forestdave7 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Hi, Are there any Freelander club members out there and if so what do you think of the Freelander Club Magazine.? Looking through the latest issue I was gob smacked by the amount of carp in it. For instance. a) "Where was Alice" What I want to know is "Who the F..K IS Alice?" b) "Marks Greenlane Adventure" He was only in Hampshire so how the hell can he call that an "Adventure" I drive through Hampshire every day. c) We were then treated to 5 pages, Yes 5 pages covering the annual AGM. Very interesting! d) Worse was to come because we then had 4 pages of The Chipping Steam Fair 2010 with one whole page taken up by a photo of a TANK. What the heck has a Tank got to do with Freelanders? and why would we be interested in The Bloody Chipping Steam Fair? Nowhere in the Magazine are there sections covering: Technical queries For Sale, Vehicles and parts No members forum No help and advice Do I think it"s worth the membership subscription? What do you think? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bean Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I am not a member but i have been toying with the idea of joining. Has the members magazine always been like this, or was it better in the past? How often does the magazine come out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestdave7 Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 I am not a member but i have been toying with the idea of joining. Has the members magazine always been like this, or was it better in the past? How often does the magazine come out? Do I call you Rohan or will Mr Bean be OK.? I have only been a member for a few months and the "Magazine", if that"s what you can call it comes out every month. If I were you I"d save my money. I have even toyed with the idea of starting up my own Magazine full of Interesting subjects concerning Freelanders, a help and advice section, parts and vehicles for sale and a section where other members can contact each other, a bit like LR4x4. Anyone interested? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bean Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 A club is not just a magazine it is also about group meetings and events. Do you join in any of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestdave7 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 A club is not just a magazine it is also about group meetings and events. Do you join in any of these? Hi, As I said yesterday, I only joined 2 months ago and as far as I can understand there is no section of the club covering this area. And I disagree with your comment regarding the Magazine. I joined the club to be able to gain information, help and advice from fellow Freelander owners. I wanted an outlet where I could buy spares parts for my vehicle whether they were new or second-hand. The minutes of the 2010 AGM clearly state that there were only 14 members present and even at The Gaydon show there were only 5 vehicles from the Freelander club, this clearly shows that from a membership which I believe to be in the 800+ mark most members are not that interested in shows, meets etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8bertha Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Having been involved in clubs for many years one of the hardest things I've found is to get people to help out. Most members only join clubs for one reason... that reason will vary from person to person, but rarely are people interested in joining in and helping out. So when somebody does volunteer you generally take them up on their kind offer with a hearty pat on the back and a hope that they are actually able to do what they have volunteered to do. In the case of a newsletter editor the major difficulty is getting stuff from the members to include in the mag... if they don't send stuff in then you have to make stuff up which is when you get uninteresting stuff included. The AGM is generally a very important time in any clubs calendar, its when the members get to have a proper say in what goes on. Whilst I agree that 5 pages probably is a bit much, the minutes of the meeting still need to be published. I'm not a member of the freelander club (being involved in 2 clubs is more than enough for me) and I haven't seen the mag, but I think you are being a bit harsh. I agree with you about the sections that should be included, but rather than slag it off, why not offer to help out and make it more interesting for all the other members? Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestdave7 Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Having been involved in clubs for many years one of the hardest things I've found is to get people to help out. Most members only join clubs for one reason... that reason will vary from person to person, but rarely are people interested in joining in and helping out. So when somebody does volunteer you generally take them up on their kind offer with a hearty pat on the back and a hope that they are actually able to do what they have volunteered to do. In the case of a newsletter editor the major difficulty is getting stuff from the members to include in the mag... if they don't send stuff in then you have to make stuff up which is when you get uninteresting stuff included. The AGM is generally a very important time in any clubs calendar, its when the members get to have a proper say in what goes on. Whilst I agree that 5 pages probably is a bit much, the minutes of the meeting still need to be published. I'm not a member of the freelander club (being involved in 2 clubs is more than enough for me) and I haven't seen the mag, but I think you are being a bit harsh. I agree with you about the sections that should be included, but rather than slag it off, why not offer to help out and make it more interesting for all the other members? Dan Thanks for your input Dan. I do agree that maybe I have been too harsh but having been a member of the Suzuki 4x4 club I tend to compare the Freelander club with the Suzuki club and I"m afraid there is no comparison. I still have the Mags from that club even though it was more than 8 years ago and whenever I get them out to look at I marvel at the interest on every page. There were section of interest for ALL members and not just regional sections such as The Freelander club. There were pages and pages of Technical advice, Spare parts for sale, Vehicles for sale in fact everything the owner needed to find out about their Suzuki 4x4 was included.I just wish The Freelander club could follow suit, and yes I would be prepared to offer assistance if asked. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bean Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Have you spoke to the club about your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8bertha Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 and yes I would be prepared to offer assistance if asked. As Mr Bean says, have you made yourself and your feelings known to the relevant people in the Freelander club? If not then how would they know to approach you for help? Go on... be a devil... volunteer your services to them, dare ya! If you do I may even join up so I can see what its like for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longdog Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 There is a FLC forum, all of it open to club members, and most of it to forum members only. http://z11.invisionfree.com/Freelander_Club/index.php? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blippie Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Dave, how many articles have you prepared and submitted to the FC for publication? Why go to the effort of starting your own, when you could share the considerable effort with the volunteers in the FC? Cheers Blippie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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