Driveline Notice

[Edward M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

Boys and Girls;

This is not rocket science (and I should know, since I am a rocket scientist).

Plan of Action:
1. Post a notice in an upcoming issue of The Corvette Restorer and The Driveline stating that a trial period for posting The Driveline online as soon as the first issue is mailed out will begin on date _________.
2. Run the trial period for three consecutive issues of The Driveline.
3. Also post in the same notice that members are encouraged to contact their regional representative with comments about posting The Driveline as soon as the first issue is mailed.
4. Evaluate the results, including comments received, after the trial period is over.
5. Post the results of the trial period, including a summary of the comments (% positive, % negative, etc.)

The paid advertising is not a valid reason for not doing this. Ads can be posted online with The Driveline.

Members not having a computer is not a valid reason for not doing this. Everyone has equal access to this site. A simple training session on how to use this site (and a computer, if necessary) is an easy thing to do.

I will now follow the recent suggestion and contact my regional representative about this issue.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Driveline Notice

I would suggest B is the correct answer.

I still disagree.

It's like trying to count NCRS members who own Corvettes by seeing how many belong to Chapters. Those who have access to the internet - and therefore anything posted - and those who register for the DB likely have no direct relationship.

I know many, many members who use e-mail on a daily basis but have not registered their name on the Discussion Board. Visiting here and joining the discussions is not their "thing." However, to surmise that because they have not registered on the Discussion Board also means that they have no access is to make a wrong conclusion. I have access to a Corvette (or more) yet I don't belong to an NCCC club, I don't go to show-n-shines and I don't autocross. What one has access to and how one chooses to use that access are very different.

I have a couple of local NCRS-member friends who e-mail me all the time - yet they as me to look up stuff on the DB for them. Again, it's not their "thing."

Make sense?

I'd say it is closer to the usual 20/80 rule, where 20% of the people attend 80% of the events of a group.

Heck, my now-90 year old grandmother has had internet access for over 10 years. I'd bet that a high percentage of our membership has access but chooses not to visit this board.

Here's a deal: Offer a money-off coupon to all the members who just sign up on this DB between dates X and Y. Offer 100 free renewals by a drawing. You'll see very quickly how many members have access.

Patrick

[Terry M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

OK -- I'll bite. Let's just for a moment suppose that 80-90% of the NCRS membership has access (in some form) to the Internet. Still only almost 30% (If I understand Gary Chesnut's latest message correctly) of them chose to participate here.

Now justify to me allowing 30% of the membership access to the ads in The Driveline before the other 70%.

It would be like saying we are going to pass out copies of The Driveline at the meet to BoD members before it is mailed. I'm not sure if Patrick has been around long enough to recall the flap that ensued when that happened -- but some of you will remember that.

[Henry S.]

Re: Driveline Notice

OK -- I'll bite. Let's just for a moment suppose that 80-90% of the NCRS membership has access (in some form) to the Internet. Still only almost 30% (If I understand Gary Chesnut's latest message correctly) of them chose to participate here.

Now justify to me allowing 30% of the membership access to the ads in The Driveline before the other 70%.

It would be like saying we are going to pass out copies of The Driveline at the meet to BoD members before it is mailed. I'm not sure if Patrick has been around long enough to recall the flap that ensued when that happened -- but some of you will remember that.

So what do you propose Terry, we continue delivery the way we do and the members that always get their Driveline the earliest keep getting the deals and screw the rest of us??? With the technology we have today it is RIDICULOUS that it takes up to two weeks for a piece of mail to get delivered ANYWHERE in the U.S. Or for that matter for information (Driveline) to be available to our members. I would think the membership as a whole should be concerned enough to get it changed.

[David K.]

Re: Driveline Notice

Well, just what do suppose should be done, so that all members get the Driveline at exactly the same time? Maybe it is time for the Driveline to cease and all those that want to sell something, do it on Epay or Hemmings, etc. I do not think there is a way to satisfy all the members 100% of the time, except by doing away with the Driveline. JMHO

[Terry M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

So what do you propose Terry, we continue delivery the way we do and the members that always get their Driveline the earliest keep getting the deals and screw the rest of us??? With the technology we have today it is RIDICULOUS that it takes up to two weeks for a piece of mail to get delivered ANYWHERE in the U.S. Or for that matter for information (Driveline) to be available to our members. I would think the membership as a whole should be concerned enough to get it changed.

I don't have a solution that is fair to ALL the members -- and I wouldn't be so bold as to try to suggest one. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to ensure that 100% of the membership receives their Driveline at the same time. Even if we had 100% of the membership on-line, and it was posted on-line -- some of those members would have a power outage or Internet access issues. The system we have seems to me to be fair, but perhaps it could be made available on-line a little sooner – like maybe five days rather than ten.

I would state, based on my own small sample of one, that NOT ALL the same members get their Driveline earlier than others. Mine has been all over the place, but mostly later -- except for this issue.

I don't think the membership as a whole finds the delivery time of The Driveline to be a great issue. People belong to this club for a variety of reasons, The Driveline is not the only one. There are a few on this forum who are quite vocal, but the majority of the 15,000 members must be satisfied – the BoD does not hear from them.

I also think, as I said in another thread, that many of the "sold" items became unavailable before The Driveline was even printed. Since the member ad runs for free, there is no incentive for the seller to cancel the ad if the item sells. Going to great lengths to speed delivery will not solve THAT problem.

[Mike E.]

Re: Driveline Notice

I invite you to take a look at my response on the other slightly more recent Driveline thread.

[Kevin M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

OK -- I'll bite. Let's just for a moment suppose that 80-90% of the NCRS membership has access (in some form) to the Internet. Still only almost 30% (If I understand Gary Chesnut's latest message correctly) of them chose to participate here.

Now justify to me allowing 30% of the membership access to the ads in The Driveline before the other 70%.

As I said in another post, my reason is simple:

Because when posted online, at least members have the option to view it online. If they choose not to, that is their choice.

Members, however, have no choice whatsoever whether or not they are first, second, or dead last to receive the hard copy though the mail.

[Terry M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

As I said in another post, my reason is simple:

Because when posted online, at least members have the option to view it online. If they choose not to, that is their choice.

Members, however, have no choice whatsoever whether or not they are first, second, or dead last to receive the hard copy though the mail.

And I will say again -- If they have no Internet access, they also have no choice about when The Driveline is available to them. In spite of Patrick's statistics, I am doubtful that a majority of our membership has Internet access readily available..

[Rob M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

Still it is their choice to have internet access or not...

regards,
Rob.

[Terry M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

Not necessarily -- believe it or not there are places where people live in this country where Internet access is available only at great expense, and then it is not robust enough to download large files. I know folks who live in that situation. Yes, it is their choice where to live -- but that IS their situation. I don't think we should be telling folks -- sorry you can't get our publications unless you move to a more populated area.

[Kevin M.]

Re: Driveline Notice

And I will say again -- If they have no Internet access, they also have no choice about when The Driveline is available to them. In spite of Patrick's statistics, I am doubtful that a majority of our membership has Internet access readily available..

Most, if not all public libraries offer free internet access... I understand that is pushing the limits, but I dont think anyone is advocating eliminating the mailed version... so they'd get their copy liek everyone else if they chose not to participate in the Internet version.

[Vinnie P.]

Re: Driveline Notice

If I recall correctly from the last board meeting in March, and I'm sure John Waggoner or Gary Chestnut can back me up on the number, only about 350-375 individuals visit the TDB each day. That's a small percentage of 15,000+ members that regularly visit the TDB.

[Rick A.]

Re: Driveline Notice

agree, small percentage that visit TDB - but, that does not mean they do not have Internet access and an email account - believe those two figures are SIGNIFICANTLY higher and thus it warrants to do the pilot that Ed McComas and others have articulated

[Loren L.]

Re: Driveline Notice

OK -- I'll bite. Let's just for a moment suppose that 80-90% of the NCRS membership has access (in some form) to the Internet. Still only almost 30% (If I understand Gary Chesnut's latest message correctly) of them chose to participate here.

Now justify to me allowing 30% of the membership access to the ads in The Driveline before the other 70%.

It would be like saying we are going to pass out copies of The Driveline at the meet to BoD members before it is mailed. I'm not sure if Patrick has been around long enough to recall the flap that ensued when that happened -- but some of you will remember that.

Terry, I'm proud of you for mentioning something that might indicate that NOT everything has always been peaches and cream, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth, for NCRS. ($175 to register for a national convention - just what is it that NCRS needs the $$$ for when it already has 7 figures?)

I'll take you back further when members would finance the printing and postage for the magazine. But that was before our little not-for-profit had a MILLION dollars in the bank.
I will GUARANTEE you one thing - if the finances of NCRS NOW were at the level that they were in the first 2 or 3 years BOTH THE DRIVELINE AND THE RESTORER WOULD BE GOING OUT E-MAIL TO AVOID PRINTING AND POSTAGE. If you wanted it printed and mailed, your dues would DOUBLE.