all change in the shop

[Pete Lewis]

you will find if you ring for advice in the club shop that Garth has been made redundant since April 6th

 

so I dont know where from here ,  we have lost a good resource of knowledge  that many will miss.

 

Sorry I couldnt go to the AGM , guess there's a plan from the  AGM but nothing on here !!

 

 

 

Pete

 

 

[dougbgt6]

 I would have thought Garth was the least likely candidate for redundancy given his wealth of knowledge and experience.

 

This does not bode well. Redundant means the position is no more, so what's happening to the shop? I also notice he was Shop manager & IT/Comms, as the original IT guy left 6 months ago, what's happening to IT/Comms?

[JohnD]

IT?  Doesn't matter, as far as the TSSC is concerned.   Were you at the AGM after the old message board went down?    I asked why it had not been replaced, after about a year IIRC, and was on the receiving end of much anger from the floor from members who would not have a computer in their house, and disdain from Committee members who thought that a message board was only for a few nerds.     Well, Twitter, Facebook and the rest have grown up since then, and the TSSC has a presence there, but I fear the old attitudes still exist.

 

John

[Clive]

John, i think many of that ilk have gone from the COM and the new blood is a bit more forward thinking.

However, a real shame about Garth. He is a good bloke, and was an asset to your be club. Not a good sign.

[dougbgt6]

No John I wasn't there, but I was one of those who protested vociferously on Facebook. To the extent that I was warned by a member of the COM that my membership was in danger of being withdrawn! I pointed out to the clown in question that I was paying money for a service he was no longer providing. I'm still here, he isn't! 

[DerekS]

What??? Garth redundant??? I would have thought he was a central pillar to the club. The knowledge that he has, the easy, nothing-is-too much-trouble manner... he has helped me on numerous occasions; sorry, I have to ask, what has happened, is the club struggling? For the record, not everybody uses, or indeed likes, facebook or twitter. One further thought, should the members not have been consulted/involved on an individual basis? The first time EVER that I've annoyed about a club matter. Rant over, sorry.

[AidanT]

It will be interesting to see the minutes of the AGM. Maybe this will clarify a reason? I can't think of any benefits in doing this

 

Aidan

[steveweblin]

The club has been running at a lose for a while now. Was the shop costing more than it earned I wonder?

[Paul H]

From the accounts I think the shop just about broke even though to be a serious player the online shop software needed ditching and starting again . On line shop software has moved on leaps and bounds in the past few years and it wouldnt be too expensive to start again and maintenance and updating has been simplified so managing a modern day online shop is affordable . Overall my reading was that the club made an overall profit last year compared the big loss the previous year 

 

Garth's experience will be missed, and its disappointing that there hasnt been an official announcement .

 

Paul 

[Steve P]

Surprised to hear this as i thought he was mainly responsible for the extensive new product lines now available.Is there an official announcement?

Steve

[Colin Lindsay]

I was pleasantly surprised at the produce the shop was carrying in the latest Regalia Catalogue. Some very good stuff there!

I'll wait for the official announcement of the situation, as rumour control can be very entertaining but sometimes far off reality....

[Clive]

The profit/loss situation is largely (almost entirely) down to events 

Donnington would have been loss-making as it was expensive. Santa Pod is very cheap (virtually nil, so a great idea as no risk to the club)

Add to that Le Mans which is a good earner...

[AndyTV8]

Sorry to read this news, hope he is able to find another position promptly, never a nice position to be in.

 

From a club perspective, I would expect due process to have occurred and to underpin an established plan.... I'd look for some confirmation in a future edition of the Courier, or, as mentioned, in the AGM minutes if the timing coincided - I Would not have expected any kind of announcement on the matter until after the formal HR process had concluded, given the date mentioned by Pete earlier, this looks to have been carried out with the appropriate degree of privacy and respect (albeit not the outcome we would wish for in an ideal world)

 

........ Andy

[TomL]

I am very sorry to hear of Garth's departure.  He was always helpful and accommodating and, as others have said, very knowledgable.  I wish him well. 

 

In response to JohnD - that's terrible that you should be met with such a negative attitude to a comment about the shutdown of the club's forum.  Personally, I couldn't believe how long it was out of action; it seemingly taking forever to be fixed.  And I'm genuinely not a nerd (I have enough other vices, thank you!) but do I appreciate that the forum is an extremely valuable part of the ongoing functioning of the club and one which should on no account be underestimated.

 

Tom

[Pete Lewis]

The actual terms used for not having a replacement forum after the last crash was

it was quote ,,,, just full of wingers and moaners thats how disconnected some Com were.

it was that amongst other occurances that I made my departure.

[mishmosh]

I was shot down over the forum too. i had recently rejoined having been a member in the mid 80s-90s.  Living rurally the forum was a joy, then Pop. When it went down i was part of the group who helped establish the facebook page. Not the Clunky official club one no basically uses, but the Triumph Sports six page that actually has no club backing . Sue contributes, but thats about it ! 

The club has obvious financial needs, but getting rid of Garth isnt a great idea........

[JohnD]

I'm sorry - in my anxiety to make an old point, I should have sympathised with Garth - I hope he finds a new berth soon.

 

There were many things about that, Pete, that I have never understood, like:

This site now runs on the same software as the TR Register's.  No problem, it's a well established message board program - but why did the TSSC use EXACTLY the same layout and colour scheme as the TRR?  You would have thought that as the Club's Window to the World they would want something distinctive.    It's possible - Sideways uses the exact same program too, and they look nothing like!

 

And some of the delay was said to be due to finessing the link between the web site and the shop site, but even today, you cannot access the shop from here, on the message board. Try it!  Click on "Shop" in the top line of this page, and find out that the shop contains no stock at all.

 

The only thing to be said about the MSB in the Luddites favour is that it is only a small fraction of the membership that uses it.    Maybe they're all on Facebook!

 

John

[Pete Lewis]

Im sure Garth will find a new vocation very soon , he has a wide range of experience not recognised by many, classic car parts is a small part of his CV.

There an old saying in industry...

if you dont suffer fools its easy to be seen as a target.

 

we have to wait and see where the latest plan takes the club, communication at speed has never

been a plus point , time will tell.

[Colin Lindsay]

 

The only thing to be said about the MSB in the Luddites favour is that it is only a small fraction of the membership that uses it.    Maybe they're all on Facebook!

 

John

 

Perhaps if we were a less hands-on club, there'd be more people sitting on the messageboard and fewer at events or in the garage.

I'm not on Facebook and don't have the latest mobile phone... however many of our younger members should be Internet savvy and somebody should be able to do something about it.

As Michael Crichton wrote in 'Rising Sun': "Fix the problem, not the blame".

 

(The book, not the dreadful movie with the same title.)

[Pete Lewis]

very true 

 

Pete

[JohnD]

Who?  What?

[DerekS]

As an aside, I can't help thinking that this section is in the wrong position on the web page, being underneath "Downloads" it doesn't attract the attention that it would if it were in the "Member's Chat" area...

[Triumph948]

Please see official response from Com in Forum announcements

[dave.vitesse]

I'm sorry - in my anxiety to make an old point, I should have sympathised with Garth - I hope he finds a new berth soon.

 

There were many things about that, Pete, that I have never understood, like:

This site now runs on the same software as the TR Register's.  No problem, it's a well established message board program - but why did the TSSC use EXACTLY the same layout and colour scheme as the TRR?  You would have thought that as the Club's Window to the World they would want something distinctive.    It's possible - Sideways uses the exact same program too, and they look nothing like!

 

And some of the delay was said to be due to finessing the link between the web site and the shop site, but even today, you cannot access the shop from here, on the message board. Try it!  Click on "Shop" in the top line of this page, and find out that the shop contains no stock at all.

 

The only thing to be said about the MSB in the Luddites favour is that it is only a small fraction of the membership that uses it.    Maybe they're all on Facebook!

 

John

 

 

John, I was under the impression the TRR site came after the TSSC site.

 

Dave

[Sue Franklin]

See Forum Announcements at the top of the Forum page for an explanation of the situation by Chris Gunby.  Although I understand the feelings expressed above, please understand that it was the position of Shop Manager which was made redundant. 

As regards the perception that the Club does not use Social Media, you may not be aware that at the beginning of April TSSC was shortlisted for an award for the best use of social media by a car club.  We were pipped at the post by I think the Golf Club.  In the last year, Jane Rowley had led the charge into Social Media with great results.