Growing a Chapter

[Guest GS70Stage1]

After Buick - what makes a club so exciting you don't want to miss a meeting or event?

As a member of one of the newest Chapters, Central Florida based in Orlando, I am interested in ideas for events and really fun things to do with great cars. Everyone has lots on their plates and lots of claims for their time, so what makes a club stand out and grow?

[jscheib]

Good question. As the Assistant Director of the Yankee (CT) Chapter, we are faced with a similar situation. For one, I would suggest that you certainly should put together an annual show, if not done. To do that, you need the first thing - a bunch of good people that can get along together (and I have found most Buick owners are), and willing to share the load.

We try to get together at various other shows, traveling together, taking some driving tours, etc. But trruthhfully, I think the biggest reason we have seen some growth was the Centennial celebration. This seems to have stirred renewed interest in long standing members and getting some new ones. We also tried to expand a relationship with chapters in nearby states, and are trying to rotate Regional meetings. I also get inquiries on a frequent basis through our website link to BCA. Perhaps we can share more later.

John D. Scheib

Yankee Chapter

[Centurion]

Ken, we have found that the driving tours -- especially the overnight tours -- have been most successful in terms of building our membership and the level of participation.

On any given summer weekend, there are a myriad of car shows, and many people -- especially spouses -- can find these boring. In contrast, the tours give us an opportunity to go somewhere special, and we often pick places where there's plenty for the wives to see and do. When the women can begin making personal connections with one another, it's amazing how much more supportive of the old car hobby they become!

I would always opt for driving with a group of vintage Buicks over and above attending the car shows.

[imported_48Rdmstr68Skylrk]

I fully agree that driving tours are a big hit with the lady folk. I know my wife was sort of dreading the Great Lakes regional last year in Erie. That is until we went on the driving tour along the shore of lake Erie, and visited Lake Cataqua. She loved it because we were not sitting in a parking lot in the hot sun stairing at one another for 6 hours.

I want to try a poker run or road rally or orienteering by car event with my chapters this year. Remember te old saying "Buicks are meant to be driven"

[BUICK RACER]

It's already been said, the driving tours are the big attraction, especially when you can stop at different places that interest everybody. The Buicktown Chapter traditionally does a spring tour and a fall color tour, on a Saturday or Sunday. In 2003, the Fall Color tour included a cider mill with a gift/craft shop, a visit to an orginal Michigan farm, that the owners also owned one of the first 'watering holes' for folks traveling from Flint to Saginaw, and we had dinner at their 3rd generation restaurant. The U-turns are also included.

Ken, you have some of the best touring experienced folks in FL, that used to be in Michigan, some of them are Bob and Pam Bonk, Bob and Marie Beaton, and I hear that some more MI folks will be visiting Fl in March or before. Ken and Paula Liska, founding members of the Buick Driving Enthusiasts, as well as Beatons have put on many tours across the country, as well as the Buick-Olds-Pontiac, and I think now Cadillac Show, in Kissimmee every October, it is rotated between clubs. The driving events seem to draw the most folks, but you have other venues in FL, the NHRA museum in Gainesville, the Daytona 500 Museum, there's many more places to go, the Zepherhills swap meets, the Buick race days at Orlando, go to Here for some other venues with the GS and GN folks in FL. Just some ideas! Have lots of fun, if I had more vacation time, I might even be able to come down there and warm up with you folks, but all the other events in the summer months take up all my time!

[JohnD1956]

Roberta, Has the Michigan clubs ever toured in the Woodward Ave dream cruise as a group?

My friend has a 70 skylark, and his town was trying to boost support with a family picnic car/show last summer. It seems the local Corvette club showed up en-mass and then complained when he and the other two non Corvettes wanted to take part in the parade. Seems Corvette guys can only be bothered with other Corvettes. Anyway, I'd love to drive to Michigan for this cruise. But I would REALLY love to take part with a bunch of Buicks, and show those Corvette guys a thing or two.

[Guest]

Just a schedule pattern we have developed the last several years in the Minuteman Chapter (Eastern Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and Vermont):

Winter

Winter Brunches January and February last Sunday of the month

Spring Tour last Sunday of the month of April (Lexington/Concord Tour and dinner, New Bedford Whaling Museum/ Historic District and dinner, Tour of the North Shore from Marblehead to Gloucester and dinner)

Summer

Local Car show with Buick Dealer at Anheuser Busch Brewery with plant tour, gift shop, and East Coast Clydesdale horse stables tour

Participation in one weekend overnight trip to Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine usually to a weekend regional large car show event in a resort area with plenty of in town historic village and outlet shopping (Hildene Manchester, VT; Stowe, VT; Bennington, VT; White Mountains, NH; Owls Head, ME)

Travel to BCA National Meet (within one or two days' driving distance) with one unique event outbound and return

Summer Barbecue at a member's home

BCA Northeast Regional Meet at a Resort/Historic (Plymouth, MA) venue

Fall

Fall Tour last Sunday in September (apple picking, buying, winery tour, visit to Willard Clock Museum, tour to members home to view their unique collections of radios, trains, cars, Buicks, clocks, etc.)

December

Holiday Party

and monthly meetings, March, May, June, August, September, and October traditionally the last Thursday night of the month

[NTX5467]

Ken, one of the first things you need to do is look at growing a car club as a "marketing opportunity" of sorts. In other words, people have to know you exist in the first place. Sure, there will be a core group that will be there, but you also want to attract others that might not be in the same loop of things to know about car activities of Buick enthusiasts.

In the late 1980s when I first became an officer in the North Texas Chapter, we started holding our meetings at a highly popular cruise location, the former Fenders Drive-In in Dallas. They were very car club friendly and had one of the largest and most well known Saturday night cruises in this part of the state. In other words, if you said you went to Fenders on Saturday, most of the car people knew what you were talking about (and also elevated your status a few notches in their eyes).

They saved parking for our members on the street side of the parking lot as we met in the middle afternoon before the cruise event later that night. Therefore, if our members wanted to stay, they had a "ring side seat" of sorts for later on. Then we put a few, simple classified ads in the Dallas paper about the meeting place and time. We'd be standing out there before the meeting and see a vintage Buick with water still dripping off of it heading into the parking lot, fresh from the 25 cent car wash (in February!). It was neat.

It gave the more conservative a chance to say they "went to Fenders" and gain some status with other car people plus they got to check it out in a slow time too--key factors--as they probably would never had gone there during the cruise time. So, the meeting place and advertising of the meeting can be one way to at least get new members in the door.

Every car club is different, even for the same make and orientation of vehicle, so trying to make a Buick club be successful by doing the exact same things a Corvette club does might not work, therefore keying the types of activities to the members and their orientations might be recommended. Some of the orientations might be the same, but the particular activities would be different, in many cases.

In the Mopar club I'm a charter member of, when I was an officer in the earlier times, we tryed to use the club meeting as a springboard for our members to also attend other activities as a club after the meeting (7:00pm on Saturday night), like going to PuttPutt for a golf outing with some simple awards for low scores (or whatever) or even meeting earlier and attending a cruise event en masse. In other words, the members had driven about 30+ minutes to the meeting place (a restaurant meeting room) for a meal and a meeting, so we tried to plan an after-meeting event to make it more worth their while. How effective this is can vary, but the extra activities afterward gave them the opportunity to do something than "go out to eat with some friends".

Also, do NOT forget to urge the spouses and children to be involved in the club and its activities. This ONE factor is very important for many reasons that also relate to the growth of the club in the future.

Key thing is that the members feel they are receiving a good return on their investment in the club's treasury AND the BCA membership costs. Everybody needs to be friends and everybody needs to have fun--period. Obviously, there's lots of car events in Florida so you might scout out what's going on and target one event each month for your group to attend as a club activity of sorts and then also not forgetting the weekend events that happen weekly. All of these events are in addition too, but can include, the monthly chapter meeting.

Driving or cruise activities can be fun if you have a car that will tolerate that type of activity, so don't chastise those who want to drive their newer Buicks or possibly other makes, but giving the Buicks priority in the line up of the procession. Key thing is participation, regardless of what type of condition the car is in.

So, effective marketing to let people know you exist (which might include networking with other clubs in the area), keeping things simple and active with planned out activites for several months in the future, soliciting ideas from the members themselves (maybe even put them on the lookout for new things to do and then see if others also want to do those things as a group--and will then show up to do that), and just trying to have fun with Buicks.

What I have not mentioned is members helping other members with their projects. This can be a very effective way to build a culture of the chapter that others might desire to be a part of. Members helping members for everyone's mutual benefit.

At some point in time, the size of the active chapter membership can tend to plateau. One of those things that if things get much bigger, finding a meeting place to hold everyone can become a problem. This can be a blessing and a hindrance at the same time which further points up the fact that there is no ideal time or place to have a meeting, just what works better for the majority of those who are attending. But, it seems to me that if the later Saturday afternoon or middle Saturday afternoon time frames are used correctly, they offer the greatest flexibility of getting the members out of the house and IN the car to go do something (as in going to the meeting) and them to some other car event later on that night than any other time of the week. The dynamics just seem to work so much better to me than a Sunday afternoon or week day meeting time, but your situation might be vary. Saturday is usually a "day to play" and playing with cars can certainly fit into that orientation.

Some of the chapters seem to do regular driving tours to musesums or other locales, participate in other clubs' show events, parades, and we've also had some success with a short out of town trip on Saturdays. Many also do their own local or regional Buick show events on a yearly basis too. Highly variable about what works and when it will work best. but planning a few months in advance always helps.

Hope this might have helped some. Best of luck in your activities down there!

Willis Bell 20811

N TX Chapter, BCA

[raleets]

John,

I would like to answer your question regarding a Buick tour to the Woodward Dream Cruise each August.

I am a professional Disc Jockey, and have provided musical entertainment for the Ferndale Car Show, which is a big, big part of the Dream Cruise, each year for the past six years, and have witnessed first hand the unbelievably HUGE crowds that attend the Cruise.

Over 30,000 (yes, I said THIRTY THOUSAND) cars are at the Cruise, along with over 1.3 MILLION spectators! While it is true that these numbers of cars and people are spread out over a route of approximately 9 miles, it is still wall-to-wall cars and humanity like you've never seen before at any weekend car show or cruise.

What I'm trying to tell you is simply this: the Woodward Dream Cruise in NOT the place for a Club outing because it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to keep two or three cars together, let alone 20 or 30, or more. No way, no how!!

The Cruise was intended originally to take place on the third Saturday of August each year, as a ONE DAY extraviganza. It has now grown into a full, week long event, with cruising Woodward starting on Monday or Tuesday, and reaching a crescendo on Saturday.

Ferndale is the southernmost City on the Cruise route, as they were actually responsible for the origination of the Cruise nearly 10 years ago. Their car show attracts nearly 500 cars, with a registration fee of $30 per car. The show starts at 8am and ends at 2pm. Then, about half the cars leave the show and join the cruisers on Woodward Avenue, going up and down Woodward at approximately 5 miles per hour, starting and stopping about every 15 feet, for the next 8 or 9 miles! Does this sound like fun?? If your Buick has a tendacy to "heat up" (most years the Cruise has been around 90 degrees), or if you're driving a stick shift, this can be a rather brutal way to "enjoy" a Saturday on Woodward Avenue!

So, my friend, if you're still enthusiastic about taking in the Woodward Dream Cruise, BRING IT ON! Just be forwarned that it is like NOTHING you've ever seen before. The 1700+ cars that attended the BCA National in Flint last year would have looked like a cork in the ocean at the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Happy cruisin'

Bob Leets

[BUICK RACER]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Roberta, Has the Michigan clubs ever toured in the Woodward Ave dream cruise as a group?

My friend has a 70 skylark, and his town was trying to boost support with a family picnic car/show last summer. It seems the local Corvette club showed up en-mass and then complained when he and the other two non Corvettes wanted to take part in the parade. Seems Corvette guys can only be bothered with other Corvettes. Anyway, I'd love to drive to Michigan for this cruise. But I would REALLY love to take part with a bunch of Buicks, and show those Corvette guys a thing or two. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

John, I have been asked several times by the folks in the Michigan Buick Performance Club (was Michigan Chapter-GS Club of America)to set something up for Woodward, and I have not even attempted to do it, due to all the reasons Bob mentions above!

[NTX5467]

I'll agree with Bob and Roberta, there are some car events that are much more enjoyable to watch than participate in. Participation can be fun in many of them, depending upon your tolerance level (and that of your vehicle too!) for participating in these events.

What might be an option, if it could be orchestrated in consideration of the high profile nature of the event, would be for the Buick groups to get together and get a parking space designated for them at some strategic location along the cruise route, similar to what some of the car companies or major vendors might do. Maybe even a Buick dealer along the route could clear their lot(s) for a Buick car display?

Basically, a "safe" place to park your Buick and then walk the route to take in the sights and sounds and atmosphere of the premier car event. Sure, you'd be there for the duration (due to traffic considerations), but you could plan for that and maybe make it something of a tailgate party.

During the former Waco MiniNats car show weekend in Waco, TX, the Dodge dealer would clear his front lot for event participants (of the Mopar persuasion) to park and watch the Saturday night cruise action on Valley Mills Drive (the main drag in Waco). It was much more fun to watch the cruise than to be in the middle of things out on the street. A nice place to look at other Mopars, visit, and watch things happen. As I mentioned, maybe there's a Buick dealer somewhere on the route that might do similar things (or sponsor a parking lot situation along the route for "Buicks ONLY Parking")?

Just some thoughts to consider and maybe plan for in the future . . .

NTX5467

[Dave@Moon]

One of the most enjoyable things I used to do in my car was attend drive-in movies. The largest (but not yet the only) drive in the Pittsburgh area used to be about 5 miles from my house.

When I became active with the National Pike Chapter, one of the first things I did was organize a tour from a drive-in restraunt to the drive-in movie. I enjoyed it immensely, and my fellow members much have as well as they've incorporated in the the Great Lakes Regional.

While at the drive-in, be prepared to hear from a host of strangers about how much they like your car, and hopefully about others like it nearby. Keeping yourselves locally visible like this is the best promotion there is.

[Guest scott mich bca # 6619]

Ken,

You pose a good question. I am the Assistant Director of the Chicagoland Chapter. We try to have a big varitey of events, shows, tours, tech sessions, and drive nignts.

We put on 4 dealership shows, two strictly Buick, another Buick/Pontiac, and the fouth is a BOPC Show. We get other makes involved, which makes it more interesting than seeing the same cars over and over again. At some of the shows we judge the cars, some shows just a first, second and third place trophy, at others it is just for fun, no judging.

We do a couple of retirement home shows a year, that really make the older folk excited to see out cars.

We often have themes at our monthly meetings, such as "Literature Night", "Drive your other car night", "Trunk Light Swap Meet", etc.

We have a fall tour, either a nice fall drive, or an overnighter. Our October meeting is an Octoberfest meal at a restaurant. We have a Holiday Dinner at our mountly meeting in December, where we all bring food and a dish to pass.

In the winter we have guest speakers at the monthly meetings, and have even scheduled specific meetings and topics such as judging, detailing, winter storage, electrical problems, etc.

We try to travel as a group to the Nationals, and Regionals, and often book a block of rooms at theses events, so we can all stay toghther at theses events, at the same hotels.

We have put on a National Show in 1995, and are presently planning the Heartland Regional here in 2005.

Recruting new members has always been a challenge. We are involved in a lot of activities, that expose us to potential new members, and hope that when they learn about all that we do, they will be excited to join us.

We advertise our events in all the free publications we can find, which also gives us more exposure, and promotes the club. We have a monthly newsletter that is linked to our web site that offers a for sale/wanted section, interesting articles and tech. tips as well.

Scott Mich BCA # 6619, OCA # 3947

[Guest GS70Stage1]

Thank you all very much. I have printed the whole thread and will share it all at the next meeting. Great ideas and help.

Ken