Weekly Meets Facelift?

[autox_mx5]

No no, I'm not missing the point at all.
You senior members of MNMazda are superior to us new guys(stupid kids), because you are mature and don't do things with your cars other than mod them and daily drive them to work. (Not trying to be a personal jab at you Tom, I do like your car).
And with us new kids, dumbasses, especially me, a huge car enthusiast, driving all over Wisconsin and Southern Minnesota to find new roads for say a fall or summer cruise during the day, that's just not accepted.
As far as the incident(s) of this past summer, true enough I did show one person where that road was located, however I was not present that night, nor was I aware of it's activities until the next day. So please don't place me in that same group. As such, if I had heard of it, and knew of the people going, I would've driven them out to somewhere in Glencoe, and left em there to get pulled over my Carver County Sheriffs.
As far as weekly meets go, as stated, it's more of an escape and a get together for most people. And since we are car folk, a drive would seem appropriate. Yes gas prices are high. Yes traffic and roads could be bad. But who cares? If you want your car to be perfect, then buy a Ferrari or something and only drive it to work on the warm(but not too hot), summer, dry, not a lot of pollen days. That might work.
I had never required anybody to come out driving with me. But seeing as there was ample enthusiasm for a drive and people were getting bored sitting at that same Porky's, I had decided to mix it up and drive around.
Apparently that is not what we want to do here. Especially since the new members(myself), are immature and don't understand the rules of having a car forum.

 

[MazdaMINI]

The pregnant lady is going to say it how it is! There is a big division that people need to stop saying Senior Member and New members and need just stop making snap judgement about everyone and actually take the time to get to know people before writing them off!!!!!! I am so sick and tired of people judging and making comments when they don't even know the person they are talking about other than a few posts on a web page. KNOCK IT THE HECK OFF!

 

[DrWebster]

Dude, chill.

 

[concealer404]

As the outsider with no dog in this fight, i'm unsure what could be considered offensive about Tom's post, unless you happen to be a dirtbag hell-bent on street-racing at every chance you can get in between needless hating on others' rides.

 

[Picklz]

No no, I'm not missing the point at all.
You senior members of MNMazda are superior to us new guys(stupid kids), because you are mature and don't do things with your cars other than mod them and daily drive them to work. (Not trying to be a personal jab at you Tom, I do like your car).
And with us new kids, dumbasses, especially me, a huge car enthusiast, driving all over Wisconsin and Southern Minnesota to find new roads for say a fall or summer cruise during the day, that's just not accepted.
As far as the incident(s) of this past summer, true enough I did show one person where that road was located, however I was not present that night, nor was I aware of it's activities until the next day. So please don't place me in that same group. As such, if I had heard of it, and knew of the people going, I would've driven them out to somewhere in Glencoe, and left em there to get pulled over my Carver County Sheriffs.
As far as weekly meets go, as stated, it's more of an escape and a get together for most people. And since we are car folk, a drive would seem appropriate. Yes gas prices are high. Yes traffic and roads could be bad. But who cares? If you want your car to be perfect, then buy a Ferrari or something and only drive it to work on the warm(but not too hot), summer, dry, not a lot of pollen days. That might work.
I had never required anybody to come out driving with me. But seeing as there was ample enthusiasm for a drive and people were getting bored sitting at that same Porky's, I had decided to mix it up and drive around.
Apparently that is not what we want to do here. Especially since the new members(myself), are immature and don't understand the rules of having a car forum.

Alright, I don't know you very well so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here - but you are making some pretty large generalizations and assumptions about the 'sr members' - Do you really have any idea who most of us are or what we actually do with our cars? How many hours have you spent on road courses, drag strips, and auto-x courses? I can promise you a lot of our members do far more with their cars than drive them to work and back.

I have no problem with a nice Sunday cruise, even a little spirited driving on occasion, but once it becomes anything more than that, which base on what I've seen/heard, I'd be willing to bet a lot of times it does, that is what I don't want to be involved in - take it to the track.

At the end of the day Porkys used to be a bunch of us who, over the years have become good friends in a lot of cases, who all own or have owned Mazdas, getting together and shooting the shit, often times not even car related talk would dominate the conversations, yes we all have a love for cars, but a majority of us have many other interests and lives outside cars. This has never been a 'hardcore' car club, a good share of the members have familys, some even show up with the kiddos to meets. - that said I think its safe to say what a good share of the people who stopped showing up to porkys DONT like is the 'riffraf' as it was put, people, often times kids / younger adults, but not always - who show up, many times not even mazda owners, and who like to cause trouble - call it whatever you want but its behavior that reminds me of what people did in highschool and I honestly don't have time for it. I'd rather BS with some friends and drink a beer, wrench on a car, play some cards, whatever than deal with that.

I would love to get to know some of the new members more than I do, and I think this is a case of a few causing a bad name for many. At the end of the day like i said in previous posts, there are many other reasons I personally didn't make it out much last year - this is just one of those.

 

[mndsm]

Where does this Senior member shit come from? If you're talking about the titles under the names, thats a function of postcount, not age of the account. You too could become the elusive "Senior Member" if that's what you want. Post more. Tell us about the setup on that Miata. Cause i'll be the first to admit, that thing is a damn sight quicker than it should be in a curvy line, especially given outward appearances. I think too many people are making too many assumptions about too many things. And that- is missing the point.

And for the record, I got no problems with cruises. You can go all you want. Find a pretty road and take pics? We'd LOVE to see it. I want us to be known as the people who know the things about the places. Unfortunately, I got shit I gotta do. I spent a good part of the summer trying to buy a house. I dinno if you've done that before, but that shit is a LOT of work. Not to mention, I do have interests outside of my car. Do I like to drive it? Absolutely. Do I drive it a ton? No- because I'm not happy with it and I don't have the $$$ to make it the way I want just yet. Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but it does me.

As far as riffraff and greasy dirtbags- it wasn't you, so get over yourself. It was people not associated with anyone, or even anyone that was associated with anyone, moreso the friend of a friend of a friend of a friend people that showed up and were generally uncool to us all, even when we made no untoward comments. Except for Hondas. I'll still hate on those, even that wicked fast one, or Krugers, if it ever gets built.

 

[JohnnyT]

As far as riffraff and greasy dirtbags- it wasn't you, so get over yourself. It was people not associated with anyone, or even anyone that was associated with anyone, moreso the friend of a friend of a friend of a friend people that showed up and were generally uncool to us all, even when we made no untoward comments. Except for Hondas. I'll still hate on those, even that wicked fast one, or Krugers, if it ever gets built.

Ahh...how ironic.

 

[mndsm]

Ahh...how ironic.

plz to explain? If I was a jerkbag, I wanna know about it.

 

[FunK73]

BACK ON TOPIC NOW

The more I think about it the more it makes sense to move the meets to a biweekly/monthly basis. Makes planning easier for everyone, no traffic to deal with, free time is more abundant.

I think we just need to agree on a nice location that is family friendly. I know it might seem odd to cater to families but think about who it is that we want to attract and who owns mazdas. Most mazda owners are young folk who are just starting a family it would seem, and many of our current members fall in to that category as well.

It would be great for the meets to have more of a family reunion feel to them and on a non-weekly basis, we would have more to catch up on.

So thoughts on a location?

 

[Picklz]

Honestly, I think it makes sense to have a weekly or bi-weekly meet during the week, location could be porkys or somewhere new, and to also have a once a month meet on the weekend, as there are people that prefer one or the other, and some that would make both, the fact is for the most part people aren't going to make every meet, and there is no one location, time, day, etc that is going to please everyone, so having a couple options makes the most sense.

 

[JohnnyT]

There's going to need to be more than just one option.

I'm liking the idea of a 'monthly' larger meet including families and those who are otherwise not able to attend during the weekly meets.

Speaking of the weekly meets, what's everyone's take on a bi-weekly meet? I'm thinking it'd be a better option.

Why? C&C is on the first Saturday of the month. Most of us will be at that. Now, make the 3rd Saturdayy the 'monthly' meet and the bi-weekly meets can be on whatever day during the 2nd and 4th weeks of the month and just like that it's once a week.

Combine that with the likelihood of at least once a month installs, or impromptu meetings, dinners, movie or game nights, etc. and you have a decently full schedule.

Honestly, I think it makes sense to have a weekly or bi-weekly meet during the week, location could be porkys or somewhere new, and to also have a once a month meet on the weekend, as there are people that prefer one or the other, and some that would make both, the fact is for the most part people aren't going to make every meet, and there is no one location, time, day, etc that is going to please everyone, so having a couple options makes the most sense.

I think the wind picked up...lol

 

[MazdaMINI]

I think since there is going to be major construction on University this summer finding a new alternative would be a good plan for a weekly meet.

 

[dmention7]

Pregnant lady brings up a good point.

 

[VTEC8YA]

Except for Hondas. I'll still hate on those, even that wicked fast one, or Krugers, if it ever gets built.

Damn, and here I thought we could maybe possibly be friends.

Either way, where ever the "meets" ends up being, they should definitely have grills or the general equivalent of a BCS, cause damn them fuckers are good!

 

[ZoomZoom Diva]

My core belief is that a car club should be a community. A community that is about the members and is a place where people with something in common can gather both online and in person. A place where people can share and support each other in their lives automotive and to an extent otherwise. A place where people can feel safe to be themselves.

The opinions of those outside of the community should only be of value in specific ways. It should be completely irrelevant whether MN Mazda is considered to be prestigious or how serious others judge us to be. However, I do think it is important for a community to be considered respectful to its members and in its interactions with other people and the surrounding world around them.

That is where I am reading and seeing issues. I'm seeing a community that isn't comfortable enough in its own skin and with its culture to be willing to shrug off the opinions of others and to hold firm in protecting its culture to those who wish to act outside of that. Where people not only feel comfortable, but feel responsible enough for the good of the community to speak up when something is beyond the pale. I am not advocating a police state where every move is micromanaged, but I am advocating one that stands up for itself.

Since the meet structure is a core vehicle by which the community interacts in person and builds bonds, I do think revisiting this in a manner to be more flexible to the varying needs of members is important. However, I do not want a culture where meets are considered compulsory or people are judged based on their attendance. For example, I am not likely to be going to Cars and Coffee, since I didn't enjoy myself there the times I have gone. However. I will make it a point to attend other events.

However, I think what we really need to look at is how do we get back to being comfortable in our skin? How do we get back to being what was a very special community, and then build on that?

 

[Gdschaf]

James I hope those are rhetorical questions because I don't know how to answer those lol
my two cents: the way the Mazda club works out here in Washington, is that ever second Wednesday of the month theres a meet for the people around Seattle (like my self) and that switches off between north of Seattle and a bit south of Seattle in federal way, then on the 3rd Wednesday of the month theres the south meet in Portland which is usually at corksport. Now I'm not saying we should model our club off of them, but having something to base our meets off of could be beneficial.

now, because of the construction on uni this summer, I think we should not go to porky's, that place is kinda dirty anyway. I would like to have C&C to go to on the first Saturday of every month, and a mnmazda meet on the 3rd Saturday of every month at like a park or something, we could have a BBQ, i think the monthly meet shouldn't be the same for the whole summer, there's plenty of parks to go to around the twin cities, i know of like 3 by my house, i'm sure theres some else where too. I would also like to have weekly meets, but maybe switch every other week from north and south of the cities. (can you tell i like meets? I miss all the mnmazda people i hung out with every Wednesday last summer)

now I know what all of you are thinking (yes all of you). "i'm not going to be able to make all of those meets." well don't worry, you don't have too, it'd be nice to get a verity of people to show up and moving locations just might help with that, maybe recruit some new people?! I'll probably make every meet, like i did last summer. I know what some of you "senior members" or admins are thinking. "where are we going to have the meets?" well, at this time I can't help with that but I would love to help look for spots, and maybe we could have little mini meets on like a Tuesday with some of the regulars to try some new spots out?! I'd be down with that.

 

[dmention7]

Here's my $0.02. I get where people are coming from with Cars & Coffee, and I think that's a great place for car enthusiasts to meet up once a month and check out some nice cars. However, I'm not sold on the idea of trying to put together a strong mnmazda presence there. Quite honestly, people don't go there to look at a bunch of stock or lightly modified sub-30k imports. I could see rolling in with a wicked FD or a restored Cosmo or something, but otherwise this crew generally isn't the target market for C&C-goers. And trying to pretend otherwise just feels a bit sleezy. Again, I'm not at all advocating people don't go to C&C--not by any means--but I don't think it's the proper venue for us to be putting the club out there or organizing some kind of presence.

 

[mndsm]

Here's my $0.02. I get where people are coming from with Cars & Coffee, and I think that's a great place for car enthusiasts to meet up once a month and check out some nice cars. However, I'm not sold on the idea of trying to put together a strong mnmazda presence there. Quite honestly, people don't go there to look at a bunch of stock or lightly modified sub-30k imports. I could see rolling in with a wicked FD or a restored Cosmo or something, but otherwise this crew generally isn't the target market for C&C-goers. And trying to pretend otherwise just feels a bit sleezy. Again, I'm not at all advocating people don't go to C&C--not by any means--but I don't think it's the proper venue for us to be putting the club out there or organizing some kind of presence.

Counterpoint to that- I know a lot of the guys that drag their porsches and whatnot have/do race Miatas/other assorted mazdas...... that could be useful.

 

[YSOSLO]

I get what Jay is saying though. Nobody at C&C is going to be impressed with any of our cars....plain and simple. I also see what Tom is saying with regard to creating some relationships with some of the guys that also attend C&C. Pearhaps what MAY impress the people attending C&C is a decently-dressed, well-mannered, respectful and interested group of mnmazda club members that have a community they might just want to be a part of. The sponsorship Tom is trying to establish with Flying Miata is a great example of getting this club's foot in the door with regard to showing this isn't JUST a group of guys sitting around a parking lot talking about whatever comes up. A community service project (like the Adopt-a-Highway that we talked about trying a couple of years ago) or perhaps getting a group of guys and girls together to help out with Autocross course staffing, like Tom did last Summer, can go a long way toward letting people out there know that this club isn't just a trend, but a community they might just want to be a part of. Not an easy task, for sure, but I think with a variety of meets with a couple of trips (camping/Itasca) thrown into the mix we just mighjt see some new faces showing up and coming back for more.

 

[dmention7]

Right, and I'm not discounting that... My only point is that we should respect what C&C is and what it is not. Decidedly, it's a monthly meet for owners of high-end cars to show off their stuff, and for those who don't own high-end cars to show up and drool. I think it's an awesome idea to chat up the owners for interest in a mazda club, but I think it would be perceived as tacky if mnmazda tried to set up shop, no matter how well-intentioned we are. There are just much better venues for this club to make a presence at.

Again, that's just my $0.02