2006 Agm

[John_Parker]

We will hold the 2006 AGM at the November 26th meeting. This is the time when the current committee resigns and the AGM elects three members in to the new committee. If you are interested in the position of Chair, Secretary or "3rd position" then let one of the current committee (John, James, MarkB) know.

It is also when we review the constitution and racing rules. The current set are on the website (http://www.crcccc.org.uk) - click Club Constitution link.

We have to consider some changes - attendance at race meetings has fallen dramatically. The last two meetings had 10 and 9 racers. That's not enough to sustain the club. We are in grave danger of falling below a critical mass of people to achieve good racing at all levels. When that happens, clubs fold. So, if you want to keep the club alive, decide what you can do to help out and propose changes.

Last years discussion is still on this forum here (http://www.rcracechat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19624)

[ralph]

I think we ought to review running 12th scale and touring cars alongside each other at meetings. Although I personally would prefer to run 12th scale, I think it would be more beneficial to race touring cars mostly. With the numbers attending, surely it's better to all race one class to encourage more competetive, closer racing. I have found racing touring cars has become more boring as others have moved to 12th scale. What about a system where we run touring cars regularly and then 12th and touring every other meeting? or maybe group together to run the over club for 12th scale once a month. We could always share the cost between everybody who races to ensure no individual loses a lot of cash if few people turn up?

Also, is it really worth running CS22's as a control tyre? Not strongly opposed to this, but I don't really think it's made much difference to the racing and it might be easier for newcomers if they can use whatever they've got already. Maybe if we just recommend CS22's as a competetive tyre to the beginners?

Finally, I think we need to run some bigger races to keep the interest up. Open meetings/triple crown series are great as they bring in people from further afield too, but that's apparently awkward because of hall bookings. How about some sort of league table of results which is added to over the year? would that help keep interest at all? just thinking of ideas in addition to the winter series really. How about a couple of us try giving out leaflets in the hobby stores advertising the club at weekends (Tom suggested this)? It could include advice, info on what you need, where you can buy a competetive car etc.

Ralph :cool:

[tomlau]

I vote Ralph for chairman!! lol.

Agreee with ralph, but unfortunately i think the 1/12th has to go. We're not a big enough club to start splitting the classes up. If we stick with just TC then we'll have more competitive racing, and everyone will enjoy it more. Sad i know, but maybe we can look into getting Over running again (do you want to look into that ralph?) or just run the 1/12 every now and then at milton. Besides, the track is almost always way too bumpy for 1/12.

Having run my own club, i can see that club members just dont seem to get that their regular participation is what ultimatly keeps a club running. They seem to take for granted that the club will just be there when they want to go. I dont know if theres any way to get around this, but things to keep up the interest like running some open meetings, or atleast a winter series. I mean what ever happened to a winter series this year???? thats the first time we have run one, ever?

What happened to the new venue? I think if we get that then we need to start running the club weekly, or as often as possible to keep up members interest. If we dont get that then perhaps look into other possible alternatives? Is there any way to increase the number of hall bookings at the current venue?

Oh, and im all in favor of keeping the control tyre. Its not causing anyone any problems as far as i can see. Its cheap, it works, lasts well if you really need your tyres to last a season, and is also avaliable as a pre-glue. But this rule needs to be enforced...somethings just not right when the supposed 'chairman' is running other tyres. And, we should have everyone running 6 cell stock too....

[ralph]

I vote Tom for club scrutineer!! :D lol

I'll let John explain about the sports hall, but will say that I wouldn't hold out any hope in moving venue yet...:(

I think running Over again might be good for 12th scale. Surely everyone who races 12th scale at Milton could make it to Over ok? Instead of running it as a serious club, we can share the cost evenly between racers there. We could also run touring cars for people who want to practise, but make it mainly 12th scale for people who have a 12th car. I can find out about Over if people want me to. Is it just the cost we need to know? Would sunday mornings still be the best time/day?

[tomlau]

Yeah find out about the hall, just check theres no bookings on a sunday. Dont mention anything about price. lol. Just assume itll still be as cheap as it ever was!

[Matt Pocknell]

Agreeing with Ralph and Tom, stock touring is definately the way to go at milton. Since splitting the racing into two smaller classes, the racing has become less competitive (IMO).

I think it would be best to make stock touring the main class (as it used to be) and just run 1/12 every now and then. This way the classes will become much more competitive and fun!

Open meeting!!!!!! The best way of bringing new people to the club is by organising a huge open meeting. If we could book the hall a few months in advance for a date that doesnt clash with any nationals, advertise in the forums and in local shops then the meeting will attract racers from all over the place...just like the open meetings used to! Everyone enjoys the open meetings too, racing against new people is always fun and will certainly improve all our driving skills. I definately think an open meeting sometime in the future will benefit the club. All sorts of clubs are running series' recently that are attracting many drivers, and i bet the clubs are benefiting from the extra competition.

IMO the control tyre is fine as it is, along with the "only stock motors" rule it makes for some close racing, and these kind of close rules would attract different people to an open meeting.

Just my thoughts

Matt

[tomlau]

Bit of a recurring theme here! lol. What does everyone else think? ...i know your on here Stelios, Alex W, Charlie B (where are you??), Mark C, Michael H, Simon G, Philip H, Mark Bristowe (where are you as well??)! Im sure there are other members that are just readers too, but lets here your ideas

[tomlau]

Oh, and another idea...How about a team based winter series-and no you cant pick the teams, they have to consist of an F1, an F2 and an F3 driver. That would create some friendly rivalry, should promote the more abled drivers to help the less able, and should generally keep the interest up over the winter. Any takers?

[A.Wojtecki]

I think that we should keep 1/10 touring as our main class, seeing as more people have touring cars than 1/12 cars. The competition hasn't been that great recently, though I'll still come however many people turn up. Perhaps we could run a meeting with both 1/10 touring and 1/12 cars once a month, so that people who have invested in these cars still have somewhere to race them, but keeping the main focus on 1/10.
The contol tyre is fine, and I'm not keen to change it after finally finding a setup that works beautifully with them.
It would be really good to have an open meeting once or twice a year. More racing and more racers can only be a good thing.
I would also like it (once the numbers are up) if we could run a Winter Series (or any other series for that matter). It wouldn't have to consist of that many races, but it would help with competitiveness and fun. Team racing is a good idea, it would allow knowledge to be shared and a great atmosphere of competitiveness. It would be good though if we could still have individual scores to know how you're doing as an individual racer (a little like f1 with its drivers and constructors championships).

[tomlau]

One more idea...Alex mentions more racing, any chance the hall could be booked for longer each meeting, more like 5-6 hours? There never seem to be other hall users waiting to get in after us. I wouldnt care if the entry fee had to go up, even if it was as much a £8, and im sure others wouldnt too. I just dont find 3 hours enough to satisfy my cravings. haha

Alex- the team based winter series would work by individual drivers scoring points as usual, then each teams drivers scores being added together to make a team total. Prizes would be awarded to the teams not individuals though, just to keep the costs down. Hey, perhaps Hurricane Motorsports UK could sponsor such a series, or even an Open race? Let me know what you think John ;)

[ralph]

I think the team idea's a good one - I like it! Maybe slightly bigger teams though, I think 4 per team sounds perfect. Another hours racing a week would be sweet too. Don't think so many newcomers would be keen to come at quite £8 a meeting though tom (and this time I'm not being a cheapskate :eek: :rolleyes: ). Thats more than fairly big meetings at other clubs. However, Lowestoft manage to run 7 hour club meetings fine, so if its possible 4/5 hours shouldn't be too long. If I remember I'll phone Over community centre tomorrow about the hall and ask if it's free most sunday mornings and if not what other weekend times are currently free regularly.

It would be nice to see more people posting on here, there's plenty of people out there as Tom says. And where is Mark B? have barely seen him since he was elected onto the board.

[Mark Bristow]

Tom, Ralph, Guys.
Glad to see your still actively supporting the club and sorry to hear that numbers have been falling at the meetings. I haven't raced for a while now and all my gear's collecting dust in the cupboard upstairs. It's always difficult to find time in the summer to race at Milton due to full size motorsport activities and family commitments blah blah blah blah...........

However, I will be returning soon as the winter looms ever closer and I will be there for the AGM. I will be racing in the Eurocup next year so my 'ride' at Milton will be a rather stock Tamiya TT-01 for you all to laugh at.

As for the suggestions on this thread, staying with touring cars only seems like the best idea with a relatively small club. Don't think any rules need changing unless somethings cropped up whilst I've been away although limiting overall gear ratios might be nice....just a thought.

Also, for what it's worth, I did miss the Winter series and open meeting but I understand that this generates an awful lot of work for the usual suspects. Tom, you seem to have a lot of ideas and energy, why not put yourself forward for a committee post?

Mark.

[John_Parker]

Ralph mentions the venue. We have been looking at alternatives close to Milton Community Centre. They havn't come to anything, but could come back to life in the future. The other venues were bigger (roll out all the carpet) and potentially had the space to store the carpet and track marking hose in the hall. We need to store the track marking at the venue now - at Milton this means buying square drainpipe as there's no room for the hose. Also, we don't get a choice of dates at Milton, we get the dates the carpet bowlers don't want.

Assuming we stick with Milton, I like the idea of racing Touring at Milton and also taking dates at Over to run predominantly the 1/12th class. I assume Over is significantly cheaper than Milton, so can cover costs if most 1/12 owners show up, plus a few Touring.

I also agree that we missed out without a series or open meetings. As I book, bank, race direct and web, I'll leave others to take the initiative to organize (happy to help, but not lead).

I plan to send a mailshot to people who are members for 2006, but who we havn't seen in a while.

[ralph]

Hi everyone,

Just phoned Over community centre. It appears most sunday mornings are free in the hall. Apparently there are no bookings all November other than the 10th, although that might be sooner than we would race there again. The person on the phone wasnt sure whether the track equipment was still stored there (said to phone on monday), but Tom asked them to leave it when we stopped before so it shouldn't be a problem.;)

If enough people are interested it sounds good. I don't mind making bookings, but I wouldn't want to run the club myself really. I'm happy to help do so, but with others. I like the idea of everybody playing a role in helping run the club at meetings. Not sure how well it'd work though.

Ralph

[tomlau]

ralph - excellent. any mention of the price?? i guess that it will be the same as it used to be £35 for 3 hours, plus 1 hour for setup/teardown. If we can get all the 1/12 racers together and agree that we'll always turn up and split the cost evenly (£3.50 with 10 of us shouldnt be to hard to acheive) then we're good. Of course i dont mind helping out with running things but others must too. ralph, if you could be in charge of booking meetings and paying for them then that would be great (you are the only over resident so itd be easier for you).

The track marking/carpet should all be there, perhaps you could pop down sometime tommorow and just check?

[ralph]

Yeah, I could probably check tomorrow if they let me. Don't know about the hall cost because you told me to assume it's still £35! lol. I don't mind booking meetings and paying for them. Any idea how the system works? Do I pay in advance for every meeting I book?

If I'm going to be involved with booking meeting's it'd be useful to have a list of racers email addresses so I can contact people with info. Also, we need a timing system. My Mum has a new laptop from school which I might be able to use (with bribery :p ), or do you still have the old Over laptop Tom? Also, what would be the chances of using the milton timing equipment John?

Do people want me to book meetings in the next couple of months if we decide to give this a go?

Ralph

[ralph]

All the carpet, pipe and joining bits are still there :) . checked earlier. If we want to ask about prices and booking it needs to be a weekday when the managers are there. From what you say, the hour setup/teardown time is included in the £35?

[Stelios Bishop]

Hi all
i wish more people would help in setting up and putting away?
i don't mind the cs-22 tyres apart from the pre-glued versions.
Racing more or for longer sound good, if we can have the hall for a longer time. marshalling could be better from the last heat as most of the time they are late getting out or are talking to each other while the race is on for the other racers. i don't mind only racing 1/10th at milton and 1/12th at over.
i also miss not having a winter or open series, could be the reason for some not to turn up.

stelios

[John_Parker]

Ralph - let's try for a 1/12 date at Over in between the Milton dates of Nov 5th and 26th - that's either the 12th or 19th.

If we make the 5th a Touring event we should be able to let the 1/12 regulars know in advance of the 5th to bring their Tourers and to show up at Over on 12th or 19th for 1/12th.

We'll use all the club gear at Over too. I'd like a few others to learn how to Race Direct.

Stel makes a good point about setting up an putting away. Actually, if you look through all the other clubs threads, you'll find this theme on all of them. Various schemes are in use, like paying a refund to those that help put away. I have an idea for Milton - we just close the pitting area room during set up and put away - everyone out.

[ralph]

OK, I'll enquire about the 12th and 19th of November. I think one of them is unavailable because of a pantomime, but We should be able to get at least one. The only issue then is about a laptop. Have you got your old one tom? or do we need another one? what software is needed?

Your idea about setting up and clearing away sounds fine to me John, although the refund idea would seem better, but they'll both work. I know I'm guilty though a lot of the time so I can't really comment too much.

[tomlau]

Ok this sounds good. I think the idea about closing the pit area is a good one, but this should only be at the end of the meeting. I always try to help with the setup and teardown of the track, but sometimes i find myself working on other peoples cars (they really should be better prepared tho), and sometimes this means i even have to miss out on practice. I think unless people have a genuine reason for hanging around in the pit area then they sould be out helping setup the track. I have seen a few suspects! Next time we'll just have to round them up and get them out on the track. If we lock the pit area just as the A final goes out then this should catch most people from packing up and making a quick exit.

Could we also drop the odd race lengths? Like the 6 min TC? If your going to do that anyway then it needs to be for all heats and finals, not just finals. We can use the time we saved to increase the time between heats/rounds. (...or could this be increased anyway?) Im always pushed for time and like stelios says we're always late out to marshal. But even working as fast as i can i literally only have enough time to swap out a pack of cells, put a pack on charge, change tyres, and apply addivtive (dont even think about making setup changes!).

John, i dont mind learning to help race direct, especially if itll help for running over. Oh, and Ralph says he'll volounteer too. lol. I also dont mind helping to organise a winter series and/or open meetings, if thats what itll take to get one running. You already do more than enough John.

[Martin Day]

Hi all.
The main problem Alex finds with Milton is that there are just not enough meetings in a year. I appreciate that we are governed by when the hall is available but it does mean that when he misses a meeting it can be up to five weeks before he races again. Consequently, the idea of restarting at Over appeals greatly (we were just about to start there when Tom closed it down before) even if it is only as a practice session for Touring Cars. We would certainly support it on a regular basis.

We feel, like most of you, that Milton should be predominately Touring Cars to improve the competitiveness of racing but do not think there is any need for major rule changes. A longer meeting would be good so we could get in another round of racing, be it an additional qualifying round or two-legged finals. This of course would have a cost impact and would also be dependant on whether the hall would be available for longer.

A race series would certainly be appreciated (the team idea sounds good) as would an open meeting. You could hold both a team and an individual series with say, best 4 from 6 rounds. One could run from September to December and the other from January to April.

Think thats about all.

[ralph]

Yeah, I'll go along with learning race direct seeing as toms put me forward:D . Not sure how much I can do with organising a winter series, but I'll offer a hand somewhere if I can. The bit I liked in your post tom was suggesting we lock the pit room doors as the A final goes out - is this to stop people going in? or stop them coming out? :p

Good to see another voice on here Martin and more support for the Over idea. I know what you mean about the time between racing when you miss a meeting too! I should be able to book meetings at Over tomorrow as I can be back home at 2:30.

[MarkB]

Hi Guys :D

I'm still up for a trip down the A11 for a 1/12th meeting. Can't make the 18/19th Nov as that's the next 1/12th National, but the 12th is free at the moment.

Anybody planning a trip to Simply The Best round one at Lowestoft this weekend?

Cheers
Mark

[ralph]

Hey everybody. I've booked Over for Sunday 19th November, but the 12th is free as well if people want to run both sundays. I'm expecting the price to be £35 (plus some rolls of tape for the track) to be shared between everybody. The hall's booked from 9am-1:30pm inc setup and tidy away time. We're running a 27t motor limit in both 12th and touring cars to keep racing close. Please find full meeting details on the Over thread on this forum.

If John/Tom could send some emails round to let everybody know about the meeting it'd be good. I'd like to see a decent turnout if possible :)

Ralph

[John_Parker]

Ralph - thanks, that's great, I'll update the website. I mailed everyone to let them know about the Touring/twelfth idea. I've also mailed the previous regulars who we have lost over the summer. Richard says he will be back and MarkB has posted here. We are also threatened by an invasion of Lintonites tomorrow, so should be some good touring racing,
John

[tomlau]

Ralph, book the 12th as well. i wont be able to make the 19th

[Mod] we decided today to just stick with the 19th for now, as many people can't make the 12th, JP

[A.Wojtecki]

Hi,

I have a proposal for the agm (depending on the reaction here). It would be to allow the use of bearings (instead of only bushings) in the stock motors, hence making them more efficent (less rebuilding) and will also raise the speed slightly, hence making it more fun. The speed increase would be very managable, due to it not being that big.

Alexander

[tomlau]

Yeah i suppose that could be good, but i really dont see any benifit. A well prepared bushing's performance on the track compared to a bearing will be minimal though...and i doubt you could actually feel any difference. Not only that but i think swapping out a bushing for a bearing properly without causing damage is beyond some racers ability, so you kind of create a divide.

How hard is it to apply a drop of oil every couple of runs anyway??

I know I'll be sticking to bushings.

[John_Parker]

At the AGM next Sunday we will elect the committee to oversee the club affairs during 2007. I should say "elect", as we havn't actually had to vote yet - historically, the maximum number of proposals for the three posts has been three!

So, step forward and put your name in the hat. So far we have two propsective committe members - Tom Lau has volunteered and I'm prepared to stand again for 2007

[tomlau]

Yep I volounteer for a position on the committe, whatever that may be!

So what exactly are the proposals for this years AGM?

[John_Parker]

I propose to ammend rule 20c regarding control tyre. Replace with "Use of the CS22 slick tyre is recommended, but not compulsory. Mini pin tyres not permitted"

Club Rule 6 on race fees. Append "When driver numbers fall such that the standard race fee does not cover costs, variable race fess per meeting may be levied to ensure the hall hire and consumable costs are covered"

Basically we have been loosing money each meeting. While we can cut the costs a bit by not using the "lounge" and pitting in the hall, with the numbers we have been getting we will still be loosing money. The upside of less racers and higher costs is there should be more racing per driver! Lets hope it does not get to the point where we exercise rule 8!

[tomlau]

Whats wrong with the CS22s? They work well, they last a while if you need them too, and theyre cheap with the club discount. Having said that I dont know if there is any benifit in using a control tyre at club level, or this one atleast. We have too broad an ability range between our members so running a control tyre wont make racing any closer. The fast guys will always be fast and the not so fast will remain, not so fast! As long as we're not voting in a dodgy control tyre like carpet dragons or some HPI tyre ive never even heard of (as proposed last year) then im cool with that. Ill just go back to running my hot setup, use a set of tyres per meeting, and go even faster! lol

I think its too late to make proposals now, (sorry only just read it on the w/s) but here's what I like to propose, if thats ok:

- Run a Winter Series commebcing in January, and to finish around March/April. This will be run over six rounds, with competitors four best results to count towards series point. Very simple rules i.e. 1500g weight limit, and 5mm ride height. (1 mashal from each heat will be nominated scrutineer). If we're still running a control tyre then this will be in too, but perhaps we could limit racers to a number of sets allowed over the whole series? Prizes/Trophies sponsored by Hurricane Motorsports UK?!!
I have also drafted up a set of rules for a possible 'Team' championship to be run along side the normal series if we have enough interest.

- To run another 'Open Meeting'. Probably the best time to run this would be around March/April so as not to conflict with Nationals/Big meetings/other series being run over the winter. Itll also give us time to plan and promote the race. Same tried and tested format as before. And perhaps we should also start planning similar meetings for the future. How about another towards the start of the summer to help boost numbers? I'd like to see a control tyre for such an event. If we could get another job lot of the CS22 preglueds, then we could include a set in the entry fee (one set per driver for the meeting).

- Add rule: All Touring car heats to be run to a 5 minute duration.

- To lock the pit area door prior to the A-Final being run, and only opened once all finals have been run and the track is totally cleared away.

I think we also need to start looking into some serious initiatives to draw back old members and attract new ones. Ive been thinking this over and have yet to come up with anything that I think will actually work. Ideas anyone??


John, is there any chance also that practice time could be cut down a bit, and aim to start running heats around 10:15? I think we run too much practice. People shouldnt need upto 1/2 hour as i think the track is open for? The track is too green to do any useful testing, and i only use that time to check my car is working, trims are ok, and a couple of laps just to figure out the layout. The extra 15-20 minutes we save can be used to increase time between rounds. Some of us struggle to get every thing that we need to get done between runs, and theyre just the basics! Its always a rush, as a result im always late out to marshall, and only just make it on the line at the start of my heats. Id also perfer not to run 4th rounds of qualifying if time permits...i just want more wrenching time. (and so do others)

[Martin Day]

John, I have a couple of observations with regard to your suggestion for variable race fees when numbers are low:

1. It may drive more people away because they will not be sure of the costs until they turn up.
2. It will also 'hurt' the regular drivers more as they will be the ones who are there when numbers are low and they may resent effectively subsidising those who do not attend regularly .

A couple of ideas:

1. Increase Club membership fees significantly (say £20 + BRCA membership) and charge a premium on the raceday fee for non-members.
2. Increase raceday fees for everyone but to encourage regular attendance waive the following years Club membership fee for those who attend at least 75% of the meetings.

Without knowing the actual Club costs and the breakeven raceday attendance it is difficult to put actual fees to the above senarios but I'm sure you will know if either are feesible.

[A.Wojtecki]

The key to getting people to come is advertising. We are the only club (as far as I am aware) for touring cars in Cambridge, and logically we should be the venue for all Cambridge racers on Sundays. The fact that very few people turn up could either be due to the fact that there are very few racers in Cambridge, or that those racers haven't heard of us. We should try broadening our advertising space (I don't know what costs would be) in places like local newspapers, Cambridgeshire website and on modelshop websites.
I agree with Tom, that practice needs to be cut down. There isn't any grip, and hence people are crashing more. The result of this is breaking before you've even started racing (i've done this before and it's really iritating). Also also, the time is pointless for testing your setup, as the handling will change drastically as the carpet settles.
I would like to keep race lengths to 5mins (seeing as my batteries are knackered), but I would like to try and keep the 4 rounds of qualifying (which would be possible with reduced practice). It just gives you the extra chance to put in a good run if you've messed up the others (as I needed at Over). If not an extra qualifying round, then 2 leg finals would be good, again giving you the chance to actually race for double the time.

[tomlau]

Ive been thinking about this, and i dont think advertising alone is key. See, the people we're trying to attract are the ones that are TOTALLY new to the hobby. i.e they have nothing to race with. Advertising alone isnt going to make these people go out and spend a few hundred quid on some basic race equiptment. Sure they can come and watch as well but is that enough to commit them to make such a purchace. Perhaps we could organise a kind of open day where people could actually have a go. Of course we'd need some donation cars for this, but im sure we could figure something. (i know ive probably got enough to donate for a whole heat!) Or perhaps run a low cost class like the TT01's as is being suggested in the TC section of this forum. I also thing one big factor that'll always limit our attendance is the lack of a good local model shop (that stocks rc car stuff), but thats never going to happen. Unfortunately.

Alex, we are not the only TC club in Cambridge, believe it or not! There is also a club in Linton that run on a Wednesday(?) night. If any Linton racers are reading this then perhaps if you send over a few of your racers, then well send over a few of ours too. Lets support each other! A little bit of inter-club rivalry could be fun too!!

As far as race fee's go then i think John's idea of raising entry fees when attendance is low, is just fine. Just how committed to this hobby are you? Putting you hand in your pocket to support you local club should be a non-issue. I for one wont see this club go, and would be more than willing to dontate whatever it takes to keep this club running...i hope others would too. Even if race fees had to go up say £6, what is that compared to how much you spend on the rest of this hobby? nothing.

[John_Parker]

Hiring the hall with the Lounge (pit) area costs us £72. To the nearest 50p, these would be the variable race costs (and yes, we did have 9 racers one week)

9 £8.00
10 £7.50
11 £7.00
12 £6.00
13 £6.00
14 £5.50
15 £5.00
16 £4.50
17 £4.50
18 £4.00

We have consumable expense too (tape, printer cartridge).

We can save some cost by pitting in the hall. Finally, hall fees will rise in April.

[Martin Day]

QUOTE "Just how committed to this hobby are you?"

Tom - I hope you are not questioning our commitment to this hobby (or Club). My comments were merely an observation as to how I think others may feel. I have no problem with increased raceday fees but feel it would be better to have a fixed fee rather than a variable one but its no problem either way.

Why not look at it this way. Establish the cost of running the normal meeting and divide that by 10 racers (we seldom have fewer than that). This gives us a fixed price per meeting. Then, when numbers are up a surplus is generated for the Club which can be used e.g. to promote the Club etc.

I think your idea of an open day to attract those new to the hobby is good, though how you get that information to them is another matter (I'm an Accountant not a Marketing person).

Should be an interesting AGM.

[tomlau]

lol. Martin, no way was I questioning yours and Alex's commitment. That was just a general stab at everyone else.

Any idea how much hall hire is going to go up John?

[ralph]

I think racers would be prepared to pay extra sometimes to cover the costs, but I think there would need to be an upper limit, say £6? The way I think of it, the club is for everyone, so we should all do our bit to help.

I agree with you Martin that the club membership fee could go up a lot. Last years £8 and £4 for under 16's seemed very low to be honest. Maybe £25 inc. BRCA membership?

I've been trying to persuade some people with TL01's/TT01's to race for quite a while. While most of them are interested to some extent, they dont really want to put in the effort because they haven't seen what racing is really like. They haven't experienced it. Setting up a beginners touring car would be good for those visiting, I think John is going to do this with a 12th car. I have a Yokomo MR4 Chassis I could have in working order with a new spur gear, but I havent got much equipment to spare - only a transmitter,w heels/tyres and possibly motor. Also, if we could run some demonstrations somewhere, that might gain a lot of interest (that open area of the grafton centre would be quality, but its not really going to happen...). If so, we need to make it clear that you don't need to spend £500+ to be competetive, and that you can get started and enjoy racing for a much smaller amount.

If we were to get some newcomers with cheaper cars and equipment, I think it would be good to support them and keep them interested. A lot of old equipment us racers no longer use would still be a big help to a beginner.

[John_Parker]

Martin Day (Alex's dad) has also volunteered to stand for election to the Committee for 2007. Thanks Martin, the more the merrier! Any last minute bidders for these hotly contested positions?