Stopping non club members posting !

[stevejgreen]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

OMG! It's £15. I pay more for a Chinese take away!

Are you suggesting that there is a higher ceiling for Club Subscription?

Do you have a proposal for a dual subscription, one for the receipt of Pitstop, and the other for full use of the forum?

I am fine for a MOC Members only are for access to Committee Meeting / AGM Minutes, but for all other content it should be free access to read or create posts.
Imagine if you will a new Marlin Roadster owner, they can read posts, but without knowing the correct search phrase, they are unable to ask a question and find information. Do you expect them to join the MOC in order to ask one question, or would you expect them to go elsewhere? For example if they did not know about Walford trunnions, an unusual name, that could mean that an MOT failed Marlin, rots away.
My fear is that without open sharing of information, that that is precisely what will happen. Precisely against the MOC's prime ethos.
Such a cenario does nothing for the MOC and potentially condemns a car, otherwise simply repairable to the crusher.

Whilst I understand what I consider to be an archaic principle, 'we paid for it, so it's ours' this propiortorial attitude does little more than to deter those interested in the Marlin marque from joining the club, they are discriminated against at the very first step.

Some of the comments here demonstrate that precisely. The MOC must take care, if they are really concerned about the future of the club five years from now.

We, as a club, should be absolutely inclusive, not deliberately setting up barriers, to those who don't meet random criteria.

Rant over, but I fear for the future MOC.

[Tony Stott]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

^
me too!

[Peterx]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

Since selling my Marlin Sportster I'm no longer a club member, but I have continued to contribute to the MOC forum by posting answers to questions or helpful advice to all forum users.

As a non-member I have no right to question the decision of the MOC committee to make this a closed user group.

The Madaboutkitcars forum ( http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/ ) is subscription free and is regularly frequented by Marlin owners and builders including owners of Roadsters, Cabrios, Hunters, Sportsters and 5exi cars. I'm sure non-members can ask any question on the madabout forum and somebody will be along to help. It's a very friendly forum with no politics and a few simple rules of courtesy and politeness.

So it's a goodbye from me.....

[Blue Marlin]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

Actually I wasn't suggesting anything it was just a throwaway comment about the small cost of membership and the enjoyment / knowledge it brings to contributors and recipients alike.
I'll let those more informed than me sort it out at the AGM or wherever these things are decided.

[milliemarlin]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I’d like to reassure all non-members that we remain a very friendly club. Questions can always be asked via the “Contact Us” page. We will always do our utmost to support a fellow Marliner regardless of membership status.
Paul

[listerjp2]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

None of this is free no matter how little the amount it costs to run.


Nothing is free except the kindness shown to our fellow man.


There are some on this forum who have pushed hard to get such things as PayPal etc. Up and running and have been critical of its failings.


This comes at a price, you only have to read the posting from sportster green “I operate LocostBuilders in my spare time as nothing more than a labour of love. All donations, trader's subscriptions, and the little advertising revenue generated goes straight back into maintaining server hardware to ensure the site runs quickly and smoothly with a substantial amount of money coming from my own pocket - money that I would far rather spend on building my car! “


The last sentence is key.


This is kindness to a fellow man, but without him that forum would be dead.


We all have something to contribute and £15 is not a great deal, especially if this website is to fit the high standards regularly asked by certain contributers.


Adrian

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

A very quick count shows that 9 people object out of approx. 400 members, not exactly a majority!! Some committee members are up for election /re-election at each AGM. If members feel that strongly about issues feel free to stand.

[CompoSimmonite]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I have a hardly used tonneau cover, pair of SWB Roadster doors (ply needs replacing) and set of hood sticks that I was going to offer free to anybody who can use them. However I've just found I can no longer post messages in the sales section so they will now be going to the tip.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

A very quick count shows that 9 people object out of approx. 400 members, not exactly a majority!! Some committee members are up for election /re-election at each AGM. If members feel that strongly about issues feel free to stand.

A quicker count shows that 72 members have read this thread, again not many when viewed against the quoted 400 MOC members, but almost all of them are apparently frequent forum contributors.

I would suggest that those who are frequent forum contributors and are Club Members are the ones that make use of this forum, along with a random number of non MOC Members. Is it possible to quantify how many non MOC Members regularly contribute to the forum?

Surely those who use the forum frequently should have a greater say in its operation, rather than attempting to satisfy those who cannot be bothered to comment, primarily I presume, because they have no interest in the issue.

I am equally left wondering why this thread is in a public area of the forum and has not been relocated to the more private Members only section, but I guess that composimmonite would not have been able to post there!

I don't think anyone thinks this forum is free, in fact the author of the quoted post above, our treasurer, should be able to provide an accurate figure from the May accounts, making us all a little wiser and better placed to comment.

I wonder how much information will be lost to the Marlin community, if we prevent lapsed Marlin owners from contributing to the forum. The likes of Peterx, CosworthCabrioLee et al. all have a contribution to make from their experiences. I want to hear them even if they don't qualify to some random criteria.

I notice, with some irony, that forum user tonygreen, our Membership Secretary, is not listed on the forum as such, nor is he a Club Member.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I have a hardly used tonneau cover, pair of SWB Roadster doors (ply needs replacing) and set of hood sticks that I was going to offer free to anybody who can use them. However I've just found I can no longer post messages in the sales section so they will now be going to the tip.

That seems a bit dramatic, but I understand your point.

I guess that when the decision was made to prevent you from posting in certain areas was made, its full impact was not thought out.

[CompoSimmonite]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

That seems a bit dramatic, but I understand your point.

I guess that when the decision was made to prevent you from posting in certain areas was made, its full impact was not thought out.

Ok what about free to non members and £15 to members ? Is that fair ? After all it's only the price of a take-away to members - for a mint tonneau.
Personally I have recently given away, free, a perfect pair of proper marlin seats to another enthusiast. I've also sent a rare workshop manual to somebody else and didn't want postage reimbursing as I'm pleased to be able to help somebody else.
Not everything is about money whether it's subscription fees, secondhand parts or other help !

[philcoyle]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

Hi Compo,
I can sympathise with your frustration as I have the complete refurbed front suspension for a Marlin, and I would assume it could be of use to someone on here, but hey ho rules is rules, and no matter how generous of spirit you may be, at the end of the day it's all about control and power. But I can see the thin edge of the wedge being hammered in here.
Phil.

[listerjp2]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I think this is now getting out of hand.

I hope , that like me, we don't want any cudos or money for our offers of information and parts .

I know everyone who have contributed to this thread have offered all the above including myself .

Some of us are club members, some not but I am only concerned with how we can continue with this forum without some monies coming in .

Again, I draw you attention to sportster greens post.

We cannot live on thin air and it is obvious that relying on peoples good nature doesn't always work .

Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted .

Adrian

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I would suggest that you may wish to get your facts right , I'm not the treasurer.
If any non member wishes to sell goods could I suggest they contact any of the committee via the contacts page. All it takes is a phone call.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Stopping non club members posting !

I would suggest that you may wish to get your facts right , I'm not the treasurer.
If any non member wishes to sell goods could I suggest they contact any of the committee via the contacts page. All it takes is a phone call.

Your forum ID says Treasurer. If its wrong, like some Club Members status, I suggest it's changed immediately.
How are the forum members are supposed to know otherwise?
Perhaps you know the treasurer and can pass the message on?
Or has the treasurer never posted on this forum, so has no idea of the representations made here, yet has voting rights at the AGM.

Clarification please.