MARCH/APRIL 2014, VOLUME 39/NO 4

Two Steps Forward.

In order to move forward, sometimes you just have to stop and take one step back. How many times have you started to assemble something on your car only to realize, you needed to put something else on first? Ever try to lower a freshly painted MGA body onto a fully assembled chassis? It just won’t work. You have to remove the gas tank to fit the body, and then reinstall the tank. Just ask me how I know.

Well, NAMGAR recently found itself in a similar situation, to where we could not move forward. We had been looking for a Marketing and Communications Manager for some time, and we were running out of gas. After much discussion, the Board came up with what promises to be a great solution. We decided to take one step back, and drop the Marketing aspect from the Marketing and Communications chair and just focus on Communications. Next, we reviewed the lines of communications within NAMGAR, and quickly realized that all roads lead to the Editor’s desk. So, after renegotiating a new contract on the company cat,** Michael Tooke has agreed to expand his role as Editor and become our new Communications Manager. Welcome aboard Mike!

We then turned our attention to the Marketing side of NAMGAR. Newly appointed Advertising Manager, Randy Grossman has been doing a wonderful job. He has brought in new advertisers and been instrumental in working with our current supporters to maximize their exposure in the magazine and on our website. So it seemed a natural step for him to embrace the Marketing aspect of NAMGAR, to which he has agreed. We now look forward to seeing the NAMGAR message being shared with new audiences worldwide.

Meanwhile, our thanks go to past Board member Melissa Hay for staying on until we got all of this resolved. Thank you Melissa! As technology continues to evolve, NAMGAR is eager to keep up. While Facebook is not new, NAMGAR has made a renewed commitment to keep our Facebook page current and informative. Thus, longtime member Dennis Urick is now our official Facebook and Twitter Coordinator! Be sure to like and follow NAMGAR, and I know Dennis will tweet you right.

Last, but certainly not least in our focus of improving NAMGAR’s communications, is our website. Peter and Anne Tilbury have done an amazing job of gathering, writing, and posting information for years now. But it was only recently in a phone conversation with them that I finally grasped a comparison that was startling. To produce our magazine, our Editor has a staff composed of a Copy Editor, a Technical Editor, several Contributing Editors, plus articles from the Chairman, Vice Chair, and Registrar, all on a regular basis. Our website has … the Tilburys. We need to do better. If you have a flair for writing, or a talent for restoration work, or a passion for telling MG stories, please let us know. We would love to get you involved as a regular contributor!

Drive your MGA Day is coming up on Saturday, May 3rd. Some ideas are being posted on Facebook to help you and your club to consider a fun way of celebrating one of North America’s favorite sports cars. Be sure to tell us how you plan to spend the day, and send in photos of how much fun you had!

Then we step back and prepare for our feature event of 2014; Get-Together number thirty nine. Our host committee has put together a fantastic itinerary. The sights and the weather should be just perfect for our MGs. I just hope I can get that new interior installed in time. I had forgotten that to replace the dash covering I first need to remove the dash and all the gauges. Oh well, it’s just one step back….. Safety Fast!

**Originally our Editor was hinting for an MGA to use while on the job. But due to a small typo in his request for a company car, he is now the proud caretaker of a company cat.