Some official decisions to make...

I PMed 's Recorder Tim 'Skorpyo' Kilpatrick with our member roster and he had this to say as far as a few decisions we need to make before becoming official:

What I need most of all is a listing of the region you are proposing for the chapter. I would suggest that you keep it to 3-4 states at most as becoming too large has been an issue in the past for chapters. In your email to Woody you stated that Idaho may be included and if you are doing so you will want to talk to the up and coming Utah chapter (Intermountain Chapter) who is also nearing their application, as they have also tentatively stated Idaho. The two chapters can certainly share the state, much like SEC and NAC share VA and WV.

Have you decided a chapter name or will you simply be using NW Chapter, or -NW?

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So, I have a good friend (TRNDRVR) in UT that I talked to on the phone on Sunday. He said that there are people in ID that come to SLC (Boise to SLC = 4hrs, Boise to Seattle = 8hrs), and wish to be part the Utah Chapter (they had a whopping 25ish people at their first meeting). On that note, they decided to call their chapter the Intermountain Chapter, covering a region, instead of a state.

As Tim said, more than one chapter can claim a state. I say we still keep ID as part of our Chapter. Plus, lets officially add BC (lower BC?). But lets have your input on this.

Also, as he stated, our official name. What do we want to be called, officially, and on the Forums page? We can go with "Pacific NorthWest Chapter", "NorthWest Chapter", "NW Chapter", "Northern Pacific Chapter" (this one seems catchy, but reminds me of a railroad), or ???. Again, your input please.

Tim also said the Chapter approval process is relatively quick, so once these issues are resolved, it will not be much longer.

Future items to start considering were also brought up:

One final step you should consider is the Chapter event planning. likes to see each chapter sponsor an annual sanctioned event and I'm sure your group can come up with a place, next would be deciding a timeline.

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Once we become official, I say we begin the talk about a NW event. Whether it be a Best of the West event, or our own thing, like "NorthWest Fest", lets start brainstorming ideas for an event that we'd feel comfortable hosting year after year. We all know there are some great trails up here, I'd like to see us get some out-of-staters up here to experience the fun!

Steve

I'm in for the WA, OR, ID coverage. If the ID folks down there want in on UT events and such, that's cool...good for them. I can't blame them for wanting to drive 4 hours instead of 8 anyhow. Covering ID anyway gives the Northern ID folks a chance also. Plenty of things to do in the North Central WA and North ID areas. OR has plenty all it's own as well. Plenty of things to do there. I'd love to help plan a BOTW series here, too. That'd be quite fun to jump in and wheel/lead on some local trails. First things first though!

That is a tough one. I would consider the "core" group to be in Western Wa. However, I would not want to see those Members that wish to be involved left out.

The Members that can make meetings (even if online, and runs in person) should have ample chance at input.... so speak up folks. What is a reasonable area? The Chapter BOD will have to decide on that to submitt the application.
Glenn

Glenn said:

That is a tough one. I would consider the "core" group to be in Western Wa. However, I would not want to see those Members that wish to be involved left out.

The Members that can make meetings (even if online, and runs in person) should have ample chance at input.... so speak up folks. What is a reasonable area? The Chapter BOD will have to decide on that to submitt the application.
Glenn

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Hey Guys, we're including UT, ID, Wyo, AZ, NM and NV in the Intermountain Chapter, so that members in outlying areas can make the call on which "local" chapter makes the most sense for them to be involved with. Plus, a person can be a member of more than one chapter, if so inclined. I don't think that an acutal "property line" chapter border needs to be established........folks from Preston, ID aren't likely to drive to Seattle to a Chapter meeting or event, when they are much closer to the SLC area. The opposite goes for someone in the ID Panhandle area, so I say include ID in your chapter and let the individuals decide who they hang with?
Jeff

XJEEPER said:

Hey Guys, we're including UT, ID, Wyo, AZ, NM and NV in the Intermountain Chapter, so that members in outlying areas can make the call on which "local" chapter makes the most sense for them to be involved with. Plus, a person can be a member of more than one chapter, if so inclined. I don't think that an acutal "property line" chapter border needs to be established........folks from Preston, ID aren't likely to drive to Seattle to a Chapter meeting or event, when they are much closer to the SLC area. The opposite goes for someone in the ID Panhandle area, so I say include ID in your chapter and let the individuals decide who they hang with?
Jeff

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I agree, we are not staking claim in land or anything. We just need to decide what land our chapter covers, no matter if it overlaps another chapter's coverage or not. I think we have previously agreed to keep ID, the only thing is, do we wish to add more land, or keep it WA, OR, and ID?

That and the name thing need to be decided.

Steve

I like the name Northwest Naxja.

I say that we go with WA, OR, ID and lower BC. I think canadians like to wheel too :laugh3:

PNW01XJ said:

I say that we go with WA, OR, ID and lower BC. I think canadians like to wheel too :laugh3:

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How many have said anything here? I'm not 'hating', just wondering where these alleged Canadians are. :laugh3:

Hey there guys. Hope ya don't mind me eavesdropping but I thought I'd mention that in condiseration of other areas for chapter involvement and runs and such, you'll often find that well many more people will show up for an event than will involve themselves on the forums. I met several folks at NACFest who knew my handle, but had never posted and considered themselves just readers.

Oh, and currently NAC and SEC share VA and WV so there is certainly nothing wrong with a state being shared by chapters. Please feel free to email me with any questions etc and I'll be more than happy to help. Keep up the good work,
Tim

I agree, include Idaho and BC (someone has to bring the beer EH!!!). I don't see any downsides to including these people.

Sorry I haven't been in tune here lately, work's really hosing me over with hours I'm working, so I've been busy.
I'm all for including Idaho, leaving them out (specificly the folks in Northern Idaho) to me would not be too hot of an idea. Granted, making meetings etc. might be tricky.
I sorta like the "Northern Pacific Chapter" idea, but then that's just me. I think something to the tune just " Northwest" sounds pretty darn skippy. I think on the forums page just "Northwest Chapter" should suffice. I'm assuming we pick two, one for our title and one for the forums?
What sorta event do we need to have? Like a 2-3 day event at Manashtash or the like's? Or can it be something simple like a day at Evans?
I'm glad to see this progressing forward. I'll try to keep better track of the goings on from now on. :thumbup:

Chris

I'd like to stick with NW Chapter for the name. ID members should be able to join whichever chapter they like, and I don't see any reason why two chapters can't share the same state. And I've driven Boise the SLC many times and it's at least 6 hrs! But more important to me, is Forum Fixer deleting posts here again? Because a lot of threads are now gone.

Erik said:

I'd like to stick with NW Chapter for the name. ID members should be able to join whichever chapter they like, and I don't see any reason why two chapters can't share the same state. And I've driven Boise the SLC many times and it's at least 6 hrs! But more important to me, is Forum Fixer deleting posts here again? Because a lot of threads are now gone.

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Erik, your comments are wearing thin. I have PMd you, you have ignored them. You keep claiming posts are being deleted. Here is the deal.... you PM me, or Woody. Any more allegations of posts being deleted, or "the man out to get you" will be deleted. Take up your issues back channel. You are a Member of , if you have an issue... take it back channel (period).

Before you accuse people of deleting posts, probably should be sure eh?

Here, I made a picture to help you understand:
http://www.sb-host.com/glenn/erik.JPG
Glenn

Well, it's been a week, the BOD will make a decision taking in concideration the thoughts of everyone and I'll you know.

Thanks,
Steve

The BOD has decided to keep us WA, OR, and ID, however, we can always add BC if we have interest later on.

Also, we will be known as the ' NorthWest Chapter', or just 'NorthWest Chapter' (NW Chapter) within . Now technically, the 'w' should not be capitalized, but who cares, huh?

Steve

Sounds good Steve. Do we have any more outstanding issues to resolve to complete the formation of the chapter? I'm also glad to see that all of the archives have been restored. Not that there's a lot of valuable information there, but it is kinda interesting to see how far we've come in the last 6 months (Wow, 6 months already ). It also a handy tool for potential new members to read through and see what we're all about. And speaking of potential new members, I do get a few private messages from people who see to be really interested in seeing a successful chapter or some sort of club here in the NW. But with our present posting restrictions they can't really get involved and they're confused about what direction this chapter is taking. Any chance we might be opening this forum to general posts from guests? I'm glad to see the core group alive and kicking :kissyou:, but I know there are others who live in the region who may also have some good ideas.

Willis said:

The BOD has decided to keep us WA, OR, and ID, however, we can always add BC if we have interest later on.

Also, we will be known as the ' NorthWest Chapter', or just 'NorthWest Chapter' (NW Chapter) within . Now technically, the 'w' should not be capitalized, but who cares, huh?

Steve[/QU

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Wow, 6mo already? We got off to a slow start, but now we are just waiting for 's approval, which I've been told does not take too long.

No other issues that need immediate attention. Things will come up here and there, and so far, we have elected to adopt 's bylaws as a whole. There may be a need to create our own bylaws that go more in depth than 's and are tailored to us, but only time will tell on that.

When approves our chapterhood (is that a word?), the forums will be opened to the general public as soon as possible. At that time, anyone can post ideas, trail rides, or just BS. I think the direction of the chapter will be established down the road, because each person has their own ideas of what they expect and wish to see from a chapter. Obviously, if no one posts anything, and we do not contribute to this chapter and help/make it grow, it will not. We'd might as well change our name to the Lame Chapter. But if we all get active, create a good, strong, local society, this thing will thrive.

If you look back at the first few threads on here, you will see we had a lot of interest. I think we lost a lot of potential members because we got off to a slow start, and people were looking for a good local Jeep forum. Problem was, no one really stepped up and spearheaded the formation of the chapter.

So, here we are today, a few, but still very able. As Al Bundy would say "Let's rock!".

Steve

Willis said:

Problem was, no one really stepped up and spearheaded the formation of the chapter.
Steve

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I didn't see that. What I saw were some others who were all too willing to try and damage a certain person's reputation and scared people away...while promoting their own board. But hey, that's behind us, right? Since you brought it up though... lol

*lurking*

Hey all,
The BOD has approved the NorthWest chapter and recognizes you all as an official chapter of ! Congrats to you all and keep up the good work. One suggestion the BOD has for you though is that the name "Best of the West" for an event should not be used as there is already a major national event (Non-) named this and the event typically recieves publication recognition. It woudl be best to avoid confusion and possible annimosity by choosing another name. Thank you very much to Steve for his work on getting the BOD all of the pertinent info.
Skorpyo
Recorder & Membership Director