Access to this Forum from June 2012 – please read

[Ted Robinson]

@jonathanjoy wrote:

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 😥

Surely 372 registered users and only 151 club members prove that the forum is not helping the club membership, or am I missing something? How did you access forum stats?

[Wilfried]

@TedParkin wrote:

Re Wilfried ‘s and other comments.

I was under the impression that Overseas Members of the SOC could vote at AGM’s via email? Correct me if I am wrong (being by nature a very self effacing person!!!!!!!!!)

Hmmmm …. a vote via email cannot replace a discussion.

Kind regards

Wilfried

[jonathanjoy]

Hi Ted

“Surely 372 registered users and only 151 club members prove that the forum is not helping the club membership, or am I missing something? How did you access forum stats?”

I differ , I think the forum builds relationships with potential new members by exchanging information, and as a first point of contact with the SOC. Of the 372 registered users ( not to mention guests), as the relationships build, have the potential to become new members (in sales speak).

With a closed forum this process would cease to exist.

I see people become guests then registered users then club members. I’m sure you could analyze this by looking at how many registered users become members each year which would produce a strong argument either way!

You can access the forum stats through profiles.

Kind regards Jonathan

[Jan Buchwald]

@Wilfried wrote:

@TedParkin wrote:

Re Wilfried ‘s and other comments.

I was under the impression that Overseas Members of the SOC could vote at AGM’s via email? Correct me if I am wrong (being by nature a very self effacing person!!!!!!!!!)

Hmmmm …. a vote via email cannot replace a discussion.

Kind regards

Wilfried

Had I known, I would have voted against. Times changes, the only way is to change with it

[RJV]

I have trawled through the posts on the open forum over the past year,. I cannot find any instance of a post or response that could be classified as infringing upon the intellectual property, goodwill etc. of the soc: even using the all encompassing definition set out in the chairman’s recent post. As a result of the forum posts I think I may be beginning to understand the logic behind and, the basis of the decision taken by the committee regarding access to the forum.

In my view thee committee has failed to understand the difference between the website and the forum. Those of the view that the forum is detrimental to the soc are mistaken: the problem they have identified is not the open forum but if it exists may be the website and in particular the links section thereof.

It could be argued that the linked sites contain information; possibly on matters that the soc might wish to claim intellectual property rights, that may reduce the incentive for Scott owners to join or remain members of the soc. However these links are to sites that exist in their own right and no action by the club can affect the content or existence of such sites.

To alleviate the problem the committee has identified would require that the entire website to be shut down or at the very least the links section of the site removed. Such action is doomed to failure. Google is our friend.

Finally can I add that the data upon which the committee based their decision has been powerfully challenged by Brian Marshall and as such it should cause the committee to reflect, that in arriving at their decision; did they had a clear understanding on the impact of the open forum on the aims and objectives of the soc and did they have accurate information on the composition of the open forum user base.

rjv

[Steven Enticott]

Must say am a little bit shocked by this. How can something of such great impact and passion invoking not be put out to members to vote on. Have been on many comittees and know how thankless it can be so you to have my sympathy.

Struggling to see any justification for it though.

Plenty of non members enquire through https://www.scotttechnicalities.com.au with questions beyond my ability and I direct them to the forum – where do these people go now? Over to Roger and his site I guess…

The forum should be the leader into the Scott Club itself – and the link between the forum and the club should be stregthened and embraced not terminated.

The member benefits should be highlighted – i.e. the Yowl, the Spares Sceme, The rides – Maybe think up some more benefits etc…

All closed shops eventually die!!

I think without a vote to all members we may see a backlash – with memberships not renewed out of anger that something of so much importance isnt put to a vote of some sort for all members including us overseas lot unlikely to ever be at a meeting to have our say.

Steven Enticott

[lewis onions]

To keep you all informed, the Committee are continuing to review and consider the postings to the forum concerning this. We have even exchanged a few emails.

Compromise is considered by some to be a situation where no one gets what they want, and accordingly there is as yet no consensus even amongst the members of the Committee.

Elsewhere on the forum reference has been made to the Vincent Owners Club site which is one of the sites considered by the Committee whilst ariving at their decision. Although access to the VOC web forum is free, anyone seeking access to post or even to view the forum is required to register first. If the VOC site is considered as the benchmark, it is noteable that the way in which the VOC forum operates is not dissimilar from how ours operates now, nor that dissimilar from the manner in which the Committee has decided that the Club’s forum should operate after 1 June 2012.

One issue does seem to be agreed upon; everyone is in favour of greater access via the Club’s website. The Committee has agreed that greater access should be available to anyone (member or not) who has specific questions of the Club. It appears that a majority of new approaches to the Club are either enquiries concerning a particular machine or requests for assitance with technical troubles. There has never been a direct conduit for such enquiries via the website to the relevant Club officials. Accordingly, the Committee has decided that specific click-throughs links will be added permitting anyone to email questions directly to the Club’s Machine Registrar and Technical Correspondent. If there is call for it similar links can be added to connect with other Club officials.

The re-assessment of the forum and of Club’s site as a whole continues.

[TedParkin]

Thanks for that Lewis My Man! 🙄
Good to see that the Committee is taking on board a quote I re-quoted in one of my “Yowl” Editorials. “Jaw Jaw is better than War War” (W S Churchill.) I seem to remember at one of the AGM’s while I was Editor of Yowl that a vote was passed allowing “Overseas” members to vote? Speaking of which mate, when’s the next AGM? Shortly I presume as of course the tenure of the Officers of the Club automatically run out after 12 months unless re-voted in at an AGM. There bye negating any decision taken by such Officers. Anyhow son. Nothing to do with me. I just ride my Scott. I ain’t a member. BTW Steve Enticott said it all. Cheers from a seriously hot Aberdeen!!! Ted 😛 😛
PS re the Vincent Owners Club bit. Requiring people wishing to post being required to register first! Isn’t that what we do now? Or is the recent heat gtting to this frost hardened northener?? 😆

[TedParkin]

😀 😀 WELL DONE ALL THOSE WHO HAVE PUT THEIR OVERWHELMING SUPPORT INTO THE FREE SCOTT NEWSLETTER. Started by Steve and Roger and carried on with the support of Scott ENTHUSIASTS! If nothing else I feel that the overwhelming response to this ill thought out suggestion of closing the open forum should be a serious “WAKE UP!!!!” call to the management committee of the SOC. It takes a big man to admit a mistake. 🙄 (having made many myself!) 🙄 The Scott Newsletter wil continue and in fact this debate has resulted in many more enquiries and take up of said newsletter. We couldnt have asked for a better advertisement! The future is open access! It’s a NO BRAINER! I wish you all well. Ted 😀 😀
ejp
TedParkin

[Arthur]

Unfortunately no club can exist on non members or those who want something for nothing.

Honour the hard working enthusiasts who make all this possible by joining the club

[Steve Bowles]

Arther – with all respect, I think you have missed the point…

The Club has a number of avenues where membership is essential, Yowl, spares, members’ section etc.

The open forum is our public face and demonstrates our genuine welcome to anyone who is interested in the Scott marque.

This is how we encourage people to buy a Scott and therefore become members – simples!

I am increasingly worried that the root cause of this issue is a distrust of the “interweb” by older member’s – I have some experience of this with my parents!

If the Open Forum is closed how do we reach out to wider world? ………….

Regards

Steve

[Stan Thomas]

Against a backdrop of a declining membership and the Club having run at a loss for the past two financial years, it was clearly defined at the A.G.M. that the only reason the Committee were closing the forum to non-members was purely to “encourage” memership, or as it was so aptly put at the meeting (and I quote) “to stop people getting something for nothing” .

At this juncture, the question was put as to whether or not the Committee’s modus operandi would extend to the Nation Rally – given it was the same situation of non-members freely partaking of S.O.C facility on the day, and have their pick of the autojumble etc. – at which the Chairman said it was something the Committee will be considering. (Note – the National Rally does not generate any income for the Club as the gate money goes directly to the school).

So is the National Rally to follow in the footsteps of the form in our policy of entrenchment?

Let us look forward to a fuller elucidation in the published minutes of the A.G.M.

Stan Thomas.

[pplatt]

As a relativity recent convert to the Scott cause (with bike still not on the road!) I feel I should share some thoughts based on my own journey to becoming a Scott owner.

Firstly, I have to say that without access to this forum BEFORE joining the club I would not have considered buying a Scott. The information I found and the contacts I made thanks to the forum helped to counter the seemingly plentiful supply horror stories about Scotts and Scott ownership. Given the relative lack of published Scott material it is down to this forum, the Technicalities and a few dedicated and knowledgeable Scott enthusiasts to ensure that potential new (and hopefully young) Scott owners are not put off by such lore. Closing the forum to non-members would remove a significant proportion of the scarce positive Scott PR from the public domain and as such seems to be counter productive.

Scott ownership is not the only marque that I’ve developed an interest in thanks to online resources. However, at least one marque club forum that I used, had a possibly interesting twist that may be of some relevance here. Firstly, one had to register before getting access and the club therefore had a list of e-mail addresses of potential club members. Secondly, there was one forum (the technical forum) where non-club members were free to browse and to do simple searches but one had to be a paid up club member in order to post questions or to do more advanced searches. This worked well for me and I was able to gather enough information to help me make the decision to buy a bike but I then needed to start asking questions of my own so I joined the club (which was a simple online process). Although I (like may other folks posting here) am strongly in favor of keeping the SOC forum open to all, maybe a similar approach to that just described would be a viable option.

Anyways, that enough club politics for me – I’m off into the garage to play with my newly purchased DPY engine.

Best regards,

Pete P.

[eyeguy]

I think Peter’s post pretty much sums it up for me, too. When considering a Scott, I simply Googled and came up with the SOC site. It would be absurd to think that anybody would do any differently today. Having been able to read the older posts and ask questions, I then had the confidence to buy my bike and go on to join the club. Had I not been able to do this, the logical conclusion would be that it’s a minority product with little or no enthusiasm or support and perhaps a jump too far into ownership. In fact, Lewis helped me with an initial question!
I think it a mistake to compare our actions with the VOC, Brough and Rudge boys; I resigned my VOC membership as a protest to the closing of the website to non-members and, of course, the scandal. They, and several other clubs, are perceived as elitist and unwelcoming by a large number of classic motorcyclists I’ve encountered.
One of the biggest problems with Scotts seems to be the lack of them on the road, thus ensuring a lack of awareness. Riding, not hoarding them , would be a start and having an open access forum with interaction between owners, riders and interested parties is surely the way to go. As a one-make club, we will not survive pandering to the egos and tastes of a few, mostly non-riding, members. We simply have to embrace new information technology, welcome prospective owners (who will be the ones buying YOUR bikes when you sell them) and get our machines out there at popular meetings, we’re not a secret society!

If the membership is falling, perhaps we need to reconsider our perceived fuddy-duddyness, revamp Yowl (even make it online by subscription) and try to foister the passion we have with others in better ways. The spares scheme is great, and should be members only, but nearly everyone tells me “you can’t get the bits” when I show them my bike, yet I’ve managed to ride it there! Why do we not make more noise about this? Could we, like the VOC a few years back, possibly build a complete bike from spares? The publicity would be enormous. Just a thought.

Restricting the forum is a huge mistake, please reconsider this.

With kind regards
Paul Miles

[TedParkin]

Just received an email that the open forum will be closed as decided without any discussion or input from the SOC membership, either informally or via the AGM. The times we live in Eh? Therefore may I, as Editor of the free on-line Scott Newsletter, take this last opportunity to say that we will continue as normal and the next edition will have a “Click” box to ask all of our many (600+) subscribers to register whether they wish an alternative forum to be established. Regards to All Scott Enthusiasts! Ted Parkin editorejp@live.co.uk. Sign up NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
ejp
TedParkin

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