2013 Licenses at NHMS-1

[SEISAN]

Hi Bert,

It would be good to see you at the Glen.

Not sure on the hold up. I have missed the past few meetings. I think it is the logistics. Getting the shirts done, getting the liscenses printed, adding the stickers, and of course assembling everything and mailing them all out.

I know the ones who are involved with this have other important responsibilities in the club which are important to running each event. Speaking of events, with the recent schedule this month our events have been every two weeks. ( June 1-2 / June 23-14 / June 29 - July 1 and July 18-19 ) it has been extremely busy.

Hopefully we will know soon.

Bob

[SEISAN]

Bert:

Just an FYI

You might not hear back from Jeff for a while

JW was involved in a crash at NH.

Car is a mess - Hit the wall when we were using the South Oval while Julie was driving.

Julie has some bruises and Jeff went to the hospital and has a concussion.

Otherwise both are fine.

Bob

[StephanAlfa]

I never got mine.

I think COM was waiting for you to make sure you knew how to count.
You should be all set now. As for Liz, hummmmm, we are not sure ...

[chaos4NH]

I never got mine.

I think COM was waiting for you to make sure you knew how to count.
You should be all set now. As for Liz, hummmmm, we are not sure ...

[Mick]

But back on topic. What is the issue we are having with the licenses/member packages and what can I do to help?

Can someone from the BOD respond? We're more than 1/2 way through the season at this point and have members who have been waiting as long as 9 months. I understand that we're all volunteers but with no communication and no call for help I can see how this would be frustrating the membership. The promise of rewards for early renewal that leaves the those who promptly responded, and are volunteering to help, in the dark seems counter the point of program. Has it been on the board meeting agenda? If so, what was the most recent status?

[WillM]

The delay was not planned. It is embarrassing and hopefully most of us know it is not the COMSCC norm. I apologize for the frustration this has caused, and as the person that orders the t-shirts and prints the licenses accept full responsibility. This delay is unacceptable to me and to the club.

The list of excuses are long, and most of them are true. Though there were printing problems, printer problems, delays in receiving supplies, the dog eating omy homework, and the sun in our eyes, the #1 issue, as stated by Bob and others, is having the man-hours to get the job done. Preparing 350+ packages is too much to do all at once, yet it is the most efficient way to get a not-uncomplex shared-responsibility project done. Unfortunately this means that a problem with a handful of packages means a delay for all...and there were plenty of problems & delays early on.

While I agree the packages are unacceptably late, this is the first I've heard of them being 9 months late. The 2013 membership drive email to members should have gone out in February/March, with an end-of-March cutoff date, which was to allow us to have the packages in the mail before the first event, which was in April. That deadline was missed and with the gatling-gun string of early events this season and work schedules, quite honestly, I feel like this past weekend was Memorial Day, not the 4th. So I don't blame anyone who feels like it has been 9 months when it has been 3. 4 if you squint.

This subject has come up at BoD meetings as well as conversations between meetings. Since I've accepted responsibility for the delay, I'll take credit for the formation of a new role; Membership Chair (or whatever we call it). This very issue (membership packets) was the driving reason I presented the idea to the BoD a meeting or two ago. I'm happy to say that a member has already stepped forward to fill this all-important role, and I couldn't be happier with the candidate. I expect this member will bring COM's membership services to new heights, and timely ones at that.

In the mean time there is something that everyone can do to help. We rely on our online membership database to get this job done. The information a member types into the database is the information that appears on their license (spelling and capitalization errors included). This is also where we pull t-shirt sizes from. At one point, 20% of the members on the delivery list had not indicated their t-shirt size in their profile. We were looking for sizes for 70 shirts. No size = we cannot order shirts. That took a while to fix, but even now there are many that have not responded. Emails went out to all of those participants and most corrected the problem themselves, but even I was surprised by the amount of emails I received that stated something akin to "thanks Will, I'll take a large!", after the email specifically stated that I could not update their information for them, and that it had to be done by following the link and instructions in the email. FYI, as of this minute, there are 53 active members that have not provided us with a t-shirt size. I guessed the sizes, and thankfully none of the ladies in our club neglected to include their size (as women pay attention to details!).

While it is too late for this go-around, PLEASE log into the reg site and update your info and pay attention to details. Please use capital letters in names and addresses, but not all caps. There are an amazing amount of names & addresses that are either all caps or all lower-case.

The licenses and everything else are ready to go. We're at the fulfillment stage, which I'm not handling. That said, I believe packages will start to go out this week. Updates will be posted to this thread.

Thanks,

Will

[Mark Swinehart]

When you are signed into your profile it would be real nice if members double checked their car information for correct spelling and complete accurate information (not all caps or lower case please)
This information is used every time a member registers for an event.

[chaos4NH]

Thanks for the update Will. As you know (being the T shirt sales guy) I have been hammered with requests to buy T shirts. As I told those asking, we cannot not offer them for sale until all the peeps are accommodated with their care packages, as we might come up short with sizes need for the packages. A big THANK YOU to the "Membership Chair" volunteer!

[Mick]

Thanks for the update Will. Knowing how much of a perfectionist you are I'm sure it's more frustrating for you than anyone. It's great to hear that someone stepped up to help.

[TroyV]

Not that this was never the case in the past, but I think the BOD this year is particularly focused on advancing people from the member base into new roles within the club.

[bhoss]

Just packaged and mailed about a little over half of the licenses/shirts over the past 3 days. Will get the remainder out next Mon/Tues - after I return from NJMSP.

[paultg]

Thanks Bill. Have a good time in NJ.

Paul G.

[paultg]

Got mine today even! Now I can hold off on laundry one more day!

[n1gzd]

got mine. shirt is very nice. too bad it is too hot to wear it.
Rebecca

[naschmitz]

Postage Due Notice ($0.25) came with mine yesterday. Just feeding back another fact for your consideration.

I do like the new logo and the "Ultra Secure" license. Nice touches!