Region dues

[jumbojimbo]

My regional dues are $20. About 5 gallons of gas. I can't even get to a the nearest racetrack without burning more gas than that. And I use twice that in tires at every Solo I go to.

You guys are being a bit race centric. Region dues have virtually nothing to do with the race (or solo or rally) program. No 300 member region is going to make a dent in the race budget by changing region dues.

The cost of putting on a race is a valid discussion, but don't confuse the question of regional dues by talking about race expense. It's high, we all know it.

Granted, you can argue that a small region shouldn't be putting on a race, especially if it is losing money doing it. In the old days a little region would make a healthy profit on its race and then use that money to support the rest of the regional program. But smart "business" from national in raising sanction fees and smart "business" from the tracks has squeezed that down to virtually nothing. Maybe it does make sense for the monster regions to suck up all the race dates. You see it happening already.

Region dues are generally used to cover the region member expenses. There are probably exceptions, especially in the big regions, but in the little regions membership dues don't even cover the cost of a member. Think about what it costs to send out a newsletter 10 times a year and you'll see how far $20 goes. I know in our region we lose money if a person joins and participates in no activites.

Granted, that little region might not need to send out a newsletter. But we tried that and participation suffered. You're not a region if you don't have communication and community. I'm a little new to road racing so I haven't lost my connection to the region yet. I still care about the Solo program and the Rallycross program.

Anyway, my point is that if your regional dues are too high, then you'll have to decide if the value you get from your region is enough. If it is not, then find another region with lower dues. If you feel like you are getting no value at all from your regional dues and you'd rather save that $20 then maybe you should look at who puts on the next race you attend. And think about whether they would be doing it if they weren't a part of a local region. And then decide if that's worth the cost of 4 beers or one table dance.

Wow, that came out a little stonger than I meant, but you get the idea.

jim