MTMA needs a new leader

[jersey_emt]

Hey everyone,

Unfortunately, I simply do not have enough free time to properly manage and run MTMA (Mazda Team Mid-Atlantic). Because I have worked so hard on setting MTMA up, making sure there were plenty of meets, etc., it has taken a long time for me to accept this fact. And the club has suffered because of it -- this year was pretty much a dead year, meet-wise.

To that end, I am ready to hand over the reigns to a dedicated Mazda enthusiast in our region -- which is technically New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, but in reality is more of the New York City and Philadelphia extended metro regions.

Anybody who is interested, please contact me via email at justinfranks@gmail.com . Explain any past related experience and why you feel you are capable of turning MTMA into a better (not necessarily bigger, as bigger does not always mean better) local club for Mazda enthusiasts of all kinds.

To the club members, please accept my apologies in not doing this sooner. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the club, and I was not able to accept the fact that I simply could no longer dedicate enough time to ensuring the club's success.

-Justin Franks
MTMA Co-Founder and current President

 

[sidpro5]

Congrats on a lengthy run, Justin. As far as I'm concerned, you did a great job establishing and running the club. Sorry to see it come to this, but I can certainly relate.

Peace!

-Sid (MTMA Co-founder and former PA Chairman)

 

[jersey_emt]

Thanks buddy! Yeah, it was a good time. But it's best for everyone for me to step down. That way I can focus on maintaining/updating the club's web site, and someone else who is dedicated can focus on running the actual club.

Again, anyone interested please contact me. I'd like to have a replacement within the next few weeks or so -- maybe we can squeeze in another meet or two before winter comes along.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

perhaps Dana?

 

[Flash5]

Someone step up!!! I would if I wasn't to young and had any idea of what I was doing.

 

[jersey_emt]

perhaps Dana?

I'd definitely support Dana if he wants the position, but I'm not pushing anyone to do it. I want my successor to come forward themselves truly wanting the job.

 

[jersey_emt]

Someone step up!!! I would if I wasn't to young and had any idea of what I was doing.

Yes, definitely someone step up! Age doesn't truly matter, as it is just a number -- a person's maturity generally has little to do with a person's actual age.

If you're interested in the position, then get in touch with me. Just because I'm stepping down doesn't mean that I won't be available to help whoever fills in for me whenever I can.

 

[Flash5]

Well I mean I'm not exactly new around here but I've never done anything meet wise and what not. I don't even know what the hell I would have to do.

 

[jersey_emt]

Well I mean I'm not exactly new around here but I've never done anything meet wise and what not. I don't even know what the hell I would have to do.

IM me if you want to discuss. (jerseyemt81 on AIM)

 

[Kooldino]

Someone just linked me to this thread.

What responsibilities (other than organizing meets) would the MTMA president have?

 

[jersey_emt]

Someone just linked me to this thread.

What responsibilities (other than organizing meets) would the MTMA president have?

Applying for any permits needed for larger meets. For instance, meets in state/county parks often require applying for a permit, which usually costs $30 - $50. It generally has to be you that applies for a permit, even if it is a state chair that is organizing the meet, since most require that the head of the organization sign the app. Obviously if the entity requiring the application allows someone other than the head of the organization to sign the application, have that person do it! Money for permits and other expenses for meets (food & drink for BBQ's, etc.), would come out of the club's PayPal account. In the past, money was brought in mostly from membership dues (which were $15/yr). However, I felt those dues were stifling interest so I decided to do away with them, and make the primary source of income MTMA-branded items (decals, t-shirts, etc.) I haven't been able to fully set all of that up (accounts with cafepress and/or similar services, etc.), so that would be one of the first things that would be needed. Note that the PayPal account is empty because I just paid the yearly website hosting fees ($90/yr) which emptied out the account and then some. So another major duty would be to get people to buy those MTMA-branded items you made available

Handle all of the monetary transactions -- you would be the only one with access to the PayPal account, and if a state chair needs money for a local meet, it would be your responsibility to get it to them. if this gets to be too much work there is a Treasurer position that is currently unfilled that could handle all of this -- it wasn't needed in the past but if the club grows it may very well be.

Promote the club in whatever ways you feel would be effective

Recruit state chairs who would be main organizers of smaller local events (so you don't have to bother with setting up a meet in say Bergen County NJ when you're down in Atlantic County). That is of course not to say you can't set up meets far away from you, but generally, you would only be involved in the planning of larger-scale meets that aren't local to you. We currently have state chairs for each state, but since the club has been pretty dead this year, you or I would have to talk to each one of them to find out if they still want to do it.

Basically, stuff like that. It's a pretty open-ended position -- you do what you feel would be best for local Mazda enthusiasts. Oversee the state chairs and help them out in organizing the meets. Expect to have a lot of people contacting you for info about the club, especially as you work to expand our member base. In the past, people have been pretty turned off at the requirement to pay membership fees, but as I mentioned above the plan is to get rid of those and make the club's main source of income MTMA-branded merchandise that people can purchase.

 

[Kooldino]

Man, that's a lot to consider.

As for funding, I could move the site to my server (that i run evoxforums.com off of) for free, so it wouldn't cost anything. I'd probably have some 50/50 raffles like you did in the past to raise money for whatever we did need money for (BBQs and such).

As for swag, I have rickman do the speedcircuit stuff, so I can set something up with him for that, and whatever proceeds we'd have would just go to the club.

I'm all about organizing meets. As you know, I organize a few a year anyway. However, one reservation I have is that when I organize meets and such, I like them to be open to all cars. Now, I know that you guys are cool with that as well, but at this point, I'm involved with this forum as well as evoxforums.com and speedcircuit. So when I have a meet, people from each of those groups will generally show up to it.

As time goes on and speedcircuit and evoxforums.com grow, they'll be more and more non-mazdas there. I wouldn't mind being in charge of a car club, but i wouldn't want to turn people off by calling it "MAZDA team mid atlantic". I'd be tempted to modify the name (notably the fist "M").

 

[-pixy-]

However, one reservation I have is that when I organize meets and such, I like them to be open to all cars. Now, I know that you guys are cool with that as well, but at this point, I'm involved with this forum as well as evoxforums.com and speedcircuit. So when I have a meet, people from each of those groups will generally show up to it.

As time goes on and speedcircuit and evoxforums.com grow, they'll be more and more non-mazdas there. I wouldn't mind being in charge of a car club, but i wouldn't want to turn people off by calling it "MAZDA team mid atlantic". I'd be tempted to modify the name (notably the fist "M").

Other cars have always been welcomed to the meets in the past and I am sure that isn't going to change. I don't think changing the name will make that big of a difference. An MTMA sponsored meet could always be open to all cars and utilized as a fund raiser for MTMA to cover whatever fees/cost there are.

 

[jersey_emt]

However, one reservation I have is that when I organize meets and such, I like them to be open to all cars. Now, I know that you guys are cool with that as well, but at this point, I'm involved with this forum as well as evoxforums.com and speedcircuit. So when I have a meet, people from each of those groups will generally show up to it.

As time goes on and speedcircuit and evoxforums.com grow, they'll be more and more non-mazdas there. I wouldn't mind being in charge of a car club, but i wouldn't want to turn people off by calling it "MAZDA team mid atlantic". I'd be tempted to modify the name (notably the fist "M").

See, that's where I have an issue. While I've always been cool with a few non-Mazdas from coming to our meets (friend of a member, etc.), I would want the club to remain Mazda-specific. There are plenty of car clubs open to all brands. There are very few clubs that cater primarily to Mazdas, which is precisely why I created MTMA in the first place. Going forward, the club would need to remain a Mazda club.

So, in this case, if you would like to be in charge of a car club -- one that is not brand-specific -- I think it'd be best to have it be one that is separate from MTMA. Of course, we'd want to coexist peacefully -- there'd be no reason why someone who owns a Mazda and is a member of MTMA could not also be a member of your club. Having co-sponsored meets would also be something that would be beneficial to both clubs.

Make sense?

 

[Iggy]

Dana,

perhaps we could use that as a springboard to help MTMA relaunch. Build up a following and core group again, and when the time is right, have a mazda only group

 

[Kooldino]

Dana,

perhaps we could use that as a springboard to help MTMA relaunch. Build up a following and core group again, and when the time is right, have a mazda only group

^ I disagree here...I wouldn't want to basically wait until we got a good membership and then axe the non-mazda owners.

I understand justin's feelings, so no big deal.

I just don't know what to do at this point.

 

[Iggy]

^ I disagree here...I wouldn't want to basically wait until we got a good membership and then axe the non-mazda owners.

I understand justin's feelings, so no big deal.

I just don't know what to do at this point.

I wasn't implying that we would wait for a good membership and then just say sayanora to everyone else. I was thinking that we could take the Mazda guys and try to make a sub group.

Im just trying to think of different ways we could get people involved in MTMA again.

 

[Kooldino]

How many active members does the club currently have?

 

[DiS]

Justin i knew you were busy as hell with 2 jobs and stuff, but a little correction here. Meets never stopped (at least the weekly meets) and we also had a fun run during summer. Paul found your fun run directions somewhere lol.

The way I see it, people will never stop attending weekly meets (at least our central NJ crowd). Few new faces but mostly same people show up all the time.

 

[Outlawstar98]

i would love to but i have a busy life already haha, but we need more meets!