Jeff,
thank you for coming in to the Connection like requested.Your response is appreciated.I feel like Phil and Twinshot BOTH have very valid points that MATVA should take into concideration?As long as we have a moderator to keep things clean and BAN the ones that dont play by the rules,Im not sure if there is any harm that can be done in opening up the Forum to the public?It should bring Michigan riders much closer together.

Bill

 

Potential Members,

Great exchange of ideas that I'm sure will lead to a more open forum that can be moderated. Biggest problem I'm sure in the short run was updating the site(kudos to Jeff)and quite honestly performing damage control for statements that had no basis in fact and have no business damaging the reputation of a fledgling organization. Most of us don't run our business on the net (as clubs like this do) but would probably get pretty frustrated if we had to fight every battle immediately until we hired someone to explain our services correctly. This moderation has to be one of the hardest chores in any organization as what is important and relevant to one person will not always be commented on by the administration nor could/should be. Some comments will be out-right deleted as forums are NOT public soapboxes with constitutional priveleges. In the same sense, members will give their opinionated response that does not necessarily reflect the majority of the members or should be construed as 'well, they're all like that....................'

Tough job that I know some members of this particular club are up to the task of. Thanks to those that understand the concept and are being patient. We NEED people that think about what they say and SPEAK THEIR MIND respectful of others.

John
'00 SP500
run-of-the-mill MATVA member

 

Well I always enjoyed being able to visit and post on the MATVA site.To bad that one or two bad apples have to spoil it, for everyone.
John like the "potential members" opening. I kind of feel like MATVA is a more east side of the state, maybe we need a west michigan chapter. All in all I think they seem like a quality group, that are finally looking out for our rights.


Y2k SCR 400 4x4
01 mag 325 4x4 (hers)
89 kdx200 for sale
86 rm 250 " "
82 xl 80 " "
"happy trails"

 

zykester,

I believe your last sentance sums up my feelings as well. As far as a W. MI. chapter (maybe northern Lower, western and eastern U.P. also) goes, I will post this as a possible topic of discussion at the next meeting. One thing I'm sure will come up is making sure we have enough sustainable members in these areas to actually have 'group' representation and making sure one of us always makes the drive to Detroit(probably not applicable to the U.P.).


Thanks for your comments,

John
'00 SP500

 

After many conversations with MATVA personal,I feel pretty confident that there will be some changes in the MATVA Forum?I cant and wont say what/when,however,it should benifit all?

Sincerly,
Bill

 

Keep up the good work with your web page!

 

Twinshot,
Keep working on your web page. Good pictures so far. One bad link at the Atlanta site. Atlanta10.jpg is a bad link.
Where is the main page picture from?

 

Hey thanks MichiganMapMan. I think the pic on the main page is from Mio. When I first started the web I didn't have any pictures so I got it from somebody else's website. Oh, I fixed the Atlanta10.jpg pic too. Good looking out.

 

Bill and John thanks for going to bat for us. Seems like i need to put my money where my mouth is and become a member of MATVA. Check will be in the mail in the next couple of weeks. I nomiate John(michimaniac)as president of the West Mi. chapter. I would be glad to help out.
John and DoubleBoss where do you ride in the area, Cedar Creek, Long Lake, Little Manistee, Tin Cup?
Twinshot nice site!

 

zykester,

I'm sure I speak for the rest of the club in welcoming your support and working together soon..

As far as speaking for West Michigan riders(LOL); I'd like to see more members to (informally) speak FOR over here and attend a lot more meetings and work days than I've been able to. Honestly, I'm not sure if we deserve a disproportionate amount of attention to this area if we can't at least get a proportionate amount of members! Either way, I appreciate your offer to help.

To answer your question, I've rode most of the Baldwin area trails and White Cloud as far as the areas closest to home. There is a lot of work to do over here on some relatively unpopular systems that I hope local members can someday be a part of. I'm not making it sound very glamorous, but I firmly believe we will have to show the state (through the cooperation of varied clubs) that every single trail in this state is regularly maintained before we even THINK about building a new one. Maybe that's the way it should be; it simply requires sustainable membership throughout our state from members knowing that every little bit counts.

Look forward to meeting you; next meeting is Feb. 2nd in Pontiac.

John
'00 SP500