It’s that time of year – when the renewal form for your GWOCGB Membership accompanies Wingspan. Do you or don’t you?
Lots of Wingers who are still very active in their own Region are no longer bothering with the Club at national level.
For example Yorkshire Wings Region counted heads recently and discovered they had 76 (yes, 76) active Regional Members who were no longer members of GWOCGB.
Even though Yorkshire Wings has been a troubled Region in recent times and is currently facing further challenges (even committed GWOCGB loyalists are planning to break away as a separate group) this must be quite a big proportion. And this pattern of disaffection with the national Club is likely to be reflected fairly widely across other Regions and it therefore presents quite a challenge to the Club’s National Committee.
Can they risk trying to force people to pay up or be thrown out altogether, as they would have done more or less automatically in years gone by? Or has the penny dropped at last that doing this would simply accelerate their loss of members and lead to further breakaways?
Subscriptions up by 10%
Meantime the Committee have decided to put the subscriptions for 2010 up by about 10%. This at a time of almost negligible inflation and of course also a time of economic recession. Joint Membership (i.e. for a Winger couple) is now going to cost £50.
This is expensive by comparison with most other motoring and especially bike clubs. (The Honda Owners Club is £25 for a couple, GoldWings North West is only £12 for a complete family, including Federation subs.)
People who can still afford to keep and run a GoldWings aren’t necessarily going to baulk at a £50 per year membership subscription for a Club which is at the heart of their enjoyment of the bike, if that’s how good the Club is from their viewpoint, but some might. The subs will be almost as much as annual Road Tax for a GoldWing and about the same as you pay for annual breakdown cover. Either-or choices might well have to be made by some Wingers in these strained times.
Of course if subscriptions keep going up by 10% or so each year there will quickly be a point when membership of GWOCGB is just too expensive to make any sense at all. Even if the Club does still hit the spot.
And maybe we need to distinguish between the Club you enjoy regularly each month or more often and the Club as in other Regions or at national level, with which you probably have less regular contact. Or maybe the other way around, for there are GWOCGB Members who don’t bother with a Region at all yet still continue their Membership.
Whatever your personal interests in or usage of the Club might be, rising subscriptions might cause you to wonder whether the rise is really necessary and where all the money goes.
Escalating Costs
You will find last years Accounts in the June Edition of Wingspan – or rather you will find one version of them in Wingspan and a different version if you check the official accounts as submitted to Companies House. These show that the Club lost £24,979 last year, which is significantly more than the version in Wingspan, which didn’t include tax liability. Losing over £24,000 on a turnover of just over £142,000 is quite a spectacular loss.
Why does it cost so much to run GWOCGB? Why can’t the Club operate more cost effectively?
For example why was it necessary for the National Committee to spend nearly £6,500 on travel and subsistence last year, nearly twice as much as the year before? What do they spend all this money on?
And how can a Club of under 1,000 memberships sensibly afford to spend nearly £50,000 each year on the printing and distribution of its Magazine?
Wingspan is often criticised for being repetitive, being two months behind the news and being chronically short of decent feature articles, just the usual Regional Reports and the odd account of somebody’s touring ride to somewhere. Is it worth keeping Wingspan going at all in this internet age? What is the role of a Club Magazine in modern times and what is its value in relation to the cost and effort that goes into it making a success if it?
And even if Wingspan is still valued by some Members, is it realistic to expect the Advertisers (who currently pay enough to cover about a third of the costs of Wingspan) to continue to pay the advertising fees when the motorcycle industry is struggling and Wingspan’s circulation has dropped so much? Why pay £185 plus VAT each month to reach the same group of less than 1,000 Wingers when the internet can reach so many more?
At the recent AGM there was some discussion about cutting Wingspan down a bit to save money but in the end this proposal was rejected.
And this was an isolated cost-cutting proposal, there seems to have been nothing from the National Committee resembling an overall recovery strategy.
The spectacular increase in the Committee’s expenses wasn’t explained or questioned at all.
Nor is anyone apparently concerned that none of the Club’s subscription money ever flows into the Regions, indeed the national Club takes half of any surplus generated by Regional Events so that the Regions made a net contribution of over £2,500 to central funds last year.
(In contrast the Federation pays no expenses, collects subscriptions only as necessary to cover insurance premiums and is already making grants from sponsorship income to its affiliated Clubs to help them out.)
The 2009 Treffen made an unexpected (and in recent years unprecedented) surplus of £16,000 and this may have provided something of a distraction from the Club’s terrible overall financial performance. It would of course be very helpful to the Club if there was a serious prospect of a sustained pattern of profitable Treffens but historically they have swung unpredictably from big losses to big gains in an almost yoyo fashion – so that’s hardly a basis for anticipating sustained recovery.
Is it sensible to continue to plan for Treffens which have such high fixed costs and such unpredictable receipts? Next year’s Treffen in Cornwall is currently budgeted to make a loss; whether it does so will probably depend, as it did in 2007 at Carmarthen, on getting a windfall high turnout due to exceptionally good weather. And then there’d be complaints about the toilets and showers being overwhelmed again.
Isn’t there a more reliable and less financially risky way of running what is after all only an annual camping rally? Is it really necessary to lay out £30,000 or more to set things up?
Where’s the Recovery Plan?
And isn’t odd that after quite a few years of falling membership numbers and recurring big losses on Treffens there has been no sign of anything resembling a recovery plan from the Committee?
There have been calls for more effort from Members to recruit others, to write articles for Wingspan and to help make the Club’s boring website more interesting but nothing much in the way of initiatives from the Committee. They were supposed to be running a Wingding for the Club in 2009 (now there’s a fresh idea, another camping weekend!) but even that didn’t materialise.
Is there anyone in a position of influence within GWOCGB who has the awareness and planning skills to develop genuinely new ideas to attract more members and a proper, businesslike recovery strategy?
Sadly the answer is probably not. They’ve done plenty for the Club in the past of course but the Committee are stuck in old ways and don’t seem to see further than the need, above all, to cling to old values and sustain unworkable obsolete ways – and maybe to cling to their own positions of power too.
If they had any collective creative capacity they would have developed and promulgated something resembling a recovery strategy by now, even if it had to be work in progress. A few isolated ideas for cutting costs or increasing membership doesn’t constitute a plan.
(I asked the Committee if they had a recovery strategy at the 2007 AGM and there was a stunned silence; it clearly hadn’t even crossed their minds that they should be developing one. Before the next AGM came around I had been expelled by the Committee as a troublemaker – and was then promptly elected by my Region as their Winger of the Year. Incidentally, and interestingly, this is more or less the opposite of what has happened to one of the Lancs & Lakes Joint Reps during this, the following year.)
GWOCGB is now a Limited Company and its National Committee are all Directors of that Company. Holding a directorship carries with it personal responsibilities (and potential liabilities) which extend far beyond the token £1 which individual Members can be asked to pay if the Club goes bust. I wonder if they realise this. Surely directors are supposed to actively direct, not passively neglect?
Not really about money?
Despite the spectacular financial loss last year the Club’s problems are not really, or at least they not mainly about money – at least not yet. The Club still has significant financial reserves and if these were used wisely, in combination with a businesslike recovery strategy, the situation would not be without hope.
But individual Wingers have been openly declaring their intention to quit GWOCGB during 2009 and these are indications of an accelerating trend towards abandoning the national Club for one reason or another. There have been letters in Wingspan bemoaning the endless belligerence, bitching and back-biting which has been going on.
And Committee Members have been personally involved in this unfriendliness – in what is supposed to be, as its reason for existence, a friendly Club.
For example the last straw to one Winger we bumped into last weekend (a caravan owner as well as a biker) was Debbie Major’s “more trailer trash” faux pas over the radio at the Treffen, which was the basis of one of the complaints in Wingspan.
The Treasurer resigned from the Committee recently because of “irreconcilable differences with another Committee Member”. No prizes for guessing who the other party in the argument might have been.
Lessons Learned?
During 2008 the Committee tried to enforce their ideas about membership requirements on North Wales Wings and most of the members voted with their feet to form GoldWings North Wales; North Wales Wings is now virtually an empty shell and GoldWings North Wales is thriving. Another contretemps during the same year, with Lancs & Lakes Region, had a similar effect, leading to the formation of GoldWings North West which is also thriving.
The Committee were able to salvage something from this situation and keep Lancs & Lakes going for a while but since then some conspiratorial chickens have come home to roost in a big way and things are currently pretty ropey there too. The embarrassing quandary of being asked by the Region to expel their Joint Rep from the Club for shameful duplicity (the Committee having just prior to that having made her their Winger of the Year at the Treffen, arguably for her successful intriguing) may now have partly resolved itself because her husband has sold his GoldWing. But the Region still faces difficulties, including not having any access to their own funds.
Even the National Committee might have worked out by now that attempting to impose their will on Regions and even upon individual Members – and especially showing arrogance or contempt towards Members – has been counter-productive. Even they might have worked out by now that the days when a National Committee can dictate things from the centre and expel gainsayers with impunity are now long gone.
Even more ominously for GWOCGB, as well as a sharp increase in the number of independent GoldWing Clubs in UK (and big increases in their membership) during 2009 a new national umbrella organisation for GoldWing Clubs has emerged, offering to do much of what GWOCGB does centrally for a fraction of the cost – and indeed mostly for free.
For these and quite a few other reasons this is not a good time for GWOCGB’s National Committee to be trying to chuck its weight about. They would have to blind rather than just blinkered not to recognise that sooner or later they are going to have to re-think whether and how a centrally-controlled national GoldWing Club can continue in UK. It’s no accident that centrally controlled national GoldWing clubs in France and Germany have become federations of independent regional clubs because Wingers got fed up of being told what to do and having their money spent for them.
Where does leave the Individual Winger for 2010?
So where does all that leave the individual Member of GWOCGB, finding the Renewal Form in his December copy of Wingspan and therefore faced with a choice of whether to pay the increased subs for next year or to continue quietly enjoying his friendships in the Region without doing so?
Realistically it will make little or no difference to a Winger’s participation in Regional Meetings and activities whether they renew their personal GWOCGB Membership or not. An odd Regional Rep might be inclined to try to get everyone in the Region to toe the GWOCGB membership line but these days it’s likely to be a gentle hint rather than a bullying demand. If Yorkshire Wings have had to give up trying to enforce the Party Line as a bad job there’s not likely to be much future in it for any other Region either.
Membership of GWOCGB as a national Club has effectively become optional for those whose interests lie in the Regions. (Regions even have an option to use the Federation’s facilities and still be part of GWOCGB too, so there is an option for Regions, as groups of Wingers, to have the best of both worlds.)
Lots of Wingers defer their renewal until the start of the next biking season anyway and perhaps more will do so this year than usual.
Wingers who like to go to more than the odd Wingdings will perhaps feel that spending the money on subscriptions is worthwhile. Not renewing your GWOCGB Membership doesn’t stop you going to the Wingdings of course, you just pay a bit extra for entry each time.
Same for the Treffens, you can still go but you will pay extra without a GWEF card. On this basis you will however have to go to quite a few camping weekends to make paying the 2010 GWOCGB subscription worthwhile.
And if you want to look at it in purely financial terms and you are not bothered about getting a copy of Wingspan, the cheapest way to get a GWEF Card (in order to get the cheaper entry fees) is to join one of the other GWEF-affiliated GoldWing clubs, one which doesn’t charge quite so much as GWOCGB. For example last year it was 20% cheaper to join the Irish GoldWing Owners Club, which one ex-GWOCGB Member did rather than support “that bunch of idiots” any longer. An Eastern European club might be considerably cheaper still!
Apart from cheaper inscription charges the personal benefit of rejoining GWOCGB largely hangs on whether you think Wingspan is worth paying for. I have heard one Winger say he was planning to keep up his GWOCGB subscription for one last year so he can advertise his trailer in Wingspan it when the new season starts, which makes some sense I suppose because trailers are uncommon outside GWOCGB camping circles It makes more sense to advertise a trailer than a GoldWing in Wingspan; better to advertise a bike a wider motorcycling readership than under 1,000 people who already have one.
Oh, and you will lose your entitlement to get into the Members Only section of the GWOCGB Forum unless you rejoin, although you will still be able to access the public part of the Forum – which unless you are into club politics, is where most of the interest of that Forum lies. Steve Saunders’ GoldWing Forum is much bigger and busier anyway, and it has the advantage of being well moderated.
Value for Money?
On a purely personal, value-for-money basis then, GWOCGB membership is becoming expensive for what you get from it. But of you think Wingspan is worth paying for and go to quite a few camping weekends each year it might still be worthwhile.
On the other hand if your interest in your GoldWing Club is mainly within your own Region and Wingspan isn’t worth paying over £4 per month for, then renewing your subscription might not be, unless you feel that you should continue to support what the Club gets up to at national level financially, which some members do as a matter of principle.
Down to Personal Choice
At least paying GWOCGB subscriptions is now optional. And lots of GWOCGB Members have been opting out of the national Club while continuing in their Regions. They haven’t been pilloried or thrown out of their Region for doing so as might have happened in the past and nor would you be.
You might feel that the Club is worth supporting at a national level and you might even think that everything in the garden is rosy and there’s nothing to be bothered about at all.
Or you might feel that it is time for change and that not renewing your GWOCGB subscription this year will save money and help the National Committee to realise they can’t take you for granted – and that they can’t just carry on spending spending spending, especially on hotels and the like.
At least renewal is now much more of a genuine individual free choice for Wingers and that’s quite a development.
And it’s all about freedom of choice!
I for one will not be renewing this time round. It is just too much to justify anymore.
We here at yorkshire are doing very nicely thank you , in the last 9 months we have had 38 new members , how many have you had ? ,we have over 250 members in total , how many do you have ?, we are just happy to go about doing are own thing , you just seem to like having a dig at yorkshire why i dont know .is it not time to stop all this nit picking and do what we are doing and that is enjoying riding are wings and planning events for wingers ,but then again when you are the best you expect people to try knock you off top spot . merry xmas to all wingers
Thanks for the contribution Roger. I wasn’t intending to have a go at Yorkshire Wings per se, I was just citing the example, in discussion of the pros and cons of a centralised national Club, of the high numbers of non-paying GWOCGB Members in your Region. Sorry if I touched a sore spot; maybe I should just have made a joke about it all being down to Yorkshire thrift.
The point was that Wingers all over the Country are deciding not to renew their GWOCGB subscriptions, not just in Yorkshire.
Likewise the reference to those among your Members who have asked the National Committee for permission to form a new West Riding Wings Region was just an illustration of how Wingers, even those who are still very committed to GWOCGB can get fed up of a bossy regime. Perhaps I should have spelled that out more clearly.
I don’t know the precise current membership numbers but GoldWings North West had over 40 memberships (i.e. family units) when it was last mentioned, so it is bigger than Lancs & Lakes was before the troubles. Nominally (on a postcode basis) the Region theoretically had a headcount of over 140 members at that time, which presumably compares with your 250 in a your much larger territorial area. But I’m talking memberships of family units which actually turn up and pay their subs to the Club, not just a headcount of Wingers within the postal County most of whom you never see. Does that help?
Incidentally we’re very happy with our size and the way things are going. And we’ve been discussing how, if we get much bigger, we might encourage the formation of other Clubs around us, so we don’t get too big to stay really friendly.
Yorkshire Wings have done extremely well with the Scarborough Light Parade, especially the money they have raised for charity and I wish it well for 2010 – and best wishes for Christmas too of course.
For accuracies sake, membership for a couple in the GWOCGB is £45, not £50. Its £50 for new members and is includes some goodies.
As for the rise, yes it is above inflation, but its also the first rise for 4 years.
Thanks for putting me right. But wasn’t there a 10% increase in subs the year before last? And didn’t the Club introduce extra charges for new Members last year?
A turnover of £142,000 and for that members get a magazine and a few cheap camping trips???
Good Lord if the regions themselves charged their own members that they could still do their own magazine, have cheap camping trips and quite a few free parties for their membership monies!
In this day of the internet do people really need a national committee anymore, would a very good website that brings GoldWing clubs together not work better? The Federation idea works well as its more advisory and holds the PLI for all the members under it but it’s not a ruling committee wanting control over the clubs. That actually form the basis for it!
From a pair of Wingers who are new to the club scene (never been in GWOCGB) that’s an interesting viewpoint.
Ladies and Gents,
I’ve been reading this blog for a few months now and have found some very useful information within its articles. However, it is clear to me that there is an awful lot of bickering between members of the GWOCGB and the newer Federation.
I’m new to the Goldwing community having bought my 58 plate ‘wing back in May. I have been riding bikes for over 30 years and love my trips to continental Europe. I must say that I only wish I had bought a ‘wing years ago…. it’s awesome. Anyway, I digress.
Like many new “wingers” I looked around for people with a common interest, with a view to joining a club. My previous experience of clubs is that they almost always get bogged down in politics, with a small minority always trying to hold onto a little power and dictate to others what they should and shouldn’t do (the psychology of which I have never understood) . Consequently I have usually ended up doing my own thing.
It seems that the Goldwing community is no different and this puts me off joining any of your clubs, national or otherwise. I wonder how many more there are like me? Genuine motorcyclists who just want to enjoy their hobby and make friends with other like minded people.
It’s about time that you all grew up and got on with enjoying riding a Goldwing for what it is (for most of us); a recreational activity and a very enjoyable hobby. Only then can you expect to attract new blood to your organisations.
Mike Prime (Chester)
Mike,
Please do come along to one of our meetings at The Beaufort Park Hotel just outside Mold and see what a friendly bunch we are. Its only a short ride from where you live and you have nothing to lose except a bit of time
Dave T
Chair – Goldwings North Wales
Have a look at our website and even give me a call – details are within our website
Lots of people who own GoldWings get fed up with or steer clear of clubs for all sorts of reasons but especially when they see “politics” in action, I understand that. But that doesn’t stop lots of Wingers enjoying their clubs (I’m referring to the local clubs, i.e. the independents and the GWOCGB Regions) and it doesn’t stop these clubs attracting plenty of new blood either. Of course all clubs are prone to occasional lumpy patches but that’s not the norm for most of them.
There is of course a background of considerable falling out within GWOCGB which led to the emergence of the new Independent Clubs and the Federation and the dirty washing is still hanging out here and there, but don’t let that put you off joining a local Club or Region to see if it suits you.
Living in Chester there are at least three local GoldWing clubs you could try for size in your area (two GWOCGB Regions and GoldWings North Wales) before tarring them all with your preconceptions. And there is also Elite Wings, a special-interest touring club which might suit you. Unless of course you are the sort who prefers to do his own thing. Nothing wrong with that either; it’s all about freedom of choice.
For £50, I think that I’d want some serious
‘goodies’….
Sorry, Keith, certainly not having a go at you personally, but it’s hard to see the value for money at that rate!
Ian, I did not take you comment personally. A new member pays an extra £5 for some goodies when they join. Stuart, please note my original comment the latest rise is the first rise in GWOCGB subscriptions for at least 4 years.
I also think that Mike Prime has a point, lets stop bickering about what each of us decides to do to enjoy our bikes. All the bickering does is harm all organisations that help us do this.
Keith Cross
Bickering being defined as petty or ill-mannered exchanges or does it include all types of intervention or dialogue?
This Article is factually based and it is by no means unbalanced – for example I have mentioned that some people in GWOCGB are likely to think that everything in the garden is rosy. And I have published both Roger’s assertion that it is (in Yorkshire at least) and also your corrections and opinion. I call that facilitating discussion and certainly not bickering.
Mike is entitled to his idea that if only everyone would “grow up” and concentrate on riding GoldWings for enjoyment then peace and goodwill would blossom in the GoldWing world. But this is a fanciful (and dare I suggest naive) way of looking at things, even at Christmas.
Clearly we should be civil and respectful (and preferably constructive) in our efforts to discuss problems with each other rather than resort to swapping brags or insults. But ignoring problems in the interests of not disturbing anyone by raising them isn’t going to solve them.
Especially problems of the scale which GWOCGB’s Accounts strongly suggest the Club has.
How nice to see other Wingers reading Stuarts Blog, it shows that there is an interest in what’s going on nationally.
Our new club in the North West is still growing and that’s really encouraging, (don’t forget, when we say we have 40 members, that means 40 wings, not people) not bad for the 1st year. We’ve had an exceptionally good 1st year, here’s looking forward to 2010.
So Merry Christmas everyone whoever you are, enjoy your GoldWings for what they’re meant for – riding, and for enjoy each others company.
I’d just like to add that it is the pleasure of riding a Wing, friendship with others with the same interest, value for money and last but not least the choice to do what I want be it with club members or not. I find the Federation concept ticks all the boxes and throughout 2009 I’ve met members from other clubs and we have all got on and had a great time. I for one appreciate other organisations and I wish all every success in the coming year. Just an after thought, at least I’ve got £38 extra in my pocket for the same benefits and I intend to enjoy 2010 to the most. Happy winging all!
I was a member of GWOCGB for 2 years, I left because its events were based around camping, something that didnot interest me, its hotels or nothing. The only other alternative at the time was Elite-Wings which served my purpose well, I have since joined a general M/C club without politics, no committees etc. so that I can ride in good company with fellow riders as much as possible. I, like Mike, enjoy riding my Goldwing.
The Federation certainly takes away the politics of GWOCGB. Do we have a Federation Club down South yet ?.
There are no “Federation Clubs” at all in the sense that they don’t owe allegiance or have to toe any Federation party lines or obey any rules. The whole point of the Federation is that it provides services (such as easy and reliable PLI cover at cost) without asking anything in return. So a GWOCGB Region which affiliated for purposes of getting the PLI cover or website could still be a GWOCGB Region as well if it wanted to be.
There is no GoldWing Club which affiliated to the Federation down South yet but it will happen sooner or later. It’s ‘win win’ deal that is bound to be seen as worthwhile for all GoldWing Clubs sooner or later – and it only takes two Wingers to form the core of a Club if you want to start forming one.
“An odd Regional Rep might be inclined to try to get everyone in the Region to toe the GWOCGB membership line but these days it’s likely to be a gentle hint rather than a bullying demand.”
This is exactly what happened in North Wales in Nov 2008. Unfortunately for GWOCGB the result has been an utter disaster. The Region is searching for a regular meeting place – it appears to be dictated by any new member who shows an interest and the meeting changes to suit. Plus it’s Rep is a non-riding non-Goldwing-owner with an ever decreasing membership. But don’t worry every thing is wonderful in North Wales Wings: the 1000 words printed in the Wingspan on a monthly basis tell us so. Just what are the GWOCGB thinking?
But it did bring about the start of GoldWings North Wales which appears to be increasing membership on a monthly basis. Yes this can be but down to the dissatisfaction within the GWOCGB Region, but I would like to think it is more down to GoldWing riders running the club as a friendly meeting point rather than a dictatorship.
So why do we pay our £45? Well for me it’s worth it over the year for the discounts you get at various WingDings and Treffens we attend. Simple.
As I understand (from the Winger who was Rep at the time North Wales Wings members mostly broke away) it was a direct result of the National Committee suddenly laying down the law – that only paid-up GWOCGB Members could hold office in a Region. NW Wings was as that time run by some who were and some who weren’t, not least because of a shortage of volunteers. The Rep felt that the Committee’s instruction to comply made running the Region impracticable and so he resigned as Rep, quit GWOCGB and joined GoldWings North Wales.
It was very much an own goal by the National Committee and entirely on their own initiative. It’s difficult to see why they took this initiative when they did – except perhaps that it happened shortly after I had written to the Committee offering to leave GWOCGB (Debbie Major having previously openly declared that she “didn’t want me in her Club”) if it would be acceptable for me to continue in my Region, and I mentioned that this I was aware this was happening elsewhere. I didn’t mention NW Wings of course but the Committee already knew that the Secretary of NW Wings was an ex-Member and had known that for some time.
Just a theory but it wouldn’t surprise me if Debbie didn’t deserve most of the credit for the loss of NW Wings to GWOCGB. Indeed she probably deserves quite a bit of credit for all the upheavals of 2008 and the formation of both GoldWings North Wales and GoldWings North West, and even the Federation. Mike Pearce has made a valuable contribution too of course; credit where credit’s due. Same applies to the damage done to Lancs & Lakes during 2008 and 2009 too by the way.
Whilst understanding the various problems encountered by former NW Wings and L&L, I would have thought it was a fundemental requirement of any club that officials must be fully paid up members of that club.
Stuart are you seriously suggesting that someone who is not a Federation or a Federation affiliated Club Member could become an Official in one of the Federation Clubs?
In short yes, because the Federation isn’t a national club or a ruling body of any kind and it doesn’t impose any rules or structure on anyone. GWOCGB is different; its has rules and a ruling National Committee, which would still like to be able to impose them if it could but it can’t because Wingers have been withholding their subscriptions as well as voting with their feet.
As far as the Federation is concerned it’s entirely up to individual GoldWing clubs (and Regions) whether they have any rules and officials at all. The Federation exists purely to provide a range of facilities which GoldWing clubs can use as they wish. In many cases the clubs don’t even have to affiliate to be able to use them. Clubs can be of any size and for any purpose which is connected with GoldWings – so who needs rules and officials if it’s only a few Wingers who are loosely linked as a club? Yet they can use Federation facilities and they can buy cheap and reliable PLI cover, just the same as a bigger club.
So there is no reason why a GWOCGB Region couldn’t use the Federation’s facilities if they wish, with or without affiliating. They can affiliate if they wish – for example in order to get benefits which require it, such as the free website or good, cheap PLI cover. But by doing so they would not be joining a rival national club or anything like that – they are just signing up to buy a good cheap deal. No reason from the Federation’s viewpoint why they couldn’t continue to be a GWOCGB Region as well.
It might not be easy to get your head around this alternative system if you are used to GWOCGB’s complex and rigid system of rules and a ruling Committee. But there aren’t any rules in the Federation; it’s all about freedom of choice.
John, you do not even need to be a GoldWing owner or rider to be a GWOCGB Rep, go figure….
It is nice to see a good discussion from goldwingers with mixed opinions without insulting each other, unlike some forums in clubs where some people hide behind their words.
Bring on some more subjects.
Stevie CD you are quite correct. There are several GWOCGB Regions that have female Reps whom do not ride or own a goldwing.that is the sign of the times when riders or owners do not want to be Reps at Regional level in GWOCGB.
The dinosours in power of GWOCGB need to get their act together or the Club will fold & this no doubt will benefit the Federation in the long run.
Correct, women can be Reps of Regions, even though most of them will be members of GWOCGB by virtue of joint membership with their husband or partner. (Which mean incidentally that if their husband leaves or gets expelled they also lose eligibility for membership.)
But I suspect Stevie was referring to the current N Wales Wings situation in which, following the mass exodus to GoldWings North Wales (provoked and precipitated entirely by GWOCGB’s National Committee) the lady who volunteered to Rep has Special Membership, awarded by the National Committee because her husband had sold his trike and they were ineligible for ordinary membership. I understand they attend Events and Rideouts using their car.
As you imply GWOCGB is clearly is in urgent need of a new approach. But the present Committee have done so much damage and lost so much credibility for being either willing or able to make changes – or even being capable of developing new ideas at all – that unless they are replaced with new talent the Club’s decline in paid-up GWOCGB membership will inevitably continue.
And anyone who volunteered and brought along fresh ideas would come up against such opposition from the dominant die-hards that they would have great difficulty changing anything and would need to be something of a masochist to even try.
But that doesn’t mean the Federation will benefit because it isn’t trying to be an alternative or a replacement national club. No rules, no ruling committee, just useful resources and facilities for Wingers and for GoldWing Clubs so that they can form and thrive – including GWOCGB Regions if they want to make use of them. It’s a Club of Clubs rather than individuals Wingers and it doesn’t boss anyone around. Although there is a facility for individual Wingers to become Federation Associates, that’s really intended to help them find or form a GoldWing Club.
What I would like to see is the Regions running themselves and talking to each other to coordinate their activities as necessary. Common sense will tell the Regions that they should avoid choosing conflicting dates – so who needs a ruling committee just to compile and publish an events calendar?
And why does everything have to be agreed and spelled out nationally anyway? The idea, for example, of (another) national vote on whether to accept Valkerie Owners into the Club, so that all Regions will then have to abide by that decision is at the very least unnecessarily restrictive.
Actually it’s plain silly to have any unnecessary restrictions or rules if you are facing a serious and continuing decline in membership. Having a cull of all the unnecessary rules and restrictions would be an obvious first step towards recovery if the Club wasn’t burdened by such a bunch of visionless no-hopers who can’t even see what they are doing wrong.
So if a GWOCGB Region wants to take advantage of Federation facilities while at the same time continuing to operate as a GWOCGB Region in the traditional way too that’s fine by the Federation – it’s all about freedom of choice!
Stuart, I do agree 100% with your last comment above, but one thing does puzzle me. I’m sure when I was a GWOCGB member that all vehicles built or using a GoldWing engine were eligible to join irrespective of their design as the engine is the heart of the GoldWing. The Valkerie is in essence a cruiser version of the GL1500, as is the Rune the GL1800 version and it is just a veriation of a theme to me. They all have a common ancestry and I hope that these bikes can be accepted into the Federation. I for one would welcome these bikes being included. Just my thoughts being a non-bias individual with a passion for everything GW.
The Federation doesn’t really have any rules, and it certainly wouldn’t make one either way about something like this. I was just using what has become an issue of contention within GWOCGB (again) to make the point that GWOCGB’s obsession (or rather that of its dominant faction) with making detailed rules and then imposing them on everyone from the centre is an important part of that Club’s troubles.
It would of course be up to individual Federation Clubs (eg GoldWings North West) to decide who they admit to their membership. But I would hope they would be open and inclusive on this sort of issue, as in all things. I can’t imagine GoldWings North West ever wanting to have a formal vote on such an issue; it is people we welcome into our Club and we have already agreed to welcome people who are interested in GoldWings, even if they don’t yet own one.
As a new GoldWing trike owner I find all comments very interesting. I would like nothing better than to ride with other Goldwing owners but Clubs tend to breed power crazy people and gold (wing) diggers,so why don’t you GoldWing owners contact me, plan a trip together and enjoy.
The Gwil.
A club is what we, the Members, make of it, whether it is a Federation or a National Club with a Committee. The Members appoint the Committee. The Members choose to attend or not, whether it be Regional Meetings, Wing-dings or Treffens.
GWOCGB has a lot to be proud of but also needs to change with the times. The WingSpan is made of a high quality paper so great for photos but also heavy and bulky so costly to print and distribute. Newer members will appreciate the magazine more than longer term members as is gives a taste of what goes on in the club and the regions. Alternatives need to considered, costed and put to a vote at the April AGM.
The club is sadly missing a financial leader on the committee at present. Costs can be saved by moving to internet solutions but it appears only a handful of Members log onto the Forum thus the opinions of the few will outweigh the views of the larger audience who are still voting by renewing their membership.
The GWOCGB is not dead just yet … I am a new member and have to admit had two very different experiences – one – the very real and enjoyable experience of getting involved and – two – the unreal experience of reading blogs like this and the petty bickering on the forums.
So I shall just continue to enjoy the real experience of riding and stick to forums like Goldwing Riders which is fun, upbeat and friendly.
Interesting to read what a new pair of eyes sees and pleasing to learn that new Wingers are still finding friendship and enjoyment by joining a GWOCGB Region. As local clubs GWOCGB Regions have generally offered that very well; just the odd bad batch here and there, which they mostly recover from over time. The strength of GWOCGB always has been its Regions.
In an ideal world lots of Members would take an active interest in the Club’s future. They would take the trouble to turn up to vote at the AGM – and there would be enough capable volunteers to refresh the Committee and prevent a self-satisfied Old Guard holding sway, and this would take the Club forwards.
Unfortunately it’s not an ideal world. GWOCGB’s membership doesn’t take an active interest, doesn’t attend the AGM, doesn’t bring its Committee to account (not even, for example, about their expenses doubling last year) and doesn’t elect new and capable people to refresh the Committee with new ideas.
This is partly because anyone who is talented enough to be likely to be able to make a difference will see that they would be prevented from bringing about change by the Old Guard and would also risk vilification for even trying to do so.
As a result of this GWOCGB, as a national organisation, has become highly dysfunctional. This is despite the Regions still, in the main, working well as friendly local clubs. Taken as a whole GWOCGB has however suffered a big decline in personal membership. It has also suffered, and not just recently, many breakaways of disillusioned former members who have chosen to form independent clubs rather than submit to what they have seen as unhelpful and/or oppressive national leadership – or rather the absence of anything resembling constructive leadership.
By all means enjoy the Region you’ve joined, and your riding. And stay out of the debate – and maybe call it “all politics” to show your disapproval too, in the hope that some Guardian Angel (or at least someone else, someone capable of better financial leadership) will come down from heaven and make all the problems go away.
That’s what many GWOCGB Members have done over the years, even though they can see that something’s seriously wrong. They enjoy what they can and quietly hope that things will get better.
Or you can try to do something. It’s all about freedom of choice.