GP, thanks for the responses.
I'm well aware of the need for help and the process of acquiring it.
That's one of the things I'm working on.
Interesting that in all the years I've been on here this is the first description of some of the inner workings.
My main point is the organization doesn't know how to go about getting people on board, describing the operation that needs help, and just what is required and what the objectives are if they do so. I keep telling no one is going to sign up for an undescribed "snake pit". Show us what you have, what elements are in place and what is being sought.

As far as me making direct contact with you, that depends on whether I get to listen to all the BS or there is an opportunity to make change.
I'm not used to conversing with low status representatives in an organization and in this arrangement the normal organizational structure has phantom officers that are never heard from.

In any event I will complete what I stated I would do for the "Archive" organization. It should suffice as a model or example. If it can't be implemented here maybe some other organization will find it useful.

Can someone please give me a ballpark figure on how much it would cost to either upgrade our existing Search Function in this Bulletin Board or create a whole new system using Old Magnets template, bigger, faster computers seem cheap to me compared to the good ol 286 and 386 days of the 1980's, but I'm no computer person, and I assume software exists already for filing and retrieving data, are we talking $5,000, $10,000, $50,000 or $100,000 here to kick off a suitable system?

We have thousands of old posts sitting in our "Library" already, problem is you can never find the info you are searching for, can that system be upgraded with Topic Headings so at least if I'm looking for info on say RD6 final drive seals we have a file in there for "RD6", or "D4 6U", or do we need a whole new system?

To touch on the topic of volunteers I can only speak for myself here but I am amazed that with 2,800 financial members, and supposedly 19,846 Bulletin Board "members" why we struggle to find folks to volunteer for Committee and Board seats, this is an American Club, started by Americans in America that has attracted international members, and it is still 90% American members I'm guessing, about 2,500 good generous folks, why is it so hard if we are all so passionate about our old Cats, I mean 2 of our Directors are now Australians and we have fewer than what, 100 financial members here in Australia, and in Eddie Bedwell we have a brilliant guy who seems to provide about half the technical support to this Forum and has for years?
Mike

We have a pretty robust search function already at our disposal.

The basic box in the upper right corner uses a Google engine to search the entire active and archive database. You can search for posts containing any one of a list of words by just entering them in the basic box. You can also search for exact strings by using quotes and you can use pattern matches with asterisks, question marks and some other characters that I can't think of right now, just like any Google search tool.

The Advanced Search lets you be more specific about combinations of things, like search certain words posted by a certain poster or the like. You can also layer either the basic or advanced searches, getting a bulk result, then honing in by searching only within those results.

Most of the time when I find I can't find something, or I'm trying to help someone who can't, the problem isn't in the capacity of the search tool, its that people, including myself, don't really know how to use all the tools already available.

If we were to decide that the Google engine isn't sufficient for our needs, I'm thinking a clean sheet reprogramming would be in the five to six figure budget, but I really don't know. It is hard for me to believe that our needs aren't met by Google when it has pretty much become one of the top five industry standards for all types of electronic archival research.

Try experimenting with it, using the wildcard capabilities and quotes to be specific about your searches and see if you find any limitations.

Pete.

"gauntjoh" wrote:

Hi Deas,
I think Sue (I think we met in California many years ago (2000?) when I was looking at Diesel 60 # 1C1 which was in the process of being restored ?) and others hit the nail on the head when speaking about the "Fiduciary" duties of the BoD and the need for specialist advice.
I worked as a trustee for a large ($3bn) pension fund for a number of years, and we always needed to consider if everything we did was in the best interests of our scheme members. On the one hand you can't ask members about every single decision, but also you have to make sure that you minimise risk to members funds (in our case their pension!). I think someone else said that they thought the BoD did not associate the $200k with the membership. If that is the case, it almost seems to me that there are two "businesses", one a members club which produces magazines for members, much like the LINK club in the UK, PLUS a model making business which, apart from subsidising the club magazine (if Mikes figures are correct), is independent of the members club.

Just my £0.02p

Hi John, I sure hope you and BarstartSue have a few spare hours each month to help volunteer on our Finance Committee, because John I see you say here you were Trustee of a $3,000,000,000 pension fund, I'm sure Garlic Pete would welcome someone with your experience, I know I would just hearing now from Garlic Pete that there is no money in the kitty for any upgrade or improvement to the Tech Library in 2016.

I've just re-read the last 2 magazines and I'm wondering why we have not mentioned this upcoming BOD meeting next Monday where our vital Committees and their structure for 2016 is being decided, surely as 100% of our members get and read the magazine while only fewer than 1% of our financial members use this Bulletin Board regularly, surely there should have been a editorial piece from the Board asking for qualified candidates to nominate to help out on our Committees, I mean the Committees do 99% of the leg work for Directors to then sign off on?

I saw in the last 2 magazines our President Bruce Vinkler asking us to seek out new ACMOC members to strengthen the Club, but no mention of reaching out for fresh blood strengthening our Committees, yet here on the Bulletin Board that cry for help has been heard often and loud but you are reaching fewer than 1% of our financial members by relying solely on this Forum, so I don't think you are reaching your target audience to be honest, and next Monday (Jan. 25th) the BOD are signing off on our Committees for 2016 but it seems to me you set yourself up to fail by not advertising your need for help in the ACMOC magazine through a editorial piece, how else do the 2,500 non Chapter members find out you need help so badly, other than looking at the financial statements and seeing us losing money still, but being told everything is fine?

I'd like to see some fluidity in Committee structure going forward the next few months because if we can drag talented folks like John Gaunt and BarstartSue in to help by the scruff of the neck if we have to, then I'd like to be confident a seat will be found at the relevant Committee table for them and their coffee cup, I'd also like to see a Letters to the Editor page in the magazine where our 2,800 members can ask questions of the Board and get feedback on questions they might see as important.

Hi Pete, just saw your post on the search function, I've spent hundreds of hours over the past few years searching for straight forward answers on that system so I can speak from experience, it is barely adequate and only if you have 2 or 3 hours to spare as you get taken off on tangents and find the old scans, photo's and uploads have long been deleted, hopefully someone who is a expert in this area can give us some better costings because the key issue for the Board here that I see is that you have run out of time and the 2 lead horses pulling the technical support team wagon, Eddie and Pete, are refusing to drink from your existing well water and are not uploading their tens of thousands of valuable tech sheets and archive items, so they are saying it is flawed and not worth the ether in the ethernet, or their valuable time, to continue trying to make it work, and I'm not very bright as everyone knows, but if multiple good, clever clients I had kept telling me my product or delivery system was flawed, I'd listen.
Mike

Mike, anyone can join any committee at any time. Does not have be by next week. That is just for any changes with current members of the committees. Just get a hold of Pete or Bruce or any of the board members and have them point you in the right direction.
Terry

Mike, I think you've got things a little backwards. We do need and welcome all the help we can get on all the Committees. The general Club Membership of 2,800 or so seem pretty happy with the results, they seem generally aware of the governance structure and we have a pretty healthy interplay of new volunteers engaging to help while older ones drop out of participation from time to time. We've actually been net gaining in active Committee participation slowly over the past six years.

I gauge the Club Member's satisfaction by the feedback we receive directly in the office, that I receive directly myself by phone and email and by personal contact at the National Shows and the various local shows that I attend. I also gauge their knowledge and satisfaction with the governance by the number who do accept our appeals to volunteer, then carry through to participate.

The point here is that we can scan back over the two year history of this thread, and then pick up for another couple of years back on the bulletin board here, and see that most of the comments and criticism come from the same eight to twelve posters. Some of those active discussion people are Members, some are not.

I have reached out to each of these dozen people more than once with an acknowledgement of the constructiveness of their criticism and an appeal for them to step up, join the appropriate Committee and help out. I have also made appeals on here to ask them to help with populating a permanent technical reference library. So far, none of these active dozen has found the time to accept any of my appeals, on either front.

As an elected representative of the Members, I have to conclude after a certain number of years of criticism without interest in participation that the best I can do is glean the good and practicable ideas from here for use on the Committees and by the Board, and not worry too much about the rest. Some of these dozen have voted with their dollars, deciding not to renew their Membership. I'm sorry to see them go, but I respect their decision. A couple of have been unwillingly conscripted back into Membership. I'm not sure how to feel about that, but my obligation is to respect, engage and try to represent them as best I can, just as with any other Member.

You see, the problem from my perspective isn't a lack of volunteers or quality governance, it is a lack of interest on the part of the critics to truly understand the operation and the problems and engage and help with solutions where they can. I'll listen and participate in the discussion and steal the good ideas that I can, but I can't get too all fired worried about trying to go force any of these people to participate when they clearly have no interest in doing so. That just wouldn't be functional or constructive for the Club or for them.

Don't mistake my perspective. Each of these dozen contributors to this discussion are very valuable Members of the forum, they have contributed immensely to my knowledge, understanding, enjoyment in daily participation here and helped me in many respects. I don't diminish that at all. All I'm saying is that my responsibility is to facilitate their participation if they choose to and use any good idea I can get from anywhere. Beyond that, the ball is and always has been in their court.

Pete.

Hi Garlic Pete Little off topic , But pehaps you could reply to this thread ,as the Question was asked about 2 days ago without any replies as yet .
www.acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?24517-AC...erpillar-Twenty-Five

Well, looks like attitudes haven't changed much. Mike, I'd suggest you Aussies do the UK thing and be done with it.

GP,
You can "Google" until hell freezes over but unless there is a consistent format it just isn't going to work and you wind up wasting your time.

The problem as i see it .
Not aimed at anyone or any side

Often threads take on a life of their own. Many of these are the ones with lots of good information in them. These are the ones that are difficult or impossible to find. Also after so much time has passed the attachments and scans disappear. These need to be saved somewhere even if the format is not perfect and they have to be sorted and cataloged later when funds permit. If not many will continue to be lost forever.