Serious RSOC Question !!!!!!

[topaz]

anyone here in the capri club? the remanufactured spares in that club is amazing and a lot of parts fit escorts, maybe a leaf out of their book on the spares side.

cumbria show was a move in the right direction, respect the heritage and have a proper display area just for old skool, not just show cars.

[arron]

From all the comments that have been made, there are only two main suggestions that seem to to come up again and again :

1. Concours needs to be a little less 'stiff'
2. We need more remanufactured parts

I'm not sure that either of these really count as being valid reasons as to why the RSOC has a dwindling Old Skool membership (or why they are criticised for lack of support), let's face it, if the concours section was taken a little less seriously and there were a few more remanufactured parts available, would the problem be solved ? I think not.

Maybe what we are seeing cannot be fixed, I personally think that it is just some form of natural evolution for the club - after all, our cars are now approaching 30 years old and the numbers on the road are dwindling in comparison to the newer cars. It's only natural that the club should have more support for newer cars then isn't it - more voices to be heard ?

What the RSOC should be considering is how it tackles itself as a business (and like it or not, this is what it must be to survive). I don't think that their problems are confined to just the Old Skool section of membership, I think if you were to speak to Chris Ellison or Trudi Sheppard, they would admit that membership in general has declined. If you break that down and think about it, you will ask yourself why - and the reasons are simple. What do you get for your money ? It's just like the MK2 club Phil Teear started but on a bigger and more complex scale. With the MK2 club we all ask what we get for our money, and the answer has been for the most part; not an awful lot. The RSOC has the same problem, it charges £20 per annum membership and, yes we get some things from it such as registrars input, good local groups and excellent National Day (which you have to pay extra for I migtht add) but there are some serious things missing that apply to ALL of the members and cars not just the Old Skool. The other point you also need to bear in mind is that the good bits that come out of the RSOC are more often than not attributed to the input of certain dedicated people, not the RSOC as a whole.

The Ford RS marque has an immense following, not just in the UK but world-wide, in other words it is a sellers market if you are offering the right goods or service. The RSOC should conentrate it's efforts on remanufactured parts, subsidised insurance (that can actually beat the competition) allied to agreed realistic valuations, good merchandise, technical literature - the list goes on and on.

If it offers these things then I think membership all round will increase as there will be something worth having membership for. That said, Old Skool will still be in the minority as the cars (and hence enthusiasts) just don't number enough.

If anyone else has any doubts about what I've said, have a look at the MG Owners Club website and consider what they do for their members.....

Arron.

[Banishit]

in reply to Arrons comment

its great saying what do you get, but also what do the members give/participate to the clubs ? ok yes £18-£30 and you basically get the same from nearly all clubs for the money, I have been in a few up to now Not just Ford based


A club is only as good as its members, these days everybody seems want but no one is willing to give, RSOC has its issues with the club mag, 5000 members and they have trouble getting mag articles then people moan that its always the same stuff from the same people, well do something about it Write take photos and send them in !!

shows, theres so much of the old boys school attitude, which I have seen over here in the NI RSOC they are all running round with their now long term MATES new people dont get a look in, they (in general) vote for cars a people they know, swap round the judging/judges and dont let them vote on the local groups cars to stop some of the bias

[arron]

in reply to Arrons comment

its great saying what do you get, but also what do the members give/participate to the clubs ? ok yes £18-£30 and you basically get the same from nearly all clubs for the money, I have been in a few up to now Not just Ford based


A club is only as good as its members, these days everybody seems want but no one is willing to give, RSOC has its issues with the club mag, 5000 members and they have trouble getting mag articles then people moan that its always the same stuff from the same people, well do something about it Write take photos and send them in !!

shows, theres so much of the old boys school attitude, which I have seen over here in the NI RSOC they are all running round with their now long term MATES new people dont get a look in, they (in general) vote for cars a people they know, swap round the judging/judges and dont let them vote on the local groups cars to stop some of the bias

What you are saying Brian is typical of any club or organisation whether it's to do with cars, bikes, aircraft or nanny goats......all of what you say is down to the members to control & change and that is not what is being asked or discussed here - we are meant to be talking about what the club can do to make itself better. If you consider for a moment your comment about magazine articles, look at it on a slightly bigger scale - Does the Daily Mail have to lobby it's readers for news articles ? No, it goes and finds them itself.

Like it or not, the answer to the question is for the RSOC to shift up a gear.

I wasn't having a go at the MK2 club btw, it's just the question most people as about that and most other clubs.

[RS2000&MEXICO]

shows, theres so much of the old boys school attitude, which I have seen over here in the NI RSOC they are all running round with their now long term MATES new people dont get a look in, they (in general) vote for cars a people they know, swap round the judging/judges and dont let them vote on the local groups cars to stop some of the bias__________________

i like that one brian...


there is alot more the club can do for us

eg, don't charge us to show our cars on the rsoc stand or any stand

don't charge us to drive on track for any display that the rsoc hold

give more help on parts for the old skool ford from ford parts direct

get more help from the insurance (make it cheaper than AON)

make the show feel more of a fun day for all including kids

offer a show stand for all old skool not in the shinny bit...lol...
as some ppl will not take there car if they cannot park it the grounds

maybe do a show and shine trophy for the none shinny boys...
so that the feel like they are going to get somthing worth winning

i think thats about it for me...
and make you fell better about your car

[graham John]

[quote=RS2000CUSTOM]1/ I think some "Old Skool" merchandise needs to be made available !

ie. Sunstrips

Tax disc holders

Key rings

.................................................. ..................................................

I would like to comment on this and hopefully put this bit to bed for good.

In 1994 Fords legal corporate brands department met with the then current RSOC Chairman and "requested" that the RSOC do not produce anything that had FORD reading directly in to it, and that the FORD "Script" must certainly not be used before ANY reference to the RSOC, ie, The RSOC could use the FORD word/name, (but not in the Ford Script) as long as it did not directly read into the title, thus the FORD (script) RS Owners club simply became the RS Owners Club, and if they wanted to incorporate the Word FORD, it had to be seperate from the wording of RS owners club. As an example, have a look at Rallye news and you will not see the word Ford in script or non script anywhere near the title, however they can use the word in Script /non Script form elsewhere as long as it has a defined gap /Distance. Thus, a new RSOC logo was designed, with new colours and a new style and the RSOC were "requested" that all clothing, Branding, letterheading, membership cards etc followed these guidlines and that all existing "old style" stuff be destroyed. It was pointed out to Fords Legal guys that there was a lot of Existing stuff/Clothing / etc still on the books and they eventually agreed that the RSOC could continue with the existing logo / Brand but only for a short given period and that any renewal / future new stuff follow the corporate guidlines. Thus the RSOC would be in breach of Fords copyright / branding if they reproduce the old style / old stuff as in the 1980's and that is why they cannot do the "old Skool" sunstrips, tax holders, and key rings. The "reward" for adhering to this was official Ford motor company endorsment / Recognition (which the RSOC has and is the only one to have this to my knowledge) and also it could officially use the word FORD to associate the RSOC to. (Phew!) Not too easy to explain guys, however these are the facts and the club had to undergo a huge re branding excercise in the 1990s. If other organisations wish to chance theur luck by using Ford, Ford (Script) or the RS old style logo then good luck to them, however one day they can expect a tap on their copyright shoulder....................... and certainly get no endorsement from Ford themselves.

No doubt someone will pull up an example of modern day "abuse" of the Ford logo, although the RSOC do take great care to follow the guidlines as closely as possible and if there is an error it is not intentional.

So how come some of us still have the old style sunvisors / mugs/ licence holders etc ? simple- it was old, original stuff and not reproduced during the last twelve years, however even that has now gone.

Now, what was that chairmans name


cheeRS

[Banishit]

clear as mud that graham LOL

[Kel]

Graham, so The Ford RS Owners club 1990 Ltd is no longer valid ?

[graham John]

yes kel,
still valid and very much so, the "Ford" thing merely relates to brand image and identity, talk to you about it sometime,

cheeRS

[graham John]

clear as mud that graham LOL

yeah, agreed. difficult to put into words........................


cheeRS

[RS2000&MEXICO]

so what about the RS script then...?...is there any problems with that...out of intrest...?

[Kel]

yeah, agreed. difficult to put into words........................


cheeRS

Hope to see you at Rally Day !!!

[graham John]

yeah, should be good,


cheeRS

[pockets]

my reassons for not renewing my membership to the rsoc were :-

1) i live on the west coast of scotland. the rsoc dont have any shows in my area, nearest being strathclyde park (100 miles away from me).

2) i posted up on the rsoc forum asking if the club would be interested in going to my local shows which are worth attending, there was no responce from anyone about it.

3) when i did go to shows (aberdeen, strathclyde park, crail ect) i only found bitchyness from some other members with the "my cars better and faster than yours" and "yours bumpers are not the right shade of black" attitudes.
it made us feel we didnt matter to the club and no one wanted to make the effort to talk to us, theyed rather stay in their own wee group than talk to someone new. ( im not the only one who feels like this in my area ).

4) there is no westcoast region of the rsoc only the central and east which i couldnever attend a meetnight due to the distance away and time it started ect.

so with all that i didnt feel i was getting anything out of the rsoc so i didnt renew and eventually i found a club thats better for me.

dont get me wrong i did meet a few decent people at rsoc shows (ders being one as he used to own my car! ) i suppose its a case of why should i be interested in a club thats not interested in me.

if some things were to change i might consider rejoining but just now i feel theres no point.

[RabC-RS2-77]

i think i'll keep mi gob shut about concours.. lol...
hey i'm only playing at it, lark...