George, I apologize for the huge delay. Life got in the way, my new iMac computer address book went hay-wire and I need to create from scratch, a VT chapter email update list to let everyone that showed interest three months ago, the planned chapter did not die, just merely delayed.
In the next few days I will create the VCOA-VT Chapter address book, send a gang email - and see if enough are still interested to form a Vermont Chapter.
You sent me a resource I started to edit and when I lost my address book, may have lost the source as well. Then too, some new folks may have popped up?
Whatever you may have in the way of Vermonters and close neighbors that seem interested, would be most helpful.
...as it has links concerning starting a chapter and contact info for Trish who has the latest VCOA membership list for your area of Vermont/New England (by ZIP).
I am well into the process of creating a (New Hampshire) Granite State/North Country chapter.
I have at least 14 folks committed and have begun gathering the signatures on the charter application.
People have suggested to me to include Vermont. And I am fine with that. But if you prefer to have a separate Vermont chapter...I'm fine with that also.
If you can benefit from my experience thus far, I'd be happy to help. Feel free to PM or email me if you like. (email:aVolvoMan@aol.com)
We too were well on our way! Until I dropped the ball...
We have similar numbers of those who seem interested. Perhaps a leg up on those already members of VCOA. As we all know, there's a huge difference between an email commitment and writing a check.
We have five or so existing VCOA members in VT without email addies. I'll write them a snail mail and see if it was just privacy issues, or they simply never entered the 21st century.
Great news Ken.
Sounds like in the near future VCOA will add 2 more chapters--Super!
I getting another signature tonight. All my 14 committed people are already VCOA members except one and he is joining today or tomorrow.
So, we are in very good shape.
I wish you best and am happy to help in any way I can.
I'd suggest you're about two to four weeks ahead of us in VT.
We have about 20 existing members of VCOA and 20 more who are interested enough to communicate via email back and forth. Given the membership increase scheduled for 1/1/10, we are all motivated to get 'er done
The formation has been stalled by my computer woes. Those being behind me, we are marching forward.
This may help the signature form issues I saw. I simply emailed this to the VT constituents:
CHAPTER CHARTER MEMBERSHIP LIST
Vermont Chapter of Volvo Club of America, Charter Membership List, established date to be announced:
Main Contact: (listed first below)
Name ________________________ signature__________________
Address ______________________
______________________
phone ______________________
VCOA membership number ______
Keep in mind that any Meet sanctioned by the VCOA must have been preceeded by a notice in ROLLING Magazine. Take another look at the VCOA site (or your copy of ROLLING) and note the deadline dates for publication. The magazine is mailed to subscribers maximizing beneficial postage rates so some folks get theirs well into the two-month period shown on the cover. If you notify ROLLING in mid-January that your Meet will be in mid-April chances are readers will be seeeing the notice for the first time in the May-June issue of ROLLING.
BTAIM, set a date and place for the Meet as soon as possible and send the information to ROLLING soonest along with the link to the Swedespeed VCOA Chapter web page having updated details.
If your notice in ROLLING appears before the Meet date and you comply with all other Meet requirements the VCOA insurance will be in effect.
Hi George
RE: Granite State Chapter (New Hampshire)
Meant to reply sooner but things have been a bit hectic here.
I understand and appreciate all you said about getting info. into the the magazine for 2 issues and the lead time necessary. But we have a problem.
I'll be submitting the paperwork to create the chapter within the next 2 weeks and I'm sure it will take VCOA some time to approve everything.
It is doubtful that I can get meet info. into the magazine in time for that to happen. And I cannot do it now for 2 reasons. 1) It has not been determined where and when yet and 2) we are not an official chapter yet.
So, if our first Granite State Chapter meet (this coming spring) has to be "unofficial" and may not have the club insurance...it may have to be that way. Then our second meet can be "official".
You see what I mean?
Yes indeed, doing a Vermont-area GTG before the VCOA Chapter is final could be called a "Workshop" and each interestd party would attend at his/her own "risk".
BTW, Volvo is huge in New England and has been since the '50's (before Subaru). With this in mind consider posting your Meet info on the other major Volvo Forums.
Ok, admittedly I'm not on Swedespeed all that much anymore, however, a couple points of clarification with regard to "sanctioned meets"
1. This issue only applies to meets being held by established VCOA chapters.
2. The club requires notice in order for chapter, regional, national meets to be insured under the club's umbrella insurance policy. We have determined that "notice" can be provided by posting the event on the http://www.vcoa.org website's calendar (submit data online for posting) and or via publication in Rolling's calendar. (obviously since Rolling is a bi-monthly publication the publishing deadlines would not be the best method for last minute events. That is why using the web calendar is an appropriate method.
3. There are sanctioning guidelines that are primarily developed for larger events and to ensure that there is a clear understanding about funding items such as approaching the various club sponsors, as well as local organizations for donations. Among others. For smaller, local chapter events I think it's far less critical. However it's always a good idea to post on the electronic calendar to have insurance to the extent that it applies for your chapter's event.
If you would like further clarifications, e-mail me and I will endeavor to get some more specific details for you.
Amazing. We have 9 members signed up - and can't get the three more needed to get a charter.
I asked a few who already committed - if they have any interest in joining NH in their quest for a local club, should we die off in the VT effort, and none had any interest.
No need to pester - you can just "draft" three more humans of any age and purrsuation by agreeing to pay their first-year VCOA dues and any Vermont Chapter dues.
This can be a compassionate spouse or even the parts guy at your favorite OuttaZone.
Volvo ownership is not needed to be a member of the VCOA.
Another option is to chase down local Vermonteers linked on the searches below.
Don't give up. Take your time. Sometimes a second cordial contact can make the difference. Also I have found that some people I contacted months ago, show an interest months later.
By the way the Granite State (New Hampshire) chapter has completed its charter application with 14 charter members and about 2 weeks ago send everything into VCOA. We are waiting for them to approve and grant the charter.
Hang in there Ken...take your time...it will come together.
I'm in NY, and we're always looking for daytrips (400 or 500 miles round trip is routine for us LOL - my secret for getting a car to high mileage... drive it LOL). Who knows? You might see a gray S70 show up at one of your chapter's events.
We're having our maiden VT chapter meeting in Beijing
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
SwedeSpeed - Volvo Performance Forum
3.9M posts
157.6K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to Volvo owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, new releases, and more!