Access to this Forum from June 2012 – please read

[Paul W]

Following a decision at the last committee meeting it has been decided that this forum will become a Members Only forum from June 2012. This means that only members of the Scott Owners’ club Ltd will be able to post and read messages after this date. Many of the active users of this forum are already Club Members and so most should be unaffected by this change.

If your account does not currently allow access to the Members’ Area and you are current Club Member then please email me (webmaster@scottownersclub.org) with your name, registered forum username and membership number and i will update your account permissions.

Non-members who have registered as users on this forum will still be able to use it until June, after which they will need to join the club if they wish to continue to do so (please see link from the main website https://wwww.scottownersclub.org/). The Club’s website will continue to remain open to both members and non-members.

[jonathanjoy]

Hi

What’s the rationale behind closing the forum to non members ?

Regards Jonathan 😕

[Wilfried]

Hi,

I posted here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1874

[Anonymous]

I thought this was up for the AGM, not that the decsion was already made and announced here before I remember reading in Yowl.

I was a member of a forum that did this previously and two things happened:
1. All non members asked for their posts to be removed from all active and archive threads being that they were posted before the rules were changed
2. A load of people left and eventually the forum was a shell of its previous form

I don’t remember the membership being offered a vote on this or even it being proposed or open for formal written feedback for a time before a decision was made. It just seems a terribly retrograde step to me.

Cheers,
Richard

[dave bushell]

I agree with all of the above comments. The forum should be open to all Scott enthusiasts, members and non members. I’m sure that in the past we have had some good input from non members and I would imagine that we have recruited new members because of the forum.
Dave

[David J Waring]

I have just posted my comments under the actual announcement on the Members’ Area of the Forum, but find that they automatically appeared in the announcement on the General Page. I have therefore deleted them, and will re-enter them as a new topic on the Members’ Area

[Wilfried]

I have no access to the mebers area

This means a discussion about excluding non members from this forum is for members only and excludes the people concerned.

My understanding about such a formum is so different from what I experience here, that I will think about terminating my membership here.

[chstorm]

I believe that the committee decision was very unwise, and agree with the other comments. This is not the way to attract new members.
The forum should be open to all Scott enthusiasts. We already have a Member’s area, with limited access.
I suggest that the committee thinks again, and postpones its decision until the consequences can be properly discussed – here on the forum and in Yowl – and finally in an AGM.

Cheers,
Carl

[Wilfried]

… and don´t forget to change the headline at the top of this page:

A forum for ALL Scott Motorcycle enthusiasts

[jonathanjoy]

A point of information, Forum stats show 372 registered users, 151 Club members.

That means that when the forum closes its population will decrease by 222 or 250 %

not to mention guests

is this good for the Scott marque ❓

So it will be interesting too find out the rationale

awaiting a response Regards jonathan 😥

[Erik]

Seems like a very unwise decision to me and I agree totally with all statements above! I think this will only put people off instead of attracting them…

I sincerely hope this decision will be reconsidered!

And I am also very, very curious for the reasons behind this… What can be rational in keeping al the precious Scott knowledge in a closed community (and heads) of mainly (older) people? I think the SOC should in fact be very glad that it has a thriving open forum and cherish it instead! Give people the opportunity to share their knowledge! This is the information age and an open forum will be the first place that the Scott riders of the future will want to look!

And I also agree with Richards notes on the possible effects on the forum and would like to add one that I have seen happening: the possibility that someone might start another, open, Scott forum which could have very negative effect on the SOC board!

So please, reconsider and think ahead. And let the SOC forum stay what it is: the ONLY and OPEN Scott forum in the world!

Cheers,
Erik

PS: reading the unanimous reactions here from the actual forum users, it seems to me the decision was taken by mainly people that do not actually use this board… Or am I wrong here?

[lewis onions]

The following statement explains the reasons for the Committee’s decision. The simple fact is that our Club, in common with most comparable others, is experiencing a fall in membership. Whether this is due to demographics, the finacial climate or otherwise, a distinction must be made between the services which attach to membership of the Club and those which are avaiable to those who, for whatever reason, are not prepared to join.

Regards,
Lewis

ACCESS TO THE WEB FORUM

The decision to make access to the web forum available to members only was made by the Committee at a meeting held on 25 February 2012. The decision was made after a great deal of discussion and detailed consideration of the traffic passing through the forum. The decision was primarily made with the purpose of protecting the Club’s intellectual property and goodwill.

The Committee believes that the services which the Club provides – including the services provided through the website – are special and that they represent excellent value for the modest annual subscription. It is essential to recognise just how special the services are and to protect them and their value to the membership. In a world increasingly reliant on communication via the internet, the web-based services supplied by the Club will become even more of an important part of the Club’s services than they are now. Consequently the Club cannot continue to permit a substantial part of its output to be provided free-of-charge at the risk of the decline in the substance of the Club that is likely to follow.

The decision is in line with the policies adopted by a number of similar members’ clubs; The Brough Superior Club, The Rudge Enthusiasts Club and The Triumph Owners Motorcycle Club, to name but three.

Subscribers to the forum who are not members have the opportunity to join for the remainder of the year and then receive all of the Club services until 31 December 2012 including continued access to the forum for the payment of a reduced subscription of £10. If the Annual Subscription represents good value, this concession is an outright bargain, representing little more than the administrative cost to the Club. We hope that access to the Spares Scheme, regular deliveries of the exceptional Yowl, the opportunity to attend at Abbotsholme and other club events as well as the access to the forum will convert those who accept to the Committee’s way of thinking.

We hope that the existing members (who will suffer no inconvenience) acknowledge that the decision will ensure that the Club’s resources are protected and help to ensure that the Club prospers and grows for the benefit of the members present and future.

[jonathanjoy]

Thanks for the reply Lewis,

Surely its not a question of of simply one way traffic, registered users make valuable contributions to the clubs knowledge base, free of charge. I’m a member of the Douglas forum and noticed tonight, a non club member, who new nothing of Douglas Motor cycles, posting photos of his grandfathers racing Douglas on the forum. This stimulated a discussion and increased the knowledge of forum, users both Club and non members, this is but one example of contribution buy a non club member. I’m sure he wouldn’t have joined the club to post the photos. So please please reconsider as knowledge such as this may never come to light which would make the club poorer in terms of The History of the Scott.

Regards Jonathan

[Wilfried]

Thats exactly what I expected. If the committee believes to resolve the financial troubles with closing the forum the financial situation will go worse.

As Jonathan explains ALL forum members are giving information for free and this should be for all. Look at Wkipedia. What would wiki be if there is a membership AND a fee?

Here is the perfect example how it works: https://210277.homepagemodules.de/

This forum started as a privat initiative and is now the biggest forum in german language related to old bikes. Because it grew too big and for legal purposes it is now under the patronage of the German Veteran and Vintage Vehicle Federation. But it is still free and open to all.

Money is generated with advertising, mostly from Google. I believe this forum is meanwhile also a commercial success.

I understand and accept that some people who are not familiar with the internet and does not know how such a thing works are sticking to things like a membership as they see the forum as a clubservice and not as a service from ALL to ALL.

As a service from ALL to ALL the barriers should be as low as possible to attract as much people as possible to contribute. The example with the Douglas racer is typical.

For me it is not the money and I always enyoyed reading some parts of Yowl. But every time I was late to send in GBP at the beginning in an envelope. Later it was better with a credit card. Last time I recognized it only when no Yowl was in my postbox for a long time. I am not a very patient person and with limited time resources for my hobby and I strongly dislike complicated adminstration like filling in a new paper form every year and so on.

Maybe there are more like me?

Kind regards

Wilfried

[lewis onions]

For the avoidance of any confusion or anxiety there are no “financial troubles” concerning the Club. The Club remains financially healthy and the decision to make access to the forum availble to members only has nothing to do with cost-saving. This is about preserving the Club’s assets for the benefit of those who are prepared to contribute to the Club by paying the annual subscription.

As explained in the statement posted yesterday, the Committee considered the traffic passing through the forum before coming to a conclusion. Instances of philanthropic contributions from non-members are exteremely rare and will not necessarily be blocked by the movement in house.

Members who encounter difficulties in renewing their membership – especially those overseas – are urged to use the Paypal facility in the open area of the Club website.

Regards
Lewis

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