TOPIC: 4 September 2016 - Breakfast

Frank,
We are not shutting down or dumping any or the breakfast rides. We simply took them off of the calendar until we can confirm that there will be members there. We are trying to prevent somebody from showing up, expecting to meet and ride with a bunch of Four Winds BMW Riders, from being sadly disappointed that nobody showed up, again. Just post something on the forum that you will be there and we can put it on the calendar. This was brought up at the board meeting and at general meeting and nobody spoke up as to being apposed to it. I didn't see you or Ralph there. Mary and I have been to the West breakfast twice in the last year, and not one other member has showed up. We did however meet and recruit 4 new members out of it. We had breakfast with the scooter club once when no other members showed up. I think there're date was pushed back a week due to a holiday or something. The bottom line is that we are losing members when somebody goes out of there way to come meet us for a breakfast ride and nobody shows up. look at the first few posts of this thread for example.

Sorry, John, BUT, if the rides are NOT on the calendar, no one will know about them as a regular club activity. And the notion that somebody will be emotionally damaged if they show up and nobody else does, is, IMHO, just bunk. As with Frank, I've been to a couple of breakfast rides where I was also the sole attendee, and I didn't shrivel up and disappear emotionally as a result. I've also gone when I and some new person(s) were the only ones there with the result of the newbies joining the club...BUT, you can bet your sweet bippee the new folks would NOT have shown up had they not seen the Breakfast Ride on the event board as a regular club occurrance. Sooooo.... As I said before:

I frankly think taking the Breakfast Rides off the calendar is a BIG mistake...and it seems to me that is the best way to kill every Breakfast & Ride that's not announced on the web site as regular, because that way NO ONE will show up, ever. You might note that always in the old newsletter there was a statement regarding the B-Rides to the effect that if one planned on going it would be nice to announce the fact on the club web site so others would know you were going to be there. Supposedly that request is no longer present on the Web Site announcement of the rides? Knowing there's a constant ride/breakfast scheduled will bring out more riders than dropping any mention of them and leaving it to someone to come up with and announce a ride. Ya want to kill club activities? Removing them is the way to do it, if that's what the board is after... same as the prizes getting chinchier so as to guarantee no participation. No wonder no one wants to participate.... it isn't worthwhile to go to all that trouble. And frankly, as others have also said, running a club just to put on a rally doesn't turn us on....At least it doesn't turn me on!! A-Tall!!! (This is rant #2389A2 )

Ralph,
I can see your point that if there is nothing on the calendar no one will ever show up. But the idea is to get people to commit to going to the breakfast ride and then we will put it on the calendar. Maybe we can come to a compromise and put it on the calendar as tentative or something, until we can confirm the people are going. I just thought it would open up the calendar for more rides since nobody wants to schedule a ride the same day as a breakfast if it doesn’t include that breakfast. I will bring this up at the next board meeting and see what the general opinion is.

John Hetz wrote: So, as I understand it, someone brought it up, there was no objection, so it's a done deal. Do I have that right?I see. Ralph and I were not there, so our opinions don't matter. Thanks for clearing that up.Yes, let's do that. Sean misread the schedule and showed up at the advertised venue for the West ride on the advertised date for a North ride. He made a mistake. It happens.

On the subject of losing members, a good way to lose long term members is to disenfranchise them.

Removing calendar notices for the East, South and West Breakfast Rides was discussed and voted on at the last meeting. The Bob Evans at Robinson CLOSED permanently (along with 27 others) and will not reopen. It closed APRIL 26, 2016. ...and no one has noticed or mentioned it??? I don't know who or where we could have had a West BR since then.

If someone wants to volunteer to find another location and arrange with that restaurant to have a group breakfast, please do so. When the West group has actually attended those breakfasts at the new location, we would be happy to put it back on the calendar.

We are trying to clear the calendar of superfluous and/or incorrect information. In the coming months, we will be adding more regional and national events to the calendar in an attempt to make it more useful.

Due to disappointed riders, we will be emphasizing that you SHOULD CONTACT OTHERS to verify the BR is actually happening before you go.

John Humphrey wrote: This seems at odds with what John posted. I asked if there was a vote, and he replied there was an announcement and nobody objected. Will the meeting minutes be posted?
Not true. There has been discussion of the closure of Bob Evans in this thread, and two alternative sites had already been proposed when John jumped in to say the West rides had been done away with.So, if I understand you, if the event happens it will be placed on the calendar after the fact. Seems backward to me

How about this as an alternative: If some of the people who have enjoyed the West ride for many years come up with a location, you put it on the calendar BEFORE it happens. If it's not on the calendar, then of course people won't show up.

For the record, I will be out of town the second Saturday in October, so please don't get on my case for not showing up.

This is like beating a dead horse. I'm done.

Frank