- Joined
- Jan 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,236
I have put some thought and some ideas together based on my experiences, what I have seen/heard over the years and the competition our hobby faces. I've never believed you need to hold an office to show leadership, be a leader or provide leading thinking. Now that the organizational elections are over and the leaders have been chosen I'd like to share my ideas on what could be done to make all of our organizations better. In this case it was written pertaining to the organization I belong to but probably can be applied to all. I have already shared this with a few people. You know you are.
Bare in mind it's purpose is not to point out problems but to provide solutions for problems I have heard over the years. I just wanted to provide some insight on organization structure, benefits marketing and value adds that membership bodies such as NAMBA and others that should be able to take advantage of.
Grab a Chair It will be a long read.
Might want to grab a sandwich and beverage as well... maybe two. LOL!
Identity
I think we need define NAMBA clearly for who and what we are and what our responsibility is to provide to the membership. Are we a insurance broker? Is that our primary function? Are we a event sanctioning body? Are we a governing body that provides guidelines for competition? If we are all of the above what is the priority? Can it be defined in a mission statement so our direction is clear no matter who the President is?
What is our positioning statement? For example. When I designed the ad campaign we ran under Al Hobbs leadership I used "NAMBA. Fun and Excitement in RC Boating for Family and Friends" Such a statement would be used on all collateral at every event on every flyer etc. etc.
Business (As in the operations of the organization not to be confused with "for profit")
I would like to see the organization run like a business. That means that the leadership needs to understand some very fundamental principals of running a business. For one a business has customers and in most cases a customer spends money for a product or service. What product or service does NAMBA provide? I believe we can sum it up by saying we provide a governing body that provides guidelines for safety and competition. We also provide insurance for members so that they may be able to operate their equipment without risking their personal finances in the case of a mishap. So if members pay NAMBA for these services I would expect the leadership to know how many and where from such customers have come because this is our source of revenue. The leaders should know where revenue is good and where it is not so good so that he or she could duplicate the successes of the organization in the areas that lack success in an attempt to grow the organization and therefore the revenue. With more revenue we may be able to provide more value for example lower membership fees or lower fees paid back to NAMBA from sanctioning events or funding for sanctioned races to spend on promotions. But first and foremost If NAMBA recognizes it's membership as customers (in most cases loyal repeat customers) then it should never be tolerated that an officer can have a grievance of any kind against a customer for that inhibits their ability to serve the best interest of that customer as a NAMBA member.
I think every position of the organization should have a job description. The description should provide detail about the activities that should be carried out by each position as well as metrics made up of actionable items that would allow the membership to measure the success of each person holding the position.
For the Presidency position I would like to see the following.
1. Promise of a minimum amount of time spent on the job.
2. Assistance securing permanent running locations in each district. The minimum may be that the President must have evidence of correspondence with some local government officials regarding at least one location in each district if the district in that area ask for assistance. At the end of the Presidents term he should have acquired at least 3 permanent sites in 3 different districts.
3. The President should introduce himself and maintain a relationship with as many RC boating manufacturers world-wide as possible as well as all sponsors.
4. The President should hold no grudges toward any individuals whatsoever and at the sign of any personal grievance against him the President must take the initiative in resolving the matter with witness by the Vice President that he has done so.
5. Must have a vision and plan for growth, expansion or enhanced value. (ie. more members to show growth, new districts established to show expansion, lower fees or catered lunch at every sanctioned event to show enhanced value. Note: "Catered Lunch" is just an example of "ADDED VALUE")
Vice President
1. I agree with the board of directors being each district director. The VP should be the manager of this group. Maintaining constant contact and 2-way communication between the President and the board.
2. Head up sponsorship and promotions of the organization and serves as the overseer of any appointed chair he or she may choose for each task.
3. The Vice Presidents success will be measured by the relationship maintained with District Directors as well as sponsorships and news coverage acquired for the organization.
Customer Service
I understand that there have been some accomplishments in the progress of our organization. I would just debate the true value of them to our membership. The membership of our organization or any member driven organization should be about the needs and/or address the pains of the organization. From what I have observed ours are as follows.
Less participation at race events.
Why? Poor Economy. People out of jobs less discretionary spending.
How can this be addressed. Lower fees perhaps? Stretching their dollar?
Dropping Membership
Why? Same Reason?
How can this be addressed. Actively pursue new members.
Real Car Enthusiast. Real Boat Enthusiast. Any Motorsports Enthusiast
Membership Benefits (Added Value)
When I was the co-contest director for the nats in San Jose in 2007 I tried to add value to the event by leveraging our numbers. That is one reason I am big on focusing just one hotel. If I can guarantee them all the business I can push them for better discounts and added value items like free beer for happy hour every day and open bar at the awards banquet. This is something I believe we probably do for our insurance but do not take advantage for other areas. Here are some examples.
Perhaps we should open a NAMBA store. The store would purchase products that can be mass produced in bulk for the purpose of providing to our membership at a discount. We can do this or ask for a coupon number to be given to our membership from the big distributors. Since the big manufacturers do not see "Racers" as their target market then they do not expect a large number in revenue from us. If that is truly the case why not position us as a promotional/marketing partner instead. Provide us product at cost or near cost for the purpose of promotion and make it available to our membership at the same discount. If NAMBA can purchase let's say 100 UL Superior boats at cost or near it and our membership could purchase it at that same discount that would add value to the membership plus create a low barrier of entry for some boats which could boost their interest for a class. I have always promoted to the big manufacturers that the value of a racer to them is as use as a promoter. It is more likely that a racer will get the best performance out of their product. It also produces many local ambassadors for their product. If a new guy comes to a race and sees a whole fleet of Super-Vees, or UL Superiors, or Traxxas Spartans and you tell them they can buy the very same thing online or a local hobby shop and join in the fun almost instantly that would help the manufacturer make more sales and help NAMBA appeal more to potential new boaters.
In addition we should work more closely with manufacturers so that they either sell boats we race or we race boats they sell.
Other areas that our numbers should gain us more leverage to provide added value to the membership is travel expenses. For example if Days Inn is a national hotel chain we should pursue them or others like them for sponsorship. The deal is that we list them as a sponsor on our website and all collateral and they give our membership a deal they can't refuse. Maybe there is even Gas card discounts we can leverage as an organization. I don't know how many we have in our membership right now but if we said we had 500 members that utilize lodging perhaps 10 times (10 races) a year where they book 1 to 2 nights that is potentially 10,000 nights booked for one hotel chain every season. That sounds like a win/win deal their. The same principal would apply to Gas. There might even be possibility for our own Gas card where the organization earns money from the membership travel which it applies to recuce things like membership fees, or entry fees.
We need to look at the needs and feel the pain of the membership and provide solutions for it. In recent years the economy has made cost a big factor for boaters. Let's make an effort to address it utilizing our strength which is the numbers we have as an organization.
I think it is as simple as reaching out and trying it. Imagine if a $40 memberhips saved you $300 in gas over the course of the season, $500 in lodging and got you a newly released FE boat at a $100 discount... all in addition to insurance and organized racing events. I think all of this is possible if there is mind in the organization to do so.
Oh! I also just thought. NAMBA should do what I attempted to do. Film the nats and make a DVD available to the membership. $10,000 will give you a broadcast quality event that could be sold to the participants of each nats as well as sold into distribution as a DVD Title to help offset the cost and possibly turn it into another revenue generator.
Partnerships with Manufacturers
We should supply manufacturers with address locations to every practice pond that any member in the organization can report and request them to put it in the box with each boat sold of any kind. Maybe even post it on the product page of every boat sold online as we know that places to run is one of the largest barriers of entry for any perspective boater. That is a win/win there.
NAMBA Nationals Meeting
This should be an official event held at a nats not a lawn chair camp fire meeting. Perhaps it should be done in place of one of the social events at a Nationals. It can have food and what not to attract more people but I think the President should make at least a 5 minute speech about the organization. It should be uplifting and encouraging. Minutes should also be kept and an agenda should be prepared. The Nats racing should also be scheduled to accomodate such a meeting so people can attend after the races are over. The agenda should include maybe three topics that the membership is able to submit prior to the nationals. Perhaps the topics can be solicited at the beginning of the year, posted in the start of the year Propwash and selected for response by the executive board (solution and plan of action) at the Nats. The minutes of the entire meeting should then be including in the following Propwash
Rules
I think the rules should be the same for every district. If there are special circumstances where a national rule cannot be followed (example: lake size) Identify them and outline the guidelines that should be followed in the instance. I would imagine that there are not an infinite number of exceptions) (Another example: I subscribe to the McDonalds rule of thumb. The fries are always on the left.)
Need to put a long term plan together to require quieter boats
Another area that we may want to aggressively improve is the Db noise levels of nitro and gas boats. I know I am probably one of the biggest culprits with my A mono but this too should change. I used to run a pipe on an old C-Hydro that was 82 dB. It was a Rossi pipe. I turned the fastest time of the entire 99 nats with that pipe. Quiet does not mean slow. You could hear the sponsons slapping the water with that pipe. This may meet some resistance but in the end it removes one of the complaints from surrounding neighborhoods about the boats. It is probably the number one complaint. If it can help us secure more running locations and improve the perception of the organization we should be all for it. I am sure we mandated it we would see a lot more quiet pipes become available. And who knows what further damage we could be avoiding to our own hearing. This can also be positioned as a safety concern.
Organizational Support
Website
I would like to see a corporate approach taken to governing and supporting our organization. We should build a website that provides each district with a consistent look and feel with the parent body and also allows each district easy access to update their own information. (No independent district hosting that depends on the web hosting talent in each district. The disjointed look makes the whole organization look less than the organization we are)
Running Locations
Locations for regular test ponds should be listed on our website as well as hobby shops near them. This type of information will help reduce the guess work for new hobbyist.
Create our own Forum on the NAMBA wesbite.
In the past the veterans were afraid that people will bad mouth the organization. I believe that it's better to control it than to let it run wild. If can give you all types of industry and brand studies on positive growth results despite grievances aired out about major brands online if someone wants to debate this. We are now 10 years into the new millinium it's about time we catch up.
Promotion
Promotion Collateral
Made available for download to the membership so that they can easily customize and print out themselves. All with a consistent and professional look and feel.
Social Networking
We must participate utilizing the tools of our time
Organizational Instructions
The website should provide "How Tos" on the following.
How to secure a running locations (ie. wear to start in contacting someone)
How to start a club
How to keep the interest up in a club.
How to host a race
How to bid on hosting a national event
How to put on a national event
(Basically Support on how to have a successful organization within the organization)
In addition to Running and Tuning Tips...
(Many of these may have already been written about in the propwash. These should be archived online so that they are searchable in knowledge base format. Make better use knowledge, time and effort already put into the hobby. We shouldn't need a RC boat magazine when many of our current members wrote the much of the content over the years. Just put it online. This is probably the easiest and quickest thing to implement)
ADDITIONAL REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES
Sponsorships
I think our organization should seek out sponsorships for the entire organization that can be shared among each event. This would bring the greatest value to the sponsors and the membership. Such money could be dispersed among clubs to promote events, buy equipment like retrieve boats or add amenities to a event location like canopies.
Merchandising
I have always wanted some NASCAR looking NAMBA stuff to wear and I think NAMBA could make money off of spending a little money to have some two or three NAMBA graphic tees made and maybe some cool NASCAR style jackets made even some hoodies, sweat pants, hats and aprons. Add 10 dollars to the cost of each one of these items and $5 discount with each new membership renewal you might be able to sell 500 units. That's another 5 to 10,000 added to the bottom line. That money could pay for radio and television advertising of a nationals or simply used to reduce entry fees at local events.
Advertising
The organization can provide an affordable advertising outlet for those merchants that serve the RC community. This would also serve as an additional revenue source for NAMBA plus add to the appeal of NAMBA as a one-stop resource for the world of RC boating.
RACING
Nationals
Adjust rules to allow for the top most popular classes of a given time without the need for official class introductions. For example. We take the top 32 classes that can produce at least 3 heats of 6 boat racing. It doesn't matter if they are gas, electric or nitro. Run all classes at one nats... but just the top 32. So if Aquacraft wanted to have a class with all UL Superior boats (for example) they could very well do so if they could rally up 15 people to enter their boats. I think this would help keep racing relevant to what's popular and what the manufacturers are supporting. Collaboration has to start somewhere. Someone has to make the first move.
Use this same method for local events allowing a district to take the top entries of any class. This will give the membership more flexibility in deciding what they want to run at a race.
I have already created the following and would be happy to share for use by others.
Organization Brochure
Organization Wide Sponsorship Proposal
Merchandising Artwork
These are all things I have done in the past. Some are aware of them already but chose not to make use of them.
These are just my thoughts. I decided to post them to share with the entire community of RC boating. If you like any of the ideas feel free to make use if even for discussion in your own inner circle. I have a strong desire to simply to help improve our organizations but my summary of thoughts is about all I have time to contribute at this point. Take from it what you will. If you find none that applies or can be realistically implemented than I am fine with this post existing as merely my humble opinion.
Let me add this. I am on the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce which is a non-profit. The organization is also subsidized by the city, which is subsidized, by the county, which is subsidized by the state, which is subsidized by the Federal government all of which is audited every year by its parent government. All of what I proposed here do not conflict with non-profit status. It is what is needed and allowed to maintain, properly market and adequately provide service for any organization. Boat organizations don't even have employees. The non-profit organization I provide direction for even have a number of paid employees. Non-Profit Status is not an issue nor the conflict with it.
Bare in mind it's purpose is not to point out problems but to provide solutions for problems I have heard over the years. I just wanted to provide some insight on organization structure, benefits marketing and value adds that membership bodies such as NAMBA and others that should be able to take advantage of.
Grab a Chair It will be a long read.
Might want to grab a sandwich and beverage as well... maybe two. LOL!
Identity
I think we need define NAMBA clearly for who and what we are and what our responsibility is to provide to the membership. Are we a insurance broker? Is that our primary function? Are we a event sanctioning body? Are we a governing body that provides guidelines for competition? If we are all of the above what is the priority? Can it be defined in a mission statement so our direction is clear no matter who the President is?
What is our positioning statement? For example. When I designed the ad campaign we ran under Al Hobbs leadership I used "NAMBA. Fun and Excitement in RC Boating for Family and Friends" Such a statement would be used on all collateral at every event on every flyer etc. etc.
Business (As in the operations of the organization not to be confused with "for profit")
I would like to see the organization run like a business. That means that the leadership needs to understand some very fundamental principals of running a business. For one a business has customers and in most cases a customer spends money for a product or service. What product or service does NAMBA provide? I believe we can sum it up by saying we provide a governing body that provides guidelines for safety and competition. We also provide insurance for members so that they may be able to operate their equipment without risking their personal finances in the case of a mishap. So if members pay NAMBA for these services I would expect the leadership to know how many and where from such customers have come because this is our source of revenue. The leaders should know where revenue is good and where it is not so good so that he or she could duplicate the successes of the organization in the areas that lack success in an attempt to grow the organization and therefore the revenue. With more revenue we may be able to provide more value for example lower membership fees or lower fees paid back to NAMBA from sanctioning events or funding for sanctioned races to spend on promotions. But first and foremost If NAMBA recognizes it's membership as customers (in most cases loyal repeat customers) then it should never be tolerated that an officer can have a grievance of any kind against a customer for that inhibits their ability to serve the best interest of that customer as a NAMBA member.
I think every position of the organization should have a job description. The description should provide detail about the activities that should be carried out by each position as well as metrics made up of actionable items that would allow the membership to measure the success of each person holding the position.
For the Presidency position I would like to see the following.
1. Promise of a minimum amount of time spent on the job.
2. Assistance securing permanent running locations in each district. The minimum may be that the President must have evidence of correspondence with some local government officials regarding at least one location in each district if the district in that area ask for assistance. At the end of the Presidents term he should have acquired at least 3 permanent sites in 3 different districts.
3. The President should introduce himself and maintain a relationship with as many RC boating manufacturers world-wide as possible as well as all sponsors.
4. The President should hold no grudges toward any individuals whatsoever and at the sign of any personal grievance against him the President must take the initiative in resolving the matter with witness by the Vice President that he has done so.
5. Must have a vision and plan for growth, expansion or enhanced value. (ie. more members to show growth, new districts established to show expansion, lower fees or catered lunch at every sanctioned event to show enhanced value. Note: "Catered Lunch" is just an example of "ADDED VALUE")
Vice President
1. I agree with the board of directors being each district director. The VP should be the manager of this group. Maintaining constant contact and 2-way communication between the President and the board.
2. Head up sponsorship and promotions of the organization and serves as the overseer of any appointed chair he or she may choose for each task.
3. The Vice Presidents success will be measured by the relationship maintained with District Directors as well as sponsorships and news coverage acquired for the organization.
Customer Service
I understand that there have been some accomplishments in the progress of our organization. I would just debate the true value of them to our membership. The membership of our organization or any member driven organization should be about the needs and/or address the pains of the organization. From what I have observed ours are as follows.
Less participation at race events.
Why? Poor Economy. People out of jobs less discretionary spending.
How can this be addressed. Lower fees perhaps? Stretching their dollar?
Dropping Membership
Why? Same Reason?
How can this be addressed. Actively pursue new members.
Real Car Enthusiast. Real Boat Enthusiast. Any Motorsports Enthusiast
Membership Benefits (Added Value)
When I was the co-contest director for the nats in San Jose in 2007 I tried to add value to the event by leveraging our numbers. That is one reason I am big on focusing just one hotel. If I can guarantee them all the business I can push them for better discounts and added value items like free beer for happy hour every day and open bar at the awards banquet. This is something I believe we probably do for our insurance but do not take advantage for other areas. Here are some examples.
Perhaps we should open a NAMBA store. The store would purchase products that can be mass produced in bulk for the purpose of providing to our membership at a discount. We can do this or ask for a coupon number to be given to our membership from the big distributors. Since the big manufacturers do not see "Racers" as their target market then they do not expect a large number in revenue from us. If that is truly the case why not position us as a promotional/marketing partner instead. Provide us product at cost or near cost for the purpose of promotion and make it available to our membership at the same discount. If NAMBA can purchase let's say 100 UL Superior boats at cost or near it and our membership could purchase it at that same discount that would add value to the membership plus create a low barrier of entry for some boats which could boost their interest for a class. I have always promoted to the big manufacturers that the value of a racer to them is as use as a promoter. It is more likely that a racer will get the best performance out of their product. It also produces many local ambassadors for their product. If a new guy comes to a race and sees a whole fleet of Super-Vees, or UL Superiors, or Traxxas Spartans and you tell them they can buy the very same thing online or a local hobby shop and join in the fun almost instantly that would help the manufacturer make more sales and help NAMBA appeal more to potential new boaters.
In addition we should work more closely with manufacturers so that they either sell boats we race or we race boats they sell.
Other areas that our numbers should gain us more leverage to provide added value to the membership is travel expenses. For example if Days Inn is a national hotel chain we should pursue them or others like them for sponsorship. The deal is that we list them as a sponsor on our website and all collateral and they give our membership a deal they can't refuse. Maybe there is even Gas card discounts we can leverage as an organization. I don't know how many we have in our membership right now but if we said we had 500 members that utilize lodging perhaps 10 times (10 races) a year where they book 1 to 2 nights that is potentially 10,000 nights booked for one hotel chain every season. That sounds like a win/win deal their. The same principal would apply to Gas. There might even be possibility for our own Gas card where the organization earns money from the membership travel which it applies to recuce things like membership fees, or entry fees.
We need to look at the needs and feel the pain of the membership and provide solutions for it. In recent years the economy has made cost a big factor for boaters. Let's make an effort to address it utilizing our strength which is the numbers we have as an organization.
I think it is as simple as reaching out and trying it. Imagine if a $40 memberhips saved you $300 in gas over the course of the season, $500 in lodging and got you a newly released FE boat at a $100 discount... all in addition to insurance and organized racing events. I think all of this is possible if there is mind in the organization to do so.
Oh! I also just thought. NAMBA should do what I attempted to do. Film the nats and make a DVD available to the membership. $10,000 will give you a broadcast quality event that could be sold to the participants of each nats as well as sold into distribution as a DVD Title to help offset the cost and possibly turn it into another revenue generator.
Partnerships with Manufacturers
We should supply manufacturers with address locations to every practice pond that any member in the organization can report and request them to put it in the box with each boat sold of any kind. Maybe even post it on the product page of every boat sold online as we know that places to run is one of the largest barriers of entry for any perspective boater. That is a win/win there.
NAMBA Nationals Meeting
This should be an official event held at a nats not a lawn chair camp fire meeting. Perhaps it should be done in place of one of the social events at a Nationals. It can have food and what not to attract more people but I think the President should make at least a 5 minute speech about the organization. It should be uplifting and encouraging. Minutes should also be kept and an agenda should be prepared. The Nats racing should also be scheduled to accomodate such a meeting so people can attend after the races are over. The agenda should include maybe three topics that the membership is able to submit prior to the nationals. Perhaps the topics can be solicited at the beginning of the year, posted in the start of the year Propwash and selected for response by the executive board (solution and plan of action) at the Nats. The minutes of the entire meeting should then be including in the following Propwash
Rules
I think the rules should be the same for every district. If there are special circumstances where a national rule cannot be followed (example: lake size) Identify them and outline the guidelines that should be followed in the instance. I would imagine that there are not an infinite number of exceptions) (Another example: I subscribe to the McDonalds rule of thumb. The fries are always on the left.)
Need to put a long term plan together to require quieter boats
Another area that we may want to aggressively improve is the Db noise levels of nitro and gas boats. I know I am probably one of the biggest culprits with my A mono but this too should change. I used to run a pipe on an old C-Hydro that was 82 dB. It was a Rossi pipe. I turned the fastest time of the entire 99 nats with that pipe. Quiet does not mean slow. You could hear the sponsons slapping the water with that pipe. This may meet some resistance but in the end it removes one of the complaints from surrounding neighborhoods about the boats. It is probably the number one complaint. If it can help us secure more running locations and improve the perception of the organization we should be all for it. I am sure we mandated it we would see a lot more quiet pipes become available. And who knows what further damage we could be avoiding to our own hearing. This can also be positioned as a safety concern.
Organizational Support
Website
I would like to see a corporate approach taken to governing and supporting our organization. We should build a website that provides each district with a consistent look and feel with the parent body and also allows each district easy access to update their own information. (No independent district hosting that depends on the web hosting talent in each district. The disjointed look makes the whole organization look less than the organization we are)
Running Locations
Locations for regular test ponds should be listed on our website as well as hobby shops near them. This type of information will help reduce the guess work for new hobbyist.
Create our own Forum on the NAMBA wesbite.
In the past the veterans were afraid that people will bad mouth the organization. I believe that it's better to control it than to let it run wild. If can give you all types of industry and brand studies on positive growth results despite grievances aired out about major brands online if someone wants to debate this. We are now 10 years into the new millinium it's about time we catch up.
Promotion
Promotion Collateral
Made available for download to the membership so that they can easily customize and print out themselves. All with a consistent and professional look and feel.
Social Networking
We must participate utilizing the tools of our time
Organizational Instructions
The website should provide "How Tos" on the following.
How to secure a running locations (ie. wear to start in contacting someone)
How to start a club
How to keep the interest up in a club.
How to host a race
How to bid on hosting a national event
How to put on a national event
(Basically Support on how to have a successful organization within the organization)
In addition to Running and Tuning Tips...
(Many of these may have already been written about in the propwash. These should be archived online so that they are searchable in knowledge base format. Make better use knowledge, time and effort already put into the hobby. We shouldn't need a RC boat magazine when many of our current members wrote the much of the content over the years. Just put it online. This is probably the easiest and quickest thing to implement)
ADDITIONAL REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES
Sponsorships
I think our organization should seek out sponsorships for the entire organization that can be shared among each event. This would bring the greatest value to the sponsors and the membership. Such money could be dispersed among clubs to promote events, buy equipment like retrieve boats or add amenities to a event location like canopies.
Merchandising
I have always wanted some NASCAR looking NAMBA stuff to wear and I think NAMBA could make money off of spending a little money to have some two or three NAMBA graphic tees made and maybe some cool NASCAR style jackets made even some hoodies, sweat pants, hats and aprons. Add 10 dollars to the cost of each one of these items and $5 discount with each new membership renewal you might be able to sell 500 units. That's another 5 to 10,000 added to the bottom line. That money could pay for radio and television advertising of a nationals or simply used to reduce entry fees at local events.
Advertising
The organization can provide an affordable advertising outlet for those merchants that serve the RC community. This would also serve as an additional revenue source for NAMBA plus add to the appeal of NAMBA as a one-stop resource for the world of RC boating.
RACING
Nationals
Adjust rules to allow for the top most popular classes of a given time without the need for official class introductions. For example. We take the top 32 classes that can produce at least 3 heats of 6 boat racing. It doesn't matter if they are gas, electric or nitro. Run all classes at one nats... but just the top 32. So if Aquacraft wanted to have a class with all UL Superior boats (for example) they could very well do so if they could rally up 15 people to enter their boats. I think this would help keep racing relevant to what's popular and what the manufacturers are supporting. Collaboration has to start somewhere. Someone has to make the first move.
Use this same method for local events allowing a district to take the top entries of any class. This will give the membership more flexibility in deciding what they want to run at a race.
I have already created the following and would be happy to share for use by others.
Organization Brochure
Organization Wide Sponsorship Proposal
Merchandising Artwork
These are all things I have done in the past. Some are aware of them already but chose not to make use of them.
These are just my thoughts. I decided to post them to share with the entire community of RC boating. If you like any of the ideas feel free to make use if even for discussion in your own inner circle. I have a strong desire to simply to help improve our organizations but my summary of thoughts is about all I have time to contribute at this point. Take from it what you will. If you find none that applies or can be realistically implemented than I am fine with this post existing as merely my humble opinion.
Let me add this. I am on the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce which is a non-profit. The organization is also subsidized by the city, which is subsidized, by the county, which is subsidized by the state, which is subsidized by the Federal government all of which is audited every year by its parent government. All of what I proposed here do not conflict with non-profit status. It is what is needed and allowed to maintain, properly market and adequately provide service for any organization. Boat organizations don't even have employees. The non-profit organization I provide direction for even have a number of paid employees. Non-Profit Status is not an issue nor the conflict with it.
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