[DeTomaso] POCA Website is Down, Here's Why (7)
Scott Couchman
scottcouchman at yahoo.com
Fri Jul 22 09:37:55 EDT 2016
I support the POCA Board of Directors.
> On Jul 22, 2016, at 6:11 AM, Michael Shortt <michaelsavga at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> My Fellow POCA Members,
>
> It is with deep regret that I must inform you of improprieties within your club which has resulted in the
>
> suspension of the POCA.Com website.
> Most of you know that I have personally been the target of attacks since before assuming office as the President of POCA last Jan 1st.
> It has been an incessant, organized and relentless campaign staged by a small handful of members resistant to change. I will name them
> below, but first a little history so that you know where my motivation comes from and why I thought I could make a difference, I will be brief.
> This club over the past two decades has hovered in the 700-800 member range, without fail, the club has attracted 30-60 new members each year
> and lost an equal number, some years, like in 2014/15, losing over 150 members. Growth has never been possible because member retention
> and member recruitment has ever been a priority. If your expenses and dues remain flat and new blood is not required, it just means that you
>
> basically have a stagnant and aging membership (like any older community church).
> That is what POCA had, and a membership with over
>
> 60% of it's members over 60, and 20% over 70.
>
> Expenses have grown unchecked and the club spends more money than it take in. It also was dated with no updates in well over a decade.
>
> I saw all of this and thought with my particular skill sets I could make a difference. I immediately set about an agenda with 27 items and was told that I would never
>
> get half of that done in my full two year term, I did all of it in 5 months with the then current support of a progressive BOD.
> Meanwhile, the person whom I defeated for President ( 77% - 23%) Rob D'Orazio, Larry Finch, Asa Jay Laughton, and others, most recently Gil Mares have
> beleaguered me 24/7 with email, false accusations, lies, technical BS and simply mean and hateful emails. When the poca email forum was disabled to
> make room for the new and improved poca.com ( which I built and designed after asking for help form these same people and none volunteered ), they went out
> with Kurt Byrnes and created another email forum which is the most vile and disgusting, most toxic email list you could ever hope to not be apart of and it's primary
> purpose has been to slander, libel, lie, and create dissension within POCA. None of those named so far have contributed anything to the club while I have been President
> except hate and I was lucky enough to be their primary target, No worries, as many of you know, I work in show biz and politics, so i'm used to professional haters,
>
> a few amateurs didn't really affect me and the club has flourished. The first list that was supplied to me of members after 3 months of begging showed 808
>
> POCA members, after culling out those who were deceased or expired that number of active, PAID POCA members was 718 active members.
>
> This club spent $6,000 last year sending publications to the dead and those not paying dues.
>
> As of yesterday, that number is now 867 active paid members. Many of the deadbeats paid up and we have added over 100 NEW members.
>
> A part of that effort resulted in the resignations of Jack DeRyke as Newsletter editor and Mike Haney as Profiles editor because I was finally able to get the BOD
>
> to listen to reason and change printers, we have been robbed by 10 years, paying $100,000 more for Black and White printing than FULL COLOR printing would cost.
>
> It is rumoured that there was more to that than I can confirm, but the result was without using THAT printer,, they stopped working.
>
> Josette D'Orazio resigned as POCA store manager after 2.5 years of service while selling 166 orders., she said that my vision of an expanded store (revenue producing )was not
>
> what she wanted to do and did not want to do the extra work as required. I understand and it was a nice parting.
>
> Why the emphasis on Money, the club runs on money, Printing alone was 17% more than all of our dues.
>
> The fun rally was supposed to make money, but they spent $20,205 on booze over 3 days, $47,000 in gross revenue and the club retained $1,600,
>
> I will not bore you with a detailed list of improvements, but there have been many, suffice it to say, the club has seen more new and different in the last 7 months than in the past 20 years.
>
> That was my goal and it was done while under constant attack. Most recently, worrying about the name of the forming "Southern Pride Panteras" chapter as being inappropriate
>
> ( clearly not knowing a large group of big cats is called a Pride, usually Lions, esp since Tigers, Leopards and Panthers are unlikely to gather in groups). Then it was us bring Tom Tjarrda
>
> here to represent the club on the national stage ( while we still can have him with us) and so many other ridiculous things that were truly none of their business, all while recruiting no members and
>
> contributing nothing positive to the club.
>
> WHY The website is down
>
> over the last month, the miscreants finally realized I was immune to their nonsense and just carried on doing what needed to be done to create a better POCA Membership Experience,
> value added if you will,
>
> for each of you.
>
> Sso they changed focus and begin attacking John Buckman, Joe Stockett and Ed Mendez, all fine gentlemen and a solid part of the fist 6 months of progress we made. I certainly could not have
>
> done anything with their support.
>
> Yet, they are not me, Larry Finch and Gil Mares specifically ( the same man who spent $1,200 of club money as a part of the Fun Rally committee to travel to Las Vegas earlier this year and then
> quit the committee leaving us in the lurch to name replacements in March for the event in May ) browbeat John, Joe and Ed to such a degree, the following has occurred.
> Yesterday they called the web hosting company and expressed a desire to change the direction of the club. Last night against all the rules, bylaws, etc.
> they had a impromptu BOD meeting ( without us) and essentially have started acoup to take over the club.
> The website host company as a matter of policy and to protect the content of the website learned of this, thankfully preserving my 600+ hours of work)
> and disabled the website to keep them from destroying it and changing it
>
> , erasing everything that I have built.
> As you can imagine, Mike Burnett, Laurie Basile and I are beside ourselves at this turn of events.
> The first thing a third world dictator or anarchist does when taking over a government ( but a car club,? it seems so stupid doesn't it) is to disable the communications.
> You are going to be sent a survey this morning, it has biu one question.
>
> Do you want me to fight and give you the club that you deserve, to continue these improvements and finish dragging us out of the 80's and into the 21st century?
>
> or
>
> Do you want us, Mike Burnett, Laurie Basile and I to just give up and let the weak have the club and be at the continued direction of this very, very small group* of haters and bullies letting
> the club revert back to the way it was for the last 20 years?
>
> You know I love a fight, you know I love to stand up to bullies, so do not worry about us, we can handle it if that is what you want.
> * It should be noted that Rob D'Orazio attempted to have his small 30 member Chapter leave POCA last month and could not even manage to convince his own club to follow him.
>
>
> If you indicate a fight, look for it to be epic. If you wish to return to the past, the three of us will resign ( as soon as Bob reid reimburses the $7,000 I am owed by the club for the new cards,
>
>
> New POCA store items,and other expenses)
>
>
>
> I await the results of the survey, I apologize this has happened and I hope that you will indicate in strong numbers your displeasure at the actions of 10 people over the rest of us ( 857 ).
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Michael Shortt
>
> STILL President
>
> POCA
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
>
> This email is protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy
> Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally
> privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified
> that any retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this
> communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you
> have received this message in error, then delete it. Thank you
-------------- next part --------------
I support the POCA Board of Directors.
On Jul 22, 2016, at 6:11 AM, Michael Shortt <[1]michaelsavga at gmail.com>
wrote:
My Fellow POCA Members,
It is with deep regret that I must inform you of improprieties within
your club which has resulted in the
suspension of the [2]POCA.Com website.
Most of you know that I have personally been the target of attacks
since before assuming office as the President of POCA last Jan 1st.
It has been an incessant, organized and relentless campaign staged by a
small handful of members resistant to change. I will name them
below, but first a little history so that you know where my motivation
comes from and why I thought I could make a difference, I will be
brief.
This club over the past two decades has hovered in the 700-800 member
range, without fail, the club has attracted 30-60 new members each year
and lost an equal number, some years, like in 2014/15, losing over 150
members. Growth has never been possible because member retention
and member recruitment has ever been a priority.
If your expenses and dues remain flat and new blood is not required,
it just means that you
basically have a stagnant and aging membership (like any older
community church).
That is what POCA had, and a membership with over
60
% of it's members over 60, and 20% over 70.
Expenses have grown unchecked and the club spends more money than it
take in. It also was dated with no updates in well over a decade.
I saw all of this and thought with my particular skill sets I could
make a difference. I immediately set about an agenda with 27 items and
was told that I would never
get half of that done in my full two year term, I did all of it in 5
months with the then current support of a progressive BOD.
Meanwhile, the person whom I defeated for President ( 77% - 23%) Rob
D'Orazio, Larry Finch, Asa Jay Laughton, and others, most recently Gil
Mares have
beleaguered me 24/7 with email, false accusations, lies, technical BS
and simply mean and hateful emails. When the poca email forum was
disabled to
make room for the new and improved [3]poca.com ( which I built and
designed after asking for help form these same people and none
volunteered ), they went out
with Kurt Byrnes and created another email forum which is the most vile
and disgusting, most toxic email list you could ever hope to not be
apart of and it's primary
purpose has been to slander, libel, lie, and create dissension within
POCA. None of those named so far have contributed anything to the club
while I have been President
except hate and I was lucky enough to be their primary target, No
worries,
as many of you know, I work in show biz and politics, so i'm used to
professional haters,
a few amateurs didn't really affect me and the club has flourished.
The first list that was supplied to me of members after 3 months of
begging showed 808
POCA members, after culling out those who were deceased or expired that
number of active, PAID POCA members was 718 active members.
This club spent $6,000 last year sending publications to the dead and
those not paying dues.
As of yesterday, that number is now
867 active paid members. Many of the deadbeats paid up and we have
added over 100 NEW members.
A part of that effort resulted in the resignations of Jack DeRyke as
Newsletter editor and Mike Haney as Profiles editor because I was
finally able to get the BOD
to listen to reason and change printers, we have been robbed by 10
years, paying $100,000 more for Black and White printing than FULL
COLOR printing would cost.
It is rumoured that there was more to that than I can confirm, but the
result was without using THAT printer,, they stopped working.
Josette D'Orazio resigned as POCA store manager after 2.5 years of
service while selling 166 orders., she said that my vision of an
expanded store (revenue producing )was not
what she wanted to do and did not want to do the extra work as
required. I understand and it was a nice parting.
Why the emphasis on Money, the club runs on money, Printing alone was
17% more than all of our dues.
The fun rally was supposed to make money, but they spent $20,205 on
booze over 3 days, $47,000 in gross revenue and the club retained
$1,600,
I will not bore you with a detailed list of improvements, but there
have been many, suffice it to say, the club has seen more new and
different in the last 7 months than in the past 20 years.
That was my goal and it was done while under constant attack. Most
recently, worrying about the name of the forming "Southern Pride
Panteras" chapter as being inappropriate
( clearly not knowing a large group of big cats is called a Pride,
usually Lions, esp since Tigers, Leopards and Panthers are unlikely to
gather in groups). Then it was us bring Tom Tjarrda
here to represent the club on the national stage ( while we still can
have him with us) and so many other ridiculous things that were truly
none of their business, all while recruiting no members and
contributing nothing positive to the club.
WHY The website is down
over the last month, the miscreants finally realized I was immune to
their nonsense and just carried on doing what needed to be done to
create a better POCA Membership Experience,
value added if you will,
for each of you.
S
so they changed focus and begin
attacking John Buckman, Joe Stockett and Ed Mendez, all fine gentlemen
and a solid part of the fist 6 months of progress we made. I certainly
could not have
done anything with their support.
Yet, they are not me, Larry Finch and Gil Mares specifically ( the same
man who spent $1,200 of club money as a part of the Fun Rally committee
to travel to Las Vegas earlier this year and then
quit the committee leaving us in the lurch to name replacements in
March for the event in May ) browbeat John, Joe and Ed to such a
degree, the following has occurred.
Yesterday they called the web hosting company and expressed a desire to
change the direction of the club. Last night against all the rules,
bylaws, etc.
they had a impromptu BOD meeting ( without us) and essentially have
started acoup to take over the club.
The website host company as a matter of policy and to protect
the content of the website learned of this,
thankfully preserving my 600+ hours of work)
and disabled the website to keep them from destroying it and changing
it
,
erasing everything that I have built.
As you can imagine, Mike Burnett, Laurie Basile and I are beside
ourselves at this turn of events.
The first thing a third world dictator or anarchist does when taking
over a government ( but a car club,? it seems so stupid doesn't it) is
to disable the communications.
You are going to be sent a survey this morning, it has biu one
question.
Do you want me to fight and give you the club that you deserve,
to continue these improvements and finish dragging us out of the 80's
and into the 21st century?
or
Do you want us, Mike Burnett, Laurie Basile and I to just give up and
let the weak have the club and be at the continued direction of this
very, very small group* of haters and bullies letting
the club revert back to the way it was for the last 20 years?
You know I love a fight, you know I love to stand up to bullies, so do
not worry about us, we can handle it if that is what you want.
* It should be noted that Rob D'Orazio attempted to have his small 30
member Chapter
leave
POCA last month
and could not even manage to convince his own club to follow him.
If you indicate a fight, look for it to be epic. If you wish to return
to the past, the three of us will resign ( as soon as Bob reid
reimburses the $7,000 I am owed by the club for the new cards,
New POCA store items,and other expenses)
I await the results of the survey, I apologize this has happened and I
hope that you will indicate in strong numbers your displeasure at the
actions of 10 people over the rest of us ( 857 ).
Thank you,
Michael Shortt
STILL President
POCA
--
Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
[4]michael at michaelshortt.com
912-232-9390
This email is protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy
Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified
that any retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this
communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that
you
have received this message in error, then delete it. Thank you
References
1. mailto:michaelsavga at gmail.com
2. http://poca.com/
3. http://poca.com/
4. mailto:michael at michaelshortt.com
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