R/C Tech Forums - View Single Post - 2007-2008 ROAR Presidency
View Single Post
Old 09-06-2006, 03:12 PM
  #3  
Carl Giordano
Tech Elite
iTrader: (32)
 
Carl Giordano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Upper Saddle River, NJ
Posts: 2,506
Trader Rating: 32 (100%+)
Default

Hello active ROAR members. I’d like to take this time to introduce myself as a candidate for the 2007-2008 ROAR Presidency.

My name is Carl Giordano and I’ve been involved with competitive racing since 1989, worked for Bruckner Hobbies, NY while in school and currently the ROAR Region 2 director. I currently work in New York City for a Company called CIT Business Capital, which provide working capital lines of credit for middle market to fortune 500 companies. I’ve been fortunate over the years to have traveled extensively throughout the US as a racer, mechanic and spectator of all types of RC venues. My current passion is 1/8th Fuel On-Road and 1/10th Electric Sedan. I feel that my experiences as a racing enthusiast and as a corporate professional will enable me to build a team environment at ROAR which will allow us to develop and realize the goals which I believe will benefit ROAR as an institution and its membership. Therefore, I’m asking for your confidence and vote as President for the 2007-2008 years.

The foundation of my campaign and focus of the administration will be two fold: (i) provide “value” to ROAR members and (ii) redirect ROAR’s focus to emphasize the concept of “grass roots racing” throughout the US.

So what does this all mean? ROAR was founded by a group of racing enthusiasts who like all of us at one time gathered in a parking lot with a bunch of friends and enjoyed the spirit of competitive racing and having fun. ROAR guidelines were drafted to provide a level playing for all those involved in competitive RC racing and provide a standard for all competitors to measure each by. At the time the founders started ROAR; competitive racing was limited by the number of racing classes. Over the years, ROAR has had to adjust to and develop new guidelines to maintain a level playing field for emerging technologies and new forms of racing. I believe ROAR has done a good job in accomplishing this and everyone involved deserves our thanks, regards of the level of scrutiny which ROAR comes under from time to time. Therefore, I’m not proposing a change to the ROAR mission statement or the manner in which it establishes the guidelines. What I’m proposing is a program which I believe will strengthen ROAR’s image for “all” its members, starting at the grass roots level.

In my opinion, to improve ROAR’s image we need to strengthen its weaknesses, which are:
> Inability to attract new members
> Provides little value to the membership
> Has limited visibility at the grassroots level of racing

So let’s start. Within the 1st year (2007) we will develop a program which provides:

“Value Plan”: Goal is to minimize the cost of ROAR memberships for ROAR members.
• To start, ROAR retailers are established…they volunteer and ROAR has “NO” influence over their business.
• Similar to ROAR affiliated tracks, ROAR retailers will pay ROAR an equivalent fee to have their contact info listed on the ROAR website.
• The retailers will receive an e-mail listing of all valid ROAR members each month.
• The retailers will advertise on their own website or in store, what items “they” chose to provide a discount to valid ROAR members
• ROAR will have “NO” part in deciding the discount levels…etc…ROAR will only list on its website those retailers who are ROAR affiliates.
Benefits:
• Cost savings to ROAR members who use the “value plan” and purchase discounted items from ROAR retailers. Offsets the cost of their ROAR membership.
• Incentive to recreational racers who would normally have no need to join ROAR.
• Every 100 new members to ROAR or a 2% increase in annual membership = $3,000 of new fee income which can be used to promote grassroots racing or other ROAR events.
• Additional income from ROAR retailers.
• ROAR retailers gains access to 5,000+ ROAR members…creates an opportunity to increase sales on discounted and non-discounted items.
Execution Strategy: (within first 6-months of 2007)
• All membership renewals will have an option to provide their e-mail address.
• ROAR will make the “retailer affiliation” an option to every hobby shop nationwide…at a fee to be determined
• E-mail the membership of this initiative and ask their LHS to get involved.
• Update the ROAR website to include a list of the ROAR retailers.

During the 2nd year (2008)

“Grass Roots Racing Plan”: Goal, improve the racing participation at Regional Championship
• Require participation at the regional level to qualify for participation in the following year national events.
• Use ROAR funds saved by no longer mailing Rev-Up articles and additional income generated from the “value plan” to partially offset the expense to regional directors when they attend regional events.
• Regional Champions will have either their annual ROAR membership or National Race Fees waived / paid by ROAR. Format to be determined.
• More than “one” regional director for each region.
Benefits:
• Enhances the weighting meaning of the regional events
• Higher attendance at regional events thereby promoting “grassroots racing”
• Increase ROAR presence at regional events by offsetting regional director’s expenses while attending regional events.
• ROAR proceeds are allocated towards the higher percentage of racers instead of a select few.
Execution Strategy:
• Increase the number of regional directors at each region.
• Regional directors will be given an annual budget for each region…amount to be determined. The budget will be used to offset travel cost while attending regional events and used to promote the events themselves.
• Regional directors will be required to monitor results for regional championship and post to ROAR website. Regional participants then qualify for the following year regional.

There are approximately 5,000 active ROAR members, many of whom feel that their membership means very little. I hope that the goals which I’ve outlined will change their perception of ROAR. As the Region 2 director, my ability to make a difference is limited…if elected as ROAR President, we have a chance.
Carl Giordano is offline