ROAR Elections for President coming soon
10-08-2010, 07:02 PM
#153
Hello Everyone,
Well I am sorry that I have not posted sooner.
Let me start by telling you about myself. I grew up in the Restaurant business. I use to work for Howard Johnsons/Ground Round for 16 years when I lived in New York and Vermont. I moved to Florida in 1993. My wife and I own a Fast Food type restaurant in a food court in a mall in Port Charlotte, Florida. Even in these trying times we are successful. In 2001 I was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider. Since then I have had many operations on my legs. I cannot stand for long periods of time so I now am a food salesman for Performance Foodservice. My wife still runs the restaurant. This is how I got started in RC Racing. I have always been a Nascar fan. Bill Elliot was my favorite for many years. A friend of mine took me to one of his RC races while I was recovering from the spider bite. I was hooked. This is how I got started in this great hobby I have.
Now that you know how I got started in this hobby let me tell you what I have done so far. I have been involved in putting on races since 2002 when I was elected President of the Charlotte RC Racers. I own a track in Punta Gorda and we run a race program once a month. I am a member of the Red Cup Racing crew that runs races at the Fort Myers Lee Civic Center. I have had the privilege of announcing the Florida Winternats for the last 3 years. I am the current FORGASS Secretary/Treasurer on my 5th term. I am the current Region 4 Director. Races I have attended: The Florida Winternats, Great Lakes Challenge, ROAR Nationals and Regional’s just to name a few. I guess I am also known for my wife's brownies. You see I always take them to the races.
In Florida we have some of the best drivers in the US and I get great pleasure watching them. You see I am in no means an expert driver. I do not have the skill but at every race you will always see me having a great time. For me this is my Nascar. When I am putting on a race I do my very best to make sure everyone has a good time and has fun.
Now what can I do for ROAR. I am a believer in communication. There is a serious lack of it and has been for a long time. Think about it. How many people knew when the Election started and when it ends? I think there should be a forum on the ROAR web site for ROAR members. It is my understanding that Regional Directors use to get paid. Well I would like to get the Rev-Up going again; if the Regional Directors want to be paid they need to do articles for the Rev-Up. Also I believe every member who signs up for ROAR should get a rule book. You see not everyone has a computer. RMT has done a great job. I like the RMT but think you can use on 2 people. A Race Director and Tech person. Let’s use the extra money to promote this hobby. Example is RC Magazines and Live RC. I hear and read many complaints about ROAR in many forums. Well the internet has caused this. You see there are internet tough guys out there. What do you think some of the people think about what they read this stuff on line? Most hide behind some screen name. It is also a turn off to maybe a new racer. The internet is also one of the reasons for membership being down. You see many racers now buy everything on line instead of going to a local hobby shop. Yes they do this to save a few bucks but without local hobby shops it’s very hard to get newbie’s in this hobby. The most common question everyone asks is how to build membership. Well that is hard. As a track owner I have done a few things. I set up a tent at our local Stock Car track with a few racers with cars and trucks on display along with flyers. The next race we held we had about 20 new people attending. I have 3 extra cars for them to try and they were hooked. I have used local TV and Newspaper to do stories on our club. I believe in committees. Not everyone is an expert in all fields of this hobby. Let’s face it we have On Road, Off Road, Nitro and Electric for both. I would like to have 4 committees one for each so called division. The divisions would be Nitro On Road, Nitro Off Road, Electric On Road and Electric Off Road. I have learned that Off Road and On Road racers cannot agree on much.
All I can say is I will do everything I can to make ROAR a better organization. Will I do the best job I do not know but I will try.
Sorry it took me so long to answer. Well this is way more than I am use to writing. Thanks to everyone for their support.
Well I am sorry that I have not posted sooner.
Let me start by telling you about myself. I grew up in the Restaurant business. I use to work for Howard Johnsons/Ground Round for 16 years when I lived in New York and Vermont. I moved to Florida in 1993. My wife and I own a Fast Food type restaurant in a food court in a mall in Port Charlotte, Florida. Even in these trying times we are successful. In 2001 I was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider. Since then I have had many operations on my legs. I cannot stand for long periods of time so I now am a food salesman for Performance Foodservice. My wife still runs the restaurant. This is how I got started in RC Racing. I have always been a Nascar fan. Bill Elliot was my favorite for many years. A friend of mine took me to one of his RC races while I was recovering from the spider bite. I was hooked. This is how I got started in this great hobby I have.
Now that you know how I got started in this hobby let me tell you what I have done so far. I have been involved in putting on races since 2002 when I was elected President of the Charlotte RC Racers. I own a track in Punta Gorda and we run a race program once a month. I am a member of the Red Cup Racing crew that runs races at the Fort Myers Lee Civic Center. I have had the privilege of announcing the Florida Winternats for the last 3 years. I am the current FORGASS Secretary/Treasurer on my 5th term. I am the current Region 4 Director. Races I have attended: The Florida Winternats, Great Lakes Challenge, ROAR Nationals and Regional’s just to name a few. I guess I am also known for my wife's brownies. You see I always take them to the races.
In Florida we have some of the best drivers in the US and I get great pleasure watching them. You see I am in no means an expert driver. I do not have the skill but at every race you will always see me having a great time. For me this is my Nascar. When I am putting on a race I do my very best to make sure everyone has a good time and has fun.
Now what can I do for ROAR. I am a believer in communication. There is a serious lack of it and has been for a long time. Think about it. How many people knew when the Election started and when it ends? I think there should be a forum on the ROAR web site for ROAR members. It is my understanding that Regional Directors use to get paid. Well I would like to get the Rev-Up going again; if the Regional Directors want to be paid they need to do articles for the Rev-Up. Also I believe every member who signs up for ROAR should get a rule book. You see not everyone has a computer. RMT has done a great job. I like the RMT but think you can use on 2 people. A Race Director and Tech person. Let’s use the extra money to promote this hobby. Example is RC Magazines and Live RC. I hear and read many complaints about ROAR in many forums. Well the internet has caused this. You see there are internet tough guys out there. What do you think some of the people think about what they read this stuff on line? Most hide behind some screen name. It is also a turn off to maybe a new racer. The internet is also one of the reasons for membership being down. You see many racers now buy everything on line instead of going to a local hobby shop. Yes they do this to save a few bucks but without local hobby shops it’s very hard to get newbie’s in this hobby. The most common question everyone asks is how to build membership. Well that is hard. As a track owner I have done a few things. I set up a tent at our local Stock Car track with a few racers with cars and trucks on display along with flyers. The next race we held we had about 20 new people attending. I have 3 extra cars for them to try and they were hooked. I have used local TV and Newspaper to do stories on our club. I believe in committees. Not everyone is an expert in all fields of this hobby. Let’s face it we have On Road, Off Road, Nitro and Electric for both. I would like to have 4 committees one for each so called division. The divisions would be Nitro On Road, Nitro Off Road, Electric On Road and Electric Off Road. I have learned that Off Road and On Road racers cannot agree on much.
All I can say is I will do everything I can to make ROAR a better organization. Will I do the best job I do not know but I will try.
Sorry it took me so long to answer. Well this is way more than I am use to writing. Thanks to everyone for their support.
10-08-2010, 07:12 PM
#154
DLARRY 4 PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DLARRY FOR PRESIDENT !!!!!!!!!!!!YOU GOT MY VOTE ..THIS GUY HAS ALWAYS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND FOR RACERS AND IS THE PERFECT GUY FOR THE JOB !!!HE KNOWS HIS STUFF AND HE DEFINATELY KNOWS HOW TO TREAT PEOPLE AND ALL AROUND GREAT GUY !!!!YOU GOT MY VOTE DLARRY AND IM PRETTY SURE ALL THE FLORIDA GUYS GOT YOUR BACK TO !!!!!
DLARRY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK
RON TAYLOR AKA Q-BORO BOMBER
DLARRY 4 PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DLARRY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK
RON TAYLOR AKA Q-BORO BOMBER
DLARRY 4 PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10-09-2010, 12:35 AM
#156
I VOTED FOR DAVID LARRY!!!!
10-09-2010, 03:18 AM
#157
If you want to watch some great racing this weekend go here:
http://www.forgass.com/
Then click on Red Cup live
http://www.forgass.com/
Then click on Red Cup live
10-09-2010, 06:29 PM
#158
Tech Regular
I Voted for David Larry Also!!
10-11-2010, 09:10 AM
#159
ROAR has a committee system in place. It got re-vamped a little and is now extremely effective. The old class committee system for each class was very in-effective. Great idea, but no way to make it efficient enough to work properly. I have been involved in class committees as a chairman and just a member. Trust me, they don't work. Long story and if you want to hear it I can, but really?
Rev-Up cost a ton of money and was useless without information of which region directors were suppossed to supply... Seldom happenned and we got a book of pages that said "Nothing to report" And they got paid by submitting the article..... Still didn't entice them to submit an article... Then it went online only... and nothing changed. Maybe you have to get some accountability to the region directors... I agree that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to re-organize the region director part of ROAR. That doesn't seem to work either IMO.
You can get a rule book when you sign up, same as it has always been... But now, it is the racers choice to do so. The racer can choose to have the actual rule book in hand or can save $5 on the membership and be able to view it online. This gives an option to the racer if they have a computer or not... All this is nothing new. I have been a member of ROAR since the mid 80's... As long as I remember, there has been a charge for rule books. It also saves the member AND ROAR money to do it this way.
To me, RMT has been the greatest idea for promotion of racing that ROAR has ever done. It allows for a broader range of tracks that can host the Nationals to tracks that couldn't host them before and even allows for tracks to be able to use alternate locations for the event if they choose. Before RMT, there were many viable tracks that could not host the Nationals, for many reasons, Manpower, lack of the proper computer and scoring equipment, etc... ROAR supplys this now. Before RMT Many, MANY times Dawn and I spent countless hours soliciting tracks to host the nationals because of lack of bids and the number one reason for not being able to was the lack of manpower. After RMT, ROAR now gets bids for the race and many track promoters/owners say, They couldn't do it without RMT. Being a former track owner myself, RMT makes it especially easier to host a Nationals.
They don't have to have the manpower to hold a race as they did in the past and the track owners and workers are no longer held accountable for any bad actions during the event. ROAR takes on full responsibility of any actions held at the Nationals making them 100 times more consistent than they were in years before. The bottom line is that whenever a track can advertise a national race effectively in their area, then R/C is always much more active in that particular area after a Nationals is held. If that is whats known as not promoting racing, then I don't know what is?
Rev-Up cost a ton of money and was useless without information of which region directors were suppossed to supply... Seldom happenned and we got a book of pages that said "Nothing to report" And they got paid by submitting the article..... Still didn't entice them to submit an article... Then it went online only... and nothing changed. Maybe you have to get some accountability to the region directors... I agree that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to re-organize the region director part of ROAR. That doesn't seem to work either IMO.
You can get a rule book when you sign up, same as it has always been... But now, it is the racers choice to do so. The racer can choose to have the actual rule book in hand or can save $5 on the membership and be able to view it online. This gives an option to the racer if they have a computer or not... All this is nothing new. I have been a member of ROAR since the mid 80's... As long as I remember, there has been a charge for rule books. It also saves the member AND ROAR money to do it this way.
To me, RMT has been the greatest idea for promotion of racing that ROAR has ever done. It allows for a broader range of tracks that can host the Nationals to tracks that couldn't host them before and even allows for tracks to be able to use alternate locations for the event if they choose. Before RMT, there were many viable tracks that could not host the Nationals, for many reasons, Manpower, lack of the proper computer and scoring equipment, etc... ROAR supplys this now. Before RMT Many, MANY times Dawn and I spent countless hours soliciting tracks to host the nationals because of lack of bids and the number one reason for not being able to was the lack of manpower. After RMT, ROAR now gets bids for the race and many track promoters/owners say, They couldn't do it without RMT. Being a former track owner myself, RMT makes it especially easier to host a Nationals.
They don't have to have the manpower to hold a race as they did in the past and the track owners and workers are no longer held accountable for any bad actions during the event. ROAR takes on full responsibility of any actions held at the Nationals making them 100 times more consistent than they were in years before. The bottom line is that whenever a track can advertise a national race effectively in their area, then R/C is always much more active in that particular area after a Nationals is held. If that is whats known as not promoting racing, then I don't know what is?
Last edited by Orange; 10-11-2010 at 09:30 AM.
10-11-2010, 08:46 PM
#160
Dave u got my vote just because of the involvement that I have seen since I moved to Florida that you put in keep up the good work
ORANGE
Things that have not worked in the past need to be looked at again and tweak it to make it effective
Having a committee for On Road & Off Road gas & Electric did not work in the past but with the decline in all classes having experts for each field might help in growing & promoting it consistently with communications and place some accountability to those officers that hold those positions.
With the economy hitting everyone the decline is there not only for ROAR but for the tracks,manufactures as well so communications & collaborations needs to increase and try some fresh ideas & pass on some of the best demonstrated practices to other regions to grow the hobby.
Test out some target areas get the manufactures involved and invest in areas of opportunities by demographics to grow this hobby all 3 keys need to be involved to unlock the potential growth
I have also been involved in sales for over 25 years & what I've seen in the past since I got into this fun hobby has been a decline in collaborations.
But I also seen a lot of great things going on as well tracks promoting locally with local hobby shops.manufactures cross promoting with the tracks on there own we need more involvement to increase awareness outside of those that are not aware of this hobby.
As racers or hobbyist we know what's going on race events,nationals,worlds new products but if you speak to someone outside of this realm they don't have a clue has anyone ever seen a commercial/radio plug about this hobby or racing.
ORANGE
Things that have not worked in the past need to be looked at again and tweak it to make it effective
Having a committee for On Road & Off Road gas & Electric did not work in the past but with the decline in all classes having experts for each field might help in growing & promoting it consistently with communications and place some accountability to those officers that hold those positions.
With the economy hitting everyone the decline is there not only for ROAR but for the tracks,manufactures as well so communications & collaborations needs to increase and try some fresh ideas & pass on some of the best demonstrated practices to other regions to grow the hobby.
Test out some target areas get the manufactures involved and invest in areas of opportunities by demographics to grow this hobby all 3 keys need to be involved to unlock the potential growth
I have also been involved in sales for over 25 years & what I've seen in the past since I got into this fun hobby has been a decline in collaborations.
But I also seen a lot of great things going on as well tracks promoting locally with local hobby shops.manufactures cross promoting with the tracks on there own we need more involvement to increase awareness outside of those that are not aware of this hobby.
As racers or hobbyist we know what's going on race events,nationals,worlds new products but if you speak to someone outside of this realm they don't have a clue has anyone ever seen a commercial/radio plug about this hobby or racing.
10-11-2010, 09:51 PM
#161
ROAR serves 1% of all persons engaged in the sport i.e. the top racers in the country.
Does ROAR serve the other 99% of RC racers? No.
Promotion is great if it serves a purpose of expanding the sport to involving more racers and not just promoting events that feature the same 10 guys going for the national championship. ROAR seems only focused on the 1% and focusing promotion on this area is a waste of time.
I like Steve's ideas and focus. Why have I and the other 99% of RC racers never joined ROAR? Zero regional races, zero focus on non-national championship racing, a lack of interest in ROAR "furthering the general interest of all persons engaged in the sport" What do you get by joining ROAR? A chance to enter and race at a national championship.
Why do you think ROAR membership is pathetically low? ROAR has made an organization that has zero foundation, which has resulted in almost no new faces at the upper levels of racing. Where are all the young guns with the quick reflexes and skills? Why are their a bunch of 30 and 40 year old guys still competitive at the top level? Zero foundation.
We need to get kids and parents involved in the sport. Forget holding national championships, the focus should be on getting local races setup to bring people to the sport. Let the manufactures sponsor and promote the championship level racing.
I want to join ROAR but as one of the 99% that are engaged in the sport ROAR does not serve a purpose.
It's time is to get someone in charge of ROAR that wants to see the other 99% get involved.
10-11-2010, 10:22 PM
#162
What is the word that need to get out? You mention "our form of racing" misses the main point of ROAR bylaws to "further the general interest of all persons engaged in the sport"
ROAR serves 1% of all persons engaged in the sport i.e. the top racers in the country.
Does ROAR serve the other 99% of RC racers? No.
Promotion is great if it serves a purpose of expanding the sport to involving more racers and not just promoting events that feature the same 10 guys going for the national championship. ROAR seems only focused on the 1% and focusing promotion on this area is a waste of time.
I like Steve's ideas and focus. Why have I and the other 99% of RC racers never joined ROAR? Zero regional races, zero focus on non-national championship racing, a lack of interest in ROAR "furthering the general interest of all persons engaged in the sport" What do you get by joining ROAR? A chance to enter and race at a national championship.
Why do you think ROAR membership is pathetically low? ROAR has made an organization that has zero foundation, which has resulted in almost no new faces at the upper levels of racing. Where are all the young guns with the quick reflexes and skills? Why are their a bunch of 30 and 40 year old guys still competitive at the top level? Zero foundation.
We need to get kids and parents involved in the sport. Forget holding national championships, the focus should be on getting local races setup to bring people to the sport. Let the manufactures sponsor and promote the championship level racing.
I want to join ROAR but as one of the 99% that are engaged in the sport ROAR does not serve a purpose.
It's time is to get someone in charge of ROAR that wants to see the other 99% get involved.
ROAR serves 1% of all persons engaged in the sport i.e. the top racers in the country.
Does ROAR serve the other 99% of RC racers? No.
Promotion is great if it serves a purpose of expanding the sport to involving more racers and not just promoting events that feature the same 10 guys going for the national championship. ROAR seems only focused on the 1% and focusing promotion on this area is a waste of time.
I like Steve's ideas and focus. Why have I and the other 99% of RC racers never joined ROAR? Zero regional races, zero focus on non-national championship racing, a lack of interest in ROAR "furthering the general interest of all persons engaged in the sport" What do you get by joining ROAR? A chance to enter and race at a national championship.
Why do you think ROAR membership is pathetically low? ROAR has made an organization that has zero foundation, which has resulted in almost no new faces at the upper levels of racing. Where are all the young guns with the quick reflexes and skills? Why are their a bunch of 30 and 40 year old guys still competitive at the top level? Zero foundation.
We need to get kids and parents involved in the sport. Forget holding national championships, the focus should be on getting local races setup to bring people to the sport. Let the manufactures sponsor and promote the championship level racing.
I want to join ROAR but as one of the 99% that are engaged in the sport ROAR does not serve a purpose.
It's time is to get someone in charge of ROAR that wants to see the other 99% get involved.
Theres a ROAR regional every year in Region 12, at least for the classes I race.
Also, the economy is not ROAR's fault, lets face it, racing is expensive, it always has and it always will be. 99% of people in the hobby are not racers, they just bash. ANd to most them racing is boring.
10-12-2010, 06:51 AM
#163
Its not ROAR's job to make us faster. Why is it always the same 10 guys? Because they posses skills that most of us dont, instead of being pissed that you're not as fast, try to improve your skills. I stil have fun and enjoy the racing, even though I will never make it to the top 40. And thats what ROAR provides for me, an oportunity to measure my skills against the skills of 149 other drivers from the USA.
Theres a ROAR regional every year in Region 12, at least for the classes I race.
Also, the economy is not ROAR's fault, lets face it, racing is expensive, it always has and it always will be. 99% of people in the hobby are not racers, they just bash. ANd to most them racing is boring.
Theres a ROAR regional every year in Region 12, at least for the classes I race.
Also, the economy is not ROAR's fault, lets face it, racing is expensive, it always has and it always will be. 99% of people in the hobby are not racers, they just bash. ANd to most them racing is boring.
If ROAR keeps the focus on just promoting ROAR national championship races and only promotes this form of racing ROAR will not change or expand.
One regional race a year, great that one more than most regions have held in 5 years. ROAR should hold 10 local races in a region for every national championship they hold. Join ROAR and you can run 10 races in your region, more people would join.
Yes racing at the top level is very expensive, let the manufacture handle to top end racing promotion.
The choice comes down to being and organization that exist for the top tier racers or a organization that exist making the sport bigger.
The ROAR model is broken and failing. The only people that will join ROAR are racers that want to race at national championships. Does golf only serve the top 125 pros on tour? No they support junior golfing, adult amateur golfing ect.........yes the best are still the best but more talent gets produced by involving more people in the sport. If a kid does not have a chance to race at the local level with older not top tier equipment to try and develop skills how do the new best races get developed. When the new super stars start beating the old guard ROAR will have done its job.
The talent pool have to be expanded by getting more people involved in RC racing period. You need the hobbyist, the hobbyist doesn't have a to need ROAR.
10-12-2010, 07:12 AM
#164
Maybe it's me, but if memory serves it wasn't so long ago that the biggest complaint against ROAR was that it was always run by nitro on road racers, notably 8th scale racers. Everyone's talking about change, and yet the entire campaign for ROAR president is taking place in the Nitro On Road Forum.
All of you have made interesting points, and your observations are for the most part correct, but all of you are missing the bigger picture. Along with the steady deterioration of the number of racers, there has also been a steady deterioration of support of ROAR. As a result ROAR has had few if any resources to be able to do anything. Yes it is the job of ROAR to promote RC racing, and the best way to do that is to have national events for each type of racing, but with limited resources the best they could hope for is well run national events. The current administration has been very successful with this, thanks to the Race Management Team. With all the resources going to the national events, there's little if anything left for any of these other good ideas.
It isn't up to ROAR to promote local racing. That's up to the individual clubs and tracks. All races up to the Regional level have to be run by the local racers. You cannot sit back and have ROAR come in and do this for you. That's never going to happen. ROAR is there to provide a foundation for you to run your racing program (Yes, they're called rules). It's up to you to run your program to suit your racer's needs.
All of you have made interesting points, and your observations are for the most part correct, but all of you are missing the bigger picture. Along with the steady deterioration of the number of racers, there has also been a steady deterioration of support of ROAR. As a result ROAR has had few if any resources to be able to do anything. Yes it is the job of ROAR to promote RC racing, and the best way to do that is to have national events for each type of racing, but with limited resources the best they could hope for is well run national events. The current administration has been very successful with this, thanks to the Race Management Team. With all the resources going to the national events, there's little if anything left for any of these other good ideas.
It isn't up to ROAR to promote local racing. That's up to the individual clubs and tracks. All races up to the Regional level have to be run by the local racers. You cannot sit back and have ROAR come in and do this for you. That's never going to happen. ROAR is there to provide a foundation for you to run your racing program (Yes, they're called rules). It's up to you to run your program to suit your racer's needs.
Last edited by jiml; 10-12-2010 at 07:14 AM. Reason: Grammer policing myself
10-12-2010, 07:28 AM
#165
I think ROAR needs to work better with manufacturers and tracks. The racers posting here on rctech are a perfect example of what happens to the hobby when the racers are left in control.
The manufacturers make races big by sending their pro drivers and their race event sponsoring. The event happens at the tracks. The last part is the racers attending. ROAR working with tracks and manufacturers to make ROAR sanctioned event better and more attractive will bring more racers.
ROAR could do better with a internet news style website such as Redrc.net, or maybe just work with redrc.
The national level RMT seems very nice, maybe expand that idea to a regional level RMT to bring up the quality and prestige of regional championships.
The whole hobby in general needs somebody strong enough to say "that class is dead, we don't race that class anymore". The hobby needs somebody that realizes a 17.5 motor is great as a stock class motor on this small track here, but at this bigger track over there, a 13.5 motor is better as the stock class motor.
I'm hoping Steve's media experience will guide ROAR into a stronger position.
The manufacturers make races big by sending their pro drivers and their race event sponsoring. The event happens at the tracks. The last part is the racers attending. ROAR working with tracks and manufacturers to make ROAR sanctioned event better and more attractive will bring more racers.
ROAR could do better with a internet news style website such as Redrc.net, or maybe just work with redrc.
The national level RMT seems very nice, maybe expand that idea to a regional level RMT to bring up the quality and prestige of regional championships.
The whole hobby in general needs somebody strong enough to say "that class is dead, we don't race that class anymore". The hobby needs somebody that realizes a 17.5 motor is great as a stock class motor on this small track here, but at this bigger track over there, a 13.5 motor is better as the stock class motor.
I'm hoping Steve's media experience will guide ROAR into a stronger position.