Mr. Lee for Dictator, ahh, I mean Director...

[99SJ_Ex]

Fellow Midwestern-ers,

Many of you know me, at least on the forums as the crazy guy that drives 10 hours, bearing Kringle, to WF in his Jeep pulling his uhaul trailer, i.e. camper. I am Austin Lee, 25 years old and scheduled to be imprisoned, err, married. I have been attending MWC events over the past 4 years starting in 2009 with my stock XJ on Green @ WF. I brew, I wrench, I teach H.S. students.

As a director of the MWC, I hope to accomplish any and all goals we as a BOD establish to my fullest capability. Being a teacher will allow me to use my skills to broaden the awareness and need for OHV areas as well as the general understanding of OHV vehicles to the common public. Another perk of my leadership will be that I will have summers off of school, for the most part, which will allow me to spend large amounts of time wheeling, attending M&Gs, and promoting the club. I also hope to expand the participation of the chapter by reaching out and scheduling M&Gs and events in some of our more outlying territory. I want to work for you, to bring you the best experiences possible out of this club!

Please feel free to ask any questions of me and I will answer them to the best of my abilities, thank you.

 

[99SJ_Ex]

**Credit goes to SeanR for the Dictator bit...**

 

[Fore Wheeler]

So are you too a dic?

 

[99SJ_Ex]

So are you too a dic?

Only if you're not paying attention in class....

:lecture:

 

[Fore Wheeler]

What do you see as a priority to improve the chapter?

 

[99SJ_Ex]

What do you see as a priority to improve the chapter?

This is really a question will a diverse range of answers; however, I think I can try to narrow the field a bit and provide a broad-range answer. For this club to continue growing as it has been, and to retain its members, as it has, we need one simple thing, Participation. A group or club is only as good as its body of members and as such, can only function with members that choose to be a part of this body.

With this in mind, I feel the main goal of this organization needs to be promotion and retention of its members. We need to look at the needs of the many rather than focus on the wants of a few. With this in mind, there are several ideas or solutions that can be utilized. Firstly, we need recognize the needs of the chapter by surveying its members to establish what exactly they are looking for in the club. This can be done quite easily by simply being active on the forums, but also attend M&Gs and other chapter events. We can also implement something like a monthly poll in which we pose a question i.e. "How far would you travel to attend a MWC event?". Using these results we can better synthesize what the members needs are and better match our goals to meet or exceed those needs. Secondly we can utilize things such as the MWC RotM or other simple 'events' be it online, or an actual place to recognize members that may not get necessarily get recognized in other aspects of their lives. This will help in the retention of members as we asa BoD cannot simply give personal attention to ever single member, this is simply not feasible in a chapter as large as ours. We can also recognize these folks by trying to spread M&Gs and events around the chapter to 'spread the wealth' so to speak so that members do not feel 'stranded' or 'forgotten' simply because they don't live in Indiana, IA, MI, etc... Finally, we can involve our members by having them go out and actively promote the club at local events. Each state within our chapter undoubtedly has numerous local clubs and places that could bring in potential members and future events. By holding 'marathon months' where members can go out and promote the club and maybe make a contest of it and the winner that brings in new members, or makes the most contacts with places/events maybe wins a prize or simple earns recognition. These events/processes will also help us to get the word out about and OHV as a hobby. In conclusion, I would simply like to state that the goal of the club should be its members, getting them to participate and feel like they a apart of a working machine, making a difference just by being a member is often enough to hook and hold onto a good group of people.

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

This is a question for all that are running for a position, no one being singled out, nothing implied, just a general observation and question.

In recent years, the involvement of the BOD in functions outside of the general Illinios and Indiana area has been limited. If we continue to want to be the largest and best chapter out there, what efforts would you put forth to get the "outreach" and efforts to go beyond the core Red Bird and Badlands trips? What efforts could be directed to membership retainment?

Thanks,
Cheese "inquiring minds" Man

 

[99SJ_Ex]

Tyler

I think I touched on these exact issues in the answer above a little bit. In order to maintain a strong body of members, we do need to focus outside of the 'core states'. We need to look at these outlying states and see what oppurtunities are there for us to make an event? Are there any OHV areas we can utilize? Are any members willing to 'host' a M&G? With this information the MWC should work with those local members, ask what they need, how we can help, and work with them to setup these events. I think it would be cool if we had at least one 'event' in each of our chapter states. MN for example has the Iron Offroad area that, in my opinion, is a lot more challenging than Badlands, camping is cheap and local/close, and the area is beautiful. Yes, it is a long ways out of the way, BUT its a place of great potential in an event, and I do plan on attempting at hosting. Summer M&G and wheeling trip there. As has been brought up many times an event can be as small as a few people. I feel one of the ways we could encourage attendance at some of these events is hold small raffles, free handouts, or even a chance at winning expenses paid for one lucky person. We need to stop thinking inside the box and start innovating our member involvment and outreach events using these new and unique ideas.

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

Could you please elaborate on the "thinking inside the box" comment for those who are not aware of what you are talking about?

Thanks!

Cheese "inside/outside" Man

 

[Fore Wheeler]

Could you please elaborate on the "thinking inside the box" comment for those who are not aware of what you are talking about?

Thanks!

Cheese "inside/outside" Man

X2

 

[99SJ_Ex]

That comment is relating back to the focus on the 'core states' and events that we do. We need to put more energy towards outward expansion and recognizing member and states that often get little notice because of the lact of activity. I know personally, now that I have summers off, I will be trying to attend more events that occur outside of the core states to try and promote those events and raise awareness of them for other club members. As a club we need to look at alternative forms of participation such as recognizing a specific state each month, fundraisers or drives, attend events such as fairs and parades to promote OHV awareness in prominent areas around our parks and recreation areas, etc. Again, we need to understand the wants and needs of the members to better serve them and the club.

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

Thanks Tex for the reply. :thumbup:

 

[99SJ_Ex]

No problem, Tyler, that what this is all about. ;-)

 

[bmyohn]

Austin,

What do you think about starting up a ride/event for a charity? I know we do the yearly cleanup that I have been a part of a few times. And I know we donate money to various offroad oriented organizations. But what do you think about starting an event that's sole purpose is to raise money for a non offroad charity such as the red cross or toys for tots, etc? I know there are a few other jeep clubs in the indiana area that do this, what do you think of the idea?

-Brendan

 

[99SJ_Ex]

I like that idea, I feel that as a club we do need to do some community service/charity outside of the club/hobby. When looking at naxja as a whole, or chapter, one can obviously see that we are for OHV and the related interests. If we can show the public that we are about more than just wheeling, etc, I feel we could gain support when we take up movements against the OHV hobbies. Sponsoring/running a blood drive or toys for tots run, etc will also help with the involvment and family aspect of the club where we lose some people cause they think we are just all about wheeling. Very good question, thank you for asking it!

 

[Rev Den]

Are you willing to handle the MWC Trail adoption requirements at Redbird?


Rev

 

[99SJ_Ex]

In the past the dates have always conflicted with a schedule I had no control over. However, in this new job, I do have the ability to take time off no questions asked. I am more thank willing to take up this event because it is one of few we currently have that promotes our club.

To answer plainly, yes, I am willing.

 

[kmanxj5050]

Alot of talk is about spreading the love out in the LARGE chapter that we have. I see we clean up at Redbird twice each year. Are you opposed to going there once and then helping clean up another park or area somewhere else in the MWC the other time?

 

[HaleYes]

Alot of talk is about spreading the love out in the LARGE chapter that we have. I see we clean up at Redbird twice each year. Are you opposed to going there once and then helping clean up another park or area somewhere else in the MWC the other time?

Someone else can confirm but, I'm pretty sure that the agreement that was signed with Redbird calls out that a clean up take place twice in a calendar year.

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

Yup, Hale you are correct.

Austin, if elected, do you see any agenda items (nothing known of or implied here) that you are wanting to tackle right off the bat or just keep things rolling as they are?

Thanks.

Cheese "I only have a street beat non-wheeling XJ now" Man