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By Joe Gagliano |
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| Hello everyone, it is my pleasure
to continue as your Vice President of Regions for 2005. I look forward
to working with our Regions and Chapters in 2005 and in the future.
I’d like to thank the Regions Committee for the great job they did in 2004, we successfully completed our major objectives. These folks devote a significant amount of their time and efforts working with our Chapters and Regions. The 2005 Regions Committee includes: John Walker PA - Assistant
VP-Regions It’s that time of year again…no not taxes! This is the one time of the year we ask the local chapters and regions to assist us with our administrative efforts. Our National Headquarters has sent out the request for your Officer Reporting Forms (ORFs), a copy of your club Roster and if you made any changes to it, a copy of your revised By-Laws. These are the only AACA National obligations you have to comply throughout the year. It’s not that hard, so do it now. We need this information for a couple reasons. First, we need officer contact names and information, just in case we need to get in touch with your local club. This proved helpful in 2004, while trying to match potential new members with a region or chapter. Second, we require it for insurance purposes, especially if you host a show or meet. So, please help us by returning these important documents to National Headquarters on a timely basis. It will save the Regions Committee and our headquarters staff in Hershey a lot of time and effort in follow-up correspondence. Region and Chapter support Information kits, guides and policy documentation examples to help you organize and manage your club Officer Training and Officer Manuals Region and Chapter activities information Region and Chapters President Dinner each year at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia ( a great networking opportunity) New club application and formation assistance Inter Region/Chapter liaison and problem solving AACA Film and video library and listings Seminars Follow-up and reminders concerning the Officers Reporting Forms and Roster obligations. Rummage Box- Articles and useful information for use by your newsletter editor Seen a good movie lately? Your 2005 Regions Committee and I want to thank you for your support and we look forward to serving you in 2005! “It’s not the journey that’s important, it’s the people you meet along the way.”
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By Terry Bond |
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| An ever-increasing
number of AACA regions and chapters are joining the computer age and
establishing websites. Take a few moments and look at the AACA National
website and you’ll find a listing of all regions and chapters – those
highlighted have websites that you can visit with just a “click” of the
mouse. Take a look and see If you don’t agree that a website can be a
great addition for your club.
You can contact the AACA Web Master via the national site for guidelines and assistance in getting your site linked, but what you do with it depends on the importance you attach to the concept. In order to be successful, a website must mirror the club’s newsletter in many ways. The adage “good clubs have good newsletters” can easily be expanded to “good clubs also have good websites!” These days, many prospective members are searching for a way to enjoy their hobby, or learn more about old cars and your club website can attract them. Your own club members are anxious to learn more about upcoming activities and how to participate, and many are also anxious to read about recent activities they have attended. Your website must be active and current. Out-dated information should be removed when it has served its purpose, and event schedules especially should be current. The calendar of activities should contain sufficient detail to facilitate or encourage participation. Be sure to include all the “when, where, who and how” detail possible. It is surprising how many club websites don’t include information that we would consider vital to enable a new or prospective member to take part. Some sites don’t even provide point of contact information for their activities! Pictures of past events or members cars are a great enhancement to a club website, but captions are equally important to identify the cars, the activities or the participants. Links to other resources are always great and links back to the AACA Home Page or the Junior Page are important. A listing of your club’s leadership together with contact information is almost a necessity. It is important to do all you can to ensure privacy and security these days, but an easy way to enable folks to contact you is to provide a club email address. Some clubs use a special phone number and voice mail system, or even a post office box for official club business. In any case, a new prospective member needs to be able to find out how to join and how to participate. The ability to download a new member application is critical. Naturally, the website needs to have graphic appeal. The use of artwork, photos, logos, etc would be important enhancements, but the site must be functional and very user friendly. Individual pages and photos need to download quickly. Avoid pop-up advertisements as they distract greatly from what you are trying to accomplish. During the year, every region and chapter website linked to the national home page is evaluated by the AACA Internet Committee. The criteria outlined here serves as a basis in determining which awards of recognition are given at years end. The process of evaluating individual websites is continuous throughout the year. The Internet Committee visits sites many times during the course of their evaluation. By years-end, sites receiving recognition are awarded either certificates of Excellence, Distinction, or Merit. All of the sites recommended for the Award of Excellence are reviewed again and a few of the most outstanding web masters are selected to receive the coveted Master Web Master award. This award is a special plaque that is presented at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in February. One individual Web Master is also chosen to receive the AACA Spark Plug Award for service to their region or chapter and to AACA. Of course the region or chapter web masters need to be AACA members, and the website should be their own work and not that of a paid professional. It’s easy to participate and you don’t need to register to have your club website reviewed by the Internet Committee – if you are linked to the AACA Home Page, it happens automatically! So – why not “get modern” and get a website for your region or chapter. It can help increase your membership, participation in your activities and it can gain some recognition for all your hard work. Drop me a line (oops-that’s an e-mail!) if you need any additional information. |
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By John Walker |
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| Many years have
passed now since a few of us met in a room and mapped out a plan to
include families and young children into our club. At that point, there
seemed to be no enticement of the youth or young families to become
involved with AACA. We started with a “Policy and Procedure” change that
mandated all banquets at national meets and tours to have children's’
prices and/or menus available. At that time, none was ever offered and
families with young children just didn’t attend because of the expense
associated with banquets. It was a short and small struggle to get
everyone on the same page and eventually it was the norm and families
started attending banquets which in the past was rarely seen.
We also noticed that we needed special memberships for our youth. Thus was born the “Junior Membership”. This included children from birth to age 15. We created a special newsletter for the new members called “Wheels”. Many hours were spent by volunteers to create a great newsletter that was fun for the children. After a few years, we came up with the idea of the Student Membership. We noticed that members from the age of 16 -25 would have a hard time to afford the price of our membership. The board quickly voted on and approved the new membership at one half the cost of the current membership. The only requirement is that the student be involved in a education program after high school. This membership immediately took off and was supported by many. Shortly after or during the same period, I was on the membership committee, and before I was elected to the board, we talked to the Hershey Region about having a youth event during their Fall Meet. Nelson and Mary Neff took charge and ran with that idea. They had erected a tent on the show field and had a Collectable Display for a children’s event that commenced on show day from Noon thru 2 PM. The Hershey Region also provided lunch for all the participants that arrived for the display. It has been great to see this evolve through the years and see how every year, new an old faces participating in this activity. I believe the following year, Doug Drake had an idea of taking the children out onto the show field and perform a learning session, per se, called “Automobile and Its Parts”. What Doug did was to take a group of children and go over major components on antique vehicles. This included cars, motorcycles and trucks. Doug also demonstrated on how a Ford Model A ignition system operates. I have seen Doug get shocked almost every time he presented this operation. Needless to say, he will never need a defibrillator. This was an instant hit with the children and Doug preformed this at every show he attended. After several years had passed, Doug and his committee noticed that we had to go another step to get the youths more involved with AACA. Doug had preformed “Automobile and Its Parts” many times and the repeat attendees needed something more in depth to keep their interest. Alas, the Chip Program was born. Many volunteers worked on this massive project that was launched last year. Now the chip program has involved into a massive activity for all ages. The Chip Program has been promoted at every National Meet and the full blown version is on our web site at www.aaca.org/chip. I encourage everyone to visit this site because it is so in depth, it would take this whole publication to explain it. It is very similar to the Boy Scout merit badge program. Many thanks to out to all the dedicated volunteers who put countless of hours into this wonderful program. One of the chip program activities that I perform is a Pre-Judging program. I have done this presentation at Hershey several years prior to the Chip Program with much enthusiasm from both the children and adults. What I have done with the group is to explain an overview on what happens at a National Meet. I also explain the Judging Team and how they operate on the field. It is amazing on how many car owners who are fairly unfamiliar with AACA judging come over and listen to my presentation. It is a joy to see everyone so committed to see what really happens in our judging process. It has been a pleasure so see how our efforts have paid off over the past several years. We have came a long way in how we involve the youth in our hobby. We all have to believe that the youth of today will be the show chairpersons of tomorrow. I would hope all regions and chapters among AACA start programs like we have at a national level. I know many Chapters and Regions now are following suite and involving the youth of our hobby. I know some Regions have already started presenting “Chip” programs at their meets. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at jlwpac@aol.com or Doug Drake (Chip Program Chair) at d3drake@aol.com for any help or suggestions on how to start programs at the local level.
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