CLUB GENERATED MAIL SPAM

[Art Director]

Hi Kevin,

No shift in production at all! Every year, we print a few hundred extras and those are mailed to new members as they join the club. You probably joined or rejoined last winter or early spring, therefore that's the reason you received a 2010 directory in April.

Tim

[wingspread7]

Tim,
   Thanks for the info.   If I drop out of the club now how long will my listing remain in the directory?
                                                                                            Chuck Webster, member # 25935                                       

[Art Director]

Well, Chuck, we don’t want you to drop out of the club!

If you are not a current member in the club’s database, your name would not appear. The directory lists all members in the club’s membership database as of August 31 of each year, so your name would not be in the following year’s directory if you dropped out.

Tim

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

Let's look at this again - I do not feel that this problem had any connection to the CLC Directory.  Here is Mr. Webster's original post:

"After about 2 years membership, why have I just received advertising from THE ANTIQUE AUTO SHOP at my business address opening with "As a member of the Cadillac LaSalle Club, I would like to welcome you as a new member"?   It goes on about their services, etc., Sincerely yours, Terry Kesselring.   I've heard of others in this club being spam e-mailed too.   This is the type of thing that will loose members fast.   Either find the "mole" or I too am gone."   

I just checked my 2010 CLC Directory and in the rear of the book in the alphabetical section, there are only 3 Websters listed: A. Webster, B. Webster and D. Webster. This means that Mr. Chuck Webster (or C. Webster) is not listed as yet, so the mail that he received was from another source - not the Directory.  He is a relatively new member anyhow, so imagine that he will be listed in the upcoming 2012 Directory provided he remains a club member.  Please note that on Page 2 of the current Directory, it states the following in bold print: "The use of the directory for solicitation or any commercial and/or political use is prohibited".

My original thought in my earlier post was that the mailing was a result of the "Welcome to the CLC Family" list that appears on the inside jacket of the "Self - Starter". I still feel that this is the case, as the mailing mentioned welcoming him as a new member.  The "Welcome to the CLC Family" page lists new members by name, address, city, state and zip code and there is no statement regarding any restrictions of use.  For starters, feel that the statement used in the Directory should be prominently displayed at the top of the new members welcome page.  A better solution might be to eliminate the street address and zip code, listing only the new member's name, city and state.   

Since there are no restrictions listed on this page, any club member that owns a business might decide to send out a mailing to new members without being in violation of any club polices, and in many cases, new members might welcome such mail, as it pertains to their hobby. As an example, if I just joined the CLC and later received several catalogs from sources of supply, I would really welcome such mail, as long as my name and address were not being rented or sold to others.  I doubt if the CLC is swamped with similar complaints at this time, since the "Self-Starter" is mailed only to club members and has a relatively small circulation. However, if there have been many such complaints, either or both of my ideas mentioned above should eliminate future problems, without considering major and time-consuming changes to the Directory.

As to the Directory, if requests for privacy are an ongoing issue, I imagine that it could be possible for some members to request that their addresses and/or phone numbers be unlisted if they feel the need for privacy.  This would involve a lot of work on someone's part when the new Directory is printed, and since things are apparently working well so far, hope that this is not necessary.  Obviously it is always difficult to please all club members, so we cannot make continual changes based on a single complaint just to be politically correct.

The moderators and administrators of this forum and the CLC have their hands full at times - I for one greatly appreciate their efforts, maturity and understanding. 

Fred

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Fred,
VERY well said!
Bob

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

Fred,

I will second that.  Very well said.  In the world of junk mail getting junk car mail is not high on the bad list.  In todays world if you are involved in any activity at all our addresses are available all over the place. 

Brad Ipsen

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

Thanks Brad and Bob,   

Summary so  far:

1) CLC member of almost 2 years gets one (1) spam mailing that he thinks was due to being a CLC member. (Things like this can happen, but this is not a common occurence in our club).

2) New member threatens to leave the club in his first post (i.e. "either find the mole or I too am gone" are his exact words).

3) Various other CLC members attempt to give reason(s) for the spam and try to get new member not to leave the club.

4) Trying to be helpful, I posted several suggestions to minimize the problem in the future - hoping to appease new member and retain him as a member.

5) New member continues to complain and on his seventh (7th) post, now asks if he drops out of the club now, how long will his listing name remain in the Directory, even though according to my research, he has not yet been listed in our Directory in the first place. (I could be wrong on this, but I don't think so).

6) While the CLC members try to keep things in order and the moderators and administrators are on top of things, sometimes we must realize that it is impossible to please every single member and not always practical to address minor problems that would require major changes in our procedures. 

7) However I still feel that adding a restriction clause on our welcome to new member page in the "Self Starter" could be easily done and should eliminate, or at least minimize, future complaints.

In my opinion, it is time to put this behind us and move on - everything has been working well so far!

Fred

[EAM 17806]

FRED!  Very well stated. I agree with your positions. If a member doesn't agree with the concepts and rules of a club then he should not be a part of that specific club.  EAM

[wingspread7]

Fred,
   I think you are right about the lack of disclaimers in the Self Starter being the source for this problem.   It's a loophole waiting to be misused.   Listing the member's city, however, there and in the directory should be enough to encourage local interaction through the club and e-mail.   I agree completely with all your comments and thank you for taking the time to help.   
   As per Tim's suggestion, I contacted Mike & Nancy at CLC and they said that there was no problem in deleting my address and list of cars in the next directory.   They asked that I contact them each future year in August to continue to do so.   So I
guess it IS OPTIONAL after all.

To those with positive and constructive attitudes: Thank you for your help.
                                                                                                        Chuck Webster, member # 25935

[Art Director]

This loophole concerning solicitation of the new member list has been closed effective with the October issue of The Self-Starter. A disclaimer prohibiting such activity has been added.

[Chuck Webster]

Tim,
  Thank you!   One thing I learned as a teacher was that occasionally you can have a student ask a question and cause you to research and learn from it yourself no matter how long you've taught on a subject.   As a "newbie", however, I do apologize to all for coming on a little too strong with my opening salvo.
                                                                                                                     Chuck Webster,
                                                                                                                                            # 25935