The future of the SAAC

[acman63]

The only reason that I care who sits on the SAAC board is so I can thank them for what they do and provide.  Much like a private country club membership, as long as I feel the dues are appropriate to the value of what the club provides to me and other members, I sustain my membership and enjoy the benefits. 
The war is over.  Only those in the room of negotiations know the full story and nasty hassles that they had to go through.
There is nothing to be gained by by bring back the ill feelings. It was a bad divorce and many long term friendships were destroyed.  But SAAC carries on.  And so does SA and Team Shelby.  For me, I finally had to "let it go" (music in background) and get back to enjoying the people and the cars.

So many volunteers work through tedious materials for hundreds of hours that provide us with an amazing value.  If some are paid, I really do not care. 

Amen Don;    its over .  that was then and this is now!

See you at the convention for some more SAAC fun!

[kjspeed]

I've read every post and every linked article over the past couple of days and it seems that my original premise was overly broad because of my ignorance. I knew of "the lawsuit" but didn't really know what it was about. I knew there were registrars but didn't really know what their relationship is with SAAC (still unclear on some of that). I assumed SAAC was a club fitting my understanding of what a car club was since they refer to "joining" and "membership" on the saac.com website. I did not know that it is either a for profit/non-profit corporation (depending on how it's listed on the CT corporate search site or on Facebook) with 5 directors (two of whom are officers) and a secretary and I really don't care if the directors or anyone else managing the day-to-day activities of SAAC is compensated or if they have a large bank account or Mason jars buried in the ground. I chose to send my $50 for an annual membership (or subscription or whatever...) and I'm happy to get the printed magazine a sticker and an ID card. If that's all I got I would still be happy.

I'm unable to attend the convention this year, but if some of my $50 went toward that event I hope everyone has a great time and I hope to participate in future conventions.

My primary concern is this forum. Like it or not this is how many people connect with SAAC and for some it may be the only connection they have with SAAC. It is "advertised" as the official SAAC forum where members and guests can connect with each other, ask questions and get impeccable advice on their 62-70 Shelby. It had become a valuable resource of all things related to these cars until it blew up last year. A tremendous amount of effort was expended to create forum 2.0 in an attempt to recreate version 1.0 but without a data backup of the original site it won't happen quickly, if it happens at all.

I'm trying to wrap my head around why SAAC doesn't seem to be putting any resources or effort into the forum (aside from the expense and time invested in moving to a new server and initially setting up the latest version of Simple Machines software). Maybe there is a plan that we don't know about. Maybe there aren't enough financial or human resources to do any more than what's been done. Maybe it's just not a priority or the corporation doesn't care what happens here. I don't know because to date none of them have addressed this issue.

It seems to me that this forum would be an ideal recruiting tool to move someone from merely interested to a dues-paying SAAC member IF it worked well. I don't see why that wouldn't make sense to the SAAC directors, but then again what do I know?

And for those who think this forum is working like a finely tuned machine - think again. Posting photos is doable but it is clunky and a pain in the arse. I personally believe this is an easily remedied problem since other Simple Machine forums work as designed (and this one did at first also). I stand by my offer to help if asked and I am NOT trying to throw Ron or anyone else under the bus.

[FL SAAC]

+ 1  Agreed Don

The only reason that I care who sits on the SAAC board is so I can thank them for what they do and provide.  Much like a private country club membership, as long as I feel the dues are appropriate to the value of what the club provides to me and other members, I sustain my membership and enjoy the benefits. 
The war is over.  Only those in the room of negotiations know the full story and nasty hassles that they had to go through.
There is nothing to be gained by by bring back the ill feelings. It was a bad divorce and many long term friendships were destroyed.  But SAAC carries on.  And so does SA and Team Shelby.  For me, I finally had to "let it go" (music in background) and get back to enjoying the people and the cars.

So many volunteers work through tedious materials for hundreds of hours that provide us with an amazing value.  If some are paid, I really do not care. 

See you at the convention for some more SAAC fun!

[NC TRACKRAT]

Can we get down to basics here?  For the sake of simplicity, can we just "table" the discussions about SAAC and concentrate on this forum? 1) I believe most of us agree that posting pics is a pain and, if simplified, would increase participation.  Therefore: What will it take to get it fixed? 2) Also, most of us are SAAC members.  We've asked ad nauseum to get the ability to add a "SAAC Member" logo to our avatar.  What's it going to take to get this added? 
   Please tell us what's it going to take.  This is 2018.  Don't tell us it can't be done.  Tell us how it CAN be done.  Can we just hire a teen-ager?

[GT350Lad]

Agree Don, let's get down to basics and enjoy, we all share a common interest here

[Steve McDonald Formally known as Mcdonas]

+1

[Blackcar]

Has  attendance at SAAC conventions been going up or down is recent years, or what is the current trend ?

[TOBKOB]

It seems to me that this forum would be an ideal recruiting tool to move someone from merely interested to a dues-paying SAAC member IF it worked well. I don't see why that wouldn't make sense to the SAAC directors, but then again what do I know?

That is exactly what made me become a dues paying member so I could attempt to pay back for all the help I received from the dedicated members here (You all know who you are).

TOB

[Don Johnston]

For those frustrated with the Forum set up, remember many of us think that going digital means using your fingers.  Some of us rather tune a carb instead of using electrical toys to tune current systems.  So getting info for free is really nice and, therefore, I restrict my complaints.
My mentor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEoWaP4skv8

[Rodster-500]

The old forum had a wealth of  knowledge and restoration information. We had copied many of those posts and kept them in a binder.

The old forum, like this new forum will be what you want it to be. When it went down and then back up, we decided to restore what we could. About 85% of our brief excistance. Mostly our events.

We are a very active group. Many of our members with restored cars and even low mileage late model cars, keep them hidden.

  I admire their fortitude.

We personally made the choice to drive our early and late models when possible. Because one day we wont be able to.

Again many want to see this organization disappear.

Dont let this happen, contribute what you can contribute. But most importantly have fun and keep the spirit alive.

Long live SAAC ! The true home of the REAL ONES !

Tony

WHAT?   Forget being on the same page, we are not even in the same universe. 

All the comments I've read are how to keep SAAC going and make it better, I must have missed something?

[Greg]

+11111  I don't see anyone wanting the SAAC to disappear.  When no one cares and moves on (by not commenting and asking questions) is when there is something really to worry about.  I see most people trying to make it better.

[FL SAAC]

Yes.

What was meant in what you accentuated in red, is that other organizations would love to see a collapse.

The old forum had a wealth of  knowledge and restoration information. We had copied many of those posts and kept them in a binder.

The old forum, like this new forum will be what you want it to be. When it went down and then back up, we decided to restore what we could. About 85% of our brief excistance. Mostly our events.

We are a very active group. Many of our members with restored cars and even low mileage late model cars, keep them hidden.

  I admire their fortitude.

We personally made the choice to drive our early and late models when possible. Because one day we wont be able to.

Again many want to see this organization disappear.

Dont let this happen, contribute what you can contribute. But most importantly have fun and keep the spirit alive.

Long live SAAC ! The true home of the REAL ONES !

Tony

WHAT?   Forget being on the same page, we are not even in the same universe. 

All the comments I've read are how to keep SAAC going and make it better, I must have missed something?

[Greg]

Yes.

What was meant in what you accentuated in red, is that other organizations would love to see a collapse.

The old forum had a wealth of  knowledge and restoration information. We had copied many of those posts and kept them in a binder.

The old forum, like this new forum will be what you want it to be. When it went down and then back up, we decided to restore what we could. About 85% of our brief excistance. Mostly our events.

We are a very active group. Many of our members with restored cars and even low mileage late model cars, keep them hidden.

  I admire their fortitude.

We personally made the choice to drive our early and late models when possible. Because one day we wont be able to.

Again many want to see this organization disappear.

Dont let this happen, contribute what you can contribute. But most importantly have fun and keep the spirit alive.

Long live SAAC ! The true home of the REAL ONES !

Tony

WHAT?   Forget being on the same page, we are not even in the same universe. 

All the comments I've read are how to keep SAAC going and make it better, I must have missed something?

Tony, what I see is although people disagree, most would defend and band together if necessary.  Besides, we have the greatest cars in the world 

[Rodster-500]

Yes.

What was meant in what you accentuated in red, is that other organizations would love to see a collapse.

The old forum had a wealth of  knowledge and restoration information. We had copied many of those posts and kept them in a binder.

The old forum, like this new forum will be what you want it to be. When it went down and then back up, we decided to restore what we could. About 85% of our brief excistance. Mostly our events.

We are a very active group. Many of our members with restored cars and even low mileage late model cars, keep them hidden.

  I admire their fortitude.

We personally made the choice to drive our early and late models when possible. Because one day we wont be able to.

Again many want to see this organization disappear.

Dont let this happen, contribute what you can contribute. But most importantly have fun and keep the spirit alive.

Long live SAAC ! The true home of the REAL ONES !

Tony

WHAT?   Forget being on the same page, we are not even in the same universe. 

All the comments I've read are how to keep SAAC going and make it better, I must have missed something?

Oh, OK.  I wasn't aware of that.

Even more reason to improve the forum and make this club/business the best it can be! 

[FL SAAC]

Greg
I agree with you I am SAAC 110% and have been a dues paying member. Back in the day when  the hostile take over was attempted, we supported SAAC with its legal funding.

We do not have to agree on many things, but the one thing we should agree is keeping SAAC together.

Yes.

What was meant in what you accentuated in red, is that other organizations would love to see a collapse.

The old forum had a wealth of  knowledge and restoration information. We had copied many of those posts and kept them in a binder.

The old forum, like this new forum will be what you want it to be. When it went down and then back up, we decided to restore what we could. About 85% of our brief excistance. Mostly our events.

We are a very active group. Many of our members with restored cars and even low mileage late model cars, keep them hidden.

  I admire their fortitude.

We personally made the choice to drive our early and late models when possible. Because one day we wont be able to.

Again many want to see this organization disappear.

Dont let this happen, contribute what you can contribute. But most importantly have fun and keep the spirit alive.

Long live SAAC ! The true home of the REAL ONES !

Tony

WHAT?   Forget being on the same page, we are not even in the same universe. 

All the comments I've read are how to keep SAAC going and make it better, I must have missed something?

Tony, what I see is although people disagree most would defend and band together if necessary.  Besides, we have the great cars in the world