ABZ Meeting tomorrow night to sort out what people want to do in the future.

[johns]

Due to the lack of other suggestions and lack of brain processing power on my part this week (not 100% well!), I'm going to propose that we meet up in the the usual place at the usual time, for what will probably be the last time.

Old Mill Inn, Maryculter, 7:30pm onwards on Tuesday evening (3rd October).

At least everyone knows where it is, it is reasonably central for those coming from the city/south/north/west and you can have a good drive out the South Deeside road and back again afterwards.

Main discussion points will be the future of the Aberdeen/shire meets. What format would people like, how often to meet, where to meet, what to do,  who is going to arrange future events (new Regional Organiser ?), what sort of events do people want to do etc. 

Remember it's YOUR club, and we're all here to do what you want us to (well within reason []). If you have any suggestions/ideas etc, then we'd love to hear them. Please come along to the meeting where we can discuss all the ideas and suggestions, and move things forward.

Looking  for a good turn-out, and a healthy positive discussion []

Cheers

John

[craig mac]

John

Am speaking for 3 here m8.

I am picking my car up from Russell tomorrow evening after 7, and Redscoobydoo is dropping his off with him. 

Sorry m8 but that will be us 3 out am afraid, Sorry[]

I have Andy F again this week and need to get a few things fitted and finished before i visit, as i am sure you can appriciate.

Why, if i may suggest do we not have a chat re this topic next Saturday night when we are looking like having a good turn out, we can all discuss it over dinner?

If we are not all gibbering about beating france that is[]

CraiG

[johns]

No problems Craig, was planning to do that anyway []

why not arrange to drop off/pick up cars the meeting, since it's only about 5 miles away at about the right time []

Think we'll still go ahead with tomorrow night anyway, as some can't make Saturday. See if we get some good ideas tomorrow, and then discuss further on Saturday etc.

John

[craig mac]

  Quote

No problems Craig, was planning to do that anyway []

why not arrange to drop off/pick up cars the meeting, since it's only about 5 miles away at about the right time []

Think we'll still go ahead with tomorrow night anyway, as some can't make Saturday. See if we get some good ideas tomorrow, and then discuss further on Saturday etc.

John

That means WUZ drives my car!!!!!!!!!!!!![] OMG The thought,

We could have done that, if i never had the back box in my garage off of my car to take up to him to refit.

CraiG

[RA Dunk]

my cars going in to see russell tomorrow as well so im not gonna manage this []

[craig mac]

Dunc

You must be due time off man get yer name doon for the Curry night as well

CraiG

[RA Dunk]

im long due time off craig, thats 25 days offshore last month, home tomorrow and will be lucky to get the weekend out of it before im away again............theres just too much work and not enough bodies just now.[][][][][]

[craig mac]

I thought with the Vantage card, you could only do 21 days a month PMSL

So much for that eh........Am so glad i packed in that game 5 year ago

CraiG

[kev 580]

I have not made the meet for a while due to work commitments, what is happening with ken?

Not going to make this either and the vantage sytem seems to only be used as a photo ID, i was away 24 days for last month

never mind house to pay for  now

kev

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

I cannot make it folks, I had already made arrangements........apologies

CGS

[RA Dunk]

  Quote

I thought with the Vantage card, you could only do 21 days a month PMSL

So much for that eh........Am so glad i packed in that game 5 year ago

CraiG

aye so much for the vantage card, another load of bollocks [:S]

[johns]

  Quote

Not going to make this either and the vantage sytem seems to only be used as a photo ID, i was away 24 days for last month

Not exactly true - it will check that you have had enough rest before being allowed back offshore again, and that you won't exceed 21 days out of 28 (at time of outbound booking). One issue is that most people who aren't on rotation simply get an outbound booking made and then some time later, someone somewhere decides that a person can travel back in again on flight X on day Y as there is a spare seat. What the system does when there is no return booking, is check based on a default trip length (operator decides) of either 14 or 21 days, that when you travel offshore that a) All your certs are up to date and will be for the duration of the trip, You have had enough onshore rest from your last trip, c) You won't exceed operator specific limits (eg 21 out of 28, 28 out of 42 etc). Some operators overseas operate a 28/28 rotation.

If the return/inbound trip was booked at the same time as the outbound, the it's possible to calculate how long a person will be offshore for, and generate suitable warnings or prevent the booking from being confirmed. This way, someone (normally OIM) has to give approval for a long duration trip. However, there are adverse conditions like the past few weeks, where bad weather for days on end meant huge backlogs for flights and some people did spend a few days longer offshore than planned.

John

[WUZ]

Someone better inform JohnS that I am now out at Chapel of Garioch and, even in "Godzuky", I can't make it to Old Mill in 5 mins!

Craig - If you can, go to the meet qand come by the house at 9. Gives me a little more time to sort out the car (which will be needed!)

Text me if you get this in time................otherwise, It see you at 8pm.

Russell

ps - JohnS - if I had the time, I would be there as I would like to see the Club go from strength to strength, we all know that Ken and yourself are 100% commited to the club!

[craig mac]

  Quote

 

Craig - If you can, go to the meet qand come by the house at 9. Gives me a little more time to sort out the car (which will be needed!)

 

 

[][][]

CraiG

[johns]

Never reaslised that you had actually moved now. Hope the country life is treating you well []

[thefastone]

wtf?

Ive only just switched on my computer the first time this week, You cant just say "lets do it tomorrow" I'm 70 miles away, and cant just drop everything... also, as every one else has pointed out, we've all got plans....

You need to gove notice for things like this mate...  []

[philip_wilson]

Well nice wee turn oot boys and Mrs P.J lets hope the ABZ monthly meet can be saved [].

[Power Junkie]

Lets hope so, maybe if we can workout more of what we spoke about I think we could get it going again []

[johns]

  Quote

wtf?

Ive only just switched on my computer the first time this week, You cant just say "lets do it tomorrow" I'm 70 miles away, and cant just drop everything... also, as every one else has pointed out, we've all got plans....

You need to gove notice for things like this mate...  []

Sorry about that. We did have a thread in the events section discussing when/where to have a meeting to sort out a few things. I gave it over the weekend to see if anyone had any suggestions, and on Monday morning there wasn't anything. Rather than let things drag on, and given there was some interest in holding the meet at the usual place/time, it was a fairly easy and obvious decision to take on Monday morning. Not a huge amount of notice, and it was always known that some people wouldn't be able to make it along - so the aim was really to get some suggestions on board from people, which can then be discussed at a later date.

The main things to come out from last nights meeting (which was very positive and lasted until about 10pm) were:

a) Quite a lot of people still want a regular meeting where they can meet up and chat with other owners. A quiet venue, possibly with good food, and ample safe parking is needed. We are open to suggestions.

Most of the people attending these meetings, come from the northern side of Aberdeen, so a venue further north would make things easier for most people. For those travelling from the city centre, it wouldn't be much difference in travel times.

c) We should perhaps look to move the venue around from time to time.

d) Every couple of months (ie 2nd or 3rd months), and with plenty of notice, we should look to do something different like karting, bowling, meal etc, but ideally keep it to the same day of the month, as many owners up here work offshore and it's good for them to be able to plan the events they can attend. It has to be events that appeal to many people though, and not just one or two, otherwise they won't get enough suppport.

e) We need more suggestions from people on what sort of things they would like to do. It's difficult for anyone to try and arrange events that they think people might like.

f) Members are happy with the format and frequency of the larger events the club runs - events like Alford, Knockhill, the organised trips to Crail etc with owners from around the country.

g) It's difficult for many people to attend events at relatively short notice. Many have family/work committments, and given say a month to 2 months notice can make definite arrangements to attend an event. However, at a week to two weeks notice, things can be difficult, especially if it's something like a wedding, golf outing, planned DIY etc.

h) it's difficult for some people to attend events frequently, due to the reasons above, or possibly financial. Regular events need to be affordable for most people (ie not everyone has a spare £50 - £100 to spend each weekend on attending events.

i) Anyone is welcome to arrange meets, attendance at events organised by others etc. It doesn't need to be an RO who does everything, and indeed, expecting an RO to arrange and attend everything is beyond the call of duty (everyone is an unpaid volunteer in the club, giving up their own time to benefit members).

j) Everyone there agreed that Ken has been doing an excellent job, with events like Alford etc, the regular monthly meets, marshalling at the Granite City Rally etc (unfortunate that it has clashed with a Knockhill event for the past two years). All would very much like Ken to remain in this role and carry on as RO, however Ken feels it maybe time to hand over the role to someone with plenty of free time who can organise more events that local people want to attend. If there is anyone out there who would like to take things on, then please do get in touch or make yourself known.

k) There shouldn't be any road runs as part of the regular meets, as there's always the risk that someone takes things too far, and there is an incident of some sort (crash, reports of racing on the road, complaints about noisy cars etc). The adverse publicity would do untold damage to the club, and the reputation of it's members etc. Why run the risk of one person spoiling things for the hundreds/thousands of others. There's no problems with people organising small get togethers which involve "enthusiastic" but 100% safe driving, but these would be best organised privately amongst owners who know each other (and their driving styles) well, and not widely advertised on forums etc for hopefully obvious reasons. There are exceptions like the excellent RB Relay, where it was all very well planned, police etc were notified in advance.

l) Repeat of (e) above. We need more suggestions and input from members on things they would like to do, and perhaps some volunteers to assist with the organisation and running of those events.

All of the above to be discussed further at the next available opportunity (during the Knockhill event and/or the curry on Saturday evening).

I think that's a reasonable summary of things, from what was a friendly and positive meeting, and hopefully we'll get more positive input over the coming days/weeks . There's no immediate rush to make big and drastic changes (we're getting into the darker evenings/quieter months), but with some positive input from members, we can move things forward for the benefit of all []

John