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***** Please note, the following is about club business and is a long read. If you are not interested or you dont care, move on.*****
A Blueprint For ROEA Success
As this unfortunate drama of the ROEA has dragged on now for six years, I have put together what I think is a plausible “Blueprint For Success”. Consider it a “what I would do if I ran the ROEA” kind of punch list - a list of changes, goals, and priorities I believe would rescue the organization from its current moral bankruptcy and possibly see it bounce back to grow and prosper. Consider it “putting my money where my mouth is” kind of thing if you will.
To be clear, I personally have no desire to be the President of the ROEA or run the club. But as one of the leaders here at our FnSweet.com community, the largest constituency of Roush enthusiasts that exists, I have always had a strong wish and desire to see a strong and vibrant Roush Owners and Enthusiasts Association. It is why I myself traveled to Michigan in 2003 and joined the founding Board Of Directors at the start, to be a part of that journey. I want to see an organization that has the ability and structure to provide enthusiasts with first class events that people want to go to and to help celebrate the Roush brand. And most importantly, I wish to see the organization gain and retain the respect and prestige of the Ford enthusiast community - something it has failed thus far to achieve.
Here It Is: Do This And Be Successful
Foster Unity Among Enthusiasts: The ROEA needs to stop treating its members, board members, and enthusiasts of other communities like FnSweet.com like enemies. I would reach out to members and invite them to have a seat at the table instead of turning them away or discouraging them with negativity or road-blocks. I would reach out to groups like FnSweet.com, SVTOA, and MCA and build bridges with them instead of creating fights and animosity with them.
These groups have the membership numbers and the power to make or break the ROEA. We can only benefit by befriending them, asking for their support and getting their buy-in with our mission. They can be our best friends or our worst enemies so I would see to it that we not only have a good relationship, but are joined at the hip. I would see to it that the ROEA can be trusted by these groups.
Open The Doors To Club Management: I would create a new atmosphere of openness by eliminating all the secrecy. If you are doing nothing wrong, there is nothing to hide. The Board Meeting conference calls would be opened up to members to listen in and a “Town Hall” session would be allotted to allow members to address the board, ask questions, and suggest ideas. The technology is there already, it is a matter of allowing it.
Roberts Rules of parliamentary procedure would be implemented to keep meetings on track and professional. Board Meeting schedules and times would be posted on the website to encourage members to participate and be a part of them. Board Meeting minutes would be posted on the website for those who could not listen in, to read later.
Encourage Member Participation By Knocking Down The Barriers: One of the first moves would be to eliminate the current elections rules and structure that is designed to keep the “old guard” in power. The three-year term would be eliminated and reduced to a one year term. The “confidentiality agreement” that allows the ROEA to sue Board Members who dissent would be eliminated. Dissent is good. The two-year membership requirement for board member candidates would be eliminated.
The subjective beauty contest clause of “promoting the club by deeds and actions” requirement, where current Board Members decide if they like you or not before allowing you on the ballot, would be eliminated. If you can command enough of the membership vote, you are qualified enough. This is a car club, not the US Presidency.
All of the above policies currently in place serve to discourage new members from joining the board by design, they are wrong. We need a club that is inviting to talented people who want to let their passion do great things, not closed to them.
New elections would be held in which officers like President, Treasurer, V.P. and Secretary at the very least would be elected offices, chosen by the members. The current system elects a pool of people, then the Board decides who actually gets to be President. It is a system that guarantees that the members cannot decide who their leaders are, cannot change them if they are failing. I would make sure that the board could be fired at the next election if they failed, rewarded if they succeed. Allowing new ideas and personalities to challenge and gain power in the organization is the cornerstone of democracy.
Transparency and Servitude to Members: The members own the club, not the Board of Directors. The members have the right to ask questions, make suggestions, and have their concerns heard. In my ROEA, the club’s mission would be to serve the members who own the club, not serve the egos and private agendas of those on the Board. Thus, the members have every right to know how their investment of dues is being handled by their elected leaders.
The current policy of denying financial business information of the club to members or some board members would be eliminated. A monthly treasurer’s report that outlines every red cent in, and every red cent out would be published and available to all members, club sponsors and even the public to see and scrutinize. If you are doing nothing wrong, there is nothing to hide. Most every other club in the world publishes their treasury activity, and the ROEA should be no different.
Bottom line is that we are now in a digital age. Information spreads quickly and without limits. The club should always be open, up front and quick to communicate its actions, mission, and responsibility to members. If the club cannot work and communicate openly in this environment, it is doomed to distrust.
Events and Gatherings: With the support of Roush Performance the ROEA has been able to stage a number of large and expensive to produce events around the country. The problem thus far has not been the quality of the event, but lack of participation. There is nothing more disappointing for Roush Performance Inc, the club itself and participants alike to buy into all the hype and then travel across several states only to meet up with 6-7 other people who showed up. There are many reasons for this failure to attract a crowd. The stained image of the club is one, and the lack of support for the ROEA among groups like FnSweet, SVTOA and other clubs to help get out the word is a substantial one.
My key goal would be to reach out to groups like FnSweet, SVTOA, and MCA to rebuild their respect, trust and support for ROEA events so that they are willing to promote and rally their members to them. Ultimately the ROEA needs the outside world and needs to stop treating all of their friends like enemies. You need grass roots to have a lawn. This one change could mean the difference between half a dozen participants and hundreds.
But that is certainly not all of it. In my opinion, the ROEA is not yet large enough to succeed with one or perhaps two national events. The membership numbers really need to be in the thousands, not the hundreds for that. Instead I would partner with other groups and events to stage ROEA meets within a meet where venues are already in play.
When large events like Mid-America Ford Meet, Carlisle All Ford Show, Knott’s Berry Farm Ford Show, and Mustang Roundup in Washington come around the ROEA would latch onto those and create a meet within a meet. This cuts down on costs, increases exposure to the rest of the Mustang world, and enables several ROEA official gatherings around the country that a small staff can coordinate easily. Secondly, it also encourages ROEA members in different regions to get more involved to help create these meets.
Value For The Buck: Lastly there is one reality to most clubs. This is that a majority of members are silent. They pay their dues and only expect what the flier said they would get. They will likely never participate, they will likely never run for office, but they want to be a part of the club. These people need to get something for their money that will keep them renewing their membership. Though they may not participate, they want to read the latest news about what the club is doing, about who is in the club, and about the cars themselves.
A newsletter at the very least should be published and mailed to all members monthly. In fact most successful national car clubs tend to be a publishing company first, and everything else second if you look at where all their money and resources go. The ROEA has struggled with this for a variety of reasons. Cost is always an issue, but so is getting someone to do it. In the case of the ROEA, top management has failed to provide past editors with the tools to make a successful go at producing one consistently.
I would see to it that one of the first priorities of the club is to attract talented and passionate people who want to help with the venture. Then I would give them a budget, a free reign and get out of their way. That alone would be a huge improvement on what any past newsletter editor has been given. If the budget allowed I would even be open to farming it out to a company who can provide the services.
Summary:
I am not planning to run for office at the ROEA. So while these are all my ideas, this blueprint is not copyrighted. Someone running for office within the ROEA or someone in office with the ROEA can crib any or all of it for personal use. This is blueprint for success. It is FREE and open source. Use it or lose it.
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...Semper Fi 
Originally Posted by Perferd
My Cobra has a new home 
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