Hello, I'm Austin and I have a Problem... (About Me)

[99SJ_Ex]

I am Austin Lee and am running for the MWC BoD position of Recorder; I'm addicted to XJs :S

A Little About Myself
A MWC member from the frozen Cheeseland of Wisconsin. I have been a member of since 2008 and have attended several WinterFests (2009 and 2011) and several other non-official events.

I am a 24 year old professional student that has earned a 2-yr Technical Diploma in Automotive Transportation from Western Tech College in La Crosse WI. Currently, I am wrapping up my last semester of Student Teaching at University of Wisconsin - Stout, Menomonie WI, in the Technology Education Major.

I am an ASE certified Mechanic and have worked at several different Ford Dealerships and most recently Max-Bilt Mfg prior to my moving to River Falls WI.

Heeps... I mean Jeeps...
I bought my Cherokee 4 years ago when I traded my 93 Ranger in at the Dealership I was working at. I have been hooked ever since, I joined and met Kim, Tyler, and several others at WF 09. My 99 Cherokee is my daily driver and is always in good running condition, lest the cosmetic surfaces.

Qualifications
In my 6 years of schooling, 3 have been years in which I held executive positions in clubs/organizations. I was both the Vice President and then the President of Western Tech's Automotive club where I managed about 60 members and an annual budget of about $8,000. In my time at UW-Stout, I was elected president of the Resident Hall Association in which I managed an executive board of 7 members,ran Association board meetings worked with the Hall committees for 10 Residence Halls, utilized and maintained an annual budget of $75,000 and also developed events and fundraisers to maintain and sustain that budget.

I am an outgoing and friendly guy that participates in MWC events and discussions whenever possible. I also started and maintain, with the assistance of RevDen, the FaceBook MWC Page.

As a BoD of the MWC I will strive to maintain the positive outlook of our chapter as well as its reputation for being a hearty group of individuals that fights for their OHV rights.

Being a resident of Wisconsin, in the past several years we have lost several OHV areas. I would like to work towards holding events throughout the MWC at the remaining OHV areas to raise awareness of the fragility of these lands. What we have created at Redbird, I feel, could be done at numerous other parks in areas that may be at risk for closings.

As those who know me have learned, I am a fun, easy going guy that has a passion for Jeeps and offroading and am looking forward to doing all that I can for this chapter in the years to come!

 

[REWSTER]

You posted just in time i was just copy/pasting recorder questions, though question number 2 might not make sense yet

As a recorder, what are your thoughts on giving a monthly or bimonthly update on what is going on in the BOD meetings and chapter funds?

Kinda on the same page as tyler, how do you feel about chapter money going to non wheeling events like brewfest/piggig for food donations?

 

[99SJ_Ex]

You posted just in time i was just copy/pasting recorder questions, though question number 2 might not make sense yet

As a recorder, what are your thoughts on giving a monthly or bimonthly update on what is going on in the BOD meetings and chapter funds?

As President of RHA, I provided monthly budget reports to the members of the Association meetings and explained any changes that occured in the prior months. Seeing as there are sometimes 'off-season' times, I see a bi-annual report as something that could easily be done.

Kinda on the same page as tyler, how do you feel about chapter money going to non wheeling events like brewfest/piggig for food donations?

Another example of my previous experiences my view on this is this:
There are three types of events that an organization should have; Fund-raisers, Official Organized Related Events, and Social Events.

Fund-raising events are pretty much self explanatory, their purpose is to generate income for the Chapter.

Official Organized Events are those put on by the club, such as WinterFest, that happen yearly, are put on by the Bod, and require that certain rules are in place for a safe, enjoyable time.

Socail Events are thrown for members who may be less interested in offroading (off season times) where they would like to spend more time having M&G style interactions with other club members. In these events, members can 'let loose' and have a good time without worrying about their standing with the club, within reasonable standards. These events can be hosted by anyone willing to do so and can be attended by anyone that wishes to. This is primarily a time to have fun possibly with other interest areas.

I think all three style events need to be supported by the club as it helps with the general bonding of the members. By supporting some non-official events, it sheds good light on the BoD and thus, the chapter as a whole as being overall fund, friendly people. If we just talked about Cherokees, wheeling, and offroad in general 24/7, I think we'd all go nutts (if we haven't already) :laugh:

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

I like the break down of the 3 types of events......:thumbup:

 

[99SJ_Ex]

I have a question for all those running for an elected position on the MWC BOD:

With the MWC being one, if not the, most fiscally sound chapters of , there is a decent amount of chapter funds that sit idle through the majority of the year. Now granted some of those funds are needed to put deposits in place for Winterfest or prepaying for shirts, hats, stickers, and available for matching funds programs from National, but the remainder of the funds are rarely tapped into. What are your thoughts of using some of those additional funds to "sponsor" a few "mini non-official" events split up across the chapter due to our overall size and locals? These funds could be used to help with food, firewood, minor prizes in the event of a drawing or raffle setting etc.

This was something I struggled with as the President. I wanted to give more back to the Chapter and these funds are the Chapters funds, belonging to the Chapters members....so why not come up with a way to "spread the wealth"?

Please discuss.

I hope my previous post answered these questions sufficiently, if not PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

On the subject of events, I feel that the chapter has (since I joined) always offered up a good amount of events spread evenly throughout the year. As a Wisconsin member, I could argue that I would like to attempt an event or two up this way, but realize that a large majority of the active members live in the southern regions of the chapter. A few may remember the over the past couple of years I have tried to get an event going up here and that reason alone often killed it. However, I am more than willing to keep topics such as that open for discussion on how we can accommodate all members of the chapter more frequently with widely dispersed events.

 

[jakeWI]

I like the break down of the 3 types of events......:thumbup:

x2