Overland member chapters

[vegasjeepguy]

Having been a member in the “early years” of OB, l recognize this a labor of love for Michael who wanted to create a community for fellow overlanders to come together and share their love for doing what we do. As this community has grown to 15,000+ members, has there been any conversation about establishing local (regional, state, city) chapters? The idea would be respective chapters would have local leadership accountable to a national president and/or board of directors to better develop and manage their chapters allowing for the opportunity of greater inclusion and participation of local members. Having local chapters may also be useful in creating points of contact for those who move to or travel through the area.

And, for what it’s worth, I am NOT volunteering nor do I have any interest in leadership. I do see a potential need in the future and there seem to be a lot of members willing and able to step up to help lead the OB community.

 

[Kent R]

I will let Michael answer the question about chapters.
My goal as the ambassador is to create local meet-up's so that you can travel anywhere in our community and find a meet-up that you could attend. In the last six months we have started 6 new meet-ups in the west region alone.

 

[Stix]

I really do like this idea as the community continues to grow. What I've discussed with others is that to go from Miami, OK to Yuma, AZ (Both in the Southwest region) its about 19-1/2 hours and 1334 miles. So people in OK will never realistically be going to meets in AZ and AZ wont be going to OK regularly. Also the Ambassadors have quite the travel too. I get the fun of doing the travel and I'm not saying they cant afford it or anything but the fact remains. As ambassador you need to try to reach out to as many of your "constituents" as possible, and running across 1300 miles to make that happen can be hard. In most cases states kind of do their own thing anyway. So it seems to me as we approach 20,000 members and more than half are in the states it would make sense to break it down by states or even state regions. I feel that would get more members active. You appoint a active member in each state or region as a "Head of the area" or whatever, and let them set meets and trips at the local spots. If I'm an ambassador and I live in OK and want to meet folks in AZ I either
A.) Set a rally point at some place that looks good but I've never been to. Or...
B.) Talk with an active member there and see where the local community usually meets and plan a trip there.
If we are picking option B why don't we just go ahead and designate the local guys to some sort of position to be setting these things up so that all the ambassador has to do is show up and enjoy themselves. I feel it would help in getting more rally points set up and trips planned instead of people waiting for the ambassador to do it (if they're even in your state) or the local guy who is active but doesn't really know everyone is looking to him to set things up. You would have an individual who knows it is up to them to get the ball rolling. Most places have a local guy doing that anyway but I feel as we grow we need to recognize those members and give them a title. I hope this comes off as constructive and not rude. Definitely not trying to rub someone the wrong way. It works the way it is but there is always room for improvement and just wanted to express some thoughts from conversations I have been apart of.

 

[Jedi]

If we are picking option B why don't we just go ahead and designate the local guys to some sort of position to be setting these things up so that all the ambassador has to do is show up and enjoy themselves. I feel it would help in getting more rally points set up and trips planned instead of people waiting for the ambassador to do it (if they're even in your state) or the local guy who is active but doesn't really know everyone is looking to him to set things up. You would have an individual who knows it is up to them to get the ball rolling. Most places have a local guy doing that anyway but I feel as we grow we need to recognize those members and give them a title. I hope this comes off as constructive and not rude. Definitely not trying to rub someone the wrong way. It works the way it is but there is always room for improvement and just wanted to express some thoughts from conversations I have been apart of.

In truth, this is already occurring in some areas. When I started organizing meet-ups in NW Washington, Kent immediately reached out to me to help get things organized, and he has done this in many other areas. At our most recent Northwest Region meet-up, he actively encouraged those in attendance to take on an assistant ambassador role in their area to help organize things. For me, it isn't about being an Official Overland Bound Ambassador, it is about getting my local community together so that we can:

1. Represent the hobby/lifestyle choice of overlanding in our area as a positive relationship between people and nature, reinforcing the founding principle of OB that adventure is necessary.
2. Providing a way to help people new to overlanding meet others in the area and receive training on how to safely and ethically approach it.
3. Create a group of people who are willing to adventure together and work together to improve access to public lands by helping with trail conservation/restoration.

 

[Desert Runner]

Nice idea. Just have a way to oversight the chapter, so that the leadership of it can't become a HOA nightmare.

 

[4L_Warrior]

Interesting idea, but I can see both sides of that coin. I can see where a certain group of members who have lots of members in that "chapter" could out vote smaller chapters. I could see them breaking off into their own club or group. Lots of thought needs to be put into this one.

 

[Desert Runner]

Interesting idea, but I can see both sides of that coin. I can see where a certain group of members who have lots of members in that "chapter" could out vote smaller chapters. I could see them breaking off into their own club or group. Lots of thought needs to be put into this one.

Group think can be good or bad. My above concern is this very thing. There is always those who like to be leaders, and being a 'A' personality, can dominate a group and marginalize other group chapter members. So that being said there has to be checks and balances put in place to minimize this from happening.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

We might be overthinking this, at least initially. A “chapter” could simply be a list of members with a couple of POCs. Gives someone new to the area or just passing through someone with which to hook up. I would imagine there are groups out there that already do this informally. I know in Vegas, events are posted somewhat frequently in the West Region section by someone interested in organizing a meetup, a trail run or a trip. I’m moving to Arkansas in December and reached out to the Southeast Region and found a couple of guys who are eager to share information and just genuinely nice guys.

 

[Desert Runner]

We might be overthinking this, at least initially. A “chapter” could simply be a list of members with a couple of POCs. Gives someone new to the area or just passing through someone with which to hook up. I would imagine there are groups out there that already do this informally. I know in Vegas, events are posted somewhat frequently in the West Region section by someone interested in organizing a meetup, a trail run or a trip. I’m moving to Arkansas in December and reached out to the Southeast Region and found a couple of guys who are eager to share information and just genuinely nice guys.

Good luck with your move. It will be a big change from the desert SW. As i stated above, it was a concern i had as another poster did also. I did not mean to imply that concern was likely, just a rare possibility. I stand by my HOA reference, and the power trip board members have been known to take.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Good luck with your move. It will be a big change from the desert SW. As i stated above, it was a concern i had as another poster did also. I did not mean to imply that concern was likely, just a rare possibility. I stand by my HOA reference, and the power trip board members have been known to take.

Having grown up in Ohio, it will be like going home.

I completely understand. I got involved in a national military/LE tea party type group with 20,000+ members in 2009. Over the course of two years I became a state chapter vice president, state chapter president, western region Vice President and board member. You’d think an organization like that would have its shit together, but you’d be wrong. Too many agendas and too many egos. I ended up resigning in protest over several decisions with which I could not abide.

I think the key to the success of this group is the leadership Michael has demonstrated. As the founder of Overland Bound he has clearly laid out his vision of what we are and has been consistent. He recognized he couldn’t do it all himself and has developed a cadre of moderators who shared his vision. For the most part the growth of Overland Bound has been smooth and remained on course, but I did take issue with the heavy handedness of some of the moderators at times and Michael addressed it.

If you’re on the forum, as a member or not, you probably have a keen interest in the subject matter. If you are a member, even more so because you’ve put your money where your mouth is. Each of us vary person to person with respect to our level of extrovertedness to be involved. You may not have been able to tell, but I have no problem speaking up. Others may not be as eager or able and still wish to get involved but don’t know how to go about doing so. I guess that’s what I’m really saying is Overland Bound may be at the point that group resources at the local level are appropriate to promote and continue the growth of the organization while staying true to the vision of the founder.

 

[Kent R]

We might be overthinking this, at least initially. A “chapter” could simply be a list of members with a couple of POCs. Gives someone new to the area or just passing through someone with which to hook up. I would imagine there are groups out there that already do this informally. I know in Vegas, events are posted somewhat frequently in the West Region section by someone interested in organizing a meetup, a trail run or a trip. I’m moving to Arkansas in December and reached out to the Southeast Region and found a couple of guys who are eager to share information and just genuinely nice guys.

Good luck with your move and I'm sure you will find OLB to be very active in the Southeast. If you need anything from OLB when you get settled send me a message and I will make sure to get the right person in touch with you.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

Good luck with your move and I'm sure you will find OLB to be very active in the Southeast. If you need anything from OLB when you get settled send me a message and I will make sure to get the right person in touch with you.

That’s how you do it. Thanks.

 

[Desert Runner]

Having grown up in Ohio, it will be like going home.

I completely understand. I got involved in a national military/LE tea party type group with 20,000+ members in 2009. Over the course of two years I became a state chapter vice president, state chapter president, western region Vice President and board member. You’d think an organization like that would have its shit together, but you’d be wrong. Too many agendas and too many egos. I ended up resigning in protest over several decisions with which I could not abide.

I think the key to the success of this group is the leadership Michael has demonstrated. As the founder of Overland Bound he has clearly laid out his vision of what we are and has been consistent. He recognized he couldn’t do it all himself and has developed a cadre of moderators who shared his vision. For the most part the growth of Overland Bound has been smooth and remained on course, but I did take issue with the heavy handedness of some of the moderators at times and Michael addressed it.

If you’re on the forum, as a member or not, you probably have a keen interest in the subject matter. If you are a member, even more so because you’ve put your money where your mouth is. Each of us vary person to person with respect to our level of extrovertedness to be involved. You may not have been able to tell, but I have no problem speaking up. Others may not be as eager or able and still wish to get involved but don’t know how to go about doing so. I guess that’s what I’m really saying is Overland Bound may be at the point that group resources at the local level are appropriate to promote and continue the growth of the organization while staying true to the vision of the founder.

Well said, and again Good Luck on your move. A nice post

 

[Gryf]

Good luck with your move. It will be a big change from the desert SW. As i stated above, it was a concern i had as another poster did also. I did not mean to imply that concern was likely, just a rare possibility. I stand by my HOA reference, and the power trip board members have been known to take.

Good luck. I moved the opposite direction; Dallas to Las Vegas.

Oh and as the official, unofficial Las Vegas organizer, @Vegajeepguy should organize meet up before you leave so we can all wish you luck on your move.



<edit cause I used the wrong username>