Miata Mailing List: July 1996, Message #177
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   From: fpotter@his.com (Frank Potter)
Subject: MCA and Miata.net
   Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 16:46:24 -0400

Norman's maladroit message to Gary simply underscores what many of us have
suspected for years: the purpose of the"Club" is not to serve or support
"members" - more accurately called "subscribers - it's to sell magazines.
Members of the "Club" don't get to vote on officers, procedures,
God-help-us-salaries, or anything else - we get to buy the magazine. That's
it. If we don't like it, we get to vote with our feet, or checkbooks.

Ken and Bob have hit the thumb right on the nail: The Miata.net doesn't do
a thing to improve Norman Garrett's income flow, and is therefore ignored.
I don't like it, but I certainly understand it. Competent writers and
proofreaders don't even rate very high on MCA's priority list.

The reason that most of us subscribe is to see what new stuff has shown up
in the ads. Gary's heroic efforts to support the Miata community has
absolutely no counterpart in MCA--that's not what they do.

I entirely support Gary in his efforts to develop an even more
member-supportive Miata.net, about which we will all presumably learn more
in Toronto. I wouldn't be surprised to see MCA's membership rolls begin to
wither even more rapidly than they have in the past year, as people begin
to discover what real member support can be.

Color me disgruntled.

Color me off to Toronto, I wonder how big the message file will be when I
get back in a week....

Live long and prosper, guys, and stay away from the front of large semis.

Frank

"Every once in a while you really want to do something that is really out
of the norm--something really stupid--and, by damn, we have found it." -

>From a recent Washington Post article about people who buld and operate
catapults - okay, trebuchets - capable of throwing things like pianos, cars
(Del Sols?), etc.