Changes to Toymods Car Club Membership

[Lambolica]

A well worded rant.

We did look at this option, however if we have $5 for forum access & $30 for club who is going to join the club?

No club members = no board members = no forum

[masterofsinanju]

I think you've made some good points.

Something that you might want to consider is that since the club starts out as Sydney based the "benefits" are going to be skewed to encouraging physical attendance by those who are most likely to be able to and want to contribute in real terms to keeping the club going. Ie board and active club members.

I'm near Canberra so like you I'm unlikely to get the benefit of ten bucks off a meal ( let's just see about that eh?).

People blow $30 on half a tank of petrol so they can do laps of maccas. Really what does it matter if you don't get all of the benefits someone else gets? After all of the good things you've noted this forum provides, why fall in a heap over $30 for an entire year? I've spent more on movie and a dinner that wasn't particularly good and didn't even get a handy afterwards.

This is such a storm in a teacup. Pay your $30 and keep enjoying and contributing. Clearly from what you've written, you put some thought into it. Put in some more about what benefits you do get.

[oldcorollas]

as said before, it's not about keeping the forum going....


remember that no amount of money will keep the CLUB going.. it requires warm bodies to contribute.
and yah, focus on what you DO get, rather than what you don't get...

[Dan_k36]

So I will pay the money as I have gained a lot of use from this site, won't be in need of the dina or dyno unless you guys want to pay shipping and air fares
So when do u want me to pay this? After the end if the month?

Dan

[TheToyman75]

Dan,

Simon has been busting his balls to make this all happen in a short period of time. I believe its pretty much all set and ready to go after some final tweaks and testing.

The new membership process is being rolled out as soon as we can. Simon will let everyone know when it is up an running.


Boxh34d,

Thanks for the well worded and thought out input, we do read it and appreciate it.

In reply tho I would like you to consider the alternate side of the coin to how you have looked at it:

$30 is forum membership - we throw in Club membership for free

And to be honest that is pretty much what we are doing. Hence the no more T-Shirts with sign ups or Merhandise with renewals. The $30 is the minimum we can charge to keep things running and not go backwards financially. Toymods has never existed to make money and the new annual fee will not actually cover 100% of what it costs the club to have a member, but it covers most of it and the balance we can currently cover with the proceeds of Sponsorship on the forums.

The benefits of membership thread will be adjusted to reflect this change.

So if it makes you feel better you can think of Toymods as a $30 a year forum you can choose to pay to be part of. Of course your just as welcome to use it as an Non Financial member, we are not kicking anyone off the forum or locking the gates to the every section.

[Gold28]

Ladies and Gents,

The forum has always existed for the benefit of Club members. Unfortunately the forum has outgrown the club and without change, the club will not be in a position to continue to support the forum that everyone seems so attached to.

When discussing these changes, we knew it would ruffle some feathers but our primary concerns were to streamline management of the club memberships, make membership of the club more attractive and honour our existing agreements with our current financial club members. I believe we have done this with no disadvantage to our club members.

When all is said and done, the changes are minimal and for club members, the only changes you will see are significantly cheaper renewals but no renewal gift. You do however get full access to the forums, no cost advertising and attractive discounts to our club sponsors (in addition to the forum sponsors). In reality, your $30 doesn’t quite cover our costs, which include public liability insurance, club registration fees and admin costs so we find the money elsewhere.

For a non-club, forum only user, yes we will restrict you from some areas including starting some for sale threads and the non-car related forums. We now consider these to be a club member’s privilege. If you want access to these benefits, please support the club that provides the forum and become a fee paying member. You can then enjoy all the benefits that come with being a club member. I will remind you however that you still have access to most of the forum at zero cost.

If you want to have a say in how the club (and by extension the forum) is run and wish your voice to be heard then get off your keyboard battleground, attend the AGM this February 18th and volunteer your time to assist the board. Your time and opinions are most welcome in that forum.

For interstate members, we do realise that membership is less attractive given that you are unable to access some of the benefits. Unfortunately we are a NSW registered club and cannot operate in other states (or countries). You are still however welcome to join the club and enjoy the benefits available to you and you will be supporting the club that provides the forums.

In summary, Toymods car club will still provide the forum for the benefit of its financial club members. For Forum users who are not financial members of the club, we encourage you to support the club with your time and financially by becoming a member. If you do not wish to support the club in this way then we make no apology.

Kind Regards,


Anthony
Toymods Car Club Social Events Co-ordinator.

[foamy]

When will the Paypal option through the website be setup?

[RONA]

To be fair I understand the point of view of some of the interstate members at the end of the day it all adds up. A while back I was a member of Toymods, NSW Supra Club, Wollongong Sporting Car Club + Cams. All up membership probably would have totaled $200+/Year. The Supra Club I supported specifically on the premise of some discounts that never eventuated as apparently only MK4 Supra owners were eligible for them (Err would have been nice to be upfront and honest about that).

At the end of the day I could afford to pay it but you weigh up the benefits and potentially drop one or 2 of them, for me I hope for some of the interstate members this doesn't mean we lose their contribution to the forum. We can argue to the cows come home about club vs forum etc but for a lot of the current members the fact is they never would have joined the club without the forum.

Personally I'd love to help the club out more but geographically Sydney is a c*nt of a place and between working in North Sydney/Melbourne and commuting back to C'town getting to Parramatta/Blacktown for a meet on time in nigh on impossible.

The only issue I see with this change is that while for the club it means it'll have more members the number of people attending meets will probably change very little. Personally I think the car scene in Sydney/Aus is getting too diluted you have way more forums/groups then 10+ years ago which has diluted the market eg AE86 forums, GT86 Forums, JDM etc all running meets, dyno days etc. The trouble is you saturate the market with events and then end up with virtually no one in attendance. Toymods Dyno Day for instance is tiny in comparison to when it use to be a sell out by 9am twice a year. Yet other events like Classic Celica Cruise and Toyotafest are booming.

[Lambolica]

When will the Paypal option through the website be setup?

They are up in the Membership section.

[Lambolica]

When will the Paypal option through the website be setup?

They are up in the Membership section.

[oldcorollas]

done. too easy.. except i can never remember paypal password and have to change it each time...

and now seeing in-post advertising LOL (that must suck on dial up/shaped speeds.. )
not sure of my member number either.. not sure i ever got a membership card (on the odd occasion i signed up ) but wouldn't mind one this time

[river]

Hi,

Yep. Saw your payment email come into the Board email

One small step for OC, one huge leap for Toymods.

seeyuzz
river

[oldcorollas]

the online membership payment IS a huge leap forwards
well done boys

(pity i'm now even further away from Castle hill at least you won7t need to see my wrinkly face often LOL )

[Lambolica]

I'll look into the ad thing...

[oldcorollas]

'sall good.. call it penance happy to leave it for a while (it started before i did the paypal thing anyway )