It's so pathetic and pisses me off.(The "people" organizing the Club are morons.)
Is it really necessary to take money from members?? What the hell for??
(Can't get companies to sponsor??)pathetic chinese idiots.
They think that they have so "IMPORTANT" **** happening and requires payment, but little
do they know that they are belittled by their arrogant stuck up minds.

Reply to my statement.

Anyhow, A4 Club of Vancouver sucks, and it is run by people with no education except for highschool.
They claim they go to university...yeah right.(fat chance)

I agree.
When they first started, the club was much better. It was like open to the public without needing to pay anything. The club felt like a real club where people could meet others and discuss stuff about their cars with other people in the Vancouver area. Now, they don't include their discussions or plans with people who didn't pay. Those guys decided for EVERYONE that if you don't pay, you won't be included in the club. It's just a bunch of kids who thought a club could help them get cheaper stuff
at shops. But now that they got that discount, they ain't sharing until you give them some money.
Talk about *******s.
But it doesn't really matter, these people are just a arrogant (like you said). It just gives a bad name for people who own Audi's, and who were once a member of the club.
People come up to me and say:"if you really want to pay money to join that club....you must be a loser" I thought about it, and decided...yeah forget about it. Anyways, don't want to be associated with those people.

Why would anyone wanna to pay a fee to become a member of an A4 club?
A4.Org is probably 100000000000% better than that Vancouver club and it's free!
Free information, free classifieds, free discussions, free everything.
I really don't get those people who organized that club in Vancouver.
I feel sorry for those members who had to pay a fee.
Lucky it ain't me, won't wanna be in their shoes!

Hey Hercules,

Reply to your statement huh? Trying to stir things up? Let's hope not.

We brought up the idea of a paid membership a long time ago, and was discussed and fully explained to all of the member who attended our Cantek meeting as well as on our listserve. We also invited questions from all members regarding this issue.

Just to clarify here, since you brought it to A4.org with asking one of us for clarification first. We are not collecting membership fees yet. We're still finalizing the paperwork with registering the club under the non-profit organization act of British Columbia. (just finished out by-laws) We're not here to make money, and by registering the club as a non-profit, the government will make sure of that. We do not collect any money from our <a href="http://vancouver.a4.org/sponsors.shtml">sponsors</a>. They give our club members discounts on their prodects and services, in return for promotion within our club via our listserve and website.

By collecting an annual membership fee which is pro-rated, we hope to promote our club beyond the Internet community by attending local events as a club, printing and mailing of club newsletters for distribution to members as well as at all of our sponsor shops and local Audi dealers. During past planning of club event we have ran into situations where a deposit was required (i.e. track events, driving schools), and were not able to secure the event due to lack of funds.

Our <a href="http://vancouver.a4.org/join.shtml">proposed fee</a> is in line with other local car clubs (check BMW Club of BC if you wish). We even made our proposed fees pro-rated depending on the month you join. More work for us directors, we we though it's fair for all members.

Trust me, if we did not want the club to succeed and grow, we would not bother going through the process of registering the club. In fact, we would not have spent so much of our time and effort organizing the club, getting club sponsorship from companies, putting events together, designing a website to host all of our member's cars, creating a listserve for exchange of ideas between members, and just trying to help A4 drivers enjoy their cars a bit more.

We do not think we're "so important", but we do wish for the club to be known outside of the Internet community. I'm sorry if you feel this way, but we're not forcing anyone to join our club. If you do not feel the benefits the club provide is worth the annual membership fee, then you don't have to join us.

Shall I attach a full copy of our Terms & Conditions?


James Wu
Director
<a href="http://vancouver.a4.org">Vancouver A4 Club</a>
1998 Black/Onyx 1.8tqa

Hey VA4 director (Visual Arts 4 director)
You are B.S. and so is the way you are running the Vancouver A4 club.
Maybe I should start a new A4 club with a less cheesy name.
Nice try at promoting your club...."doubt it's gonna work"
Don't you get it?? You think A4's are in the same league as BMW's, and Mercedes??
NEWS FLASH....A4's are not,A4's are in the same league as Acura Integra sedans.
And, since Integras are very very similar to Civics, "I compare A4's to Civic sedans"

P.S. for $24.00 a year, I could get a years subscription for any magazine.

One word of advice for you mister "4-wheel drive man", get a life and face reality.

And a followup.

The idea of any kind of a "board of Directors" is to help speed up the decision making process. but no, we have not cut anyone out of our discussion groups or clubs. The list had just been pretty dead since a few of our "most active" posters are out of the country, and no one has ever been removed from our club registry on the club website unless they have asked us to. I have posted on the listserve inquiring about number of people interested in a few gatherings, but with no replies. That lead me to conclude either most members are out of town or are not interested. but without any suggestions from club members, it is very difficult for us to know what it is that "you" would like.

And as I mentioned, we do not collect any money from our sponsors to support the club such as A4.org. We have secured these sponsors for the club for everyone's benefit. I have personally only used two of the club's sponsors because I have only done certain cosmetic things on my car, so it would be pretty silly for me as well as Kevin, our hard working sponsorshiop and events director, who has only done graphics on his car by one of our sponsor, and that was before they even became a club sponsor. To say we (the directors) only started a club to get discounts for our own cars really hurts. In any case, I asked all members who wished to volunteer their services as directors after the club was formed, and some of the elder members should remember that.

If any club members have questions, concerns, or suggestions for the club, please do tell us because like I said, We can not know what your thinking without you telling us first. I'm very disheartened that our own club members feel this way. If the majority of our club members feel this way, I will gladly step down and allow someone else to run it. It is just not worth it to try to do something to benefit others, only to be criticized as a "scam artist."

Did I mention I hate politics?


James Wu
1998 Black/Onyx 1.8tqa

I really do not think that this person deserves a follow-up. Just forget about it and move on. If only A4.org could block IP addresses...

Hi,

I just read this thread and it sounds like some people need to work their own things out. It IS questionable to have a membership fee, but it sounds like the "directors" are trying very hard and putting in time to make the club better without much guidance from their members. It seems like people don't want to pay $24 for membership in the club, and they also don't speak up when issues come out. The very first post was pretty inflamatory and the accusations were pretty interesting (some derogatory reference to Chinese people, and a rather interesting comparison of the A4 with Civics.)

I don't know either side, so I'll shut up now. I wouldn't pay the membership fee, but I'd also give constructive feedback to help the club's organizers run an enthusiast's club. Tell them you don't want a membership fee or you don't like the way things are being done before any action is taken. Hell, I'm not part of a club and my car drives just fine. A4.org rules, btw. =)

steve

Have you EVER belonged to a local club of any kind? I belong
to three local clubs (an R/C aircraft club, an autocross club and
a computer club - nerdy I know). All of these clubs charge yearly
membership fees. You can't compare an Internet community like
A4.org (which is THE best source for A4 info) with a local club.
Local clubs hold events, races, dinners and so on which all cost
money to put on. Club fees help to offset these (partially).

Do you autocross? Do you pay a fee each day, or do you have to
pay a membership fee plus the race day fee? At our local autocross
club, fees help to pay for equipment such as cones and timing gear.
We pay $50.00 CDN for the membership and $5.00 per autocross
event. For what I get in return, I consider that to be very dirt cheap
(I can race in 12 events for a grand total of $110.00).

Before you start criticizing a club for the fees they are ABOUT to
charge, you should first find out what they are planning to do with
them (or if they will even start charging the fee after all the discussion
with local members is over). To me, if they were able to secure a
race track (not a parking lot for autocross) for one day, that would
be worth the yearly fee alone.

Besides, you can afford an A4 but can't afford $24.00 to join a
local club?