In the past few months on this board, I've noticed a great segregation into mini (pardon the pun) clicks. We've got everything from "Your Color Here" Owners Clubs all the way to Bone Stock Owners Clubs.

Don't get me wrong, because I really dig those badges. I just think that it's odd that we've existed this long and we don't have a national car club similar to that of BMWCCA.

We have all the pieces, including this fantastic community of owners from all over the country if not the world. Why can't we get organized?

 

I consider NAM to be my national club

 

Variety is the spice of life!

 

Me too!

 

...could not have said it better...

 

First, BMWCCA is an excellent organization and they are welcoming of the MINI. A lot of BMWCCA chapters include MINIs as being "BMW" for the sake of autocross (meaning they have registration priority with the BMW's, and are not lumped into X-class). MINIs usually have their own class at BMWCCA autocross as well.

---------------------
That out of the way, a MINICCA has been tried before. Many members of this forum (myself included) were part of that effort to get it off the ground.

There were two primary issues confronted MINICCA back in 2003, and I think they are still very relevant today:

• What benefit do members get for handing over thier $25/30 a year to MINICCA?
• Why would a club want to affilliate with MINICCA?

Let's start with the first one:

What benefit do members get for handing over thier $25/30 a year to MINICCA?

For your $40 to BMWCCA you get the glossy Roundel Magazine, chapter newsletters, parts discounts, a BMWCCA membership card, a BMWCCA sticker, and the ability to attend BMWCCA events.

What would a MINICCA provide?

• A glossy magazine? MC2 may already have that covered.
• Chapter newsletters for upcoming events? That information is already handled online (via NAM or otherwise) with a lot of clubs.
• Parts discounts? Classic MINI has you covered.
• Membership card and a sticker... yes, they could provide that, but would it be worth joining for (sure some would but could you really make a successful club with those that would be happy with that?)
• The ability to attend MINICCA events? What MINICCA events?
• Large events like BMWCCA's Oktoberfest? the MINI community is already doing this with events like AMVIV, MOTD, MINIs in the Mountains, Minis on Top

Which leads us to:

Why would a club want to affilliate with MINICCA?

A "national" organization like BMWCCA would be nothing without the local chapters. The same would be true for MINICCA.

Here is the primary problem: MINICCA needs the clubs more than the clubs need MINICCA.

MINICCA would be nothing without local clubs signing up to be local chapters of MINICCA. Members want local activites, and you can't organize that at a national headquarters.

The easiest way to do that would be to get the current clubs to join MINICCA, but the economics of it aren't very kind.

Right now lets say a local club collects dues of $25 a year. They keep 100% of those dues at the local level. Under the BMWCCA structure, you would pay dues to a national organization and then they would distribute some of the dues money to the local chapter for each member. So if the national collects say $25, the local club may see $10 (remember BMWCCA is putting out a glossy magazine, keep in mind what your subscription to MC2 costs for comparison).

So why would a local club want to be a chapter of MINICCA when they could keep $25 a member with no hassle, versus getting say $10 to maybe $15 a member trhough MINICCA but also have to contend with a national organization?

You might say, well a large organization like BMWCCA brings in more members to each chapter than it could bring in itself as a local unaffiliated club. That's probably true in the case of BMWCCA because the organization has been around for decades. Don't expect MINICCA to be able to replicate the same thing. Where is MINICCA going to attract these new throngs of "unattached" members from? If they aren't online already and seeing their club on NAM or MotoringFile or listed in MC2, what's to make us think they will find MINICCA any easier? Oh, maybe they would see MINICCA at their dealership since BMWCCA has pamphlets available? Maybe, but then a lot of dealerships already have close ties to their local MINI clubs.

In the end, it just doesn't make much sense for a local club that has its own identity and local flavor to give that up to deal with a national organization and then get back less money in the end than they would get if they remained independent.

If someone else has a better formula for getting some benefits to the members for their money and making a convincing case for how to get chapters set up in a way that makes it attractive for the local chapter to want to form or affilliate with a MINICCA, I'd like to hear it.

 

Me Three!!!

 

My immediate thought was "you're looking at it".
But Dave's answer was better .
Annette

 

Dave, that sounds like the voice of experience there, and I can't argue with any of the points you made.
I'm not sure exactly how BMWCCA works, never having owned a BMW, but I'm guessing they only have 1 local chapter in any given geographical area. That's not the case with the current MINI club landscape. I believe there are at least 3 or 4 MINI clubs in the LA area, and a number of people are members of more than 1. They have different orientations (MININuts v Underground Motoring v SCMM) but are often not incompatible.
I think when BMWCCA was started, the national org, and Roundel, was the best way for owners to feel like they were in the loop and part of something bigger. Now, with ubiquitous net access, and NAM and White Roof Radio and other resources available, I don't think a MINICCA is really needed in the same way BMWCCA was at that time.

 

I absolutely agree with Dave's very eloquent post.

I, too, was involved in the earliest days of MINICCA, and the efforts to get it going. The grassroots nature of all the clubs across the US and North America are doing just fine, thankyouverymuch, and I see no need for some bureaucracy to come in as the "overlord!"

 

Just looking over the NAM Regional Forums, I'd have to agree with you.

There are

• Forums for 3 MINI clubs in Canada
• Forums for 3 different national events
• nearly 40 forums for MINI clubs from all parts of the continental U.S. and Hawaii

I completely agree with this. In today's internet age, it is simply a lot easier for local clubs to reach new members and for new members to go straight to the local clubs without some national intermediary.

 

Would a national MINI organization have the clout to "lobby" MINIUSA to better communicate with us?

 

THANKS for all the responses. They completely make sense and I agree that NAM has been, in my mind, the national club as well.

Dave,
Thanks for explaining the issues with getting something like that off the ground. I just never realized that it was so involved. Plus, I didn't realize the issue with needing the support of the local chapters. I don't think my local club would benefit from integrating with MINICCA and I sure wouldn't choose that over mine.

Argo,
That makes complete sense as to the nature of how these things start and develop.

 

Yes MINICCA certainly has been tried before. I was there when it was rolled out years back before almost any local MINI clubs were even thought about - and I completely agree with Dave's reasoning as to why it didn't work.

Is there a need? I'm not sure there really is at this point. With the BMWCCA welcoming MINIs and local clubs filling any voids, I can't see the MINICCA being anything more than a name and a set of guidlines meant to help local clubs.

Unlike most here I don't lump NAM in a club category. NAM isn't a national MINI club and I'm guessing Mark probably doesn't look at it in that light either. All one has to do is look at the excellent BMWCCA to understand the big difference in ideaology and execution. Rather I see NAM as being the community center for the online MINI culture. I see MotoringFile as the place for news and reviews. And I see the BMWCCA and local clubs as being where all this comes together at a personal/local level.

 

I can see your point.

I guess my original thought was that we have all these great pieces to the community but nothing that truly ties it all together, which from a 'new user' perspective is a loss.

I can't tell you how many people I run into on the local level, that have been greatly involved with the MINI community, but have never heard of the MotoringFile (or Magnetic Badges). Or the new folks that come to the local forum for the first time after years on NAM. Plus, in my situation, I'd never heard of NAM until a few months of being on my local forum.

Unity of all these elements was the basic thought with my original question (just not truly articulated well), and after Dave pointed out the issues involved with pulling this together, I see no problem with the status quo.

 

I think NAM (and the Internet in general) takes the place of a lot of what people get out of car clubs other than face-to-face meetings and events.

Once upon a time, I think car clubs and their publications were the primary source to learn about maintaining and modding cars. These days NAM, Motoring File, etc. cover all of that on a daily basis.

Who needs a monthly magazine to tell you about new products and spy pics when all the news is covered every day on the web? NAM's vendor directory easily takes the place of browsing the ads in those monthly pubs, too.

 

Very well put. Me too!

 

Officially it is the Owners Lounge on the MINI USA web page.

But us NAM folks know that the owners lounge is lame compared to NAM.

Besides can you listen to White Roof Radio at the same time as reading the owners lounge???? Running one application. Sure you can do it if you have iTunesand the web browser open...

 

Here you go https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&highlight=mmc

MMC does not discriminate between models, mods, variations, colors, styles, etc. A true diverse Club for ALL MINIs

 

True, calling NAM a club itself is overreaching, but it is a good connection point for those seaking a local club and local clubs to connect with prospective members.

 

Exactly!

 

I think of NAM as the North American MINI community's rec center....where we gather to chat, gossip, and share MINI experiences/issues, and all the various regional MINI club information.

 

. . . and go have a burger or wierd pizza or even home made enchaladas once in a while!

 

I'm with Clo.
A major reason to establish such an organization is for liability insurance. Track days, autocross, tour rally would give a reason.
All this time I thought NAM was the national cyberspace MINI club. I waste enough time here... why do so elsewhere?
And I haven't heard good things about another national club, SCCA, especially in regards to their rally division.
Why ruin a good thing?
And for those who have a problem with the color badges and such... Henry Ford had only one color option. How boring.

 

More things are possible with critical mass. Look at how PCA (Porsche Club of America) started many years ago. Very grassroots, slowly developing involvement from Porsche, and it has blossomed tremendously. In some regards, MTTS (MINI Takes The States) is a dynamic development in the relationship between MINI and the North American market. Good points also raised here regarding the different needs and dynamics (local in-person activities, virtual community here, etc). It's all good!

GoodFinder