Member Profiles

Hi Steve;
I appreciate all the input I have received so far but unfortunately I have not done a very good job of explaining the purpose , benefit and process in the two attempts above. Without repeating myself and to clarify a couple of points:
1) The profiles would be kept within the Ottawa Jaguar Club and accessed only by OJC members . They would not be published externally .
2) Completing the profile would be a membership registration requirement and existing members would be encouraged to complete the "point and click" template - if they desired- an exercise that would take 10 minutes max.
From what I'm beginning to understand there seems to be very few if any clubs that have tried a similar web based tool, such as this , which is tied directly to the membership registration process and requires virtually no effort on the part of existing members (with the exception of their own participation if they choose to do so) It would be easy to implement, may be of benefit to all members and if it's not ... there's been no harm in trying.
I hope I haven't made too many grammatical errors and BTW , I do prefer "affectionado" !

Regards,
Don

William,

There already is a list of regional representatives, right here on this website. I'm one of them. I'm not really sure what a "member profile" would do for the club, overall. And many members may not be sanguine on the idea of having their name published in a national list that would be available on the internet or published and potentially distributed outside of JCNA.

Obviously, the more we know about the membership the better JCNA can meet their needs and serve them accordingly. Perhaps a member survey would be in order. But from my experience on the local club level, very few if any will respond to a published survey. And usually, its the ones who are active already. Unless someone is willing to take the list and start calling people and collecting information that way, the likely return on any survey or request for information will be extremely low.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
'72 E-type 2+2
'70 XKE FHC

BTW, I don't mean to embarrass you, but you keep repeating one of my pet peaves -- the use of "and etc." Etcetera (or et cetera) means "and so forth" or "and others". You don't need an "and" in front of it. Otherwise, you're effectively saying, "and and so forth". All you need is the "etc." Also, you spelled "afficionado" wrong. So your tag line should read: Jaguar afficionado, etc.

It's an excellent idea to have such a reference, other clubs I belong to, Cadillac and Rolls Royce have good national directories. It would not be necessary to print every single person, although it could be beneficial, but certainly a city or region representative list would be fairly easy to produce at JCNA level. The local reps would know where to send needy travellers.

Jaguar affectionado and etc.

Thanks for your feedback on the members profiles !I agree that considerable technical expertise is as close as your keyboard and many members would consult forums before they would club members. However, when one needs "hands on instruction" or needs some one to demonstrate certain techniques or skills , it would be beneficial to have access to a database which lists those in the club who could help. In addition , the database could include other areas of expertise or skill that would be beneficial to the development or advancement of the club itself -- ie:
marketing and sales, fundraising, web design ,graphic design, program management , administrative skills etc etc.
Typically, as in any club, many members do not participate but I believe that there are many reasons why they choose not too . I also think that we should be looking at ways of increasing the participation level .....maybe by understanding what skill sets are available and drawing on those resources, more people would feel that they do have something to contribute and that they can add value.
Finally to your last point of members not signing up, these profiles would be an integral part of the club registration process and it would be expected that new members would complete the profile before they received a membership. Existing members may be less inclined to complete the profile but if it's user friendly, and they understand the value it may bring to new members , I think that at least 50% would comply .

I hope this explains some of the thinking behind it.
Regards,
Don

I really doubt offering an online form will yield a significant number of replies, especially at the club level.

we (SFJC) keep track of members cars thru our membership database, there's been very little interest in publishing a membership directory. many clubs do it but I'm not sure what the real use for it is.

a large number of members are not active and do not participate in activities. they are unlikely to be interested in listing themselves to provide expertise. When members have tech questionsm asking here on the forums or on Jag Lovers is usually the quickest way to get solid answers.

it's easy to setup using database and scripting but I doubt it will yeielf any significant data.

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club

Don, Many years ago, probably prior to most people having a home computer, someone in the Morgan club (I have a 63 +4)compiled a register with similar information to your "template". The idea was to carry the book on the road and if you needed help (What? In a British car...never!)or just wanted to touch base with a fellow enthusiast, you could refer to the directory. It worked OK, but whoever compiled it, didn't continue the directory after the first issue and nobody else picked it up after the initial issue. So the long & short is that is it a good idea and may work better now in the computer era. Good luck with it if you continue.
1974 XKE OTS
2000 S-Type V8