Brandon Itkin - Vice President

[GTBrandon]

I am going to try and keep this short and sweet as I've been told I might be a big talker :wink:

I will be finishing up my first year here as an International Business major, and my first year as part of MM. To me, it was everything I was looking for in a club, group of friends, as well as mentor and alumni network. That being said, I do feel as if there are ways in which the club can develop into a more interactive and involved group of friends and enthusiasts alike.

1) I know the weather hasn't been great this year, especially with this so called "winter" we had, but the events for me have seemed pretty scarce. I would like to work with the other members to organize more formal as well as informal events for everyone to get together and hang out. Whether that be Grand Tour nights at somebodies apartment, more club dinners(oh you know I love dinners ), or simply organized wrench days in some poor apartment complex's parking lot for all of the member's current projects.

2) I think there is something behind the idea of an MM project car, and really want to help bring that into reality within the next year. There has been some scattered interest here and there on the forums but I really think it will be an awesome project for all members of the club, as well as something for JMU students to recognize us by in a positive light (so they hopefully forget about the whole bus incident). I would like to look into the legal and financial logistics of this idea further and really gauge the members to see how many people would be willing to participate in this.

3) I would like to find out if there is anything the members want that hasn't been addressed by current or former leaders of MM. I feel as if in the chat, it is always the same 5-10 people talking, yet I see 40+ members in the group. I am wondering if there are things people are interested in that aren't being discussed that the next exec team can look into. I want everyone to feel welcome in this club and would love to see more people involved in the discussions and activities we have.

I like spending time on things I really enjoy, and for me that would be cars and this club. Cars have been my whole life, all the way back to when my first bed as a racecar shell with a mattress inside of it. I know being in this position won't be easy, but I am willing to put in the hard work needed to help this club continue to grow and evolve.

Can't wait to see you all next year at the first meeting, and hope we can all possibly get together this summer for some sort of MM impromptu event!

[Jake]

Motivation behind the project car, whatever it ends up turning into, is great to see and I'm glad that someone is willing to dive into the more sticky legal aspects of it. Assuming that does work out, any thoughts on how you could figure out the finances-to-seat-time aspect of it?

The various ideas for getting people more involved (Grand Tour, dinners, wrench days) have all been done - not to say they are bad, but they are met with various levels of success every semester and year. What do you think you can do to get more consistent involvement/turnout at those types of get-togethers, or more involvement overall?

(PS: "MM impromptu events" over the summer have typically been track days, but another Fiesta En Fuego would be awesome. Let's make that happen at someone's house.)

[GTBrandon]

Motivation behind the project car, whatever it ends up turning into, is great to see and I'm glad that someone is willing to dive into the more sticky legal aspects of it. Assuming that does work out, any thoughts on how you could figure out the finances-to-seat-time aspect of it?

The various ideas for getting people more involved (Grand Tour, dinners, wrench days) have all been done - not to say they are bad, but they are met with various levels of success every semester and year. What do you think you can do to get more consistent involvement/turnout at those types of get-togethers, or more involvement overall?

(PS: "MM impromptu events" over the summer have typically been track days, but another Fiesta En Fuego would be awesome. Let's make that happen at someone's house.)

With the MM car would be finding sponsors of some sort as the amount needed per student would be too much for anyone to take part in. I have already found one possibly company sponsor, but I don't want to ask around yet until we get more details on what we want to do exactly. I want to have a meeting dedicated to this either at the end of this semester, or begging of the next to figure out exactly what events this car would be focused on, what type of car would be chosen, and how many students/alum would be willing to participate. Without knowing these details, there's no way to figure out exact financial details.

As for involvement, I think a big part of it is appeasing everybody's interest in the group. This goes back to talking with the members who are not as actively involved and seeing why they might not be interested in what is going on, and what they would like to see happen in the future with events and get-togethers.

I will also make it a point to attend every single event and meeting our club hosts in order to be around the members and talk with them in person about their likes/dislikes regarding how things are being run. Creating more events, and showing how dedicated and excited we are about running/attending them I believe will bring more members to them.

Also maybe instead of holding them in classrooms, we will hold them in somebody's apartment (like with Taylor's for the carshow) to make everybody more relaxed and get them out of the "classroom" mindset. Then we can all hang out afterward and order some pizza for the night. After all it is a drivers club so I know I and many other members would be more than happy to give others rides over to/from whichever apartment hosted for the night.

[D_Eclipse9916]

1) I know the weather hasn't been great this year, especially with this so called "winter" we had, but the events for me have seemed pretty scarce. I would like to work with the other members to organize more formal as well as informal events for everyone to get together and hang out. Whether that be Grand Tour nights at somebodies apartment, more club dinners(oh you know I love dinners ), or simply organized wrench days in some poor apartment complex's parking lot for all of the member's current projects.

I hear this every single year...*yawn*... Since winter tends to put a damper on car stuff, could you guys plan something else other than "grand tour nights" and wrench days?

MM ski trip was fun, maybe something like that or camping?

[GTBrandon]

1) I know the weather hasn't been great this year, especially with this so called "winter" we had, but the events for me have seemed pretty scarce. I would like to work with the other members to organize more formal as well as informal events for everyone to get together and hang out. Whether that be Grand Tour nights at somebodies apartment, more club dinners(oh you know I love dinners ), or simply organized wrench days in some poor apartment complex's parking lot for all of the member's current projects.

I hear this every single year...*yawn*... Since winter tends to put a damper on car stuff, could you guys plan something else other than "grand tour nights" and wrench days?

MM ski trip was fun, maybe something like that or camping?

Yeah of course! Never been too great at skiing, but i'm not opposed to piling 10 people in a 5 person car and going up to the mountains around here for a weekend! The Canada trip is also a lot of fun, but can be expensive so it would be up to other members, or we could just roadtrip up there ourselves if the cars can make the 10 hour journey each way :mrgreen:

This also might be a great time for tours of local businesses that utilize indoor heating when the tempatures get sub 20's. I have seen in the past tours that got members next to old McLaren F1's and other racecars, which would be great if we can get it to happen again. I know that exact shop closed down, but there is much to be discovered around here and in members home-towns. Never heard of any of those tours this year, so it's something next years leadership can research and make some calls on.