Frank makes the Big Time

[guzzisteve]

Piaggio's Wide magazine, article written by Frank Wedge about our club, excellent read. Enjoy

https://wide.piaggiogroup.com/en/articles/community/the-origin-story-of-moto-guzzi-national-owners-club/index.html

[drdwb]

Good article. But I and my riding partner / wife are former members who would still be members if Frank printed and sent out a paper newsletter. They were always a great diversion/ retreat from the screen based digital world. And I believe the paper newsletter is the main reason the club and rallies became as popular as they did.

One might argue it’s one of the reasons the membership has declined, but I think the decline is more due to the aging baby boomers quitting riding ,declining bike sales and the lack of interest of younger riders joining the motorcyclist community contribute.
Seems like we are dinosaurs.

[guzzisteve]

Decline is due to no paper. Makes no difference to me. In Illinois Tim would print you out a copy. If someone w/o a puter asked me I would do the same. Don't know too many members that have no computer or a smartphone, but there are some. I have not always had a puter or a printer.
I still sign folks up in the club, just something I've always done.

[bad Chad]

I told Frank, more than once, that going digital only, was not going to work for me.   I'm glad Steve and others are good with digital, or printing their own, but not me.   I know several former club members who sighted the loss of a hard copy as to why they dropped out.   I understand the reasons Frank stated for the switch, primarily cost much less to put out, and makes his life less hectic.
  I only have anecdotal evidence, but I believe the digital move had a big impact on membership.   I lobbied him hard to at least offer a hard copy at a higher price, but he wasn't having it.   I really enjoyed getting it in the mail, taking my time reading through it, but things change, and I can't see it ever coming back.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I sent this article to a friend who's a Moto Guzzi ambassador, both of us are under 40, MGNOC members, Guzzi riders, subscribers to print motorcycle magazines, etc. Neither of us were aware of "Wide" before this so thank you for sharing! If this were in print I'd likely subscribe to it, but on the Wide website I don't even see an option to subscribe for updates by email 

I see the "younger" riders as contributing in different ways. A lot on social media, still some on forums, podcasts galore, online publishers like motorcycle.com, RevZilla's Common Tread, etc. More unique are that some organize bike nights, antique motorcycle shows, group rides, etc.

[73 sport]

    I agree with "bad chad". Since  Frank changed some thing on his web site, I can't down load the news letter anymore.

[guzzisteve]

He sends a password every month.

[73 sport]

  I get the Pass word and using it wont work. Charlie Mulendore tried to download the web site on my computer , it took almost 30-40 minuets to access Franks' web site. It's probably my lap tops problem.

[Gliderjohn]

I was a member for years. When it went digital it worked for a few months for me and then the password sent each month would not be recognized. Tried it on both of our laptops plus a couple of other computers, no luck. Frank didn't seem interested in trying to solve the problem so I dropped my membership.
GliderJohn

[Matteo]

I've been a member since 2000, I like the digital letter and have never had an issue opening one on my iPad or iPhone.

[Moparnut72]

When I first joined in 2019 I had trouble logging into the newsletter. I use a tablet in landscape mode. It turns out that the password blank wasn't showing and going to the next screen lost the login blank. Going to portrait mode solved the problem as the whole page was then displayed.
kk

[Vagrant]

I rarely have a issue with the news letter coming up in seconds. Sure it would be nice to have the paper/print letter back but all the mags have gone belly up and they had advertising support. The real issue is with sites like Wild Guzzi your problems get answered instantly now days. That kind of kills the old days when it took three months to maybe get the answer to a problem.

[Moparnut72]

That is the truth in a different way. When I was a department head in county government in the beginning correspondence with my counter parts in state and county government was by mail. When we were all connected by the Internet exchanges were instantaneous resulting in an increasing workload, less time doing real work in the field and more BS work in the office.
kk

[TN Mark]

Dropping membership due to not getting a paper copy while refusing to print it out yourself makes no sense to me whatsoever.

I’ve had a life membership in the MGNOC for decades.
95% of the time if the name and password don’t work,  it’s operator error. Your phone or computer settings, your web browser, your VPN, your internet provider etc.

[bad Chad]

I don’t care that it makes no sense to you, why would I?

It makes sense to me, thus the reason I took the action I did.  I have no issue with what others choose to do.

[drdwb]

Dropping membership due to not getting a paper copy while refusing to print it out yourself makes no sense to me whatsoever.

I’ve had a life membership in the MGNOC for decades.
95% of the time if the name and password don’t work,  it’s operator error. Your phone or computer settings, your web browser, your VPN, your internet provider etc.

Comes down to value and customer service for me. I and other members asked Frank at the Salina Co. National rally back in 2010, ( I believe ) to provide a paper copy, we told him we would be willing to pay additional fees for a printed copy. Frank’ s reply was it wasn’t worth the effort.
Do I need to be a member to attend rallies, no. Did the cost  of membership go down when the paper copy stopped, no .  Can I still access the national site to find rally dates,or look through the swap section, yes. Can I still get helpful information from Guzzi folks, yes through this forum, which I donate to when I remember. So where is the value/ need to be a member? Frank and others did a wonderful job of gathering the flock, for their work I am grateful. I just don’t feel the need to contribute to Frank’s business. If / when he or his successor puts out a paper copy I might be inclined to support that effort.

[kingoffleece]

It's 30 bucks.
If it's so easy to publish a monthly letter why has nobody stepped up?  There's much larger issues in life.  Motorcycles shouldn't be one of the big ones.
Plenty of us are happy to have a place to go for our favorite brand.

[guzziart]

.....I wasn't a member when there was a "hard copy" but do miss the MGNOC membership ID card & sticker that used to come with membership renewal.  The card would get me a 10% discount at Joe Eish's. 

[guzzisteve]

I had them back to 80 in boxes w/I move to GA 22yrs ago, had to toss them. I also didn't have to pay when I became IL Rep. Then back to paying, so it's all the same. Wish I would have done the lifetime thing but now it's too close to the end.
I didn't start this thread to bitch about the club like most want to do that have an issue.
BUT just to show that Franks club finally got recognized from Piaggio, the folks who brought you something you have to go to EU to go to a rally. F that!!!

[Dave Swanson]

Nice to see MGNOC and Frank recognized.  Close to a lifetime of tireless toil with the only reward being helping to keep the Moto Guzzi community together.  Admirable and amazing dedication to all of us Guzziphiles that I know I could have never managed.  Definitely worthy of support by fans of the brand, paper or no.

I really enjoy reading the newsletters from the early years that are on file. 

[John Ulrich]

As a state rep, I printed, collated, stamped, folded, inserted, stamped, mailed for a dozen or so computerless members. 6 months later I stopped that craziness.  Many had their kids print it.

[jumpmaster]

He sends a password every month.

EXACTLY!  That's why I dropped out of the national club after the 2nd year!  I couldn't be bothered with having to change a password monthly, especially for a site that presumably doesn't have - or at least shouldn't have - any significantly dangerous personal information that I haven't personally submitted to it voluntarily and visibly!   

[Diver1357]

Thanks GuzziSteve for sharing the article about Frank. I have known Frank for years. Good man! He lives 35 miles from me and a couple of blocks from my daughter.

[guzzisteve]

I made it to a couple of the Nationals in Sylvan Grove in the early 80's, what a blast.