Driffeild

We'll be up for it!

We're in :)

7/8 June -

Not sure, but I believe I heard a whisper that our friend from the eastern shires won't be attending

I'm not doing Eastnor this year, though GLASS are. Its a fair old trek over for us.

-- "For those who are missing Blair - aim more carefully."

To reply direct rot13 me

bURRt the 101 Camper

200TDi Disco with no floor - its being fixed at last! 200 TDi Disco, "the offroader" 1976 S3 Lightweight

Is the LDV in original condition, though? ;-)

We're not doing Eastnor - my last experience there somewhat put me orf in a [greater value than] big way - especially the political backstabbing afterwards. Tis a shame as the venue is smashing, which has kind of got Charlotte and I thinking that we can still go and enjoy Eastnor - and Billing for that matter, at times when there aren't any shows and probably have a far better time.

If you ever go to Billing, let me know and ill pop over and have a glass with you.

:)

The plan is to try and find a weekend when they haven't got any shows planned (they do quite a lot of different stuph there over the summer) and meet some friends who're coming up from Southend. Billing is (sort of) equidistant for us both. Always room for more around the bar - erm, table, BBQ - whatever ;-)

On or around Thu, 15 May 2008 09:06:31 +0100, .mother enlightened us thusly:

Nope. 's got different wheels (16" instead of 14") and shortly will have ProComp ES3000 dampers :-)

The bigger wheels improve the ride and the procomps are cheaper than the LDV originals and better quality to boot. They also have the advantage of not being shagged.

It's a pity. Shame Malvern show died the death, that had a lot of potential to be a good event. Gwan, come to the show and stick 2 fingers up at the buggers, if you don't go 'cos of the morons, you let them win. Just looked, there's no way I'm going to get the 110 legal by the 7th June, got way too much to do, and people whingeing about how long they've been waiting for things for which I very carefully gave no delivery date :-) That is NOT the way to motivate me...

Personally, my repsonse to rivet-counters and their ilk is along the lines of "go forth and count yer rivets, then". There's a lot more stuff to do than faff about like that, and petty politics unfortunately is everywhere. There some likelihood that I'll end up being chairman[2] of the harchery club this year... mind, this will afford some opportunities for putting a certain person[1] in their place, so tis not all bad.

I still reckon the unofficial club had a lot going for it as an idea. It'd be nice to have a multi-landy club with no rules and no rivet-counters. Sort of an RL AFL, so to speak. Provided it has a sufficient "official" presence to get shows to afford it "club" status (how does that work, anyway?)

[1] one of those types who attends meetings, has much to say but to little purpose and refuses to actually do anything, on the slim excuse that she's "done her bit in the past". ISTR she was secretary for a year or three, but that was some time ago. Others did their bit and continue to do so... Unfortunately every club seems to have such people, who also tend to delight in sniping behind others' backs. [2] on the grounds that I can't really criticise the current regime too much unless I'm prepared to have a go meself... might be a laugh, I've never been a chairman before.

"It'd be nice to have a multi-landy club with no rules and no rivet-counters"

5 years in ... and mud-club is proving that it can work [1], but there are issues [2]. There is no way you can have *no* rules unless it's a very very small club of mates, and those mates never ever disagree. [1] 99% of the time. [2] Desctructive influences (polite version)

yes - hello usenet :)

oops, there's yer first rule - see how easy it is?

good question - perhaps some kind soul, that still has humanity despite having been through the club/committee/rules mill, will come along with an idiot's how-to.

Do you mean you don't know how to form a club, or that you don't know how to get people to recognise it after it has formed and wants to do stuff?

On or around Thu, 15 May 2008 19:05:52 +0100, "William Black" enlightened us thusly:

How to get the shows to recognise it and whether there's any advantage in so doing.

"Austin Shackles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

My experience, in a slightly different field, is that you get recognised when you buy tickets in bulk for a discount.

What the level of purchase is varies depending on the event, but usually it's somewhere around sixty.

Some organisations have a formal affiliation system (you have to write in to find out about it) but it works out about the same.

If you buy enough tickets you get your name in the programme and allocated somewhere to camp together that's actually on the map at the entrance and the possibility of a stall to sell yourself to new members at a discounted price.

If you're reasonably glib you can get most of the benefits without actually selling the tickets, once...

In my experience, landie shows _want_ clubs there more than clubs want to be there. You say "we're a club" they then bung you some tickets.

I like to think that if you're given tickets for a show, you should both turn up, and display something that may be of vague interest. The obvious downside is that you are a bit tied to your stand / display, however in reality, so long as there's a couple of folk around, more for security than anything else, it'll usually be fine.

For the shows I've organised in the past, I've tried to make it 'interesting and welcoming', for various values of interesting and welcoming! :-)

Yep. I wrote, which I'll dig out tomorrow, a bit about the organic development of a 'club'. My reckoning is that the biggest challenge is nothing to do with the club or special interest - but how to manage the growth and avoid the personality and petty political disputes. Tis them that kill clubs, quicker and dirtier than anything else.

Too much 'member participation' is as bad as too little.

Oh how things have changed since the early days of Nominet ;-)

It was the cleanest and best orgainsed that I can recall for some years.

It's not about winning or loss really, more about my own (selfish I guess) sense of overall enjoyment - which will be clouded by memories and also bumping into some folk who I just don't trust - or like very much. I don't do 'polite' for the sake of it if I don't mean it, believing it's best to be direct, sometimes blunt - which can often be misinterpreted as being hostile.

I also don't like 'shows' per se as much as I did, seen too many landies to last a lifetime. I'm far more interested in the social side and getting to meet old and new chums and yes, p'raps talk bollocks about landies a little, but not to the point where I take any of it too seriously :-)

On or around Thu, 15 May 2008 23:31:22 +0100, .mother enlightened us thusly:

That's what I go for as well, and I get few opportunities, one way and another. We've had a few good times sitting around with your field cinema and a few beers and a barbie.

OK, so forget the official "shows", I suspect they're about to self-destruct anyway as they've got too many and each is losing moolah 'cos there are only so many show-goers.

Back to what I mentioned earlier - an Unofficial somewhere not a million miles from this end of the country, later in the summer, back end of August maybe, now there's no Malvern show.

I reckon I might swing camping at BiL Tim's place, but I don't think he wants to host off-roading. Any good pay-an-plays in the hereford/worcester area? I'm sure we can find other stuff to keep us occupied apart from that.

I find myself more and more surprised about how much I can talk about

101s when at a show, but for us a major reason for attending them is a weekend away from the usual grind, meeting with old friends, making new ones and giving the monsters a chance to hurtle around and have some independence away from the young scrotes at home.

Lizzy