Are Zones Too Big?

[JRoberts]

By too big I am talking about physical size and distance, not people. I think about this when I look at the distance to Zone Meets within my zone -- the Southeast Zone. From my front door to Nashville is a 9 hour drive without stopping, which of course is not possible for me at any rate. To next year's Zone Meet in Mobile the drive will be 10 hours without stopping. The distances can be much further as the Southeast Zone goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from the southern Virginia border to Key West. That is a lot of territory. Frankly, most Zone Meets are almost as far, if not farther, away as many International Meets.

I wonder how many other folks are in this same boat. Has the SDC ever given some thought about making SDC zones physically smaller? I have always been under the impression the purpose of Zone Meets was to have smaller meets to prepare folks for the International Meet experience. The way things are now our zone meets may not be a week long, but the still require a couple of days on the road two and from the zone meets plus the two or three nights at the zone meet itself. For me, and I assume others as well, attending most zone meets and the International Meet in the same year is out of the question.

If this has not been considered by powers to be I certainly wish they would take a look at this situations. I am sure that this is not a problem just in the Southeast Zone.

[sals54]

Hey Joe, I'll jump into this fire with you. I agree wholeheartedly. I can't go to most of the Zone Meets due to the distance. I work 6 days a week and Sundays are busy with church and family.

[Bob Andrews]

I've never been to a zone meet; don't even know what my zone is. I don't get to attend as many Studebaker meets as I'd like already. I shoot for York and Reedsville, both five hours away. They're hard enough with everything else in life, family, racing, work, other interests, other car clubs. It's hard for me to even get away for IMs. I don't see how I could fit in a zone meet a couple hours away, let alone nine or 10 hours!

That said, how would you make smaller zones? Doesn't each zone require people to staff positions and manage it? It seems awfully hard to find enough people that can and want to take on management positions as it is.

If you went with smaller zones, who would run them?

[JRoberts]

I've never been to a zone meet; don't even know what my zone is. I don't get to attend as many Studebaker meets as I'd like already. I shoot for York and Reedsville, both five hours away. They're hard enough with everything else in life, family, racing, work, other interests, other car clubs. It's hard for me to even get away for IMs. I don't see how I could fit in a zone meet a couple hours away, let alone nine or 10 hours!

That said, how would you make smaller zones? Doesn't each zone require people to staff positions and manage it? It seems awfully hard to find enough people that can and want to take on management positions as it is.

If you went with smaller zones, who would run them?

I believe that each zone has a Zone Director, Zone Coordinator and there are regional managers for each region/state in the zone. There would be no need for addtional regional managers, only Zone Directors and Coordinators.

[JoeHall]

I've never been to a zone meet; don't even know what my zone is. I don't get to attend as many Studebaker meets as I'd like already. I shoot for York and Reedsville, both five hours away. They're hard enough with everything else in life, family, racing, work, other interests, other car clubs. It's hard for me to even get away for IMs. I don't see how I could fit in a zone meet a couple hours away, let alone nine or 10 hours!

That said, how would you make smaller zones? Doesn't each zone require people to staff positions and manage it? It seems awfully hard to find enough people that can and want to take on management positions as it is.

If you went with smaller zones, who would run them?

Hi Bob,
You are really in luck ! The SDC opened a new chapter in Syracuse recently. Did you not read all about it in last month's Turning Wheels? Peter H., over in Rochester wrote the article. I am surprised you are not a founding member of the Syracuse chapter
Joe H

[Bob Andrews]

Hi Bob,
You are really in luck ! The SDC opened a new chapter in Syracuse recently. Did you not read all about it in last month's Turning Wheels? Peter H., over in Rochester wrote the article. I am surprised you are not a founding member of the Syracuse chapter
Joe H

[Skip Lackie]

I will attempt to answer part of the original question, which was: has the board ever considered this matter? The answer is yes, though not recently. The zone boundaries were revised about 20 years ago, but I don't believe that there has been any discussion of the matter since then. The zone sizes and boundaries are inextricably bound up with the size of the board. The SDC charter allows a board of directors of as many as 25 people, but the board has resisted increasing the size of the body beyond the current 15 (9 North American Zone, 1 Intl Zone, 4 officers, and 1 past president) as being unnecessary without membership growth. The current nine-zone system was developed in response to the rapid growth that SDC experienced in the 1970s and early 80s.

The criteria for zones are not specified in the bylaws, but are understood to be: (1) contiguous states and provinces, (2) approximately equal in member population, and (3) follow state/provincial boundaries wherever possible. International Meets are supposed to be held around the continent to allow members to attend one every few years without having to drive too far, with Zone Meets providing closer alternatives in most years. But there's no intent that anyone in a given zone should be able to attend a truly "local" Zone Meet every year -- that's why there are also chapter and multi-chapter meets.

I certainly understand why people would want to attend as many of these meets as possible, but unless some means could be found to address the zone size - board size connection, I think it's unlikely that the zones will be reduced in size. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason why a given zone couldn't schedule several zone meets each year -- the problem (as always) is finding enough chapters and worker bees to pull it off. The national club plays almost no role in scheduling zone meets, so the Southeast Zone could probably do almost whatever it wants.

[jclary]

I will attempt to answer part of the original question, which was: has the board ever considered this matter? The answer is yes, though not recently. The zone boundaries were revised about 20 years ago, but I don't believe that there has been any discussion of the matter since then. The zone sizes and boundaries are inextricably bound up with the size of the board. The SDC charter allows a board of directors of as many as 25 people, but the board has resisted increasing the size of the body beyond the current 15 (9 North American Zone, 1 Intl Zone, 4 officers, and 1 past president) as being unnecessary without membership growth. The current nine-zone system was developed in response to the rapid growth that SDC experienced in the 1970s and early 80s.

The criteria for zones are not specified in the bylaws, but are understood to be: (1) contiguous states and provinces, (2) approximately equal in member population, and (3) follow state/provincial boundaries wherever possible. International Meets are supposed to be held around the continent to allow members to attend one every few years without having to drive too far, with Zone Meets providing closer alternatives in most years. But there's no intent that anyone in a given zone should be able to attend a truly "local" Zone Meet every year -- that's why there are also chapter and multi-chapter meets.

I certainly understand why people would want to attend as many of these meets as possible, but unless some means could be found to address the zone size - board size connection, I think it's unlikely that the zones will be reduced in size. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason why a given zone couldn't schedule several zone meets each year -- the problem (as always) is finding enough chapters and worker bees to pull it off. The national club plays almost no role in scheduling zone meets, so the Southeast Zone could probably do almost whatever it wants.

Most important two words for any club activities. Also, I find that events must be convenient to the "reach" of those worker bees. If the worker bees have to expend all their energy "getting there," the event planning suffers. I learned, early on, that event planning is not one of my talents. Therefore, I try to respect those who do, and support their efforts. I've seen folks come to events and complain about registration fees, room rates, show classes, etc. As if all the gatherings happen by magic, and everything should be free??? The best way to gain a proper perspective, is to jump in and help out.

I have cut back on my participation in meets, and distance traveled. My age, family obligations, energy, and priorities have evolved. When I do attend an event, I try to make sure to have enough "FUN" in my "Fun Tank," to see me through the event and back home.

[8E45E]

I can't go to most of the Zone Meets due to the distance.

Zone meets are supposed to be rotational within the zone. But, if one lives close to the border of an adjacent zone, there is no rule stating he or she cannot attend a meet which is not in their zone. I have attended several in the Pacific Can-Am Zone where I reside, and also a few in the North Central Zone which is close to me. (The term 'close' = 1-day drive to the meet)

Craig

[studegary]

I will attempt to answer part of the original question, which was: has the board ever considered this matter? The answer is yes, though not recently. The zone boundaries were revised about 20 years ago, but I don't believe that there has been any discussion of the matter since then. The zone sizes and boundaries are inextricably bound up with the size of the board. The SDC charter allows a board of directors of as many as 25 people, but the board has resisted increasing the size of the body beyond the current 15 (9 North American Zone, 1 Intl Zone, 4 officers, and 1 past president) as being unnecessary without membership growth. The current nine-zone system was developed in response to the rapid growth that SDC experienced in the 1970s and early 80s.

The criteria for zones are not specified in the bylaws, but are understood to be: (1) contiguous states and provinces, (2) approximately equal in member population, and (3) follow state/provincial boundaries wherever possible. International Meets are supposed to be held around the continent to allow members to attend one every few years without having to drive too far, with Zone Meets providing closer alternatives in most years. But there's no intent that anyone in a given zone should be able to attend a truly "local" Zone Meet every year -- that's why there are also chapter and multi-chapter meets.

I certainly understand why people would want to attend as many of these meets as possible, but unless some means could be found to address the zone size - board size connection, I think it's unlikely that the zones will be reduced in size. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason why a given zone couldn't schedule several zone meets each year -- the problem (as always) is finding enough chapters and worker bees to pull it off. The national club plays almost no role in scheduling zone meets, so the Southeast Zone could probably do almost whatever it wants.

As usual, I agree with most of what Skip says.

When I was on the SDC Board, I made extensive studies on Zone alignments, etc. After a lot of time and effort, I was completely shot down by those on the Board of the mind set: "If it ain't broke,don't fix it." (I don't know how many times that I heard this when I was on the Board.). I always replied that there is another saying: "There is always room for improvement."

Even at thiat time, SDC was FAR from "...approximately equal in member population..." That was one of my drivers. California, alone, had more SDC members than any other Zone. I attempted to gain more of a balance.

I also tried re-naming Zones. I was successful in changing Northeast Atlantic to Northeast. When I tried to change Southwest Pacific to Southwest you would have thought that I was trying to start a revolution. My thinking was that each of these Zones had states that do not border Atlantic/Pacific.

Time flies, Skip. That major Zone realignment was in 1976.

[8E45E]

That major Zone realignment was in 1976.

There was also a very brief zone started in 1984 what was the Midwest Canadian Zone which comprised of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and I believe the western part of Ontario (Kenora area). I do know Gene Searcy in Saskatoon was behind this move. After a few years, the boundaries reverted back to where it was previously and the new zone was disbanded.

Craig

[Skip Lackie]

Time flies, Skip. That major Zone realignment was in 1976.

Whoops! Seems like only yesterday . . . .

That said, I was thinking about the creation and later undoing of the one that Craig described above. My recollection is that the issue was less about the international border and more about the fact that Ontarions (is that a word?) who resided west of Lake Superior had more in common with (and were closer to) the members in Saskatchewan and Manitoba than they were to those in the much more populous eastern part of Ontario. Anyway, that was the justification.

[studegary]

There was also a very brief zone started in 1984 what was the Midwest Canadian Zone which comprised of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and I believe the western part of Ontario (Kenora area). I do know Gene Searcy in Saskatoon was behind this move. After a few years, the boundaries reverted back to where it was previously and the new zone was disbanded.

Craig

There weren't separate Directors, but the Canadian Zone was broken into East and West portions with their own Zone Coordinators. Gene Searcy was the Canadian Zone West ZC from 1983 to 1984 (Wrexford Nix from 1984 to 1987.

[Greenstude]

Sometimes geography is the problem. The Atlantic Canada Chapter SDC has as its charter area the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The only logical zone for us to be in is the Northeast Zone. Our member in Stickey NB is more than 800 km (500 miles) west of our members in Sydney NS and Birch Grove NS. Our member in St. John's NL is 900 km (550 miles) plus a 5 to 6 hour ferry trip further east. We have a total of 61 members, of whom 10 live outside our charter area, and 7 of those are outside our zone. The 2015 Northeast Zone meet is being held in Portland, Maine, and we are sincerely grateful that it is being held only 420 km (260 miles) from the nearest member of our Chapter --- it has never been held that far east before. My trip to Portland ME from Moncton NB will be 640 km (400 miles) in each direction.

[JRoberts]

So, because the Board does not want to add more board members many of us find it difficult to attend Zone Meets, or even other events within our own zones. Somehow that just doesn't very good.