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Wanted: Suggestions! (organize local group?)

3K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  1983JZR3W 
#1 ·
So as you guys may or not know, I am the official President of the Connecticut chapter. Since I am in a state where not many smart owners are signed up on any forum for smart cars, I have a steep hill to climb, but I am very determined.

I have ideas of my own of how to get members to participate here on SCOA and in my chapter. I am curious to hear from you guys as to ideas that could be worked out to help promote smart and have meet and greets and cruise nights and car meets at the dealerships and other great stuff.

I will post more on this thread after Monday because that is when I have a huge Financial Accounting test so I'm supposed to be studying :rolleyes:

So, the questions are, what advice do you have for me to help get the ball rolling? What has worked our for those that are active in a chapter group? What suggestions do you have for me? What events have had the biggest turnouts?

I'm all ears to your thoughts! Thank you!
 
#2 ·
i have not been to the houston group yet, i'm signed up but nothing has been set since I joined. i missed it by a few hours last time!

but locally, i have been known to chase down others in a smart car. i followed the tye dyed girl to the college. and I followed the yellow one into the gas station. i've left a note on the red one, and I called the state farm guy who has one with ads on it to talk about his car.
out there meeting people, stirring up the pot, tellign them about this forum, and HOPEing to get a group locally going. i think there's 9 here in town.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Contact Marvone at the First Coast Smarties in Jax Fl.

I have been helping him off and on to get that area's group back up and running and he has been very successful.

One successful tip is that he has hooked into the smart center, especially the service area; each time a smart comes leaves the service area, the staff there leave a club flyer on the dash.
 
#4 ·
Set up a local cruise that starts out at the dealership. Itis a good thing for the dealer as it gets people back in there, plus a crowd is always a good thing, and it gets the cars out in the public eye, bringing more attention to the dealership. It also could get you some people that may not have a computer but check in with the dealer.
 
#11 ·
Some celebrity appearance should spark something...

(I almost started to laugh when magilly00 said I was the celebrity of SCOA, the celebrity nobody knows yet :))
 
#15 ·
Your royal highness, you are welcome to join us any time here in CT :D
:rofl:

Being serious though, maybe some flyers posted up at local Jewel's and other high traffic areas? Low budget and just might catch some owners' eye if you make it jump out...
 
#14 ·
When I was running the club in Austin, I printed up some business cards on vistaprint and whenever I saw a smartie, I would leave a business card on the windsheild. As I started getting some members in, I would give them business cards to do the same.

Also, the idea of getting in good with the dealership is a great way. The guy who was running the Austin club before had the Salesmen at the dealership telling new owners about the club, then he found out that they weren't actually telling them. Once I got with the Service guy at the dealership and asked him to tell everyone, we started getting more members.

You can also start a free website, that way if a new owner does just a simple google search, his results will come back with something.

Be patient. Most people aren't going to join until they see/hear that people are actually joining and having fun with it. Once they see that they are missing out, they will get ahold of ya, some why, some how.

Hope this helps. =)
 
#18 · (Edited)
Originally I read a article in the CT post about the dealer having a gathering with all the Smart owners and it being an annual thing but like we talked about nothing more was heard this year. I remember thinking at the time what a cool idea that was. The article made it sound like a lot of owners went but maybe I'm mistaken and they didn't feel it was worth doing ?
 
#19 ·
Does your local newspaper have a "Wheels" section? Lots of papers do and they have a reporter that keeps up with local car happenings. In my area, we have a Car Council that is made up of many local car clubs. They meet monthly to post info on various local car shows and cruise-ins. If you start going to the local car cruise-ins with your car and a poster explaining about the new club, you may get some response. I go to cruise-ins weekly with my other cars and have been suprised the number of people that either have a smart and have an interest in them. They just don't think the smart is car show material and bring their special interest car. When I have taken my smart to events with the local club, we get a lot of interest. I was even at a car show that had a lot of bikers there. One guy was interested in getting a smart to haul in his toy hauler instead of his golf cart. When you see a smart parked in a lot, put a flyer on the windshield, there is no guarantee they will be interested, but it is the law of averages. More flyers out there, the better chance of finding a few interested people. Our local paper does have a wheels section and the reporter,Dan Scanlan, attends a lot of local events. He is always looking for something interesting to report about and has done many pieces on local car enthusiasts. The main thing is be positive and don't give up. Good luck to you!! :):):)
 
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