Summer is off to a strong start as we've seen record numbers of members, new and veterans, showing up to area Mini Meets and Main Events. At the last couple events we've run out of lanyards, tag cards, etc. These items are always free to members and we have already hit our planned 2012 budget expense for these items. In addition, we also have rental expenses to bring out the SCLX Event Rig/Mission Control to Main Events. We have great members who are volunteering to use their truck and when it works out schedule wise, we will do so.
We've posted this in the forum and have already received donations to cover new lanyards. The additional funds go to covering the other event expendible items. I have made a recomendation to The Prez that we execute and order more items now as we have the money available in our reserves. When the funds come in we will replenish those reserves. Johnny Bee has authorized the purchases.
Here is our challenge to you... this club has always been, and will continue to be, dues-free, sponsor-free, and ad-free on the website and forum. We are challenging all members who have received some sort of benefit from SCLX in the form of knowlege gained, ideas, or friendship, and who have not yet made a donation to the club in 2012, to consider doing so. Your $5, $10, $25, $50, or $____ goes directly to maintain our excellence of execution for current and future members.
Visit the SUPPORT page on our website, or, make your donation in person at the next Main Event.
Thank you in advance for your help,
Rob "stealthsrt8" VP of Operations and Finance Space City LX Modern Mopar Inc.
We are pleased to announce that Pennzoil Ultra is returning as the Presenting Sponsor for Lone Star Mopar Fest. Last year's event saw over 275 vehicles and 700+ people gather "Where Appearance and Performance Converge". Stay tuned for information and registration by visiting www.lonestarmoparfest.com and make your plans for October 19-20.
For more information on Pennzoil Ultra visit their website.
It's with regret that we must announce we no longer will have a club-wide cruise to Galveston.
This cruise pre-dates SCLX as several of us LX owners gathered in Downtown Houston on April 2007 for a cruise to Gaidos for lunch. It was a great time and really foreshadowed what types of relationships a Modern Mopar Owners Community could foster.
Five years later and over 1400 registered members we've grown too big to sneak onto the island and take a picture on Cherry Hill. With the help of one of our members, Chef Matt (Director of Logistics) was able to contact the necessary people at the City and Parks Department. In addition, Chef Matt was able to speak with the GPD officer in charge of police escorts.
In order to replicate a club photo on Cherry Hill we would need the following:
Permit from City: $200 Permit from Parks Department: $200 Police Escort while we are on the Island (approx 4 hours): $600 Permit to block a lane of traffic to get onto Cherry Hill: $325
We thought long and hard about how we could make this trip happen. We thought, "maybe participants would donate $10 per car". In the end, we don't see this event as a cost-effective choice for our members and the club.
Some have asked, "If we don't take a picture can we still cruise down to Galveston". The past couple years the police have been on the lookout and several member received numerous tickets - so keep that in mind.
We will come up with an alternate "Foodie Cruise" event for April. Thank you for your understanding.
The MOPAR "Top Eliminator" program is in it's sixth year and is given to a vehicle that MOPAR feels best showcases the brand with creativity and workmanship. For 2012 three vehicles will be chosen and the first was chosen at the Spring Festival of LXs in Irvine CA.
While at SF7 we saw several MOPAR "shirts" walking around a particular black/blue Challenger. The owner, Tom Ledoux, saw some of the shirts and went over to speak with them. Later in the day a white van pulls up to where we are all sitting and a half-dozen MOPAR "shirts" jump out with photographer in tow. At that point, we knew something was up but wasn't sure what.
Dale Aldo, MOPAR Motorsports Marketing Manager, jumped out of the van and walked directly to Tom's car. He queried Tom about the car, about the thought process behind what Tom did, and about the big USW sticker on the side (haha). Then he gave Tom the news.... you are our Top Elminator winner. Those of us who were there to watch this were so excited. Tom was speechless. Here are some comments from Tom:
Thanks everyone. In all honesty, I am still completely shocked that the team from Mopar picked me for this amazing honor. I've gone to SEMA for a day or 2 for the last 3 years, and I usually spend more than 50% of my time in the Mopar booth or in Mopar Alley, so I don't think that my head has full grasped what it will be like to see my car in the Mopar booth at SEMA this year.
But the reality is, is that this Top Eliminator award is for everyone here at SpaceCity LX. Before I met this club and all of the wonderful people, I was planning on keeping my Challenger 100% stock. After the first Meet & Greet, I thought... "Well, maybe I'll just add a Cold Air Intake". Then with each passing event, seeing more and more cars, and seeing some the amazing mods that this group has done to their cars, I slowly started adding more and more pieces to the Challenger. So I want to thank all of SCLX for all of the advise, suggestions, critiques, what-ifs, and discussions, because they all lead to what happened to me at SpringFest.
Especially want to thank JohnnyB, Rob, Colin, Bill Denton, Jerry, Freebird, BilletTech, USW, Chef Matt, Doc Al, Bob B, Charginscott, Carlos, Larry, Justin, King Mark and Ray for all of the inspiration and help. Without this club, I would never have even had "Have a car at SEMA" on my Bucket List. Thank you all for being part of my life.
Tom
We are honored to have 2012 Top Eliminator award winner Tom and his Challenger in SCLX. Great job tledoux!
On behalf of Jerry Lawson, VP of Member Services we wanted to update you on some recent behind the scenes work being done by your Leadership Team and Directors.
There has been some exciting work in Member Services over the past few weeks and the activities have focused on one thing - fine tuning our member engagement process so that EVERY MEMBER finds a welcoming and easy way to get connected and become part of our great SCLX Modern Mopar family.
In 2008 we started our “Area Coordinator” program to foster connections among members on a local, geographic, level. In 2010 we added more coordinators per area so that no one coordinator felt the strain of juggling commitments between family, work, and SCLX. In late 2011 we recognized the efforts of Jose Rosado taking the AC role to a new level and created a Director slot for him on club staff and lead the team of ACs.
These enhancements to the AC program provided some results but were still not the right answer as SCLX continued to grow at the rate of more than one member per year. At the beginning of 2012 we began to think, “how do we take the best of the AC program and make that better?” We are constantly striving for ways to enhance the overall member experience. We know you make choices with how you allot your time and we want you leaving every SCLX event glad that you came.
Healthy organizations and its leaders constantly review and assess the it’s design structure, roles, and activities within the organization. They must line up with the vision and mission or the efforts with not produce long-standing results. So after some in depth review of the Area Coordinator program we are making the necessary enhancements which we feel will capitalize and continue to replicate the heartbeat of SCLX – “Members helping Members” and “The Cars Bring Us Together – Our Members Set Us Apart”.
We have clarified role expectations and simplified our approach. Jerry, Jose, and I are happy to introduce to you the new program that continues to center around geographic connections and continued club-wide participation.
Starting March 16, 2012, each area will have one Member Advisor and multiple Member Representatives. We also have a “roving” Member Advisor who will assist as well as help develop areas lacking MAs and MRs.
Member Representatives will have more availability and interaction with members, especially new members and first-time attendees as part of our New Member Welcome team initiative.
Member Advisors will be led by our Director of Member Services, Jose Rosado. Jose will continue to work with our VP of Member Services, Jerry Lawson. Event Logistics is realigned under the VP of Operations, Rob David.
Over the last couple weeks Jerry and Jose have reached out to the existing team of Area Coordinators and given them the opportunity to be part of the new program. Some have embraced the new roles and responsibilities and some have graciously stepped aside to make room for others. Please join us in thanking your Area Coordinators who have served in the past and helped grow this organization.
I know in review of these enhancements you can see how we are committed to giving members the opportunity to build connections with other members.
A complete listing of the Member Advisors and Member Representatives can be seen on our Club Staff page of website. Be sure to congratulate and talk to these folks at events because they are here for you. They are offering their time, commitment, and passion to further SCLX for You.
Thank you for being the most important part of SCLX,
After a rainout of Coffee and Cars, and a rainout of the Central Meet and Greet, the family is finally getting together this Saturday for our 9th Mod Meet.
Armadillo Indoor Marketplace
431 E. Airtex Road
Houston, TX 77073
11am to 3pm
12pm - Message from the Prez
1pm - Pink Thingy Cinic with Freebird
2pm - Predator How-To with R/T Ran and SRT8madness
We are inviting all members, new and old, custom cars or stock cars... come out and see what SCLX is all about. Members helping members... its our DNA.
We've hosted eight club mod meets. They are a member favorite and a great place to learn about your vehicle and see all the different things that members have done to their vehicles. Our nineth mod meet is February 25 and we hope you can join us.
Wanted to get you a brief update since we are now 4 weeks into our Event Rig Project. Because of your tremendous support we have progressed completely through phase 2 as some final equipment delivers this week. We will debut this new equipment at the Central Meet and Greet next Friday. You will see larger tables, garment rack for club apparel store, PA system with elevated speakers, mixer board, wireless mics, and subwoofer.
Supporters have donated $3390 towards our Phase 2 goal of $6000 (57%). As the support continues to come in we will direct those funds towards exterior graphics and interior organizational items. Local business partners have expressed interested in being a part of this project. While our goal would be for this project to be 100% funded by members, we also know that our priority is to enhance the event experience for members and complete this project as timely as possible. Your leadership team will be reviewing that option and timing to allow for outside contributions.
Full information on this project can be found on the Event Rig page.
Club News
