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How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Started by LewZ
25 replies 171 likes Last activity: 5 months ago
#26

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

As far as volunteering ...
Our club averages approximately 55 members (plus or minus).

For the 4-day Boat Show, we broke it down into 2-4-hour shifts per day, for a total of 8 shifts.
We had a target of 5 members staffing the booth per shift.
We had 13 members sign up, many for more than one shift.
We easily handled all the shifts, and at times had more than the 5 we targeted.
I thought that was a pretty decent turnout.

As far as dues, we charge $45/year for a "Family" membership.
Admittedly, we are pretty frugal, but that fee covers insurance, a year-end "Dry Dock" meal, the tugs, a tent for outdoor displays, the portable pond, etc.

Dave B
So far my collection resembles "The Island of Misfit Toys". I've picked up several boats that are old builds and have been neglected. I'm giving them the TLC they need, hoping to bring them back to their former glory. Once I get enough practice/ experience I intend to take on a full build.
Liked by premecekcz and HappyHaggis and
#25

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Dw brinkman
Congratulations for all your efforts.
We try to do the same.We have taken the decision to built 4 models radio controlled. 2 are ready and the 2 others will be ready for the start of the season. Parents are amased and speachless when they see their son
or daughter calm for an hour not playing with their phone and being on tik- tok. We think we have achieved the lowest point and from this point onwards the melberships from youngsters will increase
Liked by premecekcz and Chum444 and
#24

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

I will throw my input out here.
Two years ago, our club acquired and built two "Vac-U-Tug" boats (similar to the ones you might find at amusement parks). We built two control consoles with ship's wheels and a boat-like forward/reverse lever.
The intention was to generate interest in model boating among youth.
The tugs have turned out to be a huge success. Not only youth, but adults as well are drawn to the tugs whenever we have them out.
This past weekend, our club was invited to display at the local Boat Show. We built a (semi) portable boating pond, and had the tugs available for the 4 days of the boat show. It is our experience that they have generated a lot of interest and boosted our membership numbers. We also participate in 4 Classic Boat shows around Minnesota each summer, which has also generated interest and gained members.
I am attaching some pictures from this past weekend's show. The young man in the pink hoodie running a tug boat NOT from a console is my grandson. I'm quite sure I have made a convert out of him ... he hasn't stopped talking about running the boat since he got home Sunday. You have to get them in the hands of youth if we want the hobby to continue.
Just my thoughts,
Dave B
So far my collection resembles "The Island of Misfit Toys". I've picked up several boats that are old builds and have been neglected. I'm giving them the TLC they need, hoping to bring them back to their former glory. Once I get enough practice/ experience I intend to take on a full build.
Liked by premecekcz and RodC and
#23

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Yes and a lot cheaper to get advice, but are kids really interested almost everyone who knows my hobbies always laugh at the fact "i play with boats" thats the term i get a lot
Philuk👍
Liked by premecekcz and RodC and
#22

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Chum444 that is similar plan with the Springer tugs. I think because it gets people really engaged in their model and against the clock.

Yes i've seen parents acting awkward at various clubs pulling children out of the way when they try to come closer to show interest. With social media sharing so many strange stories these days it's spread like wildfire that kids can't talk to anyone and even with parents. It's sad as how are the youth of today meant to join any club out there if they can't interact with anyone.

I'd say theres more risks online than in reality as they could be chatting to literally anyone online.

I'll always say "Youll arrive at our club a stranger and leave as a friend"

That would be beneficial with Umi Ryuzuki's online address. Always good to find out better ways of doing things from other's who have already done so.
Scott (Haggis)
Scotland
Liked by RodC and Chum444 and
#21

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Very interesting take on childrens’ lack of participation; had never thought about that. In today’s world you do have to be careful approaching any stranger lest your intentions be misread.
Your initiatives to attract younger folks sound good. There was a club, probably gone by now, that staged water soccer events using springer tugs. You might contact Umi Ryuzuki in RC Groups here in the States. If you need an
on-line address let me know.
Liked by hermank and premecekcz and
#20

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

This is a problem at our club given that i am the youngest at 38. I feel that parent's are overly protective these days so happier for their kids to be glued to screens at home where they can see them rather than allow them to sail with strangers etc. The world is certainly changing and 15 years ago i'd try interact with a child who walks past and shows interest whereas now i'm more weary as i don't wont to be labelled for trying to engage productively with a youngster.

It's sad as when i was around 4 and walking past a sailing pond it was members who made a big deal over me and let me have an assisted sail of some boats and from that ripe age i was hooked.

Along with all the building skills, physics and electrical knowledge i gained i went on to become a marine engineer for some time working in Greece and Gibraltar before changing to working for BAE Systems so it taught me a world of good.

What good is staring at Tiktok or any of these other social media platforms going to do for any youth of today except guide them in the wrong direction 9 times out of 10.

This year as our newly appointed club secretary i plan on sprucing our clubs image up a little and start some racing leagues along with tug of war and water football in hope i can attract the younger crowd.

The hobby certainly needs an extra push now to continue to be sustainable in the future. Model aircraft and cars are very popular with all the ready to run/fly side of things and the reason that works so well is they are all affordable. For under £100 you can get a proper rc plane,helicopter and car that can go fast and looks cool. For the same money you're options are very limited with boats as the options available are mostly toy grade, slow and break after the first run so people tend to walk away and find something else.

There will be a way through this. I'm relying on the one youngster who asked for my help last year to repair a toy grade boat. I took it away and converted it to hobby grade free of charge and he's picked up the boat bug now.

Once they say that its more appealing and parents get past the over protective side of things then it'll recover.

As hermank said we are at the bottom of the curve and it's time to rise back up.

Damn i feel like i'm writing a book or a drama 😂. Apologies for that though it is something i think often about as member numbers slowly dwindle away.

Regards to all,

Scott, HH
Scott (Haggis)
Scotland
Liked by hermank and premecekcz and
#19

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Lew i think that that is part if the problem. Too much offered to the youngsters. I started in the early sixties no mobile phones, most people didn’t even have a television, no internet, no asocial media. I m a (strong) believer that we have hit the bottom of the curve and that i will go up again. I spoke to parents at the pond on sunday and one of the questions was “ can we come back with the kids” because they have never been so laid back with the sailing. Times will change in the other direction( one day 😂)
Liked by DWBrinkman and tomarack and
#18

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Getting back to the original question. Why is it people want to join a club (the few that very few) and not participate in helping out?

I understand that the kids getting hammered on all sides by various activities. Back in the 1950s we did not have electronics like we do today.

Lew
Lew
Florida, USA
Home page: https://www.RCFlorida.org/lmb
Liked by HappyHaggis and tomarack and
#17

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Hi Lew,
same everywhere, I think. Some of it is because of pressures at home, looking after kids with all the after school activities and sports these days kids demand. We used to amuse ourselves as kids, and didn't need to have our parents cart us everywhere, maybe bike for miles to watch model planes etc. The way work is these days with staggered hours, working weekends etc, cuts peoples time down, whereas in the 60s and 70s it was 9 to5 or 8 to 5, everybody had holidays at the same time,- hardly anyone worked on weekends- one late night a week, now it's all over the place.

Don't know about the US, but here in NZ, parents may not be able to have holidays together due to different work schedules, may have to arrange holidays a month or 2 ahead. Now there are virtually no model club or car club activities advertised in papers etc, all on facebook now, and if you don't use facebook, you miss out. Seems to be the way things are going now, organisers just send out a post to members on where and when.

I found a massive Jap car get together at our local bus station park and ride by sheer luck,- looked everywhere, not a mention, seemed to be a random get together by phone. many 'clubs' don't even have a website these days, but have hundreds of 'members' floating around.

JB
Liked by DWBrinkman and stevedownunder and
#16

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

This is a common problem with clubs of all types when the majority of club members (who benefit from all the clubs facilities and activities) believe that their obligations end when they pay the club fee/entry fee.

Whether this "fee" is an annual membership charge or an entry to a competition (or event), most think that it is the organisers job to provide the entertainment and to clean-up and put everything away etc afterwards.....and then to repeat and prepare everything again.....

Fortunately there are still a few of us that realise that if we would like a club or a facility of any type that does not already exist, then we have to go and get it started and running ourselves ......or it wont happen.

Having established a club or event that gains good support, is when the problems usually start.

Fortunately there is always a couple of "good souls" who instinctively "stay behind" or arrive early to help set-up or to clear-up and help out, but these are few and far between.

After a lifetime of starting and running model car racing clubs, r/c helicopter clubs (and events), and target shooting clubs, I am enjoying the relaxation of being a member of a model boat club that has a good committee and a strong membership that allows me to do little more than arrive and drive my model boat on the water, although I will always be available and willing to help if needed.

When I get home I still have the target shooting club and model car racing club to run, but in recent years I have been fortunate enough to gain some good support to the extent that a group of us all take on different tasks to "share the load" of running these clubs.

"Many hands make light work"......an old phrase that still has a lot of meaning.......

Bob.
Never too old to learn
Liked by DWBrinkman and tomarack and
#15

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

I saw a very similar issue when helping run a local 4x4 trials club for 3yrs.
The members were happy enough to turn up and compete, but very few of them were prepared to give up their time to set up a trial (we had one trial every month throughout the year), and usually ended up being the same faces setting up each event.
To be in with a chance of winning a cup for your class (6 classes, from standard to modified), each member had to either set up at least one trial, or marshal at at least one trial throughout the year, so we got around it like that.
This worked for us, but unfortunately with model boats, unless racing for points, this wouldn't be an option.

Will
Precedent Perkasa MTB 49 1/2"
Precedent Fairey Huntsman 46"
Veron Fairey Huntsman 28 42"
Precedent Fairey Huntsman 36"
Aerokits Sea Commander 34"
Aerokits Sea Rover 29 1/2"
SLEC Fairey Huntress 23"
Liked by DWBrinkman and premecekcz and
#14

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

“Grüezi Mitenander” >> Hello everyone!
The biggest problem is addressed here, but we must not forget that a lot has changed technically and that various apps such as TikTok and similar ones unfortunately captivate our boys and girls.
The other day, my daughter told me that her youngest grandson said to her:
“First read the instructions carefully and do it step by step, just like Grandpa does when he builds model ships.” Cool, right?
In any case, he asked me to help him build his second remote-controlled Kon-Tiki.
Maybe he'll encourage others at school to do the same.
We grandparents are skilled at passing on skills: craftsmanship, the joy of repairing things, under the motto “recycling.”
For example, there is the “Repair Café,” where you can bring an appliance on Saturdays and get help to make it work again.
Sometimes you just have to want it! But who am I telling this to...
Your Michel-C.
if you don't ask, you won't get an answer!
Liked by DWBrinkman and AlessandroSPQR and
#13

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Chum444
I agree entirely with what you wrote and i see a similar thing with my grandchildren. As a president of a 121 year old we organised an exhibition and informed and invited technical schools!! One phoned me to ask if it was free income!!!!
I also went on chat gpt and asked the question. If we would ho down what they suggest it would be a full time job for a number of people!!
They suggest:
Inviting and coming together with youngsters on a weeklybase
What about the venue
What about the numbers when you start of with lets say 10 and end up with 3 ?
So hoing down that route can be forgotten
I m not negative at all but sometimes……
Liked by DWBrinkman and premecekcz and
#12

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Lew the problem seems to be universal for both the young & the older generation. I have tried, without much success, to interest each of my grandsons ages 18, 11, & 9 in model building. At least it is participation in sports that occupies most of their spare time. For sure they engage in a fair amount of screen time but they are not obsessed with it. The 18 yr old showed a good deal of interest in model building when younger so hopefully that seed will pop through sometime in his adult life. The youngest shows a lot of interest in robotics so there is hope.

As for the older generation & I mean those retired or semi-retired , there is much information & advice that continued mental stimulation greatly reduces the likelihood of dementia. Given that we modelers realize that our hobby requires you to be part historian for research, a carpenter, electronics technician, artist to visualize where you’re going, engineer, & on & on. Talk about stimulation!

Maybe they see our building results as too intimidating; something they could never hope to achieve. Maybe some “An introduction to model boat building” type of models displayed at our meets could serve to draw people in. I have it in the back of my mind to develop a syllabus for a talk along those lines & present it at our local senior center. No idea if it would generate any interest but might be worth a try. Along with the Center’s administration, we considered an actual building class but decided there were too many issues involved with that approach.
Liked by DWBrinkman and tomarack and
#11

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Herman, et al.

Like many of you, we almost always let guests at the park during model boats meet, try our model boats. They are so happy and they ask many questions including where do I get boats like these. We usually give them the various options hobby shops, internet, kids, and ready to run models. We also tell them about when we have our model boat meets.

They seem so excited, but virtually 99% of them we never see them again.

My younger son has been involved with me for quite a few years and making and running model boats (and tanks). Right now we have his 4-year-old son (my grandson from) running both tanks and boats. How long I can only guess. The alternatives out there exert a lot of pressure on the young people to pick something else to do, especially flashy, trending activities.

But then we are talking about children here. I can understand these distractions, having raised several children and being around grandchildren. I see the pressures that are on them.

••• My post was about middle and older age people, still fit enough to help out but they rather just "stay out". •••

The other night my wife and I went out to dinner at a sports pub. The place was packed with old people waiting almost 2 hours for a trivia contest to start. What a waste of time. Trivia can be fun, and I guess it is some socializing. But that is 7:00 at night, and we never do model boats then. I guess they would rather watch TV then interest themselves in a hobby like we are talking about. Life is crazy!

Lew
Lew
Florida, USA
Home page: https://www.RCFlorida.org/lmb
Liked by DWBrinkman and Madwelshman and
#10

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Lew the pleasure is all mine
But the situation is really frustrating.
We don’t have the fantastic weather as you have but yesterday we had 2 youngsters at the pong who went almost creazy about navigating a model. So i m curious what will be next
Herman
Liked by Madwelshman and Mike Stoney and
#9

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

A good day
This message is just to make you less lonely. I m shure that this is a world wide problem and not only to your tsech republic. Youngsters have forgotten or maybe not told by the parents that there are still other things in life to amuse themselves. I still cannot understand that children are so obessed by tiktok and other providers in this aerea. In our club we do have 4 young men (less than 12 years) who are attracted by modelboating.We try to help them in every way. We supply the hull and they have to make the drawing for the cabin and help them realsing their project. So far so good. We also have 4 boats that we have made when children arrive at the pond they recieve the transmitter and enjoy themselves. Children are enthousiast about it as well as the parents. So future will tell if this is they way forward.
Liked by HappyHaggis and tomarack and
#8

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Translated message of premecekcz

Good morning, afternoon, evening, to all colleagues. Yes, even in the Czech Republic (Czech Republic, Europe), the situation with the young generation of modelers is bad. I am always very happy when a child can cut with a hand saw, when he can make something himself. I have one (yes, only one!!) in our city (Plzeň, Pilsen) who makes something with his hands. This boy has talent, but that is not enough, I have no one else to pass on experience, tools to.. The others are devoted to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.... I guess it is also the fault of us older ones, I don't know.. To all colleagues from all over the world - good luck!
Liked by tomarack and Madwelshman and
#7

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Interesting responses, I read all of them!

What makes this situation unbelievable is that Florida (U.S.A.) is a pretty good place for model boats, in fact almost all kinds of RC hobbies, YEAR-ROUND. So disappointing. People hurt themselves unknowingly.

Thanks for your responses.

Lew
Lew
Florida, USA
Home page: https://www.RCFlorida.org/lmb
Liked by DWBrinkman and Madwelshman and
#6

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Dobré ráno, den, večer, všem kolegům. Ano i u nás v České republice (Czech Republic , Europe ) je situace s mladou generací modelářů špatná. Mám vždy obrovskou radost, když dítě umí řezat s ruční pilkou, když umí samo něco vyrobit. Mám u nás ( Plzeň , Pilsen ) i jednoho ( ano pouze jednoho !! ) , kdo dělá něco rukama. Tenhle chlapec má sice talent, ale to je málo, nemám komu jinému víc předávat zkušenosti, nářadí.. Ostatní se věnují Facebook, instagram , tiktok.... Asi je to chyba i nás starších, nevím.. Všem kolegům z celého Světa - ať se vám daří !
Fire Boat Florián
Liked by tomarack and Wolle and
#5

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Hello,
I have nothing more to add to the various comments except that in France, our club of 35 members has similar problems. In short, our members are consumers, not actors.
Liked by Madwelshman and RodC and
#4

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Hi lew i really feel for you but that is exactly what i have found in uk no one wants to do the organizing but they all want to complain and think they can do better but they never do.
Philuk👍
Liked by tomarack and Madwelshman and
#3

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Lew a good morning to you
I don't think it has something to do with countries.I m talking to dutch, belgian,and french clubs and every where they have the same problem. One of the declining memberships was the corona. I have seen our memeberships growing ( not by ten's) but regularly new members presented themselves. During the pandemy a lot of people left our club for various reasons.
I have taken over the presidency of our 121 years of existance because our actual president was suffering with health problems( he is 83). I m a young lad of 74. And i agree the efforts you put in is a days work. We organised an exhibition in a castle and the number of people showed up was fenominal due to the local newspaper and broadcasting company who announced it a couple of days before. This year we go with our 3 divisions( boats, trains and lorries) to an exhibition in Holland, after that in may we have a modelboat and modeltrain day at our second pond.
Over the 2 years i try to increase the PR and show events to attract more people and get new members out of it. I must admit due to all this , the collaboration increases.
So i hope this continues in the future. I have at he moment a fantastic team around me that is helpfull in every way.
will be continued 😂
Liked by jbkiwi and Madwelshman and
#2

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

Hello Lev

I can definitely understand you.
There is also a model boat club in our neighboring town. I did some research and then didn't join. The reason...the members were extremely arrogant and I didn't have the time to get involved. Although I would have liked to.
Instead, I offered that if I could drive my boats on the club pond, I would like to give 20 euros to the club's coffers. They rejected that.
I can understand if you have to keep the area in order and it has to be done by someone. But taking a boat for 1 - 2 hours and spending 20 euros more on your wallet is nothing to sneeze at. Not everyone has the time to get fully involved in a club.
Liked by DWBrinkman and jbkiwi and
#1

How much is too much? (If it ain't free and I need to volunteer then I ain't joining.)

I believe I figured out one more reason that scale model hobbies is declining (at least in the US). I think oversaturation with responsibilities of a few that the majority take advantage of.

I am finding this true in two different clubs, the Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club and the Bay Area Blitzkrieg RC Tank Club.

About 12 years ago I joined the previous club (Bay Area Electric Boaters, over 25 members) at the park. I was pushed in as the "Commodore". I made some major accomplishments with the county in installing a floating dock at no cost to us. Even got better grounds maintenance. With a lot of pain I organized a regatta. Lots of people wanted one but trying to get volunteers (needed about 20) to help was almost impossible. To encourage more people to participate I made the event free. I got donations for the various event prizes. I almost had a meltdown when one of the winners mentioned the cheap junk (yes free new inexpensive tools) that were given out as prizes. Holy $hit! (Sorry about this but this is how I felt.) He paid nothing and did get a winning award certificate, at my own expensive.

As for the current model boat club, I (and help with my son) which I restarted after the other one collapsed I have been organizing the meets, running the website and funding it (now down), advertising in local hobby shops, and trying to keep everyone happy.

Recently, I started working on the docks as I have mentioned a few weeks ago. No much more to do and storage is not an issue. However, there is a lot of work behind the scenes, loading my SUV, unloading and setup at the park, retrieving the docks, cleaning, packing, removal and storage. My son is helping me but he has to bring his young kids along and have to be watched.

Basically ditto for the RC tanks. Instead of the docks it is buildings, trees, a bridge, and other accessories.

As far as help, the tank guys (my son organized this club) are more helpful in getting things set up. I get some help from two of the model boaters. There are some of the "tank guys" that bring a few accessories for everyone to share. None of the boaters do that.

At 82 (in this March) I feel like retiring. I spend more time on "working for the clubs" than I do on model boats and tanks. No one wants to take over anything, but they sure don't mind if someone else does it.

I'm not keen on giving up and I am afraid the club will fold if no one takes responsibility. That exactly what happened when I left the previous boat club.

I know there are a few of you that are lucky and have great organizations even if you do pay. Are Americans "cheap and lazy" or is it me - that is the question.

I don't mean to be whining but I would like to hear opinions from members in other countries as to what you would do, do they have similar situations, and any possible cures for these situations.

Lew
Lew
Florida, USA
Home page: https://www.RCFlorida.org/lmb
Liked by DWBrinkman and tomarack and

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