@8053 Thanks for the reply. And Yes reading the bylaws is mandatory reading before chiming in on club management issues. And those bylaws are slanted to bar the general membership from affecting change when a board is not representing the group as they would like. As we have here, now.
The fact that any upcoming member and their views has to be pre-approved by the very board they want to challenge, leaves the membership feeling helpless and un-represented. And this board approval is BEFORE a member can be added to a ballot for voting.
Leaves a lot of room for manipulation, doesn’t it???
The blacked out January Airmail has got to be the creepiest edition ever. I would expect censorship like this from a failing authoritarian state, not in the Airheads magazine. Not a good way to start out the new year. Hope everything works out.
Much easier to just drop out and not be a member and avoid all this drama.
Bob
Re "the only circumstance where the membership votes would be an election to seat an Airmarshal. The only recourse for the membership at large would be..." .
I think that more correctly this should read "the only circumstance where memebership can hold >>a binding vote<< would be...". Seems like memberships can hold non-binding advisory votes whenever they damn well please.
If I'm wrong about this, then the club is in worse shape than I thought it was.
It was 2016, and as a result of Joe's changes in Club direction, I was brought in to audit the Club's last 7 years of financials and review the Club's leadership meeting minutes. I compiled a lengthy evaluation of the numbers - no issues there - a detailed By-Laws recommendation to address any future "problems" with management direction and actions...and hpw to grow membership. Presented it to the then-current leadership, and they basically ignored everything. Sent everything to Duck about 2 years ago after talking with him at the MOA National..ignored again.
I was on the BoD for the Vintage BMW Owners Club when we made the decision to go virtual with their magazine and rework the member benefits and pricing. Hosting a TON of BMW specific technical information from BMW AG, and now hosting Snowbum's website as well as some Eruro tech sites.There's a right way and a not-so-right one..VBMWO did it right. Airheads appear to be going down a rabbit hole.
I was the BMW MOA Chartered Club Coordinator for 8 years... advised over 225 individual clubs on getting started, by-laws, rallies, organization, etc. so been down this path more than a few times.
Also hosted more than a few Airhead Tech Days at the shop...and we always get a good number of the invisible (to the East Coast BoD members) new airhead owners aged from mid 20s to late 40s.
I also want to congratulate the remaining Board members for ticking all the boxes I highlighedt as part of the presentations I have given at the MOA Chartered Club President’s meetings at the MOA National over the yearsThe title of the discussion…” How to cope with the benevolent dictator” leadership. I think that pretty much sums it up. It’s all about the process.And second, was there another internal coup the membership isn’t aware of? I ask because typically, any decision that affects the direction of the entire organization is either initiated by the President for discussion or is filtered through the President after discussion/feedback with multiple levels of the membership..in this case, the other BoD members and may/should include the Airmarshals. And something this drastic, maybe poll the opinions of the majority that pays the bills.So far, I haven’t seen anything from the elected President, or is someone else running the show now?The rest of the members can make their own decisions on the proposed changes and Jan’s situation by feedback or non-renewal. I just look at how the Club is now managed despite a list of never implemented, detailed By-Law recommendations made to the BoD about 6 years ago after the Club Audit.Have a big bag of buttered popcorn so ready to watch the show unfold between building quite a few airheads for that non-existant group of 30+ and 40+ airhead owners that don't exist in the remaining BoD's world
Not to try and open a debate on this forum.
Hard to believe you would think a post like yours WOULDN'T stoke debate on the forum. It was quite provocative.
Not to try and open a debate on this forum.Hard to believe you would think a post like yours WOULDN'T stoke debate on the forum. It was quite provocative.
It was less provocative than what the three BOD’s in control of the club are doing. Also, you quoted just one tiny sentence and took it out of context. He never said he didn’t think it would start a debate here, he simply stated that it isn’t the reason for posting here. I think it’s important for us members to be able to hear both sides of the situation here. The BOD’s have obviously tried to stop this with their blacking out articles in the Airmail. They have shown that they are unwilling to cooperate with people that don’t agree with them. They have told us regular members that if we don’t like what they’re doing our best recourse is to simply quit. That is very arrogant and shows they are not fit to be in leadership positions.
I guess it must have something about the year-round riding out here..except for cruising around in an ark the last couple of weeks.
12 bikes are being built, repaired, or restored in the shop right now - .and all the owners are under 50. In fact, most are in their late 30s. They all attend airhead tech days and don't mind getting their hands dirty. And they have fun riding the old stuff. I'm guessing about half of my customers are under 50. Some have been riding dirt or other brands..and discovered the fun of a classic machine that occasionally needs tweaking. A couple of them said this is a LOT more fun than looking under the hood of the newest Tesla, Bimmer, MB, etc, and not being able even to tell where the engine is. Actually hear that quite often..oh and some great young female riders in the mix too.
Too bad the By-Laws don't open the election of officers to allow the general membership to run for office. I'm guessing there are more than a few who have the qualifications and desire to right the ship..but aren't Airmarshalls.
So yes, they all have social media in their lives, but most like the tactile feel of the magazine...and I give a bunch out every month to new customers.
As i said before, there is a thoughtful, planned method to ADD social media for outreach for those who want it..but what I've seen so far is the exact opposite of what we did a few years ago at the Vintage BMW Owners. Jamming something down someone's throat usually means someone starts choking. Not fun to watch
Maybe I'm thicker-skinned than most people, and can comfortably hear dissenting opinions. I can't understand how anyone would prevent information from being shared in a free society. My skin is thinnest where prodded by the influence of withheld information. If offended, stop reading, turn off the television, quit scrolling - it's your choice! When information is kept from you - that is someone else's choice, and I don't like it.
As Robert Fleischer said on the topic of the Snowbum website (from the 10/22 edition of Airmail) "I'm not unhappy, mad, etc., about the ABC......things are as they are in life, one deals with things as best one is able to".
Peace.
Since the mode of opinion sharing is limited to a binary choice, let's get that out of the way. I side with the Duo.
Should anyone be interested, here are my opinions regarding what I have read on the forums, and additional thoughts in my personal order of importance.
Maybe I'm thicker-skinned than most people, and can comfortably hear dissenting opinions. I can't understand how anyone would prevent information from being shared in a free society. My skin is thinnest where prodded by the influence of withheld information. If offended, stop reading, turn off the television, quit scrolling - it's your choice! When information is kept from you - that is someone else's choice, and I don't like it.
Binary choices are not the optimal way to get on with anything. 10mm or screwdriver....that's all you have, good luck.
The first thing I do when I open Airmail is to page to the back and read every Oak article that might apply to my R75/6. I skip the others, hoping to retain some nugget of relevant wisdom for my benefit in a future day of desperate need. But I know the odds will be against me on that day. I would love to have a sortable/indexed/web-accessed version of the compilation to find the help I might need. From what I have read that might never happen. There is an opportunity there for subscription-based access with a separate fee. I understand there's a lot to sort out to make that happen.
The "Renegades" stories are what I would read next. I don't know if they are autobiography, biography, or fiction, but I found them interesting. Maybe riding stories need 2 categories - biographical accounts and fiction. Fiction is fine as long as you realize that's what you are reading.
Then I scan the rest for things that catch my interest.
I like print. I'll pay for print. I read a paper 6 days a week that arrives in front of my house and a different paper on Sunday. I have an attention span. As the song goes "I ain't old but I been around a long time."
Peace.
Here is what I think about the ■■■■ing BOD and censorship:
■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■
These 3 ■■■holes have ruined the warm and friendly nature of our club by:
-Censoring the recent Airmail
-Violating Club Canons
-Firing the editor
-Promoting "Cancel Culture"
Obviously, they want to transform the club into something else. Unfortunately, they never took the time to explain their vision to the membership.
I call on the ■■■■ing BOD to resign.
Greg B.
Airhead #10
@1247 Club resources are close to an all time high. Airmail has not drained resources.
@10 Resignation? You are asking honor from those who apparently have very little.
Advertisement
