I can give you a hand andy

Cool, we can discuss over an ale....we wait for the Automodex thing to finish...then we get going.

It would be nice to have none of the hobbyshops involved in the running, but they would be welcomed to sponsor, or equip a shop on-site....wherever said site is. We need to parks to help out, we cannot do this in a 'rented' area unless the rent is cheap enough.

I will send you some info I have already compiled on the matter.

im in for your proposal andy... you have my vote and support

Thanks,

I have submitted a request to the DED for registration of a non-profit organisation, lets see what they come back with.....

50aed a mo. is not bad to have a decent track with the facilities that we need

ill go for it

I can also help with a business plan.
Will the parks allow sponsorship / advertising?
I'm not necessarily thinking LHS, but just general advertising. A few signage locations could go a long way to the $ target.

Andy,
I think you have right approach.
The first step has to be to form a legal entity with a membership base in order to move to the next phase.

Greg,

From my discussion with the parks, informal as it was, they were happy with sponsorship, provided it was not 'intrusive'.
It is always good to have some way to pay the bills, but in my eyes, that should be the 'jam' on the sandwich....the bread and butter comes from membership fees and volunteer works....

I am going to create a new thread, this is WAAAAY off topic.

Ok,

As mentioned previously, with a little help from members, and some volunteer work, we can establish a business plan promoting the search for a venue and a legal entity for a club.

For starters, I have asked the DED for info on establishing a club. I will not proceed any further until after the Automodex event, but any advice/suggestions can be made here.

As of now, a membership fee will be the way forward, and the figure of AED50 per month will be used as a yardstick. I will set up a seperate poll to see who would be willing to pay this amount.

I will edit this post for progress reporting and development.

PLEASE do NOT post rubbish here, anything that is not considered constructive, will be deleted.

Lets see if we can pull this off.

**EDIT**
Regular Member info:
In the last 3 days 36 individuals have visited this site
In the last 7 days 46 individuals have visited this site

I would say, based on this information, we do not have enough interest as of yet to validate 50 paying members @ AED50 per month.

Andy. Appreciate your initiative on this.

A friend of mine is the Events Manager at ' www.atcuae.ae' Its basically the Automobile & The touring car club for UAE. Headed by Mohf. Bin Suleam. Majority or rather all the local car clubs are associated to them in order for them to become legit.

He is keen to assit. Luckily they have a weekly management meeting tomorrow.If we can prepare a short letter outlining out intent of forming a club, utilizing the existing facility at the Dubai creek park etc. He can present & discuss the same with the baord tomorrow.

We can take it from there.
Iam off to ADH now for a meeting. Will you be able to get the letter ? Will sms you his email address. His name is Elton.

Sam,

I think I know Elton. I was involved in the Desert Challenge for a few seasons. Anyway, I think an association with the ATCC would be a great idea, but I am doubtful they will be massively interested with us. Certainly we could piggy-back nicely with them, but we would need to ensure that we are self-governable. I expect that they would not want to expend energy, resources and funds on us. But we could prove useful as a 'breeding ground' for potential racers of the future.
It migth be short notice for tomorrow's board meeting. But a mention of us would be nice.

His email address is Elton@atcuae.ae
See what you can send as an initial info.
Cheers

Andy i like your motivation.

Was reading your comments in the off road nitro thread, and i would be willing to help out and make a donation for the initial AED 10,000 we may need to raise.

I have one idea, not sure if it will work though. The people who donate towards the initial money that we need should form a comity, who the could aid in maintaining the track.

The only problem with having a comity is that sometimes there can be inflicting issues.

Im not too sure if one the hobby stores would be willing enough to look after a track, and if we did find one im sure they wouldn't run it very well, as the income that would be generated would be very small compared to the mark up they make on their over priced 'Ready to Run' kits.

But if this is done properly, i cant see why this wouldnt work. And once word gets out too all of the on road nitro boys, im sure there will be more than 50 paying members a month.

cathurga wrote:

Cool, we can discuss over an ale....we wait for the Automodex thing to finish...then we get going.

It would be nice to have none of the hobbyshops involved in the running, but they would be welcomed to sponsor, or equip a shop on-site....wherever said site is. We need to parks to help out, we cannot do this in a 'rented' area unless the rent is cheap enough.

I will send you some info I have already compiled on the matter.

cool makes sense to start after automodex!

and agree will be better not to have any of the LHS involved! lets see what we can do!

Make no mistake, it is not a case of not wanting the hobby shops to be involved, I DO want them to get involved, but the facility must be managed by a comittee that represents drivers/racers, not store owners.
IIf the Hobby Shops want to get involved, they are MORE than welcome, come ply your business, sponsor an event, or a class if that is all you want to do....but use it to the shops marketing advantage!

The biggest problems right now, are establishing a legal entity, with comittee management structure and a 'BUSINESS PLAN'. It needs to be run like a business, with the difference being that ALL monies serve the company and its shareholders.
The shareholders decide the direction of the company, by voting.

Right now, I would not entertain the idea without a legal manner of collecting money and a PLAN on how to appropriate the funds. The off-road guys are forging ahead, but they need to take care that all the money they collect, is spent the way it SHOULD be, otherwise people complain. Greg is a good guy and I believe he will do it correctly.
We need to do the same for our on-road people.....and I think we need to move forward...the summer months are a perfect time to get it all sorted, and ready for the good weather...>!!

Andy, my girlfriend is a lawyer. I can get her to look into the legal background (if there is any) in forming a comittee

Guess you dont win many arguments then ....sorry, OT?

i think so too.. they have their ways to turn you around..

haha!



I'm in on this btw..

Just need to gather up as much people as possible..


?: There's gonna be a drift track there if ever right? lol!

Lance,

I reckon the idea would be to get an area that is tarmac smooth, and then develop our own track over it.....something that can be changed periodically, say, once a year. And of course a portion of that area needs to be drift oriented....

i hope there could be a crawling course as well. . . count me in. . . with or without the crawl course

i'll try to talk to my friends on how they were able to legalize airsoft here in dubai and how the airsoft group came to be recognized. . . what were the steps they did etc. . . i don't know if it will be the same case as for RC though. . . . .

I want to contribute for offroad as well as on-road GT/mini

Im ok with 50 a month...no doubt

But bear in mind they probaly want to see somhing like a petition of all the conributers just so they know that there will be backing...the track could also be promoted via the hobby shops themselves..similar to how we promoted dubdrift way back....the only issue that i see is maintaining that interest in the hobby, its very common for some people to disappear for 2-3 years then come back....there will have to be some form of bi-yearly competition to keep that fire going....or else it will be dead from the start

....just my 2 fils

I'am ok as well to Pay Dhs 50 per month for the track upkeep.

Rich, given that crawling only requires a comparitively small amount of space, I m sure a few willing hands would contribute to get something going, no matter how informal. Its the sort of spirit that you have, willing to chip in for the greater good, that we need!
A word with the airsoft guys would be helpful for us to find out how they administer funds. My biggest worry is establishing a bank account and providing reassurance to the contributors/members that their funds are being proportioned properly and not going into some peoples pockets. (Like setting up a car rental company that charges a dirham a day, taking deposits and leaving the country...LOL)

Ahmed, unfortuntely, the goals of the immediate club would be for on-road, we cannot aim for everything at once. We already know that the off-road guys are gathering at Lisaili, so please feel free to contribute with them. If you have funds over to join us too, we would be most welcome. I know the off-road guys and they have chosen to go out to Lisaili, and they are not doing any on-road stuff....so that would be our aim right now.

that was a typo from my old post.....disregard that....but read what i posted about the interest