Upgrade to Club

Further to my message to all members.

i think i need a bit more info, how much liability do we need, and how much would that be? My initial feeling is that creating a club is a thing for the future. I like the idea. At the moment we are very small, 40+ members, not all of whom own vans so wouldnt join. Would a very small club be able to arrange discounts with suppliers and insurance? With the forming of a club, what reponsability legally do the committee hold? Can they be held financally liabel? It would be interesting to hear from Jason re the possibility of discounts from Danbury's, as they are the lead company in the Brazilian market in the UK, and wether they would support it.
For now i feel unable to vote, I have no experience of setting up such an organisation,

Matt wrote:

I have no experience of setting up such an organisation,

That'll make 2 of us then Matt!

I'm deliberately not voting as I want to see how the poll goes without my influence. Many thanks to those of you who have responded and for your pms about the subject.

I think we need to discuss this openly here. Matt has raised some valid points. Sure at the moment we are in our infancy but when you consider the percentage of Brazilian T2s out there versus Splits, Classic Bays and T25s it would be unrealistic for us to expect to have huge numbers immediately. I seem to recall Jason telling me that Danbury have sold 1000 T2s since they started to import them. (Jason if you could give us a more accurate figure that would be great!) So if even a third of those owners joined up it would make it worth it - wouldn't it? Then of course there are those that have come in via VWKampers/VWDownunder.

Just like setting up this forum - creating a club would be new to me. So let's discuss it here - keep the votes coming in - I've set the poll so you can change your mind if you wish. I'll add a 3rd option in - "Let's consider it for the future" if that response fits with you right now.

When speaking to the guy on the Danbury stall at Vanworld i asked how many they had done this year, he said 250

Think I have to agree with Matt. Seems a bit early at the moment, even though there are 40+ members to the forum how many would want to join a club.
Can only speak for myself but not really into the club thing, go on the forums for advice and ideas, maybe the odd meet hrere and there.

Hi all,

a club is only what you want it to be. If its only a tool to enable the forum to meet/camp together at shows or a show thats all it needs to be.

We already have a group of friends within the VW sceen and are also members of a local club, if you havn't got this however the Brazilian Bay forum/club could be a good place to meet. You only have to put in and take out what you want. Billy

Tim, i'm not against the club idea, just think that we wouldnt get enough members to cover the insurance (but then i have no idea how much this would be). How much liabillity insurance cover does vanfest say we would need to get a club place?.

Hi Matt - no probs.

We're just getting people's thoughts at the moment. I've set the poll to run for 30 days. We'll have a look at the response by then and draw whatever conclusion.

I found an article that said a club's basic liability can be as low as 100 quid.

Another idea a mate suggested (thanks Vic) is that if we want to camp somewhere - as a group - and that is the only basis on which we are forming a club - then we could just organise to meet somewhere near to a show/camp and then all enter together thereby being able to pitch as a group. Make sense?!

Thats alot lower than i expected. If it can be done for that then it is quite fesiable.
Yep, i see what you mean about getting to camp together.

12 votes so far out of 40 odd members. Not really getting that much interest is it ......

TimV wrote:

12 votes so far out of 40 odd members. Not really getting that much interest is it ......

Dont see the point as there are other clubs out there who welcome Brazilians who are well established. This forum is great however, it is new and would suggest walking before running.

would be ok if it gets us a parts and insurance discount but think we need more members

why not sell a sticker to those who want to camp at vanfest. the sticker cost is the fee to join the club.
then we have club status for the camping, without the stigma (i use that word purposely) of having the (status) of yet another small club ....

i remarked to a friend in the LTV club about 4 years ago that we were then on the cusp of a new age where clubs will be overtaken by on-line forums.
i think i was right.

just my 2 penneth

So where abouts are you Dean and Jo - I'm in Surrey and a member of the LTV Club - we need to get our Bays together for a photo shoot at least?!

Tim
We are in Leafield, Oxfordshire. I was thinking of coming to the Ace Cafe next month, one of the tuesday evening vw meetings?

Think that should be Tuesday 11th? May come along if I can.

dean&jo wrote:

Tim
We are in Leafield, Oxfordshire. I was thinking of coming to the Ace Cafe next month, one of the tuesday evening vw meetings?

Hi Dean&Jo, Ace cafe on a Tuesday night sounds fun, put me down for that but just let me know date and time, should take me 45mins to get there dependant on the north circular traffic.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in this poll.

So as it stands only 38% of members took part in the vote, which tends to make me think that at this time moving the forum up to a Club would perhaps be a little premature. So let's see how it goes and re-visit this idea at a later stage if it looks like the right way forward.

In the meantime please be involved on the site as much as you can - it's great to hear how everyone uses their Bays and sorts out problems and enhances their Kombi in some way that others would love to see. Also if you see another Brazilian Bay and you get a chance to chat with the owner - ask them if they're on the site - you'd be amazed how many people I bump into who are genuinely happy to hear about the resource.

Here's to the future of the forum

Tim

An update on this folks.

I am in the process of getting the forum and its members recognised as a club in the Association of British Volkswagen Clubs. For a very reasonable fee we can achieve club status and be covered by their liability insurance enabling us to pitch together at future events such as Vanfest.

I'll keep you posted.

Sounds good,