Sue and Gregness,
Thank you very much for your responses. It's very reassuring to have your support and confirm there are resources out there. The challenge still remains as to how the ACMOC administration will react and move towards organizing the required volunteer efforts. I have no doubt there are others out there that will come forward once there are signs of flexibility from the current management. I am serious about the need to expand the decision base by moving towards small groups of consulting expertise. I challenge the existing officers to broaden their range of thinking using these resources.

Thankyou Gregness, great of you to offer your expert help, I've just spent over an hour reading through this entire thread refreshing myself with where we started talking and why and trying to find a common theme of ideas we can actually put on a list and hopefully add a action date so we can start ticking boxes instead of talking for another 3 or 4 years while the Club slowly goes broke.

From 40 pages of posts I'm going to start a short check list of 6 items that kept coming to the fore and I invite everyone to add or subtract their thoughts, it has come through loud and clear the existing Directors and Committees need help, both in expertise and in hands on the wheel, so I'll start with the most pressing issue and follow with a few more possible agenda items

(1) Can the BOD please advise us within 2 weeks how many extra volunteers are needed to help run the Club and where, with an idea of the time commitment required, and skills needed, as the lack of support by members is a common theme from Directors, this thread is currently getting about 1,000 views a day and once again drawing in generous offers of expert help so let's grab them as they come available, this call should also be reinforced in the next magazine if necessary.

(2) It came through loud and clear in posts that the magazine is seen as the most important link for members, followed by individual Chapters, however this Bulletin Board has continued to draw in financial members and is seen as a brilliant source of technical support with most agreeing it should not be a free service to non members, can a time frame be set of say 12 months of implementing a means of subsidizing this Bulletin Board if not by subscription which was widely seen as unpopular, but possibly by the use of on page advertising ideally only seen by non financial members. Apparently we have 14,000 members of this Forum and new visitors coming in almost daily and all who had accessed our tech support free of charge agreed they would be happy to pay in some way for the service, we discussed this 2 years ago and agreed it was a good idea.

(3) The need for a good Technical Library was agreed by all back in 2013 also and an attempt was made at setting up one however it was well short of what was needed or suggested by our experts Old Magnet and Eddie Bedwell, can we agree to have the hardware and software structure of this Library in place by September 1st that is signed off by both Pete and Eddie and the BOD by using the help of experts within the Club, and that call for expert help be published here on the Bulletin Board by a mass mail out PM or email to members and in the next magazine?

(4) We currently have two CPA's and a Bookkeeper attending to our financial reporting yet it appears BarstartSue might have picked up on some simple accounting errors that could cause us to suspect we are not operating with all the information we need at a time we continue to lose money, and that historical data has possibly been inaccurate, this issue and the decision to invest $200,000 in Caterpillar stock has raised doubts about our real financial position and I would suggest it is time for a review of the way financial decisions are made by the BOD and the way those decisions are discussed with members, both before and after the fact. This review needs to happen sooner rather than later and I'd suggest within 30 days, as two of those part time Accounting positions are paid by the Club it is imperative we are operating legally and that we are getting the best bang for our buck, if BarstartSue can spare a few hours each month I'd suggest we pay her as our oversight CPA UNLESS our existing paid CPA is an ACMOC financial member.

(5) With 2,800 financial members and 14,000 Bulletin Board members we seem to see only a handful writing in the magazine and talking here on the Forum, so really 99% of our members are the vast silent majority we know little about and I feel it is time we engaged with them better, I'd like to suggest that within 6 months a questionaire be drafted that is sent to all our financial members with replied paid envelopes or other less costly means of return like getting them to local Chapters or even the opportunity to reply online, so a more accurate picture can be drawn of our members and what they want from their Club going forward, I'm happy to start a new thread where people can make suggestions as to what questions should be asked and how the information is used.

(6) With only one nomination for the latest vacant Board seat it is obvious that we are struggling to find suitably qualified candidates even from North America, fortunately Neil Clydesdale here in Australia offered to nominate for that seat so we have attracted a quality Director but we have now got 2 Directors in Australia and none in the British Isles or Europe, and I believe we need to address this issue and clarify the skill set on the Board we need going forward and commit to having a Director specifically for Australia / New Zealand and a Director specifically for the British Isles / Europe, those positions will only be 2 seats out of 9 on the Board yet offer the best opportunity for new growth in the short term.

So there are 6 topics we have been tossing around for years agreeing they are important issues without ever agreeing on a time frame for addressing them, please add more where you see necessary so we can start ticking boxes, and just in case you are wondering I'll be offering to help on a Committee too if needed, I'm just worried we will repeat 2013 all over again when we talked and talked and talked thinking we had the Board onside with these key issues like Technical Libraries and fund raising through this Bulletin Board only to learn in 2016 that really nothing has changed. We need a 5 year plan going forward drawn up by our 2,800 financial members that the Board can use as a template, with key performance indicators in place that allow us to track our restructure and return to profitability, it's our 25th year, what better present could we give to the Founding Members.
Regards
Mike

Hello , just some ideas , I am sure what people are expecting to be in the library .
Legendary Service Literature . - anything that in these books would be just a long fight with cat over copy right ,but the library could set up though cat to on sell these book on commission for each book sold though Acmoc .

.all the small how to do info could be set up but copy right says you cannot store it without a copy right license ?,
you can use info in connect of an short story with id to the copy right holder ? .
.
a lot more legal things need to be gone though before this could ever happen ,bruce oz

Yes Bruce,
There are some definite hurdles to the Tech Library. Another area that needs professional/legal help. The main objective here is to get release from Cat for literature that meets the 40 year or older criteria. As far as Cat Legendary Literature I believe some form of integration was pursued before with the outcome being a sort of "all or none" situation. I can't believe that literature operation would be any thing more than a "pain in the ass" to Cat. Some form of compromise ought to be achieved if negotiation is implemented. Can someone enlighten us as to what the status/outcome is on this topic?

While having blessed you all with my presence on this fine board for several years.........I've only been a paid member for a couple of months. That means I'm pretty much on the outside looking in on most of the stuff being discussed here. I will however try to demonstrate my total lack of knowledge.......


As far as membership: I found this site by accident while looking for information on an IH TD5. Now by then I had found yesterdaystractors and redpower which both has a construction forum and HEF. I think part of the problem is getting the word out. I know that a lot of forums don't allow you to push other forums on their boards but they do have PM's. So for those who visit other forums when someone starts asking Cat questions take a few seconds, send a PM with a link. If just 1 in 20 gets a paid membership it helps.

The models while on the spendy side for a model for some just are not doable for one reason or another. I just don't have room for that type of thing even though I just got me first Cat and its a D4.

The store is kinda disappointing after visiting the store on yesterdaystractors.com. Now I know we can't step on Cat's toes but there is a lot of discontinued stuff from what I understand that maybe they could carry. I know this spring I'm going to be looking for a decal kit, the pre-cleaner jar and retainer and the D4 tags that go on the sides of the radiator. I haven't checked with Cat over availability of any of these items yet. But if offered at the store here that's where I'd order them from.

Chapters: The closest one to me is 150 miles one way. In todays hectic lifestyle that makes getting with them difficult for me as well as others. Perhaps compiling the numbers of people in a area then if enough people are trying to get new chapters started. Chapters need to look at participation in local tractor shows or hosting their own. Getting new members is going to require current members getting involved with things.

Around here we have several decent tractor shows the most noteworthy being the show in Rollag MN. Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion. I know the one in Dalton MN allows other clubs to set up tables and try to attract members. Most are also selling raffle tickets for a restored antique tractor. Most often the tractor is donated to the club and them members work together to restore it. The raise a lot of money that way. Not saying we should do that but it's thrown out there.

One thing that needs to be understood, the correct police need to curb their activities around prospective members. You don't want to scare them off. Get em hooked first then jump em!

Just a few of my thoughts.

Rick

Mike Meyer,
Whoa there, your wanting to add a whole lot of load to an already crippled mule. First thing first is to get the organizing structure in place to get help to the needed areas.

As I mentioned earlier there needs to be a defined structure and description of where matched volunteers would fit in, what help is requested and enough detail so that effort and time can be estimated. The goal would be that based on a reasonably defined outline a potential volunteer would conclude "yes, I have knowledge or expertise in that area and I can do that"

This arrangement needs to be implemented at the top first so that decision making can be reinforced. The more detailed segments can follow up after the key elements are in place using the same support pattern.

Here is a rough sketch of how I believe it should be organized. Sorry for it being a crude layout at this time.

Again this is predicated on the current administration accepting these proposals. If there is total rejection we all know what the outcome will be, it's just a matter of how long will it take. At least it will counter the constant whining about no help.

Hi, Mike and Bruce.
I would have put a lot more stuff into the tech library except for the fact that there are very limited sections in which to put it and starting new sections to post it appropriately is somewhere between TBH and impossible, at least for a computer illiterate like me. I have a fair bit of info, much of it already sorted into make and model, but the limitations of the tech libraryas it is make it a real chore.

Just my 0.02.

Please excuse a brief response due to other commitments today.

It is good to see the flow of suggestions and ideas, Sue I am sorry you deleted what you had written, please email me.

Thankyou also to those offering to help, the committees I gather are to be determined the first BOD meeting, I will discuss with other BOD about listing committees on this BB for members and interested parties to put their hand up for.

Chapters 18 & 19 are having a scheduled executive meeting this evening, know doubt many of these matters will be discussed then, maybe schedule a special meeting also to discuss specifically. This will give me some member feedback and assistance as to approaching the clubs future.

Maybe Chapter leaders & executives can be a good conduit between membership and the Board.

I have an open mind and welcome ideas, discussion and constructive criticism.

Wombat

"Deas wrote:

Hi, Mike and Bruce.
I would have put a lot more stuff into the tech library except for the fact that there are very limited sections in which to put it and starting new sections to post it appropriately is somewhere between TBH and impossible, at least for a computer illiterate like me. I have a fair bit of info, much of it already sorted into make and model, but the limitations of the tech libraryas it is make it a real chore.

Just my 0.02.

I'm not surprised at the difficulty you are experiencing. From the beginning of that attempt there was never any thought put in to seriously organizing the material which is the key element. In the interim until minds can go to work I would suggest you organize your material in a similar structure as to what you see in the typical hard cover service manual and parts books. eg Engine, Starting Engine, Power Transmission, Undercarriage, Attachments, etc. Categories would be the tractors, graders, loaders, cable controls, hydraulic controls, etc. That format is the most logical and follows the Cat pattern, no need to reinvent the wheel. Within those categories (examples for now) the material should be loaded by model sequence. Other suggestions are welcome.

Hi, O.M..
At the moment, whatever I have stored is only catalogued by model, i.e. D2, D4, etc.. IF a suitable format was in place in the tech. library, I would be willing to split it up into the sorts of categories that you have mentioned as I added it to the library. How-wevver, I am certainly not going to try to do that with the current format. I may be (sorta) retired but I do still have a life and things to do and Cat machinery is only ONE of my passions.

I have e-mailed a suggestion to a couple of BoD members for seeking help with the club's issues and the tech. library is just one area where this particular suggestion could be very beneficial. I will leave it at that for the moment and let's see what develops.

I am a long way from most of the major action and I only have limited funds at my disposal but I am willing to put in what effort I can to help the club.

Just my 0.02.