sure if it was mentioned earlier but when selling anything old Chevy of a decent value, I offer a VCCA membership with that item. Just the offering brings up the conversation about the VCCA and almost always interest from the buyer.
On the stuffed shirts of the club shows, that is always going to be. I also belong to the antique Olds club and like ours, there are many great people. Just recently a member with much experience in 50-70’s era Olds made a very arrogant statement to the fact that people claiming they have a matching numbers car and it’s manufactured before 68’ don’t know what they’re talking about because NO cars prior had matching numbers. So I posted the following question to him. “My 32’ Olds has the same number stamped on the engine block, chassis, and sill plate. Wouldn’t you call it a matching numbers car?” Well this gentleman, who made a statement as a snobbish authority, would not even answer me back. There was many jumping on the thread agreeing with him and praising him for his comments but they too, had no comment or answer to my post. I asked it again a few months later and only one man replied saying he didn’t think calling my car a matching numbers car was correct. He said while his cars numbers didn’t match each other on the car, they matched the paperwork he received from the Olds archives. I give him credit for his reply but said that he needed paperwork from the archives to confirm his matching numbers. My 32 Olds has all the same number stamped all over it and I don’t need any paperwork to confirm my car and if not a matching numbers car, what would he call it? He replied and said he apologized as he agreed with me that my car is indeed a matching numbers car but he had no idea that Olds stamped the early cars that way. Of course the original poster, the self proclaimed expert receiving all the praise, never commented back. That would drop him from super snobby know-it-all status!
Like Christech I dont always read the whole statement but to pick on the "numbers matching" cars to my knowledge the only cars here in Aus that match the engine with the VIN is Ford Falcon (not sure about other Fords), though the Vin has a few extra characters but the last 10 or so matched out of the factory. Tony
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