What do you think ??

[ST2UP]

Here are some recent extracts from a Facebook conversation in relation to the club and participation in RTE's.....

There are some fair comments raised....but some additional feedback would be welcome  .

I have intentionally de-personalized the contributors from their comments......



A. "There is obviously a drop off in the number of people participating north of the greater brisbane area".

B.  "It would be interesting to know if people have disposed of their ST due to age of the bike and no reasonable replacement and has that been the reason interest has dropped off or people are just too busy now days or have just lost interest, or don't like the way things are run or the people in the club ...... Would be nice to know but we never will".

C. "I personally think there are too many RTE's. If there was one every 3 months I think that would be better. But that's just my opinion and others will no doubt see it differently. Everyone has busy lives these days and most also usually participate in more than one riding group or club. So to be doing a ride every month makes it hard for everyone to attend. I think if the RTE's were a bit rarer you would likely get a larger attendance".

So what do you think ?? Are these comments valid ?? What can we as a group learn from this ?? what other strategies can we put in place to keep members motivated if we feel there exists a need ??

 

Look forward to your thoughts   

[Grumpy]

It is certainly sad to see a drop off in attendance as stated.

I know from personal experience that the best laid plans can go awry. I have had to pull out of several RTE's due to unexpected things in the last year or two. With the call on people's time these days it is difficult to fit everything in.

Personally, I like to see the number and variety of RTE's that are posted. I think that you have to pick and choose to try and get to the best ones for you. To only set up RTE's every two or three months takes away the options for people. Just because they are there doesn't mean you have to go to all of them.

Just a note, if you think you are busy during your working life, wait until you retire and you will find that there are far more calls on your life than when you were working, I know I have. Between the NSW RFS, Lions Club, Bowls Club and odd jobs for the local truck guy, I have very little spare time, and am very grateful when I can get to ANY ride at all.

Anyway, rant over, and hope to catch up with lots more of you in the coming months/years.

Anyway

[ST2UP]

Thanks Grumpy 

Keep the feedback flowing 

[Gavo]

Cant get to all of them all the time, due to shift work ! so we fit them in where we can.
If some of those are midweek, thats great to catch up with the older crew  ,the ones that are at their time of life

[WendyL]

A. "There is obviously a drop off in the number of people participating north of the greater brisbane area".
Can't comment on this one, not my region.

B.  "It would be interesting to know if people have disposed of their ST due to age of the bike and no reasonable replacement and has that been the reason interest has dropped off or people are just too busy now days or have just lost interest, or don't like the way things are run or the people in the club ...... Would be nice to know but we never will".
Could be worth sending an email out to all club members to see if they are still interested, have their ST etc

C. "I personally think there are too many RTE's. If there was one every 3 months I think that would be better. But that's just my opinion and others will no doubt see it differently. Everyone has busy lives these days and most also usually participate in more than one riding group or club. So to be doing a ride every month makes it hard for everyone to attend. I think if the RTE's were a bit rarer you would likely get a larger attendance".
I believe the more the better.  If there is only one every 3 months, it might limit some people to never being able to attend an RTE if the date chosen clashes with work/family/other commitments.  At least if there is one a month, or more, especially when they are on different days of the week, everyone has a better opportunity to get to more of them.

[Sicman]

Being on a rotating roster, as most other emergency services personnel, I find having more RTE's means I can get to the ones that fit in with my roster depending on distance and weather etc.
If we only had 1 a month planned then I would get to 2 a year as they are mostly on weekends - Now I would lose interest if that were the case.

The Club has grown to a larger size, going by the member numbers. How many of those are actual ST owners? ; And how many are people interested in the Sports Touring lifestyle of numerous clubs on different brands of bikes? Therefore their time to attend is divided across a few clubs i.e FarRiders, the local town ride group etc and also their outside interest - i.e. 4wding, camping, fishing, what the Mrs says we have to go and do 

Is it time to become a Sports Touring social club with an interest in anything of a bike nature but respect our history of where we have come from?
I.E. You ride what you like and attend when you can.   

[Gadget]

B. My ST had an unfortunate premature demise. Still love the group.

C. As someone who has been involved in planning and posting RTEs for OzSTOC and rides for other clubs, I've found you can't plan for everyone.

More frequent RTEs give more people more options. I can't make them all and attend those I can. For me is not the quantity of people who turn up, but the quality of the company and time we can spend together.

STimpy's mid week RTEs have proved a popular concept and I note WA mid weeks are popular.



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[Biggles]

Everyone above is on the same wavelength- keep up the number of RTEs giving people choice- mid-week, Saturday and Sundays.  The last one I was able to attend at Amamoor was well attended.  The one at Maclean less well so.
Regarding numbers north of Brisbane- can't say I've seen any stats, but I do know there aren't very many members north of Brissie.  The few members in Cairns and Townsville struggle with the long distances required to pull together an RTE that suits everyone.  It's a fact of life in sparsely populated areas.  Alice Springs and Broome are struggling too, I suspect.  Darwin seems to be thriving.
As for the way the club is run- that's an old complaint based on centralised decision-making.  I think those who are running the show are doing a great job, and those who chip in to help by running RTEs and especially Annual Rallies are also legendary contributors.
That's before we mention RAN, OzSTOC Couriers and Bed-Shed-Fed.
There's a great spirit of cameraderie in OzSTOC that we need to uphold and defend. 
My plea yesterday for help looking at a bike near Antarctica brought forth four folk on OzSTOC willing to travel for hours.  Plus a further three on FarRiders offering to look and/ or accommodation. 
In conclusion- what's needing fixing?  It's far from broken!

[Bikebear]

I often go to RTE's. I go for a ride , I eat, then continue riding. Since the number of OzStoc members here is roughly 1 it seems pretty good getting a 100% attendance.

[ST2UP]

Nice to hear from you Craig 

[tj189]

I really agree with what Bill said above.  Thank you for your comment Biggles, saved me writing too much 

[NTRebel]

I'm like Bikebear when the stars align I go on a 200 to 300K rte then ride back home I always see a 100% attendance as I am the only Central Australian member. I also look forward to other NT rte's when they are organized.
 In the meantime any members coming from down south will be met at the border and given an escort just to make sure they  don't run amuck on the way into town. 

[johnnyYTED]

 like tj  I agree with Bill 100%  I don't think anything is broken and as others above have said the more RTE's the more choices those that have commitments have to choose from, or other people could post up a rte that suits them and other members could join them if their available.
I have had to miss out on quite a few RTE's for various reasons, but would be disappointed if there were big changes made to this great club. I like Tony's suggestion about a Sport Touring club without forgetting the ST heritage. We often encourage others who ride whatever that we welcome them, so maybe a time will come to embrace them.. all and sundry

[Yorkie]

I think people just want a change, I have been a member for 4 years and there are only 3 other active members in WA who are still around from that period

[ST2UP]

I think people just want a change, I have been a member for 4 years and there are only 3 other active members in WA who are still around from that period

Brian just to clarify....do you believe people want to see a change within the club and how we exist as a club OR people's focus and interests change as time passes and they just move onto other interests ??

 

[Biggles]

I think people just want a change, I have been a member for 4 years and there are only 3 other active members in WA who are still around from that period

Brian just to clarify....do you believe people want to see a change within the club and how we exist as a club OR people's focus and interests change as time passes and they just move onto other interests ??

I suspect you're right, Chris, in that not many people commit to anything long-term. 
There's a core of folk who can't see past the ST 
and there are those who just see it as a mode of transport, and may not even regard motorcycling as a significant part of their life.
And not everyone is smitten by our style of riding or our type of people and so stay on the periphery or move on.
We still retain an enthusiastic core of people.  So what if it's 100 and not 800.  Like Brian, I go for quality, not quantity.

[Jdbiker]

Hear.......Hear

[Shiney]

I actually find it hard to restrict myself to only posting 1 RTE a month and would love to put one up for each block of days I have off work (but that would be to many )

I post them on both Saturdays and Sundays in the hope that it'll work out with people that work or have ongoing engagements on one day or the other.

Apart from that sometimes there will be a number of RTE's that just don't work out (date wise) for a lot of people and unfortunately that is the way it is sometimes.
In the past there has been a few attempts at trying to work out dates that people would prefer to have RTE's changed to but ultimately there will always be some people that will be disappointed that the date they want isn't chosen.
So I just choose dates that I think will work and if people can make it they will and if they can't I would love to see them put up their own RTE on a date that works for them (I'll go if I can )

There is a bit of work that the RTE Coordinators put in to the RTE's (Gadget & myself along with STimpy for SE QLD) and we do try to make them enjoyable and to locations that members recommend.
The only one that is a must each year is to the Esk Bakery as they are a long time supporter of the club.

If there are changes that everyone would like to see happen we will do our best to make it so

Cheers
Shiney

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[Shiney]

The above post from me isn't me complaining or anything like that, I was just trying to explain some of my thoughts on how I do the RTE'S to everyone

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[Streak]

With RTE's i always liked rides every 6 weeks, it seemed like long enough people where looking for them, but not that long that people lost interest.

Is it time to become a Sports Touring social club with an interest in anything of a bike nature but respect our history of where we have come from?
I.E. You ride what you like and attend when you can.   

What Sicman posted above is an idea I seriously floated to ST2UP & Diesel a couple of years ago, i spend some time working out the change, how it would work, and even the name OzSTOC (Australian Sport Touring Club), rough logo design, it stemmed from a conversion Diesel and I had about the growth and death of OzSTOC, as nothing goes on forever, but you can work hard at giving it as long and great life as you can.

With our proud history written and intact (which was something Saaz was working on), the idea was around opening opening up our website and forum to people who interest is in touring, RTE's building friendships on our model, with regardless what you ride, while retaining all our information, conversations, membership and history

The ST's will slowly fade away over time, but I believe setting things up to keep the membership regardless what they ride is more important than the bike itself.

This in turn will spike interest, add new membership, and keep people who change bikes (as there have been quite a few who have sold their ST and then left because they didn't feel comfortable being here without an ST).

Then we can be a well rounded group helping people enjoy touring, long distance riding, helping promote more specific groups for what people are looking for or want to do.

The above is the rough nuts and bolts of what i think, and i for one will have my hand up to make it happen if we ever decide to travel that path.

*BUT we can stay the same, we just do what we do, and if there is 5 of us left at the end and we lock the door behind us and look back and say how awesome was that! then I am happy to 

Cheers

Streak

[Philbo]

I am happy with things the way they are, attending when I can and enjoy the fellowship and appreciate the effort that the organisers go to.
I have no objections to people arriving on other modes of transport,
Phil

[spanner]

I have a couple of statements that pertain to ME and may not pertain to others in the Northern Queensland section of our state and also some personal circumstances.

• Townsville has three roads: North, South and West. They go a long distance before any real chance of something different occurs. it becomes somewhat boring on the same stretch of road. Unlike the south east corner of QLD where there are a large number of alternative routes one can take to mix things up. I get quite board in the local areas. The side roads that do occur are often unsealed or so badly deteriorated that it is
  practically unsafe on a  to negotiate as a solo but could not imagine negotiating with some riders of dubious skill or desire to put their beaST through the rough.
  
  
  
• I have limited financial resources      so for me to do a decent ride really does impede my other activities. There are very few active members in Townsville and even though Mackay and Cairns and Charters Towers are "just down the road a few hours" again it is riding these by yourself over and over and over and over again to meet people ...... great people but the journey becomes somewhat mind numbing.
  
  
  
  
  
  • I have a young family who take up a LOT of my spare time and I often have a need (and a desire) to be with them.
  
  Those are just a few of the reasons I don't attend RTE's.
  
  Also I do prefer doing the IBA rides and Far Rides as it is a solo adventure over a huge distance that takes me ..... yes through the boring rubbish near home .........  but later on to some great places I have never been before or on routes I have no reason to travel apart from my wanderlust.
  
  For example I am attending the IBA muster in Parkes shortly, I will also be riding to the Woodford Folk Festival at Christmas, I hope to be doing some Far Rides of IBA distance from the townsville region.

[Biggles]

I have a couple of statements that pertain to ME and may not pertain to others in the Northern Queensland section of our state and also some personal circumstances.

Surely that comprehensive explanation will satisfy those unhappy about the lack of OzSTOC activity north of "Greater Brisbane"!
Thanks for that, Spanner.

[STeveo]

I am still a member and happily so, even though I haven't replaced my ST1100 after it burnt, and attend RTE's when I can.
I think the club is run very well and thank those who put in the time to do so. I cannot see any need to change other than for the sake of change itself, which I don't think is a good reason.

[Skip]

I guess everybody's circumstances dictate how much time is given over to their beloved ST. I have been fairly quiet on the RTE front in past years for a number of reasons. Apart from a significant health setback a few years ago, still working full time, the onset of grandchildren, (off to Warwick tomorrow to see a couple,) a wife who was a FIFO to Perth every week (from Brissy), I have no excuse.    Life is full of seasons. I don't think anything needs to change about the club. Having RTE's organised every month allows a greater opportunity for us part timers to get to a couple per year.  I have other mates I can go on a last minute ride with, and even then I manage to meet up with other OzSTOC members. Hi IanB. Participation in RTE's are not compulsory. Sit back and enjoy what you can about this great club which is based around a great bike.
Kudos to the administrators. Don't change a thing.