The future of the SAAC

[kjspeed]

I'm going to start this thread so that all interested parties can comment, suggest and otherwise share their opinion on the future of the SAAC club, forum, etc. It's important that those who have a vested interest also have a voice (a nice inside voice that treats others with respect even if they might disagree with them).

Unfortunately, too many threads have been hijacked lately with discussions regarding the club and website/forum issues and that detracts from the posters original intent. I'll be the first to say that I'm guilty of this myself. Hopefully this thread will allow everyone to comment on those issues so other threads can stay intact and on subject.


Currently there are three websites related directly to SAAC that I know of:
saac.com
saac.memberlodge.com
saacforum.com


The first two seem to be directly related to the club and this forum as most of you know is owned and managed separately but is linked to from the saac.com site as the "official" SAAC forum. I am not including all of the other websites or forums that focus on Shelbys but are not directly tied to SAAC.


What does/should it mean to be a dues-paying member of SAAC? What roles do each of these websites have in promoting Shelby American automobiles and their history? Why do you want to associate with this club (what do you hope to get out of it)?

[Rodster-500]

Great idea to break this topic out from the other discussions.

Your questions will prompt lots of wishful thinking and great ideas but may not address the current situation.

It might be helpful to know where we stand today from the folks currently in charge.

What are the current priorities?
What is the current balance sheet?
Are there any legal commitments?

Best to know what direction we are currently headed before setting a new course.

If no answers are forthcoming, the only immediate solution would be to spin off the forum and put it in control of folks who are looking to grow the hobby and enthusiasm for the cars.

The registries are of utmost importance and regardless of the future direction of the club, they should be maintained and protected.

[427heaven]

All great questions Rod... Problem seems to be that any time real questions and problems are brought up- THEY) The GLOBAL MODERATORS and the other chosen few, Who are they we really don't know? Seem to always interveen and lock all threads because this involves them and their feet are being held to the fire requiring answers. We know this takes time,effort,knowledge and enthusiasm when we get old this wanes in some people faster than others. Passing the torch to others that have tese skills is difficult for most. Its like being a Manager and told to clean out your desk, you had a good run but its time to pack it in and let your replacements guide the ship. I think we are there now and let the people say there peace without always deleting or locking their statements.

[Rodster-500]

All great questions Rod... Problem seems to be that any time real questions and problems are brought up- THEY) The GLOBAL MODERATORS and the other chosen few, Who are they we really don't know? Seem to always interveen and lock all threads because this involves them and their feet are being held to the fire requiring answers. We know this takes time,effort,knowledge and enthusiasm when we get old this wanes in some people faster than others. Passing the torch to others that have tese skills is difficult for most. Its like being a Manager and told to clean out your desk, you had a good run but its time to pack it in and let your replacements guide the ship. I think we are there now and let the people say there peace without always deleting or locking their statements.

If that's the case, the SAAC future is a slow death.  Kind of like what we are seeing now.

It seems evident there is enough enthusiasm and talent and  to pick up the pieces and start anew.  How and when that happens, time will tell.

[69mach351w]

99% of the time, I don't get involved in all the hype like what's been going on in SAAC forum 2.0. And I will comment this one time and that's it.

I am fairly new here and got away from other forums that carry on like I've been noticing here. 

But, this forum, IMHO from what I've seen on other Ford, Shelby and Mustang forums opened to the general public, is quickly becoming like other forums I discontinued visiting.

As you all may know the main forum(s) I'm talking about. I won't mention them here.

The old SAAC forum was a work of art and truly instumental in my learning about the first Gen Shelbys. This new forum is fast losing that IMO. It has lost it's roots somehow along the way. Maybe most that have been on here for years still can't get over losing all the information compiled over a decade on the old forum.
That's honestly what I see.  And sometimes the members here, when not moderated efficiently, will get carried away with subjects not related at all to the Shelby and can be downright demeaning.

I know, some see the "Lounge" as a way to communicate about anything, but when talking trash about women, the clothes they wear and such, and talking trash to each other, in my opinion, that stuff has a place on other (non-car forums), not here.

All my comments here are the way I see through my eyes and thoughts and the way I see SAAC 2.0.

Thank You.....
No more comments.

[shelbydoug]

My suggestion is to approach the people that are running the club at the Convention in August. That includes the President, the Board of Directors and the Administrator of this SAAC Forum.

They are going to be right there and you need to confront each and every individual involved.

They need to explain the current situation. Why there is no response to issues on this forum by ANY  them and they need to express what their commitments are to SAAC now and in the future.

Then if need be, the members of SAAC need to decide what their commitments are and if there needs to be a change to the leadership of this organization.

[557]

Keep in mind the one thing that must be kept"iron clad"are the registries.the. club is in an interesting position here regarding the authentification of "real cars" with factory records..That can NEVER be compromised..In a sense the rest is "fluff " absent authentication in my opinion.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

This discussion needs to be broken down into 2 parts - SAAC vs Forum

Forum
Complaints seem to center around crash of old site. Oh well stuff happens. Unfortunate but it's gone. It's a free to the world site and SAAC has let someone else use "SAAC" on their forum. 95+% of what was "lost" is contained within the SAAC publications and Registries. 100% of it is held by the original posters who can repost if they feel it's relevant.
Everybody is whining about posting pictures - read the post it's easy and quick

SAAC
What are the current priorities? I don't think this has changed since 1975 - promoting Shelby vehicles 1962-1970.
What is the current balance sheet? Not my concern I don't own stock in Walmart so I don't need to know their finances either.
Are there any legal commitments? Again don't care. I'm not an owner/partner so I have no liability.

Then if need be, the members of SAAC need to decide what their commitments are and if there needs to be a change to the leadership of this organization.
SAAC has been around for 43 years. Until CS sued it and tried to take it's assets (mainly the Registry) there were zero problems running it as a privately held company. After the CS suit was settled many of the board changed. The focus or goals haven't changed. SAAC has 2 websites for DUES PAYING members. They contain everything relevant for your membership. Publications, Events, etc. The forum is free to the world - they are not spending your dues on it.
Look how many car clubs fail due to infighting and whining by the membership. The original COCOA was gone when I bought my car in 1975 - 2 chapters still exist but that's all. SOA burned through all the dues money after a couple monthly issues rather than the promised 12. SAAC rose from the ashes of those clubs with insight on how to flourish over the years by keeping it a tightly held company with the focus on the cars not personal infighting among the membership. The SAAC publication is still one of the best in the world. The current thick publication is a function of the times not some nefarious plot to separate you from your money. To print and mail 4 times per year would increase printing and mailing costs far exceeding what the dues structure would support.
Does SAAC have a paid staff - I sure hope so I wouldn't want to babysit 4,000 people and the retirement portfolio parked in their garage for free.

Bottom line you don't like the forum don't use it and/or start your own - Same with SAAC if the club doesn't fulfill their promise of promoting the cars of CS from 1962-70 move on and form your own club.

To sum it up I'm an old guy, a past president of COCOA, that has been a member since 1975. I've owned many collectible cars of other makes. I no longer own a Shelby built car but have maintained my SAAC membership due to a love of the cars and the friendships I and my wife have built over the years.
SAAC runs in the background just fine. The publication arrives the convention happens the cars go up in value everything they said would happen.

[BGlover67]

It's hard to believe that anyone doubts that their dues aren't being used appropriately.  I just spent a week of vacation joyfully reading through the 2017 annual.  What a monumental task that must be to publish and distribute.  I'm sure a lot of that is due to Rick Kopec.  He and the rest of the contributors don't receive enough credit.

As a relatively new guy, the only flaw I see about the club is that the current management of SAAC doesn't seem to have a plan for passing the reins on to younger folks when the inevitable happens.  As much as we would all like to see the club continue on indefinately with the same veterans performing their same duties, we all know life marches on.  What if something was to happen to one of the Registrars (God forbid)?  Will there be a loss of information and artifacts pertaining to all these wonderful vehicles? As someone already mentioned, the preservation of the registry and all the information associated with it is paramount, I'm sure we all can agree on that.

As for the forum, I can't help but feel that forum 2.0 is just having growing pains.  A lot of the veterans who poured their heart and soul into the last forum now don't seem to trust it.  It's like everyone is waiting to see if it will still be around tomorrow.  That should improve in time. As for the other issues about civility, I like to think that Shelby's are classy vehicles.  If this was a forum about Harley's, no one would even question it.  Let's keep the level of discourse at least equal to how everyone feels about our special cars.

[2112]

This forum may be a separate entity and not fiscally or legally tied to SAAC, but everyone's perception, accurate or not, is that they are one and the same.

Our membership dues are insanely low. I have a membership for another make and model and the dues are exactly 5 times more. They have no services (registry), no site and a yearly journal that pales in comparison to SAAC's.

Maybe it is time to consider a modest, or even immodest due increase in order get the accounts up to snuff an most importantly, forge a tighter relationship between this forum and SAAC.

We could buy the software upgrades so desperately needed here and maybe get some IT support.

Last, I have said it before and will say it again, I believe we need to reach out to the Gen II Shelby owners. Those groups are full of young enthusiastic members and gives our membership and the original cars a group to transition the overall legacy to.

The cars are 50 years old. Growing and sustaining the club organically is a monumental task. Why ignore 50,000 cars and their owners?

[zray]

Calling your business a "club" is a neat trick, not unlike the magician who says watch this hand , while the other hand is busy elsewhere.

SAAC is not a club like the Corvette club, or the MCA, both of which have an elected board, and are subject to independent financial review, and both are in no danger of failing by the way.

it's a business, ran like any other business; for profit. Remember that and you won't get your feathers ruffled. But start acting like its a real car club, with board elections and accountability to members, etc. and  then you are on thin ice.

Z

[427heaven]

Well said Z..... There are a few that just don't understand the cicumstances, there are a few of us that are very vocal and most don't want to comment on the hard line issues. This is the future of the group so it will be interesting what others feel about how we should continue from this point forward. For starters I would want someone that could and would willingly assist in answering leadership role questions for the group. Radio silence in this instance is not a good thing. An observation here is that as the cars become ever increasing in value, peoples expectations become more focused in all things being a little more professional. If we were dealing in 3500 $ Honda Civics then we could park them in the gravel pit or muddy roads at the conventions,tolerate NO refunds for families that cant make the conventions, No parking organization,quality food vendors, some of these cars are 1,000,000 large and need some thought put into it for over night security etc. Now it was mentioned earlier about 2.0 after 45 years of having a smooth forum outlet why with modern tech did we go backwards with this picture posting format? There is no simple answer to any one problem but at least an occasional answer from the hierarchy of whats going on will calm a few nerves-

[Bigfoot]

Yeah
It would be good if Powers That Be (PTB) could chime in about the present and the future.
We are losing the audience here......
And that's critical.

[Greg]

Calling your business a "club" is a neat trick, not unlike the magician who says watch this hand , while the other hand is busy elsewhere.

SAAC is not a club like the Corvette club, or the MCA, both of which have an elected board, and are subject to independent financial review, and both are in no danger of failing by the way.

it's a business, ran like any other business; for profit. Remember that and you won't get your feathers ruffled. But start acting like its a real car club, with board elections and accountability to members, etc. and  then you are on thin ice.

Z

Since you state it is a business ran for profit, "who" owns it?  I think if the members (of which I am one) knew who and how, then maybe the discontent would be different. 

I absolutely 1000% agree on keeping the integrity of the registries and I have to believe there is a great plan to keep them secure and pass them along when their keepers die or retire.  At 4000 members the dues are generating at least $200,000 per year.  Someone said the forum is NOT part of the SAAC so outside of the convention and yearly publication, what else does the "owner" do?  I am not making this statement suggesting that they don't do anything and its very possible those two things take all of the funds and if thats so, just say so. 

From what I have seen, the members contribute to all of the content and from what I read earlier, the website forum and registries are all ran by volunteers (Their time is greatly appreciated by all!).  I am also not suggesting anyone is getting rich from the club (I mean their business) but it would be nice to understand how it works, what does the owner want their business to do (If it is a business WE are their customer, are they listening?). 

Remember, this all started because the owner (too my knowledge) hasn't commented on anything.  Guys in my world, just like yours, I am responsible when a customer is upset and I have to deal with it.  You know why, because I care!  So come on, pull the curtain back and show us some love 

[Bob Gaines]

Calling your business a "club" is a neat trick, not unlike the magician who says watch this hand , while the other hand is busy elsewhere.

SAAC is not a club like the Corvette club, or the MCA, both of which have an elected board, and are subject to independent financial review, and both are in no danger of failing by the way.

it's a business, ran like any other business; for profit. Remember that and you won't get your feathers ruffled. But start acting like its a real car club, with board elections and accountability to members, etc. and  then you are on thin ice.

Z

Since you state it is a business ran for profit, "who" owns it?  I think if the members (of which I am one) knew who and how, then maybe the discontent would be different. 

I absolutely 1000% agree on keeping the integrity of the registries and I have to believe there is a great plan to keep them secure and pass them along when their keepers die or retire. At 4000 members the dues are generating at least $200,000 per year.  Someone said the forum is NOT part of the SAAC so outside of the convention and yearly publication, what else does the "owner" do?  I am not making this statement suggesting that they don't do anything and its very possible those two things take all of the funds and if thats so, just say so. 

From what I have seen, the members contribute to all of the content and from what I read earlier, the website forum and registries are all ran by volunteers (Their time is greatly appreciated by all!).  I am also not suggesting anyone is getting rich from the club (I mean their business) but it would be nice to understand how it works, what does the owner want their business to do (If it is a business WE are their customer, are they listening?). 

Remember, this all started because the owner (too my knowledge) hasn't commented on anything.  Guys in my world, just like yours, I am responsible when a customer is upset and I have to deal with it.  You know why, because I care!  So come on, pull the curtain back and show us some love 

I was informed by higher ups that the registries are owned individually by the registrars of the particular year independent of SAAC. I am not sure of if any plan is in place for passing the torch. At one time a plan/plans were being formalized. I just hope things have progressed for the sake of all of the work put into each by each of the registrars.