Setting up a section for 'regions'

[Drewtee]

Hi,

Was wondering if there is likely to be a heading in the future for specific regions on the site. Somewhere for owners to talk about topics be it events, dealers experiences etc within their area or country.

I'm sure there is a good reason why its not already been added??

Thanks
Andy

[Peter van Es]

We used to have a "regional" structure at one point in the past, but it fell into disuse. The reality is that we have events that we organise only rarely, around 80% of all website visits come from the US, and the consistent following of real die-hards from around the world read everything that is posted here anyway. So your post is actually the first one that raises the issue...

What do others think? Should I create yet another poll?

Peter

[Garry]

I enjoy reading about who is doing what where. Never know when you might be there. Also often someone from afar may actually use one of the local repair shops of they have a good reputation in this forum.

Garry

[Drewtee]

i would still read all the threads but i understand where your coming from. The site becomes many sites within one instead of a community site.

[abe280SL]

The Porsche rennlist site has a "region" section.  The nice thing about it is that it is used for local events, local repair  shop recomendations.....
abe

[Richard Madison]

We started this Pagoda group with Regions in mind. There was to be a contact member for each Region. The call went out for volunteers and no one came forward. We went ahead with a single international organization.

The Events Forum functions as kind of Regional bulletin board for gatherings in various places. My guess is that there are not enough Pagoda owners interested in Regional events to create the critical mass needed to sustain active Regions.

My own attempt at local events is an e-mail list of about 50 Pagoda owners in the NY NJ CT Metropolitan NYC area...kind of an owner's circle extending out about 50 miles from Times Square.

I estimate is that in the few years I've sent out messages about car events to the e-mail group, maybe 10 cars have participated...and usually the same 10 cars. It may be that NY Metro area owners have other things going on and don't have the time to hop in the car for a gathering.

Attendance at the "Official" Mercedes Jamboree at MB USA Headquarters in Montvale NJ every June attracts about 10 or maybe 15 Pagodas...this is probably about 10% of the total cars in the area...and the gathering includes a free lunch.

I often wish for a Pagoda only or maybe a German marque event within a reasonable drive distance. (NY to Ohio is a bit too distant for my taste.) That's why I organized the West Point gathering a few years ago. It was a "build it and they will come" idea and it seemed to work with about 20 cars enjoying a day of activities.

There may be differences in "regional" planning for Europe and the US. The distances in the US are quite large so that attendance by more than small percentage of cars is quite difficult. Ohio happends to be a central location but pin marks on a map will likely show cars coming from a fairly limited circle. Of course, there are the true devotess who manage to get to Ohio from the far reaches of Europe but they are a very small minority.

This rambling is not to take a position but to mention some history and spark a few thoughts on event planning and location.

Richard M, NYC

   

[Peter van Es]

The Porsche rennlist site has a "region" section.  The nice thing about it is that it is used for local events, local repair  shop recomendations.....
abe

There are a whole lot more Porsches than Pagoda's in existence... that's why we saw what Richard described. The same holds for Europe, or Holland. Only around 10-15 Pagoda's turn up to an event, and I know there's at least about a couple of hundred Pagoda's in the Netherlands...

Peter

[J. Huber]

Here in Northern California we have made some strides toward a "regional presence." Back in 2002, thanks in large part to the Internet (Old Yahoo group and Dorian's Pagoda113) we had an inaugural  gathering of about 20 Pagodas, then the next year, another 10-12 which we timed to coincide with the Concours d' Elegance in Palo Alto. Since then, with the advent of this site, we have had a couple more gatherings in and around the Bay Area. Thanks to Pete S. just about everyone who ever participated in our meetings is on a master e-mail and phone list. He also has a spread sheet showing our various mechanics for reference. Thanks Pete! My point is, the makings are there for a Northern California "region." However, anything larger than that -- say, a Western US region or even a California region is probably not going to work -- the west is just to spread out for mass gatherings... my opinion.

[psmith]

Thanks James.  It's been fun to meet people that I only knew in cyberspace.  I just posted about this in this topic http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=10039.0 before I read this one.  One thing that would help is if people would add their location to their signature.

[Peter van Es]

Pete, you are absolutely right about people needing to add Location to their Forum Profile. Richard Madison and I have had a discussion around this. We prefer for people to add their location as follows:

Country, (State,) City

Example: USA, CA, San Francisco
or: Germany, Stuttgart

When people sign up for Full Membership, as of today, this field will be created automatically. Upon registration for new members, this field is now compulsory.

If you are a registered member, could I ask you to modify your Profile / Forum Profile Location field in this manner? It allows you to do useful sorts on the Memberlist on Location, to find people in your area.

Peter

[Richard Madison]

How far will a Pagoda owner drive to attend an event?

I use a variation of cost and value analysis: distance and benefit when considering event attendance.

I (and I assume many others) think about the event and its psychic and practical benefits...will I see other Pagodas there? will a particularly good buddy be going? what else is attractive? Then I consider the distance to get to the event: 20 miles, 75 miles, 200 miles.

My go / no go decision results from comparing the benefits to the distance, For greater benefits, I'm willing to drive a longer distance. I guess we all go through this when considering an event. The difference is that while some might drive 100 miles for very little benefit, I need quite a large benefit to go 100 miles...just my nature and maybe because I live in a dense metropolitan area far from the open roads of the Great Sky.

So for example, I went to Joe's Ohio PUB (in someone else's car ) about 500 miles one way and spent a few very nice days  there...PUB has a very large benefit payback. I have also driven my car to Tom Sargeant's annual Chili gathering for Pagodas in Alexandria, Virginia (300 miles)...I like visiting Tom and I like the chili.

I can't conceive of any event that could get me to drive my Pagoda beyond a 300 mile one way distance...and that would have to be for a really good show.

This is all consistent with hoping for events within a reasonable distance. The suggestion for a single location event sounds great but Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, even Elvis's Graceland would not, in my experience, draw many Pagoda attendees. Perhaps this is a little negative or maybe it's realistic...and perhaps even a modest number of Pagodas in Yellowstione is still a good idea..would make for some great photo ops.

Richard M, NYC     

[Peter van Es]

One thing that would help is if people would add their location to their signature.

I just saw that this is what Pete wanted... I'm just now modifying the code so that Location (if filled in) is shown automatically! Look at the top right of each post, next to nr of posts!

Pete, you can now take it out of your signature!

Peter

[waqas]

Good idea. This is exactly the reason why I've always stated my location in my signature.

[psmith]

Thanks Peter!  Maybe we could have Regional Coordinators to keep track of owners and help organize events.  I'd be happy to volunteer to do it for Northern California [since I already do it anyway ]

[Benz Dr.]

I'd put regions together something like this:

2 for Europe
1 for Britian
about 6 for the USA
1 for Canada
1 for OZ
2 at large regions

This would give a total of 13 regions world wide. Thre first 8 or more are basically where most of the cars are now and could eventually be in line with directors on the board. At large regions could be any one or any place where someone is willing ( or wanting ) to hold events or be part of things.

The way things stand right now we would need ( extra )
1 for Europe
1 for Britan
1 for Canada
I think USA would be filled
1 for OZ
Extra regions would likely go to the States but could go to some other contry as well.

My thoughts are that directors would automaticly have their own region. If some live close enough together that might be considerd one region to make room for others. From what I understand, we can have up to 13 directors on the board. Each would have their own region as part of being a director and this could possibly get more people interested in getting involved as directors. Aside from anything a director might be doing on the board they would be encouraged to hold one regional event per year. They may or may not hold the event or simply get someone within their region to hold it. These would be smaller ( or larger ) events as interest dictates. All would be under the umbrella of the greater 113 Pagoda Group. Regional activities would be posted here on the site along with reports about what's going on around the world.

You guys want it international? Well, this is one way to bring that forward. Doesn't cost anything, gets people involved and keeps us up to date around the world. And, it starts to feel like a real club because we're all working towards the same goals.

[Dash808]

I'll gladly volunteer for the whole Pacific region within a 2,500 mile radius of Hawaii.   

[Peter van Es]

Dan,

it would add weight to your opinions if you were actually a Full Member of this group.

Peter

[Benz Dr.]

I hope I don't need to ' pay my way in ' with  the hopes of getting someone to listen to me. I've been around since the start and I think I've done as much and maybe more than most around here.

[Peter van Es]

Dan,

Your contribution to the group has been recognised here: http://www.sl113.org/information.html and in other ways as you well know. However, it was an oversight to not thank you for the last term. I'm sorry about that, I forgot that you also served on this board after before resigning last year. So thank you Dan, for your service.

Peter

[psmith]

I agree that we should not fractionalize the forums with a lot of different regions, but it might be nice when a new person joins or introduces themselves to be able to tell them to contact  "so and so" that has a list of owners and shops in their area.  The coordinator could also plan local events or just set up the occasional  meet & greet (aka tire kicker).  I know from personal experience that it can be hard to get people to show up, but using email along with the event forum has worked for me.