If I could suggest anything to the ZCCA it would be:

[hls30.com]

Will,

I'm just sharing my opinions on these things. If anyone wants to see changes in the 2008 convention, they need to cantact ZCCA, and/or the people in charge of the 2008 event.

These kinds of changes should be put to the people working on the 2009 convention, or the one after that, but IMO, it's too late to reschedule things for next fall.

The title of this thread is?

Will

[EScanlon]

Carl, thanks for the correction. I truly did not know if it was America or Association and your correction helps to underline one of my points.

Just WHAT is this ZCCA? Your post helps clarify it's INTENT or GOAL as originally conceived, but it's apparent that it's conceptual idea evolved into something that needs clarification AND definition.

But the biggest point is that if it is supposed to be as you stated:

As originally conceived - the Z Car Club Association was an association of the Officers of Local Z Car Clubs, that got together to share thoughts, ideas and experiences having to do with forming and running a local Z Car Club. ... snip ...So that the representatives of the local clubs could get together once a year, and work together - the Annual ZCCA Conventions were started.

This implies that it's intended reach is WORLDWIDE and not just the US/Canada.

Ron, I don't know why I blanked on Kingston Ontario.

If you look at the list Art mentioned (again, the only one provided), the predominant focus of the ZCCA is the EASTERN and SOUTHERN USA. While there have been excursions out west (Colorado, Vegas, LA, ABQ) and even North (NH and Kingston Ontario), the whole Northern and Western section of the continent has been ignored.

Vancouver BC hosts one heck of a show, from what I've heard, unfortunately funds have been tight so I've not been able to attend. Same with the Meeting of the MindZ in Washington State. Many groups are trying to get the Canby and the Blue Lake show in Oregon noticed, but of the ones I've attended....not even a peep out or about the ZCCA.

Maybe the ZCCA needs to go back to having the meetings/convention held in a different locale each year...regardless of the perceived attendance. But focus on getting and RETAINING membership clubs and even individual members.

Tomo, in order to get a radio station to want to do a "live" show, someone needs to pay for it. Why not get the NISSAN dealers in the area, the Classic Car Dealers in the area to all chip in together and then approach a radio station to act as both Music and Emcee's for the event.

The Nissan dealers could have several of their models scattered about the show with salespeople to answer questions. Ideally a new model would be unveiled, but highlighting a current "hot" one works as well.

The Classic Car Dealers could also bring in other vehicles of the same era / vintage as the Z for "comparison" and sales. Having an Opel GT, an MG, a Mercury Capri, a Porsche 944 or 924 all tie in to the history of the Z. If they went so far as to participate in the Track Day....WOW!

Even if the live show is only for one afternoon or morning, the participation would benefit.

Undesireable elements, that's part of the game in an open venue. Try to restrict it too much and you end up with a closed door function. Have club volunteers scattered over the area to observe and communicate problems.

Having other affiliated clubs would only benefit the event. The 510 clubs, the Roadster clubs, there are even 1200, 620, and 210 owners out there that would enjoy being part of a big production such as this.

Hopefully this seed of input germinates into a full fledged idea that induces many of us to get involved.

Unfortunately if we're constantly reminded that changes can only come FROM the ZCCA, and it's apparent that the ZCCA is not concerned with what the "rabble" thinks.....meaning the average Z owner.....then it will eventually fade away.

FWIW

E

[TomoHawk]

let me once again go over my list of do's (the don'ts would run for pages):

1) feed me (Nissan pays good money) - twice

2) make registration painless

There is an opening feast Monday, provided by the guys from TX, and a closing banquet on Friday.

What do you mean by "painless" ?

thxZ

[Art@NissanSport]

Remember guys, to host a convention with the ZCCA your club must be a dues paying member of the ZCCA to even get a shot at it.

MSA is a success for a couple of reasons. 1) track record-more Z's at one show then any other event in the country. 2) More vendor attendance due to foot traffic. 3) I think they have outside help in organizing the event. 4) a street fair style environment. If you've ever lived in NYC, you'll know what I'm talking about. 5) and the main reason-more Z's in California then in most all other states combined.

Common sense tells me that if you have a national convention in a corner of the US like the New England area you can only draw cars from three directions with one of them being limited: south, west, and north (limited). East is out of the question due to the ocean. Florida is even tougher due to one direction: north

The show in Cleveland will be a good indicator to see just how many Z club members will attend. There are a large number of clubs within a 500 mile radius in all directions. I see no reason for there not to be 500 cars in attendance. Granted, people from the southwest, west coast and northwest will produce low attendance numbers due to distance. 2000 miles is a lot to ask (4k round trip) on a weeks vacation.

I always thought it would be good to rotate the convention every year in a section of the US - SE, NE, NW and SW. Pick a central location in each region and have the clubs in that region host the event. Problem is, its hard enough for 1 club to make a convention run smoothly, I can't imagine multiple clubs tying to work together. There is that old rule: 5% of the club does 90% of the work (or something like that). But maybe that is where the ZCCA comes in, they could be the outside organizers that cordinate with all the clubs in that region to make sure everyone does their part.

National conventions are hard to predict, you just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

[geezer]

Here is a link to the ZCCA site which is self explanatory for anyone not familiar with them.

http://www.zcca.org/pages/SiteMap.htm

and this is their Mission Statement:

THE ZCCA MISSION

Representation throughout North America in a professional and business like manner;

Assistance to host Clubs putting on our Annual Convention;

A single location to maintain an up to date listing of all Z Car Clubs and their respective current Memberships;

A unified organization to interface with corporations in getting discounts and services to benefit all Clubs;

A communication link to Corporate Nissan and Nissan's various representatives;

Assistance on a combined level to help form new Clubs and help current Clubs grow; and

Assistance in helping all Clubs benefit their individual communities.

The ZCCA will determine the host ZCCA Member Club and/or location of future Annual Conventions.

As far as making suggestions to the ZCCA, I can't think of a better way to do it than creating this thread. I'm sure it will be followed with great interest by all concerned. Many ideas will be tossed into the ring and hashed over. The ZCCA will hopefully continue to evolve by recognizing past mistakes and acting on sound advise from the collective Z community, which will not extend outside of North America, from what I gathered in the first sentence of their Mission Statement. Understandable to me.

I am looking at this as an "outsider", as are most of us. Although interested in the inner workings and what it takes to host a successful convention, what I am primarily interested in are the cars and the people who's lifeblood went into them. Track days and other events are icing on the cake. A full compliment of vendor representation would be something of interest to all. I totaly agree that local exposure and foot traffic are the keys to success and success can be measured by the number of cars in attendance. Of coarse some areas are a little more geographicaly challenged, which certainly makes a difference.

Past organizers are probably a very good source of "do & don't do" input, to avoid making the same mistakes again. There will be many tips and lots of advise put forth. I always like to listen to someone who's been there. I don't know much but it seems to be a democratic decision making process. Good luck to the fine folks in Cleveland, that have stepped up to the plate. Rock n Roll!

[26th-Z]

Personally, I think Umbrella Girls would suffice for the bikini contest idea. Bikini contests have nothing to do with Z cars. Umbrella Girls passing out little packets of car wax would be much cooler. Art, we gave you the next best thing in Daytona. Leap-frog with Heather at Hooter's. I never saw your pictures!

Chris

[26th-Z]

Tomo,

Why don't you ask Toby Bean to bring up his race cars and put them on display?

[TomoHawk]

What's a Toby Bean?

[Art@NissanSport]

Chris, you will see one of them in the mag, but not the leap frog one

[Tony D]

Remember guys, to host a convention with the ZCCA your club must be a dues paying member of the ZCCA to even get a shot at it.

That quote is priceless, and goes hand in hand with something hls30.com said on page 2 of this thread...something about 'being noticed' by the ZCCA.

Well, if paying your dues involves sending in a remittance, and then being ignored for over a year...if someone figures out how to get the ZCCA's attention let us know. The Charter Member Clubs are dropping out of a disfunctional organization. I don't know what politics are at work, but our club in SoCal has had not one word of correspondence from the ZCCA in over a year.

We paid our money, and they never cashed the check. E-mails were sent repeatedly, no response. One of our officers even sent an e-mail to let the ZCCA know their website was taken over by Porn Spammers earlier this year. Not even a 'thank you for the heads-up'. Voulnteers or not, there is a common courtesy in replying to repeated inquiries as to disposition of membership funds paid and not redeemed, and actually interacting with those clubs who actually are paying the dues.

To think this may all stem from a simple question of 'what does our ZCCA Dues get us as a club?' question some years ago just boggles my mind. It is a sad state of affairs indeed when a club can't get any response from the national organization of which they are supposed to be a member.

Maybe I sense this in Escanlons' commentary as well, as I've heard similar sentiments from others along that line as well. I think the commentary where someone said there is a lack of passion is somewhat correct. I think the lack of passion is not really the issue, but lack of focus. It appears the focus is on fifedoms and perpetuation of seat and privelidge amongst the annointed, and as was stated 'the rabble can eat cake'---if you ain't in the 'in crowd' you're out. And that's the wrong attitude to have in a 'national sanctioning body'.

As far as conventions go:

San Diego...best AutoX, 200 feet short of a full mile with elevation changes and rides in the #75 IMSA GTS car with Butch Leitzinger driving. Hula Hotel and Swap Meet was a nice touch, but probably won't ever happen again.

Colorado...Nice Tour Drive (except for the Gravel Road Miscue) as well as a fun track event. The Rain on the car show dampened a great venue. Plenty of 'kid stuff' as well.

Alburquque...Liked the 'Quiz Tour' format to get acquainted with the local sights. And the timing was GREAT, the Drive-Through Liquor Stores would still sell you a bottle of Rum, a sixpack of coke, and give you two big plastic cups of ice....all while you were sitting in the car. Egads! They shut 'em down shorthly after the convention. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Atlanta...Best Car Show Venue IMO...

Vegas...Car show was Air Conditioned, but not quite as nice as Atlanta's and kind of cramped in comparison. Very bare due to the problems as alluded to earlier. Functional. And not without warning. The beginning of 'the era of fifedoms' and manifestations of same.

San Antonio...GREAT TRANSPORTATION to off-hotel-site events. The River Walk was a good time, and gave me the opportunity so go since I didn't when at Lackland in the USAF... Very Smoothly Run Convention from what I saw. Wish the host hotel actually honored reservations---ended up at a nearby Holiday Inn instead due to them trying to jack up the price on a confirmed reservation.

Kingston...My vote for best Convention Ever (even though they promised a 'Long Distance Trophy'....) Great track venue without American-Style Litigiousness Induced Mega Disclaimers, Wonderful Country Drive Event (my 8 year old was the navigator, which says loads about clarity of their instructions), Guinness that was Draught Proper in the hotel (that alone was reason enough for first place vote), Car Show was larger than the Hockey Rink, but it's Canada...eh? Where else would you hold a car show there? Overall very well run from what I could see, was very impressed by the polish of the whole affair.

Syracuse...Great local food, GREAT TRACK VENUE, good host hotel...though honoring their reservations was not a highpoint, same as SanAntonio. I resided in a nearby Holiday Inn as a result, same as San Antonio. Nice way to array the Car Show at a non-conventional venue. And the Air Conditioning was welcome. Great bunch of organizers and great enthusiasim by the people putting it on.

LA, It could have been better. But 'history' for that one is too personal to me since I was there. I'll leave it at 'I liked the BBQ at the end of the Santa Monica Mountian Drive' and 'Willow Springs was fun...' and move on from there...

I lament not making this years event, but I had other committments that precluded it. I have never been a fan of conventions so late in the year simply because I can't get my kid to go with me. I was looking forward to this years (2008) but given the late date, it will be unlikely I will be able to attend this event either. Even though I have property within easy driving distance where I could prestage vehicles... And likely due to the proximity to the Toledo 24 Hours of Lemons Event in September that will be the last time I will be heading to the Mideast Region in 2008.

For those staging the 2008 Convention: Good Luck! You will need it.

Dang, have I been to 9 of these? Sheeez! I didn't realize that until just now!

[hls30.com]

Tony,

Wow, I'm not sure if I got more from what you said...or what you chose not to...but thanks for the post-no deaf ears here.

Will

[gnosez]

There are so many misconceptions regarding the ZCCA and that they are actively listening (by reading these posts and considering what is being said - or not said) is one of them.

One could say the sole reason the ZCCA exists is to manage the $25k that Nissan gives it to hold the annual (inter) national convention. The mission statement says a bit more than that but all missions statements say more than what they actually mean to say.

Oh, we get group insurance (we could get it cheaper and with expanded coverage for club officers but that's another story) and we get discounts, and we get, hm, we get? See that's been an open (sore) question for the past 5 years or more, what is it you get for being a member of the ZCCA? And what is it that Nissan gets from their association with the ZCCA? I know what we get, $25k. Now that doesn't sound like a lot of money but with that you get all the follow-on that makes a convention possible. What is follow-on you ask? Follow-on is vendors like Toyo who put up funds for the track rental and expensive raffle gifts, Bose, Black Dragon, etc. who's donations make more things possible and who would not be at the convention if Nissan wasn't there. Nissan is the flypaper, not the attendees. Oh, we buy from them but not in the volume Nissan does.

So where is Nissan's focus these days? Is a Z car convention a good place to put their money? Do they have a long-term strategy regarding the Z community? Should the ZCCA be looking into options if Nissan takes their money and goes away? What does Nissan want from the ZCCA and how do we collect that info?

The east coast bias theory is pretty lame as the selection process is based on clubs volunteering to be hosts for the convention. If no northwest club puts up their hand and says we'll do it, then no convention will be held there.

I for one would like to see a rotation system put into place where we go to 6-9 locations (not necessarily the same clubs) throughout the US. I would like to see a "convention committee" brought in,that has the experience and knowledge to make these things easier to put on. I'd like the car show and judging to be taken over by the ZCCA or else dropped. And a website that is topical and relevant. I'd like a "national" ZCCA motorsports activist and a contract specialist to review all needed documents. I want to see the ZCCA involved in more than just the annual convention and that involvement needs to be timely and regional in nature.

But what I am talking about is something akin to the fight over Federal vs States rights. Do you want a strong actively involved ZCCA that operates on a national level or one that is weak and lame? It's time to choose sides, boys.