Clubhouse?

[YoungGunz]

Originally Posted by dabears

Now if we would be using rubber vs dirt, that makes it a little nicer and cleaner obviously we could build bigger bridge systems etc.. I like the ideas that we could do and things we can make.

I do agree that rubber is alot cleaner than dirt, but rubber is much better for shows since we will have to clean up at the end, but you cant really do "work" with the rubber. I feel dirt would be in our best interest, true, it makes a mess but we could actually work towards making roads, bridges, or whatever we want, because it has that packing ability. And since this would be a long term thing we wouldnt have to worry about cleaning up the dirt.

Originally Posted by pigeonfarmboy

Going to be hard to beat that space. I agree too with amount of space. It's a very large space but the area gets taken up quickly. Unfortunately anything larger than that is likely to drive up the price beyond "affordable".

The space would be perfect, we wouldnt have nearly as many people each time and people would bring what they need, not all of their projects. Using the back wall as a "workshop/workbench" area would be plenty. Eventually we would make more than one level for the trucks increasing actual play area. I feel like at this show the space was used up so quickly, because first off, we didn't have a real game plan, so things were spread far apart to begin with, then we had tables set up all around which would be useable space in a club house.

Originally Posted by rockNmayhem

You could simply have a $10-$20 admission fee for a day to use the facility and run equipment along with also providing growing relations if people wanted to come and try it out to see if it's something they'd be interested in.

Tyler

I think $10-$20 would be unfair for paying members. Let me throw some numbers out there and see what you guys think. If a club member was paying $100 a month to be a member of the club they would pay out $1200 a year. Now if they made it to the club house one weekend of every month, they would be technically paying $50 a day to play. (this is most likely not true for most guys, since once a month isn't always feasible. Most likely some would be paying over $100 a day to play.) Personally I think it should be more expensive for non-members to play, that way we avoid guys coming and playing more than club members and still benefiting more since they don't have to pay dues. Also non-members wouldn't have to worry about buying the dirt, the club members would worry about that and that would be on top of the club dues. I think the whole idea behind a club is to have benefits that not everyone else has. I don't want people to think that i don't want them their if they aren't in the club, but it needs to be fair for everyone.

[woodhog]

I a;so want to remind everyone that the area in St Louis is real close to the airport.I know that plane tics get expensive too.A member wouldnt have to bring evwrything to have a good time just come to hang and run equipment that is there.I think it would work just gonna take everyones ideas and input to make it happen

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by YoungGunz

I do agree that rubber is alot cleaner than dirt, but rubber is much better for shows since we will have to clean up at the end, but you cant really do "work" with the rubber. I feel dirt would be in our best interest, true, it makes a mess but we could actually work towards making roads, bridges, or whatever we want, because it has that packing ability. And since this would be a long term thing we wouldnt have to worry about cleaning up the dirt.



The space would be perfect, we wouldnt have nearly as many people each time and people would bring what they need, not all of their projects. Using the back wall as a "workshop/workbench" area would be plenty. Eventually we would make more than one level for the trucks increasing actual play area. I feel like at this show the space was used up so quickly, because first off, we didn't have a real game plan, so things were spread far apart to begin with, then we had tables set up all around which would be useable space in a club house.



I think $10-$20 would be unfair for paying members. Let me throw some numbers out there and see what you guys think. If a club member was paying $100 a month to be a member of the club they would pay out $1200 a year. Now if they made it to the club house one weekend of every month, they would be technically paying $50 a day to play. (this is most likely not true for most guys, since once a month isn't always feasible. Most likely some would be paying over $100 a day to play.) Personally I think it should be more expensive for non-members to play, that way we avoid guys coming and playing more than club members and still benefiting more since they don't have to pay dues. Also non-members wouldn't have to worry about buying the dirt, the club members would worry about that and that would be on top of the club dues. I think the whole idea behind a club is to have benefits that not everyone else has. I don't want people to think that i don't want them their if they aren't in the club, but it needs to be fair for everyone.

Hey J.D. I think you miss understood my comment earlier. I meant for the non members to have to pay to use the facility and I was just using myself as an example. If you are a club member paying dues there should be no extra fees to you other than a monthly due.

Also the fees from non members that pay to use the facility from time to time would be used towards paying bill such as added dirt, any extra unexpected bills or any upgrades that could be made to the area.

If a member is paying even $50 a month to use the facility and we had several members all extra income over the year could go into a club fund to help pay for things for large yearly events too that may produce more revenue for the facility as well.

Just what I was thinking, hope thats a little clearer?

Tyler

[mazdaparts]

Just for giggles has anyone grabbed a map or google mapped everyones location to see where the most centrally located spot is? Or if not everyone, just the ones committed to paying dues and such. When that spot is found you could find the nearest member's town and find a spot there.

And continuing with the discussion at hand. I think the members should definitely have more perks than the day users. Such as assigned spots/table with a set of lockers to keep the toys in and secure. I don't have any yet, but I wouldn't want my expensive toys setting on shelves for anyone to touch/mess with. I also wouldn't want to hold any one person responsible for its security.

[Radio Control Trucker]

I’ve been following the conversation from the beginning and I think this is a great idea. Unfortunately I live in California and just dream of a clubhouse for those of us on this side of the country.

If you have a set membership fee for members and a surcharge for non-members to visit, you should be able to generate enough funds to maintain your building and host multiple events throughout the year. You may even find that it’s profitable to purchase several trucks and trailers just for non-member use. If they get damaged, you could easily repair them and no one gets angry about their personal property getting wrecked; and you may even think about taking out insurance on every truck, this would be considered ‘personal property insurance’ with ‘replacement-value’ coverage.

Just a thought

- RCT

[Supermario]

RCT makes a good point about non member truck and trailers ...I was at my vtery first truck meet last June , couple grand invested and loving to drive my rig around , then a young boy came up to me and asked if he could drive it sorry but I had to say no. Fortunately the creator of our club up here ( Civic83 ) was prepared for such a thing and allowed to let kids drive his truck if the parents were present and assist the kid if need be.
The idea of providing a few non member trucks would be a great way to generate income! I can just see the line of kids wanting to drive a truck.
Rent the trucks out by the hour. 10 bucks an hour , explain the rules of the road and proper conduct, etc. lets say 5 rigs = $50 / hr for every hour open

I'm a middle aged man and I grew up on spending money at the local arcade playing video games and believe me, I spent a lot more than 10 or 15 bucks in a night and for a kid nowadays to get away from the TV and get to drive an actual RC truck and be a part of a group is a win win situation.
We all want a clubhouse, but if you also want to expand or grow the hobby then the future as always, is in the kids. Kids like Liam a clubhouse is guaranteed to create a whole bunch of Liam's

Mario

[Radio Control Trucker]

Not only that Mario, but the kids would then have access to the members who have the experience and knowledge to help them with the purchase of their first trucks, as well as help them to build and modify the trucks and trailers to their hearts delight.

If only we could have had mentors with equipment like this when I was a kid. Man, all I had was static models and the old atari video games (when my parents could afford them).

- RCT

[woodhog]

I agree with all that has been said.Last year at motor trends national auto show Rob (rcfarmer) had a bruder truck with a simple conversion to make it slow for kids to drive and they were lined up waiting to drive it .The equipment might be another story,but it operates the same as 1:1 and gives youth a chance to learn they indeed are our future.Liam plays with his truck every night and improves all the time his driving skills show it

[DieselKid]

I'm down for Fort Wayne!!! Hop, skip, and a jump for us.....of course I realize that's a different story for some.

-Alex

[pigeonfarmboy]

Location is obviously going to be the biggest obstacle we face. A list of committed members would be a great thing. A list of people who are willing to dedicate the needed time to keep up with this monster is probably a better idea. I can attest from experience, the person put in charge of handling this location is going to have to be very flexible with personal time. No offense, this is something most of the guys here can't offer due to family and time obligations.

I have an issue with the clubhouse being located somewhere none of us live. (I don't think anybody lives in Ft. Wayne correct?) Fort Wayne also adds a ton of distance for some of our most dedicated & potential members from down South. Security would be non-existant. Even if we had wifi cams setup, you guys know how long cops take to respond when we phone in "our toys are being stolen" right??

Not only that, I can't speak for you guys, but I want a super-dedicated person to act as "president" assigned to that location that lives nearby. Ed for example at the St. Louis location would likely need to be in charge of treasurer duties handling rent/utility payments through the club. I think I'd be the next closest so I'd be putting alot of time & money helping Ed and making sure the site would be well fitted for growth & playtime.

Not to downplay any of your ideas about kids and the future but that's something we don't even need to be thinking about at this time. Getting this thing off the ground is going to take priority over anything like that. Like I said, it's good to have ideas but we're really far off from that point at this time. (Kids can't ride Space Mountain if Disneyland doesn't exist.)

JD hit the nail on the head with his statement about non-member rates. What's the point of becoming a member if you can just pay whenever you want at a much cheaper cost? The whole point of the dues of this club will be to invest in a permanent facility. Indy is fun don't get me wrong, but tearing down every time sucks. It's going to be more expensive for the first batch of members but that's an unfortunate fact we must get past. We're essentially taking on a risk and there's a chance this won't be able to flourish. That's why fellow enthusiasts are needed to commit to the cause. It won't always be this way, but at this time we need to approach planning a different way than the clubhouse being an operational entity.

The scariest part of all this to me is the lack of participation in this thread by people I would think of as very interested parties. I'm no nazi when it comes to people keeping their lives glued to the computer screen but there's some that haven't said a peep that we want to hear their opinions too.

[dabears]

Very well stated Nate! I would be intersted in being a commited member.

As any club Bike, car, boat etc, if there were to be a physical building there would need to be a board. Pres, vice, money man, etc.... or a group of people responsible in determining changes, upgrades rules, then being voted on by paying members... Maybe im thinking too far ahead, but Its a lot of responsability to be in charge of everything at the place like i feel Ed may become and that could become overwhelming after awhile when your in charge of colecting money, paying rent, elec, water, alarm, having to watch the place, see who is bringing who, what is leaving with who etc.... What is his opinion on it? Im all for it even though without somekind of carpool i would never be able to make it once a month or prob even every other month. Open houses are nice yes but to me you might as well stick a sign out front saying "big $$$ toys for free inside" A club house should be that a CLUB house for club members and close friends or guests only. Just my .02

[Radio Control Trucker]

Like I’ve stated before, I’m in California, so what I suggest is just my opinions. The idea of having a clubhouse just for the members, family and friends is excellent. It would also be good to have a location to have events for non-members to have a chance to use the r/c equipment and learn about the options available.

The club should have a form of government and the paying members should have ‘voting rights’. Decisions would have to be made regarding the use of space, money, and time.

Are you going to have more space regulated to road use or quarry use? What buildings are you going to allow into the lay-out? Is the lay-out going to be indoors, and available during the winter/summer months with temperature control, i.e. heating/air-conditioning? How much security do you think you’ll need? Will a set of security cameras be enough? Will you need a full security system? Or do you want a security guard service? Do you want to insure your replicas individually or will the entire complex be covered by insurance in case of any damage to replica’s on site? Will you have a refrigerator on site or will you have vending machines for soda and chips? Will you have mandatory meetings for the members, i.e. 6 month meeting or annual meeting? If it’s every 6 months or annually, it could be a bar-b-que for the entire family of all members and a chance to bring all the members together to have events with their trucks (tractor pulls, precision backing, and truck show).

These are just a few of the questions that you should want to have answered before you invest a lot in this project. It is a project that many of us want to see happen, but is it feasible?

I hope that you get the clubhouse started. Please accept my input as positive instructive criticism. The information/questions are just to provoke thought.

- RCT

[Radio Control Trucker]

I like the idea of a clubhouse for fellow members with a passion for the r/c trucks and tractors that we have. If it could become a reality for the East Coast Mini-Truckers Club and the Central Plains Mini-Truckers, then it may become a reality for those of us in the western states. We still have a ways to go before we can talk about a clubhouse on our end of the country, but it would be a start.

My ideas and questions weren’t meant to stop the process. It was my way of expressing inspiration for creativity.

Please don’t let the project die. If the other members could evaluate the information and find a centralized location that would be beneficial for all, the project could become a reality in relatively little time. It could have some costly start-up fee’s that could be off-set by several members acting together. Another thought is sponsorship, such as modeling companies like Tamiya & Wedico, as well as the local hobby shops and even paint suppliers, and maybe even private individuals.

In the long-run, non-member participation could be the monetary infusion that could be what funds future events as well as club expansion. It is always a good idea to keep your options open when first starting a project such as this.

Even if the membership count isn’t what you’d hope for. Any number to start with would be good, and then as the club advances, membership would increase with time. In the prospective future, we could have an events building for our hobby that would be similar to the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany.

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

As I’ve stated, this project shouldn’t die. Work with the other interested members to make this a reality. It would be a wonderful addition to the world… for us and the public at large. The masses are still unaware of the large r/c trucks and we can bring our passion to them. Let our voice be heard.

- RCT

[Lil Giants]

I'd be in for St Louis.. annually & perhaps occassionally semi-annually.

Catch a plane out of Great Falls, Mt (4hr drive), pack one model such as a loader or dump trk in a suitcase. It'd be good times!

[Izzy]

Hmmmm ...... location location location - sounds liek one in the east, one near the plains and one more central ......

I really do think a clubhouse has to be blose to a fair number of core people. 6Hr is pretty good. St louis was 8 for me. it jsut meant that I had to bug off some time at work so I could car pool tje second half of the way there. Friends are priceless - they add a lot to this hobby.

The hardest part about this is finding someplace that is affordable. most of us don't have much land. And those that do might not have a building. If they have both are they realy willing to dedicate it for the enjoyment of others who might not show up very often?

But a space that is neutral (not owned by a member) presents itself nicely. But will it be too small eventually? ( I guess if it were outgrown then we would upgrade). Security is key for those who want to leave toys behind - those close enough to visit often...

I like th idea of tossing a cot and lighting the BBQ for dinner. if need be several can rent a room and take turns going to get a shower. I think we all know what kind of hours we can invest in just running around in circles.

Dirt vs Rubber - why not both? The rubber isn't that clean anyway. we just have seperate uses and seperate areas. Treat the rubber like it's coal - they truck it all over but they don't intend to make roads out of it. There are a fir number of our models that just don't do well in dirt.

Roads - they will develop. first in dirt, then packed and smoothed etc.

I can see us easily out growing the place by Ed's quickly.

[Izzy]

Page 2

Kinda funny isn't it - that were looking for a building, when actually we really don't need a floor in it? LOL


Hey spudd - you say you have a building? perhaps we should all start planning a spring invasion on your place. If we plan now most of could get time off. WE come play even of your not there

[Dairyland Trucker]

In any of the hobby organizations I have been involved in there has always been the issue of a permanent location for a group to get together and enjoy want they love. The one major issue we had in our train club was even with committed members we had issues with some having reasons why they couldn't pay one months or more after they had committed, or couldn't donate any of their time to do something with the layout for the club. I personally would have no problem committing to a clubhouse type of situation and giving my time to something like this. We would however have to have atleast a 5 member board of directors to handle details to go further with this idea and then keep all the other members in the loop as to what has been found and what the club is looking at doing.

This is a great idea and I think it would have to be atleast 5000 to 8000 square feet to make it worth while and that way we wouldn't be looking for a bigger place right away. Also when looking for a place we can look at something that has either an area in the back front or side were guys can use their dirt equipment outdoors weather permitting. A space with a wall partition could also seperate the dirt from the clean for some of us who are into our show trucks, and there could be door between so we could go from side to side like driving from one town to the next. This is just my .02 cents on this topic.

[Supermario]

Many have discussed the size the clubhouse would have to be and of course the bigger the better but also bigger means more cost. I might be dreaming but the perfect clubhouse would be a place which has both a indoor and outdoor setup. The main focus and larger events held outside during the spring , summer and fall seasons and then a modest indoor layout for a few winter off season events and somewhere for us winter bound people to keep on truckin

Not trying to put the carriage in front of the horse, the first step is location but it is good to look forward and at all possibilities or potential. Just like what I said about renting trucks to non members and admission charges....that stuff is way down the road. First the club has to run as a self sustained members driven group. As it grows and gains stability, then there's the potential of other revenue and expansion.
In terms of security, I'm still dreaming maybe but, how about a fire resistant Sea container inside the building all locked up with the rigs inside. Even if someone got in the building, they would still have to contend with the Sea can and of course a security alarm would help.

Mario

[Lil Giants]

Something I was thinking about.. the building across from Ed's shop was $1800/month, that's over $20 grand a yr in throw away money! Even with 5 core guys dedicated to it, that's over $4grand before utilities on top of that. And some of those guys are going to be travelling a few hrs to get there each time.. another $100+ in fuel each trip.

One could build a fashionable 20x30 pole building on his own property for less than $10 grand and have buddys over a couple times a yr. Several could build their layouts and you guys could travel around to visit each one throughout the yr. A bunch of of little satelite clubhouses! Maybe even score group deals on building materials.

Atleast you'll retain some equity in your hobby investment & have an all weather playground in your backyard to access whenever you wanted. And ten guys wouldn't be too crowded on a 1.5 day wkend get together.

[Radio Control Trucker]

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

Something I was thinking about.. the building across from Ed's shop was $1800/month, that's over $20 grand a yr in throw away money! Even with 5 core guys dedicated to it, that's over $4grand before utilities on top of that. And some of those guys are going to be travelling a few hrs to get there each time.. another $100+ in fuel each trip.

One could build a fashionable 20x30 pole building on his own property for less than $10 grand and have buddys over a couple times a yr. Several could build their layouts and you guys could travel around to visit each one throughout the yr. A bunch of of little satelite clubhouses! Maybe even score group deals on building materials.

Atleast you'll retain some equity in your hobby investment & have an all weather playground in your backyard to access whenever you wanted. And ten guys wouldn't be too crowded on a 1.5 day wkend get together.

I agree with you, Joe. A multitude of satellite sites would be fuel efficient and allow for small get-togethers of ten or twelve people. A backyard bar-b-que just makes the weekend that much more enjoyable.

The only suggestion that I’d make is that instead of installing a 20x30 pole building, you should construct at least a 30x60 building to use as the clubhouse. I live on a half-acre in California and know that I could easily install a 30x60 building in my backyard (if I only had the money to invest into it).

I like the idea. Good thought Joe

- RCT