I once was a member....

Well, I once was a member of the 928OC - never really understood the value of my membership - got a T-shirt and license frame - and had a heckuva time renewing/rejoining so I ultimately didn't.

That's a tough way to start a post here and by my post count, could be my first, last and only one.

I'm not a johnny come lately as I've been in the larger 928 Owner's Community for a number of years. I've not contributed as much as I could but have a profound appreciation for the people (both Vendors and Owners) who make owning these cars more approachable.

I'll admit I was only compelled to come back here to get a view of what was going on on this side of the online 928 community. Doesn't seem the election is serving anyone very well and frankly, having existing leadership communicating the way they do on forums, is a bit of a tough pill to swallow.

I'm sure many would agree whomever is elected, better focus 1000% on something other than membership numbers. Having a sudden influx of membership at the time of election, is never something to be proud of or a real measure of success.

I don't know James but do know of his passion for the 928 and presumably a similar passion for the 928 owner. I like his taste in cars and women (particularly in combination!) With that said, I've personally benefited from much of the knowledge imparted by Andrew, in other places. If I was a voting member, I'd be looking for who is GENUINELY going to amplify the value of the 928 Owner's Community (not just a club).

I appreciate all those who put their time in here, there and everywhere around 928s. I was part of the Board that blazed the trail for a Technology User Group that in it's earliest days had maybe 1500 paying members (they attended our conference - and GOT ZERO VALUE out of a MEMBERSHIP). We learned hard lessons and, Today, that number is 100 times greater and every dollar (MILLIONS) goes back into valuable assets for the community (whether people are members or not). I put time into that association like Stan (and others) likely does for this one. After a while, it wore on me and I assume could have the same effect on someone here.

I think as a membership you should contemplate if you are indeed happy with maintaining your identity as a Club or if you want to be impactful on the Community. It doesn't seem many in the community are jumping to praise the OC

I won't have a vote in the election for the 928 Owner's Club and for one am THANKFUL.

In case you are reading and wondering who is this guy, my name is Trey Johnson and I have a 1990 s4 and two kids 9 and 13 that would kick your kid's ass maintaining one of these cars Just kidding. My family, I'm a single dad, is passionate about the car, and they like me, are members of the 928 Community.

I appreciate you, Mr. David Roberts for your role in growing the community through your support of 928s (as a passion turned business) and the absolute joy my forever aging children get out of going to the event you and your wife do so well.

I appreciate the other vendors who have found a way to stay financially viable in the 928 community and serve our needs.

I'm thankful this club exists although I've not benefited from any direct guidance found here on the use and maintenance of my 928. I know some of you post elsewhere and I'm thankful for it.

I'm excited to one day visit all of the 928 events held in the USA. If you're in this membership and have not, I hope you one day see the value of the entire 928 community.

Heck, maybe we'll bump into each other some day

Thank you for your additions to 928OC.
We actually had another new member 5 min ago

Trey,

I enjoyed reading your post! Hope you will come back to visit often and perhaps in time you will see value and rejoin the club.

As many have said over the last couple of years things have been evolving.

My favorite pair of things that we do for our members are:

1. 928 specialty tool loaner program. That can be very helpful for the shade tree mechanic.

2. Roadside Assistance Program. It is really more of a user help group for the traveller. If you know your route you can look online and find some folks along the way that might be able to help you out if you are in an automotive bind, or maybe just have drinks and get to know you if you are on a long journey and have a stop for the night. I have seen this program used at least three times (once for me) and man is it a great resource!

Other things to come...

BTW, as the membership chair I can tell you that the membership growth I was counting was NEW members and we have actually had very few new folks join because of the elections. More than a few renewals, so who had been expired for a long time, but the 40% increase of the last 2 years vs the 2 years before that is strictly new member growth.

jej3;11212 wrote: Well, I once was a member of the 928OC - never really understood the value of my membership - got a T-shirt and license frame - and had a heckuva time renewing/rejoining so I ultimately didn't.

That's a tough way to start a post here and by my post count, could be my first, last and only one.

I'm not a johnny come lately as I've been in the larger 928 Owner's Community for a number of years. I've not contributed as much as I could but have a profound appreciation for the people (both Vendors and Owners) who make owning these cars more approachable.

I'll admit I was only compelled to come back here to get a view of what was going on on this side of the online 928 community. Doesn't seem the election is serving anyone very well and frankly, having existing leadership communicating the way they do on forums, is a bit of a tough pill to swallow.

This just about sums up many of my feelings as well. I'm not a new comer myself, nor will I leave regardless of who gets elected. I've been encouraging local members to join the Club in the Indy area and founded our local group.

I believe that with most things in life, you get out what you put in. I've only contributed annual dues for probably 6 or 8 years now and have a nice collection of T-shirts and other cool stuff to show for it. I wouldn't expect more unless I contributed more.

IMHO, the OCIC has always the 928 Mecca; which I finally attended this year. I was totally impressed with everything in Wichita. If somehow my dues had anything to do with making this happen, I'm happy.

What I'm not happy about is how things have turned so negative and defensive around here and there. I don't plan to return here until after 9/28 when this will be water under the bridge.