I gave up on MC2 a while back. Glad to hear the wisdom of that decision once again reaffirmed. As far as the one possible benefit identified in this latest go 'round, I don't think a national club would really be able to help an area where an existing club was getting ready to fold. From what I've seen, the success of the clubs is the people who are on the ground and willing to put in some work to make things happen. If a local club can't muster that, bringing in a national organization is not going to change that imo.
What year did the BMWCCA start compared to production of the first BMW car sold in America.. Our MINI has only been around since 2002, and the "classic" wasn't officlally sold here in America I don't think.. I'm not for a National Club, but some might be. As Ben mentioned a few years ago, what benefits/discounts would I get for paying my dues each year.. Compared to BMWCCA. Some of our MINI clubs already pay dues as it is, so for them it might be the way to go.. For the clubs that are free, the National club might actually run off some members atleast to start with till they can see if there is a benefit to being part of it.. We all could still have our local clubs, though they would push for them to become local "chapters" of the National Club... and if an area can't sustain a "chapter" there isn't anything they can do to help other then include that area in with another "chapter".. They can't force people to join and or buy a MINI and then join to help any certain area..
I still think a national club could be a benefit if we have local chapters such as they do for BMWCCA and PCA. I plan events for a local Mini group. We are very informal with no dues which is good but there are disadvantages. Since there are no dues we do not have any money other than what I provide. We do not have a website other than on MA, which many possible members do not see and many current members never use. Our communication is mainly through emails that I send out based on a distribution list that I maintain. If the club wants anything that costs money (such as stickers), I have to provide the funding and then get reimbursed. Even posting photos of events cost money on Flickr once you go over the free limit. For example; I have tried to setup Mini Cooper Car Corrals at Laguna Seca but that requires a minimum of 10 tickets purchased by one person. My club does not have enough interested people for 10 purchases which means we must get multiple clubs together to get at least 10 participants. That requires one person coordinating with multiple clubs, collecting money from multiple clubs, purchasing tickets for everyone, then distributing tickets to other clubs. Kind of a pain. With a MINICCA things like car corrals at race tracks would be much easier to arrange. Having a National Club could make things a little easier for small local clubs. I would hope that the National Club could also help provide things like driver's training at a reasonable cost such is offered by BMWCCA. Yes, the MINIs can join BMWCCA but I do not feel that the BMWs really want Minis in their club. It would be best to have a separate MINICCA.
Being very new to MA as well as the club idea, my thoughts may be of little value. But from what my MINI compatriots have been saying on this thread, a national club of individual members does not seem to garner much interest and, in fact, some considerable concern over what are considered liabilities. For the few advocates, it seems that a voluntary national coalition of local clubs might be in order as a means for clubs to share and pool resources. That, too, would require resources including operating funds and volunteer workers. Local clubs are the only possible benefactors, it seems to me, and if local clubs were not interested, the handwriting would be on the wall. From what I can tell, there does not appear to be a a good rationale nor a positive need nor a strong desire for a national club of individual members.
It was 1969. BMW North America had yet to be formed, the importer was still Max Hoffman. According to a video of BMW CAA history I have seen at the time some states did not know about BMW and were unsure as how to register the car. [ame=http://vimeo.com/16320646]History of BMW CCA on Vimeo[/ame]
From what I have seen here locally, MINI would do much better if they weren't constantly tied to BMW. I appreciate BMW, but frankly, they don't want us kicking their butts any more than we want to lower ourselves to constantly doing it... I just went through being treated like a red-headed step child in buying a new Coupe for my wife through a BMW-centric dealership, and frankly, I wanted to tell their finance people to kiss my arse before it was all said and done with. Same goes with tying ourselves to BMWCCA. Nothing wrong with using their model, but I will never join BMWCCA just because I don't feel MINI is a spin off. It is its own brand and doesn't need BMW to stand alone. Getting out from under that umbrella trickles down to clubs, also. I think if a national club were to be done, it would need to be independent of BMW and their idea of how things are. MINI's are NOT BMW's and their owners tend to not be modern BMW-types either. Clubs are a lot of work... I know! But we have been steadily growing and doing things at even a state level is a huge challenge. Going national would bring a whole other set of challenges and I think it is unnecessary. I think getting the local and regional clubs that already exist to communicate more would help create an overlapping mesh that would create a very fun, very social MINI network. MA has gone a long way to creating a place for that to happen.
This would be a good time to remind all the club leadership on M/A about the Presidents Lounge you have access to for the discussion of club management ideas and issues you may encounter.
A national club might be able to provide some sort of package insurance coverage for Auto-X or DE events... maybe for local MINI clubs wishing to get some coverage for club events. It might also be useful for organizing interactions with MINI USA (larger items like the BMWCCA member discount). Other than that, I don't see a whole lot of use for it. We have other media outlets to transfer information (see: Motoring Alliance), so the club newsletter that used to be the primary benefit of a national club is irrelevant, IMHO.
^ That is the only thing I think a club would be useful for. Not sure if folks realize the risk they take putting on events without insurance.