Irish Region Committee Feedback required

Richie, I don't know the answer, but its clear that the club activities as it stands (whether that be the formal or informal club) aren't compelling enough to involve themselves in.

I'd hazard a guess that some of those members are here because they have access to technical knowledge, resources and discounts, etc. that helps them enjoy their cars.  Look at the number of Irish cars that have featured in BMW Car mag and Total BMW in recent months.  The owners are nearly all club members to my knowledge and yet, despite their obvious interest in BMW's, they don't feel that the environment in the club is worth being actively involved in.  There may be some blame for that that can go back to the committee, but, as members, we all have to accept some responsibility.

Eamo, I disagree to some extent with the view that the committee must change before the views of the members can be gathered.  That might be putting the cart before the horse.  When the views of the wider membership have been gathered and analysed, THEN a structure (committee, etc.) that can represent and develop the wishes of the majority of members can be put in place.  This SHOULD include current committee members if they have an interest in continuing, for the sake of continuity and so that we can tap in to the experience and knowledge of these members.

There may be changes needed, but remember that the current committee is the one that has gotten the club to a point where many of us, as individuals, were interested to join.

A slight aside, but relevent nonetheless, was a comment from Killian was about the number of members that haven't renewed.  It would be worth gathering their feedback too to understand why, especially if its true that a significant number were northern.  The activities (with the exception of the trip north during the summer) are primarily focused on the south and midlands and this does exclude a lot of people.

I'd be interested to see the proportion of forum users to actual club members. If it wasn't for the trackday, I reckon a significant portion of people wouldn't join the club. And many join just for those 2 events. However, in the bigger picture of what is being discussed, that's neither here nor there.

In terms of increasing profile, I think the show & shine at Duffys was a brilliant piece of work in both drumming up internal interest within the club for a non-trackday event, and raising the clubs profile on a dealer and Joe-Public level. Perhaps a way of keeping growing the club profile would be to have a simple A5 flier with all new and 2ndhand cars sold by co-operative BMW dealers; this can profile the club, its benefits, the forum, activities etc..

As mentioned above, the turnouts for alot of events isn't great. We need to figure what works, what doesn't, and focus on maximising the events that show potential. What we need is more feedback and involvement from everyone to contribute and attend.

Movingto the commitee itself, from the IRL section contacts, it stands as:

To have gotten the club to where it is now, those involved should take a bow. But as Bertie would say "alot done, more to do"

Is there much happening in the N.I. area? Can we have more cross-border events? Are people interested in them? Should it be Jim and Allan, in their capacity of N.I. co-ordinators, following up on interest shown in a BMWclub BDD event in Kirkistown, and not Ludo?

Is Kevin still involved in a chairman capacity? Does he still want to be? I see Brendan you are now Irish Region Club editor - I assume you are still secretary though? (and if ya are, how come you don't wear a skirt at any events I've been at? ).

Eamon. No need to correct T.J.  He was referring to the previous Show and Shine/Concours at Joe Duffy's. The first Show and Shine at Motor Imports in 2002 was also a well attended event.

Thanks Eamon for continuing the good tradition established for Show and Shine/Concours type events. How are your plans going for 2006 will you have a proposed date at the end of year meeting?