About me . . . MWC Recorder

[macgyvr]

BUMP?

mac 'large member?' gyvr

 

[RedHeep]

I'll post tonight. I'm a little busy right now.

Red 'broken airplanes' heep

 

[Fore Wheeler]

Sound bite/Bad company, on...

Who are you?

Sound bite off.

 

[RedHeep]

My name is Josh. I am married to my wife Melissa, who I've been dating and/or married to since 1994. I am 36 years old, which makes me the old man in this race. I have 3 kids, 2 boys Logan (8) and Alex (6), which some of you have met at the Crawl and a beautiful baby girl Olivia who just turned 1.

I have been registered with since 2004 when I bought a '91 Limited from my boss with a highway overheating problem. Even back then, technical advice on the XJ platform was just a google away. I have been a member since 2006 (I think) and have attended WF in 07, 10, 11 and 12, as well as the Crawl both in Tellico and Harlan and the 25th and 30th Anniversary events in Moab. I am a distinguished recipient of both the longest travelled and Frankenspare awards (both of which could be argued as moves in stupidity )

I am currently employed by the federal government as a Gunnery Sergeant in the USMC, with 17 years time in service. I am an aviation maintainer, but currently hold several billets including supervising the maintenance department as a whole, working in quality assurance and running the flight division within the maintenance department. My job is stressful and accounts for a lot of hours during the day, but also affords me continuous access to a computer and . I manage 300 maintainers, 25 aircraft and a flight schedule on a daily basis.

I have held several positions of club leadership in the past, including the national recorder position and as a national director at large. I have learned over the years that running this club or running a chapter of this club can be difficult when dealing with different opinions, ideas and emotions and I know that my experiences and age make me better at doing it.

I have recently declared my chapter membership as MWC, thanks to a clarification in the bylaws that allows me to do so. I'm a small town Ohio kid. I currently live in North Carolina thanks to my career choice, but I know that the organization of the chapter and the medium through which we communicate will allow me to be productive even living a few hours from where the rest of you guys are. I am on the phone with Dan and Matt a lot more than my wife wants me to be and I think that's the best way to get things done.

You guys know who I am, you know where I've been and most of you have shared a trail or two with me. I hope to be a viable candidate, make it a good race and if elected I'll do my best to get the job done.

I don't think much has changed in a month.

There's a 1911 and a snub nose .38 in the quick release safe on the nightstand and a Saiga .410 with a 15 round magazine in the corner.

I don't like rifle rounds in the house, but there's a full 10 clip grab and go for both the garand and the M1 carbine on the other side of the closet door in case the revolution happens.

My preferred bug out gun is the AK and the 2000 rounds sitting next to it. Just in case I need to pack up and leave.

Still have those.

To be specific, freshly shorn sheep.

I don't do furry sheep. Freak chaffing incident.

Might have to leave a little for the velcro gloves.

Will you be at wf 14?

I have airline reservations for Wed-Sunday. I'm sleeping in your bed.

I don't see a real benefit in splitting the chapter up unless there was a group of individuals that was willing to start a new chapter and maintain it so that it was a viable chapter within the organization.

Although the MWC is large geographically, there are states within the chapter that have few members. Since a lot of the membership and folks that wheel in general are located within striking distance of an offroad area, this means that those states have few members. We are concentrated within locations that allow us to enjoy our hobby. If you break those states up into multiple smaller chapters, you reduce the number of members that can conduct the administrative requirements necessary to continue running the chapter, like running for elections, voting or organizing events.

I would support the creation of a new chapter within the MWC boundaries, but only if that chapter contained a location where the membership could gather for an event and only if there were enough members to sustain it. Cutting out a few states with minimal members from the MWC reduces the size of the chapter, but doesn't give those members much of a voice within the organization. I understand that WF is far away from a lot of people within the chapter, but we would have seen other unofficial events pop up for those people if the locations were available.

I do think that discussing redrawing the boundaries of some border states in the chapter, such as KY to the SEC or the western states to the western chapters is something the BOD should do. But splitting into an additional chapter doesn't seem like a good idea.

Clear as mud?

I still feel the same.

My answer to this question always gets me in trouble, so here goes.

I think there's a difference between a push for new members and a push for quality members. I know that we work hard within both the chapter and the national organization to entice new XJ enthusiasts to both participate and join the organization. The dues that people pay are obviously what keeps the lights on, what makes us able to do good things within our communities and what allows us to do good things for our members.

Unfortunately, that push for as many members as possible can come with consequences. The current demographic for an older, discontinued vehicle has dropped to a younger, less mature age due to the lower cost and relatively high bang for your buck that you get with a XJ, as well as the relatively low cost aftermarket. This can result is what we've seen just this year across the country, including fake online deaths of members and firearms/alcohol charges at events. I'm not sure how you skin that one, but I don't think it's something we can affect at the chapter level.

I think the chapter has done an excellent job providing benefits for members to encourage folks who are forum users to join. Free camping at WF signed up enough users to pay for itself in the first week. It was easy as a BOD member to vote to support that. The only other way to encourage users to become members is to make folks pay for the cow, so to speak. I can't affect that as a MWC Recorder, but I've held fast to the idea that the forum users should have much more of their access to the forum restricted. Make it a benefit to be a member and people will be members. Make it easy to get the milk for free and people will drink milk for free.

The best thing a chapter BOD can do to encourage new membership is to put on a kick ass event. I think we do that already. I would support additional events throughout the year if we thought it would bring in more quality members, such as a fall event at a different location or an additional summer event in a western MWC location, provided that we had the volunteers from that part of the chapter to put it together.

And more sheep.

Thoughts are the same.

I view the at large position as maybe the most important position on the BOD. Not unlike the national at large positions, the person who fills this role has to be a multi-tasker. They have to be able to fill the other seats if needed, perform all the duties of the BOD and be able to juggle several priorities in order to facilitate the end goal of what the BOD is trying to accomplish. I certainly feel I can do that.

It's very encouraging that several members have decided to run for election. If elected, I will perform those duties to the best of my ability and I feel that through phones, emails and the forum, that will be easy to accomplish. If not elected, I certainly support who the membership has selected and will most certainly still be available to help, regardless if it's in an official capacity or not.

 

[Fore Wheeler]

Thanks for running Josh

 

[macgyvr]

Having served at the national level of NAJXA, how will this help you at the chapter level?

mac 'back to the top' gyvr

 

[RedHeep]

Having served at the national level of NAJXA, how will this help you at the chapter level?

mac 'back to the top' gyvr

The national BOD is a group of individuals that work a lot of hours to continue to promote and foster the club and the membership. I've been involved in amendments to the bylaws, the planning of national events and discussions involving financial decisions for both national and chapter land use donations.

This effort and experience allows me to take a mature and intelligent look at the planning and decisions that are required to do the same thing within the chapter. Albeit on a smaller scale, the amount of members within the MWC makes it not only one of the largest chapters in , but also one of the most pivotal. Winterfest has become an event that other chapters visit to emulate within their own chapter and the MWC has led the way with membership benefits, the growth of the membership and the idea that regardless of ownership, the enthusiasm of the vehicle and the lifestyle bring us together.

My BOD experience is big picture. It's the hockey goalie kicking the puck back in and keeping the game going. In a chapter setting, I'm looking forward to getting to the roots of what we want to do as a club and having the MWC lead us there.

 

[macgyvr]

Thanks for the reply and running.

mac 'large members' gyvr

 

[RedHeep]

Thanks for the reply and running.

mac 'large members' gyvr

I'm really just in it for the staff hoodie.

 

[RedHeep]

A vote for me is a vote for truth, justice and the American Way.




Ok, I can't back that up.

red 'crooked politicians' heep