What would you like to see from this Class/Website?

[bluepearl]

This website has been assembled for the SJ 21 Class and its Membership to help promote discussion and growth within the Class. I'm glad to see that we already have over forty members here. The Executive Committee has been working quite hard recently to develop this new tool and work on the other problems that we our facing. I think that one of the problems our Class has had is the appearance that we aren't doing anything. I promise you that the Executive Committee has been working very hard on a variety of issues behind the scenes. Unfortunately we haven't had a good mechanism for discussing a lot of these issues with the general class membership. We are a small class and we have limited resources. The Executive Committee is all volunteer and is spread out all across the County. We are hoping that with the creation of this new website and forum we will have a better place to discuss issues and keep you all in the loop about what we are working on. But we need your help to make this website into a useful tool to promote our class. We are currently working on an updated boat registry and hope to get a online commerce section going for paying dues and regatta fees. So what are the things that YOU would like to see on this website or from the Class in general? What are the major problems you see in the Class? Lets open this discussion and make things happen!

[JimW]

This site and new forum seem like a great foundation for the future of the class, and I appreciate the efforts of those working behind the scenes.

One thing I see on other class sites that seems to be missing here are a list of benefits of joining the association. What those benefits should be has been discussed before and is a different topic. However, it seems like the current reasons for joining the class (tangible or intangible) should be noted somewhere (unless I've somehow missed them). I am not currently a member (only had our boat for a few months), but I likely will join once the online payment method is enabled. I don't plan to race, don't live near an active fleet, and have yet to meet another SJ21 owner in person, but I assume the association fees are being put to good use to promote our boats.

[cklamp]

I've voiced my thoughts pretty thoroughly on Hubbard's site, and they could easily take up 4-5 pages, so I won't rehash them all... but I think a better return on value for the National Dues is probably the next thing to tackle.

The aforementioned list of where the money goes would be a good start and I would think be pretty easy to do? I'd love to be able to "just know" the national association is putting that 25$ to good use to promote this class and help it grow, but the skeptic in me would like to actually see proof that's happening.

For me personally, I'll probably never make it to a nationals that isn't put on by Fleet 1 (even then it might be a stretch), so I really get nothing out of my 25$. I've got a good 15 or so emails (from different SJ21 owners) in response to some of my previous posts on the Harbor that all have the same "tone" to them. Some of them are from people just like JimW, they're cruisers only, they don't race, and have no interest in racing, so what do they "get" for 25$? In the past i've been slapped down by various people saying you're "supporting the class" and been admonished for asking "how" or "what does the class do with that money?" or for even having the audacity to raise the question.

What do I want for that 25$? I don't know exactly, but SOMETHING would be a good start... the aforementioned list of HOW i'm supporting the class would be nice. A bumper sticker or magnetic sign for my tow vehicle so I could advertise? How about a Burgee (sp?) for my boat? How about new logo's for my boat that might help my boat look nicer and be a conversation starter at bigger regatta's? How about more support at a National Event's, banners, logo's, whatever? How about some ads in local magazines such as 48 degrees to help out local fleets with recruiting?

I'm the webmaster for the Fleet 1 site currently and have been actively pursuing new member's for our fleet, as well as trying to recruit as much "crew" as I can, as well as being active on our own forums with helping hand posts, or helping people sell their items/boats on our website and/or hooking people up with the SJ21 community that I run across that are looking for boats to sail. One of our new member's this year bought an SJ21 on my referral after seeing his post on Craigslist looking for a trailer sailor from a lady who I'd helped post the ad on CL and to our website for.

I've done and currently do a lot for Fleet 1 and this class over the 3 years I've owned Mizu.

Yet, I have been accused by national leadership in the past that I don't do anything for the class but complain. Regardless of the reason, those kinds of "hostile" responses to people trying to improve things have got to stop (and I think they have due to a couple of significant changes over the past year). The majority of people "complain" because something isn't right, not just because they want to be a jerk about things.

If you're in a leadership position, or you care about this class at all It's your (you/your=anyone reading this) Job to put aside the defensiveness, listen to what that user is actually saying, get to the heart of the matter, and fix the issue. It doesn't matter if we're volunteers or not.

If our Volunteer's are overworked and underpaid, maybe we need to shell out a bit of National dues out to help compensate them. Or maybe we just need to get them help. For Fleet 1's website I'm the main guy, but I have also made sure there are backups in case I leave the fleet/class, am away, or just can't take care of things in the speedy manner that Fleet 1 might need.

To be clear, I do think the current National Association has been doing a really good job of making good strides to move this class forward. A really usefull national class website, awesome top notch forums that are expediant and will help facilitate better "chat", and big increases in communication from the national association are fantastic.

Jon and Bob have been awesome in getting these changes in motion, and Kris and Tom are doing an excellent job with the Website and the Forums. Sorry if i'm missing anyone, but these 4 are the ones I hear and know about making the biggest improvements.

I applaud you guys and am willing to help out in any way I can.

Thanks
Christian

[bluepearl]

Thanks for your post Christian, we really do appreciate your comments here and I think you are totally right. For a long time there has been no real purpose for being a Class Member for most of us. As this website evolves I hope that people will get a better idea of what the class does and everyone can take advantage of the tools we have here. But in the long run this probably isn't enough. We aren't a rich class but there are some funds available. I think we would be open to some ideas on more tangible ways to benefit everyone in the class.

[Ben G]

As a SJ21 newbie, one request/suggestion is...

Have a minimalist (please, not a half-page biography) signature when you post that includes your city/state, your boat's year and mark (MK-I, Mk-II, Mk-3), [and perhaps racer/cruiser/both]. Many times, just knowing whether east coast or west coast is a help. Also, when searching old posts on repairs/rigging/etc, it is not always evident whether the information applies across-the-board or to a specific mark. This can be a hurdle for the uninitiated, whereas a quicker learning curve may help generate new interest in the fleet. As we go forward, Signatures, Please! (...uhm, I guess I should go take care of mine.)

[cklamp]

Ben, great idea... I don't know if it's anything the class can enforce though, as i'm not sure if there's a setting on the Signup form that can lead a user through creating a sig like that. I do think though that you'll see something like that from most of us that are more active on these forums which should help out newcomers quite a bit.

later
C

[solvacc]

I would like to see more networking opportunity, a way to connect to other members, especially those that are located in areas where no local fleet exists. This works for cruisers especially. The more powerful.we make this site the more value we add to the class. Anuway I can help, just let me know. Thx.

Charlie

[solvacc]

One more thing. I would like to see th membership in a google map format so that we can figure out what sailors are near. This is useful for new members to find a support network.

[TomD]

I would like to see more networking opportunity, a way to connect to other members, especially those that are located in areas where no local fleet exists. This works for cruisers especially. The more powerful.we make this site the more value we add to the class. Anuway I can help, just let me know. Thx.

Charlie

One more thing. I would like to see th membership in a google map format so that we can figure out what sailors are near. This is useful for new members to find a support network.

Those are great ideas Charlie. What we have done with the site is implement existing technologies rather than write our own. I will look around to see if a phpBB (forum software) module like that exists.

[Krysia Ry]

I have been contacting everyone I find on the web selling Sj 21's or parting them out and letting them know about this site. I have been trying to get them to post their boats/gear on this site. I think a reason this is not happening is that they have to log in. If we can get the FOR SALE section of this site to be log in free we might get more people posting. Also, if anyone knows of a boat in their area for sale or parting out, please try to get the HUll number. We will be able to add this info to the registry to track how many boats are left in the fleet.
Thanks
Bill