My 10,000th Post, I did say that I would try and make it a special one!!!

Birchall

Birchall

Dick Chown Award 2016
Post 10,000!!!

Ok so as I have said, perhaps 5,000 of the posts were rubbish attempts at humour, but humour has a place in a friendly and personal forum like this (I believe).
But 10,000 posts is a milestone for me as so I wanted this post to be a special one, and for me it is (and hopefully for others too).

I have long since been pushing for action within the club, there are some things that we do very well indeed and there are, naturally, things that we could improve. So I pestered the team so much that they have decided to “call my bluff” and made me Club Chairman. So the only person I can blame now is ME!

To prevent this from being seen as a dictatorship there will be a group of Trustees that can overrule or amend things if I (or the team) lose it and become power hungry!!! But they will not take part in the day to day running of the club, they are there to ensure that the best interests of the club members is our first priority (which is my main approach anyway, as I hope I have demonstrated over the years).

With me will be a team of 4 more people and a very broad team at that, the team will be very balanced and Fairness will be at the heart of it. (names will be announced shortly)

There will also be others that will be given positions within the club, such as Treasurer, shop manager, Technical support etc (along with a small set of active moderators that are following the “Moderate light” approach in FULL, the emphasis being on the “LIGHT”). These positions do not come with voting rights as such but they will be consulted and they will have the “ear” of the team to ensure that we remain focussed on the members and the current way that the forum is a friendly and helpful place to be.

There will be no “change for change sake” the saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” will apply. But as we have seen recently some people have been unhappy about certain changes / clarification of the rules. It is saddening that this has happened and so we will try to please most of the people most of the time (impossible to please all, all of the time as we know) where we can.

I hope that you have already noticed the positive changes that seem to have largely gone unnoticed or responded to, i.e. the fact that we no longer demand a donation before people can post for sale adverts.
To me this is a really good change that should prove poplar (hoping that any recent donors understand that we had to have a cut off and so we hope that those recent advertisers will understand.) Donations will still be gratefully received if you are happy with what we are doing, but from now on no donations will be required unless you really want to make them.

This puts us into a totally free forum / club set up for those that just want to browse and post occasionally (we pride ouselves with offering help and advice to new members, that will continue.

Also we are very proud of the fact that we recognise members "milestone events" such as Births and Marriages etc. now. It shows that we are more than just another car club, we actually want this to be a personal and friendly club of like-minded people (but "vivre le difference" as they say).

Positive changes like this are a reflection of the type of club we want to be !!!

We are so pleased that the number of new members is steadily on the up and it is great to see new members posting their “hello’s” and the warm response they get when they do that.

More details later, but let’s look forward to this great club staying great and having a firmer foundation for the future growth that I expect will happen, due to the fact that our great little A2s are fast becoming modern, truly usable and long living classics.

Thanks to everyone for the way that I have been made to feel comfortable in this great club since joining 7+ years ago. Looking back, very little has changed and that to me is a good thing in so many ways.


That is it,
next milestone is 50,000 so I had to make this one a special one.
Thank you for putting up with me so far (and my dreadful sense of humour)
Steve B
 
This is all well groovy but the revelation earlier in the week that A2Cars is effectively black-balled from this site bothers me.

We all should accept that the A2 being a bit different from other cars occasionally is going to need specialist attention that given the age of the car you are unlikely to get from an Audi dealer, the older these cars get the more likely we all are to need the expert knowledge that a dedicated independent garage can offer. I obviously don't know the reasons behind the ban but I feel forum members should be concerned about this as if we want business' like A2Cars to be there when we need help then they should be given a certain amount of support by the club and to me the ban sends a very confused message about this.

Simon.
 
A2Cars are not disappearing. They do a fantastic job. I would personally recommend them to anyone.

If the situation can be patched then we will do our best to patch them.

But it as you say there were reasons for the action that was it.

I think that the new team should look at ways of reversing the ban if some common ground can be established

but give us a chance to start with the new team first please.

Steve B
 
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As for the support we gave, they were classed as a partner, they had their own area on here and we fully supported them. What more could we do?

As for the help that A2Cars gave members on the forum we felt that was not really happening. Please check the posts asking for quotes etc that went unanswered. The lack of technical how to's that we were promised and never received. There were other more serious reasons for the ban that we are not publishing in case it might damage his business in any way. We genuinely do not want that to happen.
The previous team acted in the only way they could. The ban was for a serious issue.
But as I have said, I am happy if we can try and heal the rift.
A club with A2cars as an active member is ideal. But we need to see if Tony is up for a reconciliation and associated conditions first. I genuinely hope he is, as I say we will try our best.

Steve B
 
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Birchall said:
A2Cars are not disappearing. They do a fantastic job. I would personally recommend them to anyone.

If the situation can be patched then we will do our best to patch them.

But it as you say there were reasons for the action that was taken.

I think that the new team should look at ways of reversing the ban if sone common ground can be established

but give us a chance to start with the new team first please.

Steve B
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Well I believe I made my opinions quite transparent to those in the need, and the club has responded promptly to try and find some common ground which can only be a positive thing considering my opinion of late.

Onwards and upwards, congratulations Steve, said it before and will say it again, it was your passion and enthusiasm on your petrol project that led me to discover these great little cars.

Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
 
alanb said:
i must have missed that. Did they offend the club management or a member?
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It was not quite as simple as that.

It came after several things happened that meant we had no choice. We are asking people to trust us, it is not something that we would do for any minor reasons.

But please remember that Tony still has virtually the same access via his "Hotstuff" account or his wife's "Smurf" account.

i do want to make it clear that this is not renamed to his business, customer service etc. It is a significant breakdown in the relationship between A2OC and A2Cars.

We are making another attempt to find some common ground and we hope that sonething can be done to make it work.

We ask that members allow us the chance to resolve the issue and trust us when we say that we will do our best.

Steve B
 
Thank you Rob.

I hope that you are ok and that business is doing well.

Some members were saying that we need businesses like yours to help keep our quirky little cars in fine condition.

It is good to know there are a few good ones dotted around the country.

You (WOM) Timmus (who is mobile as well),Sarge and Tony seem to have the country well covered.

Plus some very good sources for used parts at great prices

Murdo even knows some north of the border.

So we do seem to have a good spread of good A2 specialists.

Steve B
 
Congrats to you Mr. B.... onwards and upwards.. This club goes from strength to strength and a massive thanks to administration and members alike who make this club what it is..
 
The "Team of 5"

Hi

i can now announce the core team that will be managing the club.

As I stated I want a balanced team and I am happy to say that we have achieved that.

The team (in no special order) is

Myself, Darren C, Ben, Mike E (A2Sumo) and Matt (wilco)

i hope that the members will see that we have a strong and balanced team that is capable of handling the often tricky and complex issues that we face.

Remember that we will have a small team of "trustees" above this team keeping us "on message".

We are a very "inclusive and listening team" and we are happy for anyone to contact us if we can help with any specific issues. But we will work as s team for the benefit of all members.

Steve B
 
Seems like a good team of people, that we all know are dedicated to the club and its future.

Can I just ask whether the same team are also the only moderators of the forum as well since the change? I'm not trying to rock the boat, I only ask as i've genuinely confused myself a little as to how things are set up now and I think the clarification would help with the transition for many.

Is there a team of moderators, a management team and also a group of trustees?
 
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Birchall said:
Hi

i can now announce the core team that will be managing the club.

As I stated I want a balanced team and I am happy to say that we have achieved that.

The team (in no special order) is

Myself, Darren C, Ben, Mike E (A2Sumo) and Matt (wilco)

i hope that the members will see that we have a strong and balanced team that is capable of handling the often tricky and complex issues that we face.

Remember that we will have a small team of "trustees" above this team keeping us "on message".

We are a very "inclusive and listening team" and we are happy for anyone to contact us if we can help with any specific issues. But we will work as s team for the benefit of all members.

Steve B
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A fine team Steve .... why am I thinking of pseudonyms relating to the "The Avengers" superhero ensemble ?.....

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk and The Black Widow. :)
 
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youve got some scary battles ahead of you avengers.....us mere mortals hope you can carry out the good work that lies ahead. failing that i will be pinning my hopes on the suicide squad :p

just a quick question though...which people consist of the trustees above you guys?

cammy
 
Congrats Steve on the 10k posts and good to hear the Club/forum is thriving and with a robust structure to manage its affairs. The idea of Trustees sitting above the day to day team sounds a good move to me albeit as with a2steve I am a little unclear what or who is in the different layers, so perhaps a full and named structure chart would be useful. It would also help ensure members can see the organisation is in good hands at all levels. I appreciate I was one of the unhappy band of members a little while ago and challenged some of what was happening (or appeared to be happening may be a more accurate statement) however we have all moved on and i will support the 'management' to the best of my ability - although I will question them when I feel they need challenging!

I too am surprised to read about A2cars and hope it can be resolved. The marque needs all the specialist support it can msuter. Now that SWMBO has agreed we should keep the A2 I do need the services of a trusted A2 specialist to give it some TLC quite soon. Since Skipton Autos disappeared i have struggled to find a specialist i can trust within reasonable distance of West Yorkshire. However I will move this onto another thread to avoid too much topic drift.....
 
I will be posting a full organisation structure as soon as the positions are finalised. I don't want to jump the gun.

Moderators will be appointed and the core team will also be able to moderate posts too. But their main focus is the running of the club.

I favour a small team of moderators so that we can all be in line rather than each moderator interpreting the rules individually. The club and forum must have a fair and predictable approach. Moderate light being the most important approach of all. But the rules must be enforced fairly and consistently.

We will have a sanity check of all rules just to ensure that they are sensible and enforceable.

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
Thank you Rob.

I hope that you are ok and that business is doing well.

Some members were saying that we need businesses like yours to help keep our quirky little cars in fine condition.

It is good to know there are a few good ones dotted around the country.

You (WOM) Timmus (who is mobile as well),Sarge and Tony seem to have the country well covered.

Plus some very good sources for used parts at great prices

Murdo even knows some north of the border.

So we do seem to have a good spread of good A2 specialists.

Steve B
Click to expand...

We're good thanks Steve. Hopefully we will catch up at a social soon.

Cheers Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A2Steve said:
Seems like a good team of people, that we all know are dedicated to the club and its future.

Can I just ask whether the same team are also the only moderators of the forum as well since the change? I'm not trying to rock the boat, I only ask as i've genuinely confused myself a little as to how things are set up now and I think the clarification would help with the transition for many.

Is there a team of moderators, a management team and also a group of trustees?
Click to expand...


There will be a small number of Trustees, probably three, at the top but not responsible for teh day to day eunning of the club.
The team of 5 is next, they will be responsible for the current and future management
There will also be some positions such as, Shop Manager, Member relations, moderator, Technical specialist (web and Forum support), Treasurer etc. (we currently have the Techical specialist and Treasurer lined up from our previous request for volunteers.
We could really do with a SHop Manager, I have been doing this up to now and it is just one or two orders a month, but we need someone who will help us increase the merchandise we offer.
I know who I would want to be the "Member Relations" person, but I have not yet approached them. The position needs someone who can vet and welcome new members, be present at most socials to make people feel welcome etc.

As I have said, until all of the positions are filled I can't post names, but I will ASAP.

Steve B
 
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