Cars and People

This past weekend I spoke at the national convention of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). I am a member, and I was asked to present one of the keynote times, and one small breakout. I run our teen driving school in my region, and we received several awards for our program so I wanted to help other regions improve their programs. For my keynote one of the major pushes for our club nationally is to grow our membership, and grow how many members are involved in volunteer roles, committees, and leadership in the club.

Wow, doesn’t that sound like working with a fraternity? So when I was asked I said sure, I bring a lot of experience to this topic. Plus, professionally I run a community center, and there we are constantly recruiting and engaging volunteers in our programs. So this was a topic I could cover, and I was excited to create a program with the focus of our club, CARS.

The convention was fantastic, not only was it in Vegas, but just being around a large group of people who all love the same thing is always inspiring. It was fun meeting members from all over the country, sharing my experiences, learning from theirs, and just talking about our clubs was a refreshing break from routine.

My favorite part of the conference was the closing banquet. It was the annual the hall of fame induction dinner and it was great to see and hear the stories of life long committed members. My highlight was I got to meet the Datsun racing legend Pete Brock and one of the most famous female drivers Lyn St. James. So cool!

I love speaking and presenting, and I love when I get to do it with organizations and people that I really care about and that mean a lot to me. I have loved my time in the SCCA, like the saying goes, “I came for the cars, I stay for the people.” I have been made great friends while competing, through our driving school I feel like I make an impact in the community, and I have another network outside of work in our community.

It was interesting to see how all groups of people are basically the same. The same issues with trusting leadership, questions about national board roles, transparency of finances, balancing member demands and member needs, the members who want it how it used to be, and other members wanting to look farther into the future. All of that excited the organizational consulting in me to jump in and try to help. I am hoping I get invited back in 2018, and that maybe I can find some ways to get right in the mix and help make a difference in my car club.