NWRA

[StarQuest]

WOW this is a hot topic!

Have a question? Is there any way of finding out who's listed on NWRA member registry without joining? I think me and many other WSR only owners would join tomorrow if we thought we'd have at least a 51% voting input in how NWRA represents our interest. Not sure that would ever happen though, with replacement/repair facilities outnumbering us with a ratio of over 20-1. Personally, I think I'd have a better chance at spending the $150 on a big game ticket! Sorry to say that.... but that's how I feel.

Now....if there was a IWRA available I'd be willing to pay $500 a year in membership knowing that our interest would be clearly defined and fought for.

Just my one cent of opinion today

[Repair1]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

I have one question for all. Has anybody joined the NWRA yet? [-X

To be perfectly honest with you, I have not yet, but I do plan to join the NWRA. However, I

[Delta Kits]

Member list:

http://www.netrax.net/~nwra/newpage4.htm

Congratulations to everyone! You can have your IWRA!

There are just a few things you need to do, which i've outlined below:

1. 300 people from the forum join the NWRA
2. Find 5-6 people from this forum everyone trusts
3. Elect them to the board
4. Now that the 300 people from this forum have a very real voice (even a majority), it will be your organization.

Meanwhile, we have an organization out there trying, but no one wants to support them until it's perfect, and no one is willing to put in their own time, effort, and money to make the "IWRA" a reality.

[StarQuest]

Thanks for the link Jeff,

Guess I now have to change my opinion about membership. Didn't realize membership was that small. It appears there's still plenty of room for us to get involved and have a considerable impact.

[Delta Kits]

I have a question for DELTA/Jeff. I know at the last conference they were talking about doing a membership drive this year. Has anything came of that? Can you, as a manufacturer member get us a deal or a discount on memberships. Or maybe a bunch of free chip savers something like that?

The regular cost of membership is $150 per year. You can purchase membership through Delta Kits, which will qualify you for the initial year at $99, instead of $150. In order to get this rate though, you have to sign up through us, instead of the NWRA directly.

Didn't realize membership was that small. It appears there's still plenty of room for us to get involved and have a considerable impact.

That's exactly right.

[GlassStarz]

Now that I see how many actualy belong I guess without the replacement guys they wouldnt have enough for a cup scout den and any voice in favor is better than silence.

[2hipp4u]

just my 2 cents

In my former business interests I belonged to a coop consisting of over twenty billion dollars in anual sales, a lot of the problems my company faced seam to ring true here.

1. Good old boys club at the top.

2. Unequal membership rights between members.

3. Poor comunication to the membership.

4. Lack of a clear direction or mission.

5. No complete access and open books to the internal workings of the organization.
6. Lack of fiscal responsibilities.

7. Lack of member involement.

I could write a list a mile long but you get the picture.

A group of repair only people sounds great, and if membership is so low in the current organization I think it would be foolish to try and raise a dead pig.

If this is something people want, "go for it" but be prepared to address seriously all of the problems I have listed and many more.

A group that has a defined mission and represnts all regardless of size or location is a must to have success.

I would be more than happy to help organize it, but it takes real commitment, money and the ability to relax and accept that things do take time.

2hipp4u

[Delta Kits]

2hipp4u,

Since we are a member of the NWRA, I can tell you that none of the things you listed are problems with the NWRA, except #7.

There is a lack of member involvement with the NWRA, except for a few companies, who pretty much carry the association on their backs.

Books are completely open, all you have to do is ask, and you can see exactly where all the money goes.

A group of repair only people sounds great, and if membership is so low in the current organization I think it would be foolish to try and raise a dead pig.

I'm not sure you realize, the alternative is no voice in what happens to our industry. If we have no association, we will be legislated out of business. Any time a state brings up licensing for replacement techs, they lump windshield repair in with it. The NWRA then has to fight that, so we don't all have to be apprenticed to a "licensed" tech for six months in order to do repairs!

I would be more than happy to help organize it, but it takes real commitment, money and the ability to relax and accept that things do take time.

That's what we need! We need people willing to make a difference in the very industry that is providing them an income. We need people who are willing to give something back, to help not only themselves, but others in the industry.

[desertstars]

Thanks for your vote of confidence, Repair1.

I apologize if this seems self-serving.

It is definitely not meant to be.

I post this only because I don't want some misconception that I'm not willing to put my money where my mouth is and with absolutely no intent to turn this into a personal discussion.

But, I am too vociferous and would be a most disruptive influence were I to join any board that might head in any direction I perceived as a danger to our profession.

I say that with no facetiousness or tongue-in-cheek intended.

Egotistic perhaps but I think more of a character flaw than anything else.

That disqualifies me right from the bat.

I WOULD however join and enthustically support an organization limited to serving the interests and promotion of the repair industry as long as (sorry) combo-shops are excluded from any policy-making positions.

Desert Stars also replaces. But replaces through a sub-contactor as an afterthought and never, ever as first intent. (Please. That does NOT imply that others do so.)

Plenty of good, knowledgeable, repair-only members of this forum are qualified to sit on a board in a renewed NWRA or IWRA and many immediately come to mind.

Jeff. Assure me that the first piece of business on the agenda of a repair-only board membership would be a concerted effort to dismantle the present nefarious network system that this NWRA allowed to arise in the first place and I'll certainly put my money where my mouth is.

[Delta Kits]

Jeff. Assure me that the first piece of business on the agenda of a repair-only board membership would be a concerted effort to dismantle the present nefarious network system that this NWRA allowed to arise in the first place and I'll certainly put my money where my mouth is.

I can't do that! According to your rules, i'm barred from even sitting on the board!

The point is though, that the agenda is set by board members (ultimately, even though you can let the board members know what you think is important).

All i'm saying, is that this group, if motivated to act, can change the direction the NWRA is headed.

The members of this forum who post every day on this board, if they joined, would be the majority in the NWRA!