Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Lo all, firstly may I say that I know a critisism isnt always very welcome but I'm posting it with the best of intent and not to be clever or rude.

I took my family to The Silverstone Classic on Sunday and eventually found my way to the TIPEC stand . It took a bit of finding but I wasnt giving up as one of the main reasons to go to such an event for me was to visit the club. I tried the site map online and it said " coming soon " and the event staff had no idea which is fair enough but eventually my family and I found the TIPEC area.

I looked at a few cars then walked in to the marquee and saw two groups of people sitting at the tables chatting. I paused and no one acknowledged me or even seemed to look at me so I smiled and said fairly loudly " oh there is no one I recognise in here "
( pause again giving someone the chance to say welcome are you a member , thinking of being etc) as you would.

I only caught the eye of one person and it fealt like when you walk in to the proverbial village pub , a look up and down and then a look away and he carried on chatting. Those of you who have met me will know that I am a socaible chap and like to meet new folk but I fealt out of place and really quite awkward.

At this point I walked out my wife shrugged her shoulders and we stood outside and discussed what to do now then walked off with our two children. This seemed very different to my first TIPEC experience at the Classic at the NEC last year when TIPEC folk in TIPEC Polo's would walkk up and have a chat with you.

Whatever we say about we're only volunteers or why dont more memebrs do the stand etc , surely this is not the way to encourage new members and or grow our club ?

I have been trying hard to start up a region near to me and post my E-Mail and phone number on the web for new folk and old. I also try to welcome anyone who comes to our very small meet personally so I do feel that this small constructive critisism is justified TBH.

Regards

Mas

Mas
All i can say is that this is very unusual, sorry no one greeted you and your family . I suspect most of us were at the track when you called around. Dont let this put you off it is not the norm i can assure you

Hi Mas - I can echo that.

It is highly unusual not to be greeted. I know many that were there, and they would all have made you feel most welcome. Unfortunately, I cannot speak for who was there at the time you entered the tent but as grb said, I hope this doesn't put you off TIPEC meets. It is quite unusual.

You should have introduced yourself, quite a few folks popped their head in the tent and walked away, sorry if you were ignored, maybe we were all just too engrosed in our conversations, we are a friendly bunch, honest

Thanks for the feedback.

Sorry you left feeling disappointed with the response you felt you should have received.

I did say in earlier posts that the stand would not be manned. We do not focus on signing up new members because the through put of people is very random due to the nature of the event. At other National events we man the stand and we want to chat to as many people as possible to discuss the benefits of joining the club.
This is something we may address in future years but there are large parts of the day with little or no activity especially during the feature races.

I am pleased that the marquee was being used, last year our Club gazebo looked small and was uninviting. We wanted to encourage socialising and give members somewhere to gather and have a natter and take the weight off.

We are a freindly club which you have already experienced at other events, I think I first met you at the NEC. Like the guys have already said you could have introduced yourself and made some more friends.

In one of the threads I posted a map of the circuit and where our stand was on the circuit. I'm pleased you used the tickets you won and no doubt I will see you soon.

Seems really strange considering the folk that were in attendance on Sunday but disappointing that any club member went home feeling let down.

Definately not the norm in my experience and you should not let it put you off attending in future

Paul

" Like the guys have already said you could have introduced yourself and made some more friends "

For an official of any club to take the stance that a visitor to a clubs stand or marquee should be introducing themselves to the club and not the other way round is to my mind an unbelievable stance to take. I prey that this is not the attitude of the whole committee or indeed the normal membership of this or any club.

Thats like saying when folk come to a regions meet , we shouldnt all make the effort to seek them out and make them feel welcome , it's their job. One of the posters was honest enough to say that several people walked in and walked straight back out again ! , does that not make alarm bells ring because having fealt that lack of welcome personally it does to me.

Regards

Mas

It's a difficult one Mas. Certainly at Silverstone, it was a captive audience and should have been relatively easy to greet anyone who stepped into the forum that was "the tent".
I can't agree with you on the regional meets though, as we can't really greet everyone who walks in to the pub - it gets to be a bit like cold sell charity work. We do advertise ourselves by having copies of All Torque around and a large Porsche emblem too, but with such a large, disparate venue with many people there for many reasons, it is difficult.

But I do agree, and if I were there (or any number of the members I mix with), then I can only apologise on behalf of us all for being remiss. It shouldn't be the case. Sorry.

I would probably echo Seans comments. The tent was not manned, its not a recruitment event and it was more for people to take a break in with lunch etc.

Of course I would expect most people to say hello, it makes no odds who it is (member / committee etc) just out of politeness, if someone looked vaguely interested. I spoke to at least a dozen people for varying degrees of time. I think we are turning something out of the clubs control in to something the club appears to condone which is not the case.

Of course I also subscribe to the view its quite possible for the individual entering the area to say hello themselves, espcially if they are a member or active in some way already?

Just to make my position on this crystal clear, I am not condoning anyone being ignored when they attend any TIPEC display, regional meeting or event.

I was genuinely disappointed to read your post and apologised as have other members and officials in this thread, even those who may have been sat at the table during your visit.

I said you could (not should) have introduced yourself to the group and struck up a conversation. You are also an official of the Club in your capacity of RO and the group sat in the marquee could have been visitors who had just wandered in.

How you then make your leaps and pray for the rest of the Committee and what occurs regionally is beyond me. You have had a disappointing experience thanks for sharing it with us, we have taken your comments onboard.

We have a reputation for being a friendly club and have a team of people that work very hard to achieve this and we will continue to do so.