Questions - Student Org Night

[Jewels]

I'll jump in only to say, Dan is correct. Several current students have shared concern over how the club is being run. Alumni DO NOT want to run this club, and we DO NOT want to micro manage. But c'mon, Rex and I were at the first few meetings. The powerpoints were either non existent, or so terrible a middle schooler could have done better. Its just this lack of care. I see Cody promoting Red Bull all over the place on FB. I understand its a job. But can you at least show a little of the same enthusiasm for it. Its just a shame to see such an awesome club struggling.

[Tyler.M]

"The fact that the current student that cares the most about the club is posting from his Mother's hospital bedside, worried\

SOG didn't happen, what is another way besides flyers we can promote the club? Lets start with that question, next and most importantly- whats the status of the car show? What are a couple goals we would like to have done by the end of the week car-show wise? Next, what is something we can do this week/weekend or regularly for the current members so we can feel as if we are in a club. Hell- meet at my garage in N38 and lets show how to do an oil change- my new Jeep needs it already.
- Just throwing out ideas
s!
- D

Dan for president. I honestly wouldn't mind shaking up current leadership and perhaps even drafting a new constitution that would put more emphasis on forcing the officers to actually... I don't know... do things. I mean, I've stopped going to meetings all together because it just becomes a big "Oh lets what youtube videos for an hour" thing, which is annoying.

We could be doing so much with the club, the car community is massive. At the moment though, everything is just kinda "flobbery" to use Clarkson's words. I honestly haven't heard about any important events from any of the officers, most of the events and things posted on the website are coming from alumna. Hell, the forums start page wasn't even updated until literally a few days ago, which is pretty disconcerting.

Granted, I should be doing more, but I kinda gave up on the club after December rolled around.

But, I think we all saw this coming way back in the summer. There's just so much... infighting among the officers, it makes it difficult to get anything done. You guys weren't helicopter parents, you were basically life support haha.

Time for a revolution after missing SOG. That's the club's bread and butter, and I may not be the most involved club member in the world, but even I realize that.

[Goodspeed]

+1 to what Dan, Jake and Joey have said. They put in words what most alumni members, and I'm sure at least a couple of frustrated current students, are thinking. Read their statements, and at least ONE of you respond. We're owed at least that much.

Let me then add my own .02. It's been my experience, at times in this club and in life in general, that sometimes people don't understand the responsibility they take on when they volunteer for a task. To each of you, this is not merely a group of your select current friends. This is not a plaything, a venue for escaping boredom once a week. This is not something to put on the 2nd page of your resume after chess-team in high school. This is an eleven-year-old organization. This is a fraternity of sorts. When you step up to the plate of running this club, it is a task that requires responsibility, commitment and action. When you give it 50%, you're basically pissing on what eleven years of past, and remarkably ACTIVE, members care deeply about.

Look, as others said, we know you have other commitments on your plate. But all previous officers have been there, where you've been, and look at what we're telling you. You need to do better. If you can't, or your heart isn't in it, step aside. We'll understand. But don't try to save face while running this club into the ground.

As Jake said, we're not sniping any of you in particular. But you need to figure out a way to work as a TEAM to do right by this club and its members. We're here to help, but the responsibility lies squarely on your shoulders. As I've said time and time again, if you're going to pick up the reigns, we're going to want, with a high level of expectation, that you do a better job than has been done before you. This means that the car show this year needs to be spot-on. It needs to be advertised NOW. You need to find a way to organize current members, get them on the forum, and get them out to events. It pained my heart to hear that meetings these days are scattered and mostly consist of watching youtube. Students can do that in their dorm - what initiative is there?

Lets have the discussion that I think needs to happen about the future of the club. Hell, if you want to organize a face to face meeting to share ideas, I'm sure we can make that happen. But I, and I know others, will be damned if we sit idly and silently by and let our dear club deteriorate.

[premiershine9]

Tyler-

"Dan for president" is a funny thought but....stop. Cody is the president- gather the adm. back together, support him and lets get this turned around! (wish i could underline "support") this means working with him!

[premiershine9]

As Jake said, we're not sniping any of you in particular. But you need to figure out a way to work as a TEAM to do right by this club and its members. We're here to help, but the responsibility lies squarely on your shoulders. As I've said time and time again, if you're going to pick up the reigns, we're going to want, with a high level of expectation, that you do a better job than has been done before you. This means that the car show this year needs to be spot-on. It needs to be advertised NOW. You need to find a way to organize current members, get them on the forum, and get them out to events. It pained my heart to hear that meetings these days are scattered and mostly consist of watching youtube. Students can do that in their dorm - what initiative is there?

Lets have the discussion that I think needs to happen about the future of the club. Hell, if you want to organize a face to face meeting to share ideas, I'm sure we can make that happen. But I, and I know others, will be damned if we sit idly and silently by and let our dear club deteriorate.

- Amen Goodspeed

[Jake]

We could be doing so much with the club, the car community is massive. At the moment though, everything is just kinda "flobbery" to use Clarkson's words. I honestly haven't heard about any important events from any of the officers, most of the events and things posted on the website are coming from alumna. Hell, the forums start page wasn't even updated until literally a few days ago, which is pretty disconcerting.

We started doing stuff with other clubs in VA and keeping in touch with them. No idea where that stands since last May.

I found it in poor form that 1) I had to start the thread about VIR February and 2) I provided all four officers instructions (with screen shots, even) on how to update the home page back in July, and saw nothing until a few days ago. Seriously, it's WordPress. Log in, hit New Post, and done. It literally takes two minutes, at most.

There's just so much... infighting among the officers, it makes it difficult to get anything done. You guys weren't helicopter parents, you were basically life support haha.

It seems like there's fighting and a lack of enthusiasm. C'mon guys, you ran for office with the understanding that this was work that required enthusiasm. I'm about 102% sure I said at the elections meeting that "this was akin to a full time job" so you knew what you were getting into. Things ran as well as they did because the four of us poured our all into it.

I can't be an MM Helicopter Parent forever. I'm doing it now because I can't stand to see what we built fall apart. It's exhausting. I'm tired of the bullshit, I'm tired of the lip service. All I want is to show up to VIR and meet students for dinner on Friday night. I want to see seven students at the worker meeting on Saturday morning, bleary-eyed from staying at the Innkeeper. I want to buy a round of drinks at the Tavern that night after everyone worked/drove/rode all day.

But you know, I can't see or do any of that if nobody shows up.

[Tyler.M]

@Dan

Though agreed, its just that we've been having so many officer issues that take away from the club as a whole. Not trying to start impeachment talks, its just that I was really looking forward to this year. I mean we can work with the officers all we want, but until those issues between them get fully resolved, not much is going to get done. Honestly Dan, I think you've been thinking more about possible club events then anyone else in current membership.

But, it may be too late to do anything about it, realistically. From what I gather, some important foundations that should've been built back in August, simply weren't and I haven't heard a thing about current planning for the car show. The last meeting apparently didn't even mention from what I heard... .which is scary..

BTW, flamesuit is on. I'm entering into this conversation as a mostly uninformed party. Though some of this stuff I get, I had no idea that alumna was so angry over how the club is currently doing. I don't know many of you all that well, but you asked for a current members perspective, so I'm giving it.

[JustinG]

I don't know many of you all that well, but you asked for a current members perspective, so I'm giving it.

Its needed, as alumni we cant be on campus at the meetings all the time so we need the current students perspective as well. so thanks for giving it.

Sent from my DROIDX

[Tyler.M]

I don't know many of you all that well, but you asked for a current members perspective, so I'm giving it.

Its needed, as alumni we cant be on campus at the meetings all the time so we need the current students perspective as well. so thanks for giving it.

Sent from my DROIDX

Well... I'm going to make a bigger effort to go to events anyways. Wish I could help do something now.

(Perhaps new thread?)

[JPolen01]

SOG didn't happen, what is another way besides flyers we can promote the club? Lets start with that question, next and most importantly- whats the status of the car show? What are a couple goals we would like to have done by the end of the week car-show wise? Next, what is something we can do this week/weekend or regularly for the current members so we can feel as if we are in a club. Hell- meet at my garage in N38 and lets show how to do an oil change- my new Jeep needs it already.
- Just throwing out ideas

- D

Dan and I have talked about this repeatedly, most recently when he let me use his garage to put my front bumper back on because it was to dark outside to do it. We were in his garage until 10:00 pm on a weeknight bullshitting while he taught me his magic ways of paint correction. This is what MM needs. It's obvious that we have time for stuff like this, so why is it never planned? We need times to hang out and talk cars, do maintenance, and general car things. We both discussed the idea of wrench days/car washes, which none of the current students besides a handful seem to care about. I am more than willing to donate my time and tools to help someone in need. Shit Rex drove 20 minutes from his house to JMU to help Garrett and I try and diagnosis the problems with his WRX. Rex and Julie have kindly let me use their garage twice in the past month to work on my car because I cannot find anyone around JMU that is willing to lend a hand or knowledge. I am thankful for this and the learning it's providing me and I do not want to see the current officers/club members burn that bridge. Yes the alumni can act like asshats on the forum, but they have a wealth of knowledge that is a great resource for us. MM needs to keep this mentality and these type of people around. The officers this year have simply dropped the ball and don't seem to be trying to pick it back up.

Dan, let me know when you go over to Bob Wade as I would like to introduce myself as well on behalf of MM.

[Sully]

@kaan
The officers had a meeting about a week before SON and at that time I found out I had to work and told the other officers. They said no problem. I'm sorry I did not persue the matter further but I just didn't think it was necessary to do so. I guess I was wrong.

As far as the rest goes, yes there has been disagreements between officers and to be quite honest I think most members will agree that I pushed for quite a few things last semester and that is where most of the headbutting came from...how the club should be run in short. I tried for a style similar to the previous officers I was a member of (jake, joey,davidx2). On the other hand, Cody wanted to lead his way which is understandable. Also to be very honest and this will be the statement that creates hate towards me but I have just gotten burned out spinning my tires so much from last semester, I have about given up on pushing and have just started going along for the ride doing what I'm asked.

Perhaps it is the fact I don't have my car so I can't participate in autocrosses which makes me not want to spend a tank of gas or that I don't get off work till 4am sun morning certain weekends but I just simply can't make some of them. I'm sorry but it simply doesn't seem plausible for me to make it to this one and I don't think Felton will let me take the liberty out. This was not suppose to be a snotty paragraph, I'm not venting back because you said we should go. Its just the facts.

Jake, you are 100% right about everything but the posting of events should have been done by me and for that I do apoligize, I got lazy because usually someone who is going (Justin, Dj) posts it up for me and I just havn't been keeping an eye on it as much.

As far as VIR, I brought it up at the last meeting and although crowds were scarce (maybe 11) no one was interested in attending.
Now that being said, I planned to post in there as soon as Laura gave me a definate answer whether I was working or not. There was something in the works for grid this season so I have to see.

Also, you said you want to see workers Friday night and at the innkeeper. I tried desperatley last semester and had lots of student interest (about 10) want to do it. Unfortunaley NASA couldn't take any new volunteers (due to no captain flaggers) except one extra on grid where Tyler got the spot. So that was out of my control, I included in my email to laura to let me know if she needs people this time but for some reason there was no interest. (Maybe because february).


Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[Jake]

I appreciate the reply, Matt. I, for one, know that you put a lot of effort in last semester trying to get things done and work for what you believed was best. That should be commended as being passive rarely gets you anywhere. I will say that you are the officer of the four who's "proven themselves" the most to me. Since this alumni base is so large and so strong, transparency is key and I think you've done a decent job communicating with us.

Regarding leadership, all I can say is that being a business major doesn't automatically make anyone a great leader. It just means that you have a better grasp on business concepts than others might. Nor does radically changing things that have been established over a long period of time. Small changes work better. Just something to keep in mind.

And I'm not saying that you, Matt, have to make every autocross. I understand that driving for HDPT keeps you out late and you're obligated to work weekends sometimes. But between the four of you, you can't ALL have work and reasons why at least one officer can't make it out. Like Julie said, we see a lot of Red Bull stuff on Facebook from Cody... Facebook is a great insight into what y'all do, personal and otherwise. Seeing more enthusiasm for MM would be much appreciated.

Regarding posting stuff on here... it shouldn't be any one person's job. Matt, we see you on here a decent amount. Cody's presence on this forum is spotty at best, and Kristin/Lincoln have been MIA for a while.

[Jewels]

Anybody notice that Cody was on here at the beginning of this line of discussion and posted in other threads but skipped this one. Nicely done sir! Thanks for telling us we are completely wrong and how you are going to fix this misunderstanding.

[Kaan]

@kaan
The officers had a meeting about a week before SON and at that time I found out I had to work and told the other officers. They said no problem. I'm sorry I did not persue the matter further but I just didn't think it was necessary to do so. I guess I was wrong.

I'm not at all attacking you for working. So please understand that. I worked 40+hrs a week while i was in school. I understand the need to work and go to school. my issue was the the previous post you made on page one.

As an officer i would assume you would KNOW that there was an issue with a form and that we did not participate. Your post on page one, to me, came off as a CYA (cover your ass) statement. if you honestly didnt know, thats still an indication of an addittional serious problem.

in my past communication with the officers i noted that you all needed to act as a team. I have yet to see that happen. It seems that this years officers are 4 individuals that engauge the student body and members of MM as they please, without a goal or unified voice. Its not one persons fault, its the fault of the group. the actions of the group, or lack of action as a group, is not helping MM at all.

[Tyler.M]

@kaan
The officers had a meeting about a week before SON and at that time I found out I had to work and told the other officers. They said no problem. I'm sorry I did not persue the matter further but I just didn't think it was necessary to do so. I guess I was wrong.

I'm not at all attacking you for working. So please understand that. I worked 40+hrs a week while i was in school. I understand the need to work and go to school. my issue was the the previous post you made on page one.

As an officer i would assume you would KNOW that there was an issue with a form and that we did not participate. Your post on page one, to me, came off as a CYA (cover your ass) statement. if you honestly didnt know, thats still an indication of an addittional serious problem.

in my past communication with the officers i noted that you all needed to act as a team. I have yet to see that happen. It seems that this years officers are 4 individuals that engauge the student body and members of MM as they please, without a goal or unified voice. Its not one persons fault, its the fault of the group. the actions of the group, or lack of action as a group, is not helping MM at all.

How can current members fix this then? That's where we need to turn the discussion. I"m all down for reprimanding, but time is of the essence in reference to the car show and several other things that are coming up soon.

[Sully]

The form last semester was less of a form and more of a click this button to register for SON so I don't know how it got messed up nor have I heard about it from anyone. We still don't know the exact details of the problem with SON so...rather than beat a dead horse, I guess we need to find out what really happened with SON.

I agree that me not knowing is a problem and perhaps I should have looked into it more. I had no idea that we did not participate in SON because when Cody asked me to run the last meeting, he said make sure to ask if there are any new members. I took this statement as Student Org night went well and I should be expecting new members from it. I just never thought to ask if we actually attended or not.

Not trying to argue but it was a less of a Covering my ass and more informing why I would not have any input on SON, because the fact we did not attend did not come apparent until a few posts after, although I agree with you, that is something I should have known and looked into myself when I hadn't heard anything.

[Kaan]

How can current members fix this then? That's where we need to turn the discussion. I"m all down for reprimanding, but time is of the essence in reference to the car show and several other things that are coming up soon.

you'll need to bug the officers and see what they need help with. i would suggest posting something more "cool bro" style and stay away from actual questions. its been almost a week in this thread and only matt has chimed in so far.

[Tyler.M]

you'll need to bug the officers and see what they need help with. i would suggest posting something more "cool bro" style and stay away from actual questions. its been almost a week in this thread and only matt has chimed in so far.

Alright. I'll don my backwards hat and hip jive lingo. I am grateful all you alums care about this organization so much though. We'll get everything back on track.

[Kaan]

my jerk-ish comments aside, you really do need to talk to the officers. I dont get any information from them, i just get it from students and other alumni.

if the students that want to help, or the current officers need help from anyone... just ask.

[Sully]

Also, at the risk of sounding like a dick, you guys (current members) can participate in things too. We all agree that we want to do Top Gear nights, it gets somewhat setup (I am against the current nights becasue I have to work and notice doesn't go out soon enough in my opinion) but then when I asked at the meeting who was going to go, everyone except Abbie said they didn't want to go even though most of the people at the meeting (I believe) had agreed upon the time Top Gear night should occur.

EDIT: I even offered to chauffer evenone's ass over there because I was on Route 32 that night which means rides wern't even an issue :dunno: