hudson club

[Deleted User]

who's in charge of the membership of the club? i've sent my information and dues in over 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing. tried emailing the person i sent the stuff to numerous times and no reply. is there a problem, death, or something im not privy too ?????

bull_islander

I would say be patient. If they get you into the mailing for the September/October issue, you should get that near the end of this month (regular mail). A couple weeks earlier if you opted for first class.

Jon B

I second the opinion! The newsletter comes out every other month and it takes time (remember, this is a volunteer organization!) to process new applications and get the addresses on the mailing labels. I would guess that you've 'made it' in time for the next newsletter which is mailed out about the 15th of Sept. (though USPS may take as much as 3 weeks to deliver it, depending on which level of membership you took). You will also be mailed (independently) a roster of all 3500 members, listing their cars. So don't panic unless you haven't gotten anything by the first week in October.

Unknown

Charlotte our registrar has been in the Hospital with surgery. lee Dodd is helping out again, along with runing club store, give them a break it will be caught up, BILL ALBRIGHT

[Deleted User]

thanks for the insight. biil a. pretty much summed it up for me. thannks again

rambos_ride

davidh wrote:

who's in charge of the membership of the club? i've sent my information and dues in over 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing. tried emailing the person i sent the stuff to numerous times and no reply. is there a problem, death, or something im not privy too ?????

Addendum: If any of the lateness is due to the problems with Katrina - please disregard my following comments...

You know what? 2 weeks is a short time but IT shouldn't matter that it's an "Volunteer" based org. Not responding to emails is poor etiquette. If the person who is in charge of the memberships is out or un-available - arraingments should have been made for someone else to cover emails for them - it's called email fowarding for those who don't know .



We've had several spirited posts on this formum about the club, membership numbers etc...seems like none of the ideas or concerns have made it up to the top of the pipeline and certainly no action has taken place.



Unfortunatley until the average HET membership gets young enough (or us of the digital age get old enough) there won't be a realization that there is a need to invest in the infrastructure of the club, it's media, products and communications to bring HET "kicking and screaming into the 21st century" - there will continue to be posts like this and the SEVERAL other posts on this formum wondering where their HET materials and newsletters are - it can't be done by volunteers alone...IMHO

hudsontech

This is one of those problems that is not, and cannot, go away. If you send your dues in a few days past the date that the mailing list (and issue) goes to the printers, you are, unfortunately, on the long list, to be polite.

I have, for years, advocated the membership chairperson, editor, or some soul, that they have a supply of current WTN's to hand that they can send out to new members as they join - if it's gonna be 6 or 8 weeks until the new member is going to start rcvng their WTN. So far that idea hasn't gone anywhere - again, we have to realize that this is volunteer. But it would be nice if it were done.

Another route might be for local chapter welcome the newcomer and if they have a newsletter, make sure the new member gets a copy. Of course I realize that the new comer may not have any idea of what chapter area he's in - but if they are brought into the club by an established member, that member should make sure that the new member has all the information.

Here in New England as soon as I hear of a new member in the area, I make sure he gets a chapter newsletter, if at all possible. I also, and here's a tip for any editors lurking in the background, make sure anybody that sends info, pictures, or whatever, and is not a chapter member, they get a copy of the newsletter their contribution appeared in. Not only is it courtesy, but in at least one case it gained our chapter a new member!!!!!!!!

That's my nutshell on this subject.



Hudsonly,

Alex B

50C8DAN

Back in 1985 when I got interested in Hudsons I contacted Jack Miller, then the WTN editor I believe, as well as all around Mr. Hudson. He mailed by first class three copies several different editions of the WTN to give me an idea of what the club was all about. I was hooked and joined right away. This would be a good idea to do as a matter of procedure!

rambos_ride

50C8DAN wrote:

Back in 1985 when I got interested in Hudsons I contacted Jack Miller, then the WTN editor I believe, as well as all around Mr. Hudson. He mailed by first class three copies several different editions of the WTN to give me an idea of what the club was all about. I was hooked and joined right away. This would be a good idea to do as a matter of procedure!

If the WTN are so good and they get people to join why doesn't HET post the old issues on their website?



For that matter why does HET keep incuring all the added expenses involved with publishing, shipping etc. when you could post them on the website in real time and let people download and print themselves if they don't like reading it on a screen? What too simple - gotta keep using the Guttenberg press and sending out snail mail?

[Deleted User]

Why do you think no one wants a hard copy of the WTN, or any other magazine??? Remember the average age of Club members here, as well. Using your logic, every magazine should be available the same way!



The current official HET Club website leaves a great deal to be desired!!! It hasn't been updated in years, literally! I've sent the Club information concerning our Editor (me!) and our chapter President, yet they continue to list these positions AS PEOPLE WHO DID THEM THREE YEARS AGO!



They need a new webmaster, or at least someone who will do timely updates, at the least!!

[Deleted User]

folks, i really didn't mean to open a can of worms. it appears there are some real issues here that need addressing. can this be done here on the net or are there too many members that are not computer savy ? it would be nice to discuss some of these here. possibly group suggestions would be addressed by those in the upper ranks.

hudsontech

rambos_ride wrote:

If the WTN are so good and they get people to join why doesn't HET post the old issues on their website?



For that matter why does HET keep incuring all the added expenses involved with publishing, shipping etc. when you could post them on the website in real time and let people download and print themselves if they don't like reading it on a screen? What too simple - gotta keep using the Guttenberg press and sending out snail mail?

One good reason that older copies of the WTN are not on a web site is, again, volunteerisim. I've scanned a couple older copies - 48 pp each and it takes a while. Let's say it takes me, oh, 45 min to an hour to scan one issue. Now lets say we start with 1999 and go back 30 years to 1960. You got 6 issues per year, so that's 180 issues times , at best an hour each. Gonna take a while, for sure. So, I take the WTN's and go thru them making tech bulletins and what-ever out of the material, which is then available on my hard drive. For example, I have a Jan/Feb 1987 WTN that I'm scanning the 1954 Specification pages out of. Gonna take me a couple hours as it runs about 12 pp.



As to posting current issues - once you gained access, why join the club to get the info you need. Set it up with pass word access only, is one way, but again - you'd have to have somebody go in every time a member didn't renew (why renew - I got access to the WTN) their membership. Have we got a volunteer to do this??



I sure do wish I could find that box of WTN's I had around here going back to 1980!!!!



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

rambos_ride

I wasn't advocating putting ALL of the WTN publications on the web (although that would be nice) but I would ASSUME that the newest publications are pieced together with some kind of publishing software - they're not still using typewriters are they? If so - WTN should easily be published to the web as html pages.



I also wasn't suggesting to make them available to the masses that don't pay -think paid membership->login->view all new WTN's online.



Then at make an issue available for "free" browsers of the site - like you all say the WTN copies someone sent you - wet your whistle enough to join. HET would snag a lot more "drive-by" userd to join the club.



Sorry - I know I don't "belong" yet but since I do web programming for a living it astounds me that a club some 5000 strong has fallen so far behind on the technology curve and has to have seemingly all volunteer help...but as with all things in life I guess you get what you pay for...



I guess someone must be doing something fun with all that membership fee swag! :eek:

rambos_ride

davidh wrote:

folks, i really didn't mean to open a can of worms. it appears there are some real issues here that need addressing. can this be done here on the net or are there too many members that are not computer savy ? it would be nice to discuss some of these here. possibly group suggestions would be addressed by those in the upper ranks.

Nope - you didn't open a can of worms a lot of us just like post our opinions and complain! Well OK - maybe just me!



Truth is - if enough people complain loudly and long enough - something good will happen - or HET will go the way of the dinosaur