A lot of people agree that an international Fiero organization is needed, in
spite of differing opinions of what it’s needed for, and how to go about it.

In addition to more active promotion of the club and improvement of member
services, we also intend to strengthen our relationships with the local Fiero
clubs and with the vendors of Fiero supplies & services.

So for Central Florida Fieros first meeting of the New Year, what can we tell our club members about CFOGI that will help them to understand this Fiero International Club's goals and objectives for this community so that they would want to join?

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8T6 GT

This archived post should help to answer that for you...
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20031229-1-032808.html

Mostly, we are the representative body, the point of contact, to the outside world. When magazines, TV, governments, corporations, celebrities, clubs & organizations, etc., deal with the Fiero community, they want to deal with someone who represents all of us. For example, let's say you're trying to get Hall & Oates to help us celebrate the Fiero 25th anniversary, then they say "Who are you?", and your answer is "Well, I'm a Fiero owner in Florida". What if someone wants to get sponsorship from McDonald's for a major event, and all they can say is "I'm with a Fiero club in Texas". They might deal with you, but they might not. It would help if they know they're dealing with THE single group who represents all. I'm not saying we have (yet) succeeded with those examples, but we're trying with those and more, and it helps to have a letterhead that says we're talking on behalf of all Fiero owners.

And the funny thing is, we'll keep doing that whether you as an individual become a member or not. But your membership will support that kind of organization. We do a newsletter, discounts to our events, and access to the private section of our website, as something to help give you a return on your dues, but largely your membership is a token of support to keep such an organization alive.

I am a member of the local club in San Antonio, AAFO. I don't even LIVE in San Antonio... I have only been to one meeting. I DON'T get a discount to the Roundup, and I don't even get a t-shirt.without paying full price for it. What do I get for my annual $15? I get a one-page bulletin in the mail once a month that has 3 paragraphs and a photo or two. - And I'm happy!!! I am also a member of the Houston club, Lone Star Fieros. I pay $12 a year for the privilege of saying I'm a member. What else do I get for that? Just being on an email list that gives notification of future activities (which I could get from the LSF website without paying dues), but I'm happy to pay those dues every year to support the club.

To answer your question more fully, feel free to NOT join this year, but watch and observe what you see from us. Things should be very much improved in 2006. This thread, and the one in the General section that pointed you here, are not meant to gain revenue by having people become members. We're just saying we want to be the right kind of international club. We have made mistakes in the past, and we hope to have learned from them. We will never be perfect, being a collection of ordinary folks, but we believe in the club, so we'll keep trying. We will do better as more people come on board who have various talents & abilities, but until then we'll learn as we go.

I wrote the original post in this thread, and I apologize for forgetting to add my name to that. I'm Chuck Hodges, one of the co-founders of CFOGi. I was President for 2 years, and intentionally did not run for reelection because I thought changing leadership would be good for the club. Due to family issues, I reduced my club involvement for a long time, to being merely a regional deputy director. Personal affairs have improved, and now I'm taking a more active role. The other officers & directors are terrific people, many of whom are regulars here on PFF, and many are officers in their local clubs.

We are working on an idea for a 2007 event. For 2008 we were invited to participate with someone else's show (more about that later). And you will soon hear about something in 2009 that you won't want to miss. But that's just the "national" type annual events... what can we do for your event? Please be specific. If you need money, don't assume we can't get you any... maybe yes, maybe no (it would not come from membership dues). We may be interested in sponsoring an award, if you have something like that in mind. Maybe the best we can do is advertise for each other.

In the past, it has not always been possible to financially support any given event, and the organization won't always be able to in the future either, but there are other ways CFOG-I can assist. From what I've read here andelsewhere, there are plans in the works to maximize the ways they can assist groups that want to hold an event, which should work out in a positive light for both CFOG-I and the local/regional clubs. Give them a shout, early enough to try to do something and see if they can help your club out in it's event.

And as always, if you have any ideas or suggestions, contact a CFOG-I officer or the PR guy, who I believe is Cheever.
Don

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Proud Member, Classic Fiero Owners Group - International
www.cfogi.org

Yep this will be a big thing for my club and CFOGi..and We at MFF welcome you CFOGi with open arms..!! I'm glad to be part of this event and I know who ever shows up they will have a great time and get to meet the famed "Minnesota Mafia".. More info will be coming very soon ..So stay tuned.!!!