Chapter vote

Hudsonrules

:(Well, we had our Silver State Chapter meet today. It went welluntill I brought up electing new officers. That was the begining of a good discussion of pros and cons concerning our chapter. In the end we took avote and it was drecided to disband up here in Northern Nevada. Our memberdhip numbers are down, though there are several Hudsons up here. Most of their owners just are not interested in a club or chapter. Hopefully, our members in Southern Nevada can get the chapter up and running again. There are quit a few Hudsons in Southern Nevada, and the weather makes it possible to attend meets. I know other chapters have some of the same problems, distance and age both of the members and their cars. What do we do? Arnie in Nevada

hudsontech

Sorry to hear about your chapter, Arnie. Membership does seem to be a problem, at times.



Back in 1971, when I founded the New England Chapter (northern New England - Maine, NH and VT including most of MA) there were, at that time around 200 HET members - in Massachusetts alone. When we held our chapter formation meet we had 16 HET'ers signed up. Later, when we opened the chapter up to RI and CT we, of course, got more members. Now given the number of HET'ers in MA one would think that we would have over 100 members in the chapter. Not so - I think an average over the years, for the whole of New England, was around 65 or 70. Maine, over the years hung around 10, NH around 15, VT around 10, RI about 5, CT somewhere around 15 and MA did come in with around 25 or 30 - these are all average numbers. But, given the large number of HET'ers in the area you'd think we'd have done better, but, sadly, such was not the case.



I think it really hit it's zenith at the 2008 National in Marlborough, MA. There were a lot of Hudson owners within 50 or 75 miles or so from the event so you would think we'd have had a really big turnout. From my personal observation, looking back, it seems to me that there were not all that many New England cars that turned out. One excuse I heard was "Oh, we're saving our money for the 2009 National!!" Come on folks - you're 25 miles away. I drove from Memphis to the New England National meet - AND I made Pontiac too!!!



The tendency in to many parts of the country today seems to be that to many Hudson owners prefer to hide their cars in their garages. For what reason I have no idea. I mean if you enjoy the cars it would seem to me that you would want to let people see them. Yes, Virginia, there are Hudson owners who take their cars out to all sorts of meets - but these people are in the minority.



So, I don't think the problems you had with your chapter is any fault of anyone - except those members who couldn't be bothered to support your chapter. It is, indeed, a sad thing.



That's my soapbox for the day - let the comments, pro and con, roll. I been agitating people in this here HET club for 40 years - you ain't gonna bother me one way or the other.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Jon B

I would like to suggest that you continue a sort of unofficial "shell organization", keeping the core of your membership, and continue to arrange get-togethers. You could use "telephone trees" and e-mail to alert your core group (as well as others who never were chapter members) of the get-togethers, which will tend to be backyard meets or affairs held in conjunction with larger car meets. (You could, for example, arrange for all Hudson owners to attend a large multi-car meet, then adjourn to some museum or to view a collection of cars afterwards, and end up the day with dinner at a restaurant.) A relatively simple "newsletter" can be created at no cost, via internet messages sent on a regular basis to participating Nevada Hudsonites. Or if you're a bit more ambitious, someone can create a website which will not only serve as your newsletter but possibly attract new members to your group, as well.



(You will want to check the liability ramifications of this because you no longer have coverage in the National H-E-T insurance program, now that you're no longer an official chapter.)



The main purpose here is to provide local activities for, and connections between, Hudson owners. It isn't necessarily to have a "chapter". Long before there were chapters in this club, there were all sorts of Hudson get-togethers.



You can continue to maintain links between the old members and attract new members as well, by continuing to organize activities in your part of the country. At some point, you may discover that you again have the requisite number of people to re-form the chapter, and that will be great. With a ready-made membership and a "corporate history" of how to run a chapter, it will be fairly easy to re-create your old chapter. But until then, you will continue to maintain a network of Hudson enthusiasts.

[Deleted User]

Jon has some good ideas here. I have long noted that smaller car groups that network together for events, such as a show for Orphans, draw better memberships and have better turn out.



You could still be a Chapter at Large, hold online meetings and organize events with other clubs, both HET and other local clubs. I know many Hudson owners that have another make of car in their stable too.



I would not give up the idea of having a Chapter in your area, if not physically, then virtually....hey, that is what we do here.

Hudsonrules

:)Thanks Jon, Alex and twelch for the information and advice. Perhaps we will just take a sebatical for a while. I did express the importance of a chapter at our meeting and the members understood. I think involving Hudson owners in mixed car meets and cruise nights we may attract individuals who show an interest in our cars to join the National and eventually renew the chapter with fresh ides. Time will tell. There are several Hudsons and members in the Las Vegas area, perhaps they can help hold the chapter together. a side note, why is it it that any club or group, not just cars, there are only a handfull of people that seem to hold them together b ut many will participate? Enough of my rambling. Arnie in Nevada

hudsontech

Hudsonrules wrote:

:)Ta side note, why is it it that any club or group, not just cars, there are only a handfull of people that seem to hold them together b ut many will participate? Enough of my rambling. Arnie in Nevada

Arnie,



It's called the "let George do it - I want the bennies, but I don't want to have to do the work!!!"



Cynical attitude - sure. Been there, done that - I speak from experience.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Aaron D. IL

Everyone wants to be at a good party but few want to be the cook or the cleanup.

[Deleted User]

Arnie, thank you to you and your wife for all the hard work you've done for the Silver State chapter over the years. It's a shame no one up north wanted to follow in your foot steps.

The Silver State HET Chapter will continue on, but will have it's meetings based in southern Nevada instead of northern Nevada. I will continue to send out the newsletter - expect a new one after the Laughlin meet.

Unknown

Alex.. your experience is the same as mine and I have lived in the West, Midwest, South and Northeast parts of our country. Being the rabid Hudson supporter I am, I would seek out the nearest chapter get involved and attempt to drum up support for additional membership and more activites. As I have aged and now planted myself I realize that most chapters exist because a "FEW" folks work thier butts off and the remainder come and go. I have been part of the later too. After a while this gets old and sometimes expensive to continue. Expecting other Hudson owners to be as gung ho as you might be is a failure in good observations... as stated... lots of owners, own garage cars and seldom come out to meeting with thier cars. Getting older maybe making me cynical, but experience is a teacher of truths.