salsa-king

why do you say this Steve?
whats your thoughts?



Phil

stephen emery

Who is the chairman??
who has controlling influence????

steve

stephen emery

salsa had a fair few peeps not happy the way the club is run??
steve

MichelleWRX1994

Steve, you might want to go onto the SIDC site where you can contact them via links....

SIDC forums

Maybe you can get the answers you want from there.

Hope this helps

Cheers,

Michelle.

stephen emery

looks like ,from the outside ,that its not independent!
steve

stephen emery

Michelle
SIDC and scoobynet are linked via a single intrest , scoobs.
What seems to be developing, is active meets via scoobynet with no envolvment of the club, sidc ?
(stef put one hell of alot time into the club, and hence has had 2 much pressure put on him!!)
SIDC is seen as not independent.
So why be a member !!!!

MichelleWRX1994

I guess a lot of it is personal preference.

A lot of people use Scoobynet for arranging meets and have done for a long time, therefore, why the need to move over?

Not too sure what you mean by the SIDC not being seen as independent.
I have my views on SIDC, but they are my views and will remain with me.

davyboy

What's the problem??? We all have a choice!

2 services a year will get you your money back!

davyboy

Well they have an AGM when you can vote for members.

Make sure you go to then next AGM to air your views.

salsa-king

ok ok
SIDC was set up by Dick Grimmes back in about 97/98?
he had nothing to do with 'personal gain' from setting the club up.
things moved on!

it is a members club...read the last TrueGrip..a very good ScoobyBall was aranged by 'Moi' and it had a two page spread for the members to read!
ScoobyNet gets more 'readers' because the SIDC bbs is new! how many even knew there was one??

at the end of the day we vote ppl on the commitee and we can vote them off if we're not happy, it is our club..its up to you/us to change it to what we want.

Steven
what is it you want to see SIDC do?


Phil

MichelleWRX1994

Hold on there davyboy!!!!!!

Two services and it is paid for?????
What about IMPORT owners??????????????????
If you don't do track days either, what is the point?????

Note that I am only giving the other side of hte coin, not fighting the battle with my own personal views!!!

stephen emery

salsa i see where ya coming from!!
my angle is ( maybe the members have not been 2 active).

We have had alot of peeps unhappy with the structure of the club. ie the peeps that r at the top r dealers

The controlling influence is with dealers (scooby suppliers may well be good) so the club is not independent.
steve


steve

stephen emery

i fancy £20 send it now , via email
steve

Chirs B

Sorry, I don't see where any of this is coming from???

Harry Potter

The origins of this BBS are when Phil Dawes (my ex lodger) the original guy for IT for SIDC set it up as SIDC BBS.

Dick Grimes was very keen to make sure the SIDC did not become an "internet biased club".

Phil Dawes gave up Scoobynet 1 after some major rattle throwing out of the pram exercise by a former leading light on the internet Subaru tuning scene..........since rehabilitated well at least his banners are accepted!

I was verbally given Scoobynet to run and said so ast a SIDC AGM I was not going to be manipulated by 3rd party "tuners".

Scoobynet 2 arrose as Phil had a better offer, it arrose whilst I was on holiday covering the Catalunia Rally.

With the rehabilitaion of certain advertisers the Scoobynet 2 has been able to survive massive increase in bandwidth.

SIDC BBS arrose as the useful stuff on Scoobynet 2 tends to get lost quickly as search is down.

My BBS still gets 4G page returns a month as people appreciate the search facility.

simes

I am completely baffled by your point.

For your 25 squids you get 4 decent quality magazines.

You get a bunch of discounts, which has thus far saved me in excess of 300 pounds.

You get access to fantastic track days at knock down prices - through SIDC I have driven Brands, Donnington and Bedford at a fraction of the price they would normall charge.

What's the problem?

It's not like anyone is forcing you to join it or it's expensive

Pete was democratically elected as chairman...

Simon

Chris L

Yep I'm with Simon on this one. Pete was elected Chairman through popular choice not because he runs Scoobysport! Pete's position has made him well known throughout the Scooby world and has enabled him to forge close links with Subaru UK and Prodrive (something which the SIDC continues to try and improve).

Pete, like most of us on here is an enthusiast. The same can be said of all the committee members. I have seen nothing to suggest that they are in this for some sort of personal gain or profit. Scoobysport and TSL (and many other dealers and suppliers) advertise in the SIDC magazine, as they do in many other publications. I'm not really sure what the problem is. Pete and Graham and the rest of the committee give up their own time to run the club on your behalf. They are not paid to do it. As anyone who has been involved in running their own business knows, it is incredibly time consuming. How many people would then be prepared to give up some of their free time to run an owner's club?

Many other car clubs have input from their dealer networks and in most cases, people who work for the dealers or manufacturers are closely involved in the running of the clubs (Peugeot comes to mind - when I used to belong to the Peugeot GTI club a few years ago).

SIDC and Scoobynet are separate organisations. A lot of activity is arranged through Scoobynet, simply because it has such a wide audience - nothing more, nothing less.

Cheers
(a slightly confused) Chris

DocJock

Well said Simes/Chris.

I will be looking out or the "vote Stephen Emery for Chairman" campaign

stephen emery

Don't in anyway want to be seen to be having a go at ether TSL or scoobysport , i just think the club should be run , if poss? by independent people.

Without TSL me car would be ugly - er and alot slower


not internating that the cash is disapaered just intrested where it goes( track days i suppose)
What do ya think!
steve

Neil Smalley

Just to add, I have never EVER seen or heard of Pete (ab)using his position for personal gain.

It IS a difficult position to be in(potentially wearing two hats) but it's one he handles with great integrity.

I have NO Problem with the way the SIDC Is run. I might disagree with some of the things that are announced but to that's a very different issue to what's being discussed here.

R19KET

To be honest, I have to agree with Steve, in part. Having a car club, effectively run by people with a commecial interest, is not ideal.

I'm sure there will be instances, where a conflict of interest occurs, and a choice has to be made between the club, and the business.

The other side of the coin, is that if the people running the club do have a vested interest, they will put more effort into it's success, and SIDC is successfull.

The other problem, is that very few people are prepared to give up their own time to run the club. It's all very well to complain about Pete, or Graham having a commercial interest, but unless someone is going to offer to take over their positions at the next AGM, and get voted in, nothing will change.

Personally, it got to the point where the club couldn't really offer me anything. I got bored with the "Subaru" only track days, I can get far better discounts than any of the suppiers offer based on SIDC memebership, I find the magazine dull, and uninteresting, and I also had some major problems with the way some committee memebers conducted themselves, and the use of club funds. I'm no longer a member.

Mark.

kevin stanton

Apart from the small debate over money intrests.
I think (maybe i'm wrong, but) SIDC needs more input from its members. I know thats true from myself, I pay my money read the magazines and thats it.

I've had the chance to go on the trackdays, Cadwell last year etc.
But didn't because i didn't know anybody.
But thats changed now, because i've met people and done rolling raod days, gone to meets through Scoobynet and not the SIDC.
Maybe this is the point Steve's trying to make.

I think what i'm trying to say is that if we all got involved in the SIDC more, it would diverse into what we want and need from a club, what ever that may be. I maybe attending the AGM this year.

Well thats my opinion.
Kevin

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

I've been on the committee of a number of clubs in the past, mainly R/C model aircraft, and they're no different. You get those who are keen and willing to put in time and effort for the benefit of the club members and you get those who critisise and complain but are not prepared to do much themselves. then you get those who just breeze along with whatever is proposed or organised (the majority). I've learnt that many people are just "takers" and rarely, if at all, put anything back into the hobby/sport/common interest they profess to love and support.
I have personally never experienced "personal interest" in the way the SIDC is run but perhaps some of you have positive evidence?
The SIDC have a "Suggestions" forum - Use it!!
JohnD

Jza

Wow!!

Cant understand you stephen. I certainly dont have a problem with Pete and Graham owning scooby shops and also being a part of the SIDC.

They have a vested interest admittedly - but surely that just means we get looked after by people who will strive to make sure the club doesnt fail??????

The bottom line is ive saved a couple of hundred pounds on servicing alone - so theres no way im complaining.

If you dont like the job - why dont you spend the endless hours of your personal time and do something yourself..... or is this just a rant???

SIDC is good for all of us. If you took over - would you ban scooby dealers from attending SIDC events less we buy some of their products ????? Thats plain daft.

How about some proposals rather than just "having a go"

Nice thread by the way - certainly stirred up a lot of people!!

Jza

Pete Croney

Stephen perhaps I can clarify a couple of things that will help put your mind at rest.

1) I introduced a rule at the club's inception that meant no commercial organisation would ever have access to the member database. This rule was so that myself, and my successors, could never contact members for commercial purposes.

2) The club's finances and those of my company and the companies of other committee members are completely separate. Personally, I have lent the club money to cover cash flow positions and I have also underwritten the financial risk of some activities, so that members were not exposed to financial loss if a plan of mine failed. This is something I did personally.

3) On numerous occasions, my business suffers, because the SIDC needs my time. I made this commitment when accepting the position and have always put the SIDC first.

4) In 5 years of being on the committee, I have never once applied for any expenses. I have driven all over the country for meetings, many during work time, made untold amounts of phone calls and in the early days copied and sent out all of the first newsletters at my own expense. Committee members are entitled to claim expenses, but like myself, no committee member has ever claimed. It is not only our time that we willing give for free.

5) My company advertise in True Grip and pay the same rate as all other advertisers. Advertising in True Grip is handled by an Ad agency who issue the invoices and collect the monies on behalf of the club.

6) Scoobynet did indeed start as part of the SIDC. It was hosted, at no cost to the club, by Phil Daws. Phil lost money running it, but this was his contribution to helping the club. A series of potentially libellous postings meant that its future was threatened and Phil Daws could not risk losing his family home for something which it was costing him money to provide. It is well run by Simon and his commercial attitude has seen it thrive.

8) Along with Steve Breen, John Stewart and Adam Curtin, I was one of the original authors of the FAQ. Every day we receive masses of mails, not just from member, owners or potential owners in the UK, but from all over the world. Our answers to these mails are also always without any commercial influence. Sometimes this is difficult. If asked, for example, whether company A's product is better than company B's, we suggest people visit Scoobynet and the SIDC BBS for opinion from existing customers.

7) The SIDC has created hundreds of friendships, brought fond memories to thousands of people and has hopefully enriched the ownership experience for many thousnads of Subaru owners. We know that we cannot please all of the people, all of the time, but we do try our best.


I have always conducted myself in a way that means I can never be accused of using my role in the SIDC for personal financial gain. I know that the other members of the committee behave in exactly the same way and share my ethos.

I am very touched by the posts of support here.

As a member, the SIDC is your club. Our role is to implement your wishes for the club. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve what the club does, please let us know. You can e-mail the committee via the club website.

chrisp

Well said Pete.

No one is forced to join if you dont want to then dont simple as that. You dont even have to be a member to turn up at an SIDC trackday and watch for free. If you want to change things then turn up at the AGM and put your views forward. I have been an SIDC member for a few years and enjoy receiving true grip and even as an import owner I have had discount when buying SWRT team stuff off subaru dealers.


cheers

chris

Phil

I don't often get annoyed but give these guys a break

They do not get paid for what they do not even the national minimum wage

I attend the southern monthly meeting and have never seen Pete touting for business

I have however waited as a paying customer at scoobysport while Pete deals with another Phone call from a non paying caller wanting advice

My membership is good value for money and I will continue to support the current committee

Phil

ex-webby

I would also like to add, that in all the dealings I have had with Pete Croney (both in the work his company has done on my car, and when dealing with advertising on scoobynet, sponsorship of events, charity donations and general support of the community) he has shown himself time and time again to be a man of honour and integrity.

I have no idea how SIDC is run, but I TRULY believe Pete has no NEED or desire to use his status / influence within the SIDC towards financial or commercial gain. In fact, quite the reverse.

All the best

Simon

Chris L

Well said Pete & Simon. I hope this clears things up. For the record I checked through the last couple of True Grips to find the published accounts. Just producing the mag and mailing it to the members cost almost £20000! There are also 8 members of the committee, only two (Pete and Graham) could be said to have commercial interest in Subaru parts and products - hardly a majority!

Chris

moresauce

Guys,
I haven't got my scooby yet so maybe I'm speaking as an outsider coming in to the scooby world. I found loads of useful info on all things scooby both here and on the SIDC site and found all contact with both great.
From cruising round the SIDC site I was checking out the Isle of Man trip planned for Sept, when hopefully I will have a scooby and so will be going and what a trip for a great price. Seems the club is the business and the day I buy my scooby I will be online buying my membership and it works out at £22 if u buy it online though the SIDC shop