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There has been a good thread on the 300zxforums regarding our ECZA of Florida. I'm going to copy and paste some of it as, its agood information for any of our members. Might explain some things, and inspire others to plan some events etc.. On a side note, thanks to admin for the TTnet update, its very impressive!
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<<< The Actual thread is available @ [ http://www.300zxforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5863 ] >>>
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It basicly starts out with several Tampa area Z'rs discussing getting together and questioning why there are not more meets in Florida and locally. The question posed is "im surprised there arent more Z guys in the fl section that want to get together" by Got_HpThe responses are as follows. HaloZ : cuz ppl bitch and grip that the meet isn't in there part of the state or town. they all want it in there back yard. that's one thing i like about hte 3si guys. they have the ball to go to meets. we have a few, but not that many.
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Got_Hp: the supra guys travel pretty regular for meets too.
the only Z meet ive been to was way back in the beginning of the year in gainseville. its ok, but there should be ALOT more of those.plus, Z owners never seem to show up to other car meets. why not?
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HaloZ:
the kids piss off the old timers
the old timers stop coming
the kids don't want to travel
as for why we don't go to other meets, we usually don't know.
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Got_Hp: i used to post other meets in this forum to invite Z guys....but no one ever replied......lots of views....no replies....weird.
anyway......i would love to get some Z32's together for some video footage for my website........i want every type of car to be included......hopefully this meet will happen.
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Myself: Ok, as most of the now old timers know I have been organizing meets in central florida since 1998-99 I was a senior in high school at the time and was working with Trvor Gregg the then VP of the ECZA-Florida chapter. Trev quit doing it in early 2K and I took over. We used to have a Tampa meet every 1st saturday of the month and we would have repair days at Carl Beck's house, cookouts etc... The Central Florida Z community had become fairly built up. Then it all started to fall apart. Once upon a time I was pretty much the youngest member of the Tampa Z community, and represented a coming wave of younger Z owners. I'm presently 21 to give you a bearing of the demographic I am talking about. Up uintil 2001 most of the Z community was composed of more middle aged members like Harry, Bill Young, Trevor Gregg, Steve 'Z-Crazy" Bart, Kramer, Sean Wood etc... all of which were over the age of 25 and most over the age of 35. These guys would always come out to events and in doing so encouraged more to come. These guys have slowly fallen by the wayside, purchased other cars, drifted away from the community and others did not fill their shoes. I have become more and more embroiled in college and lack the time to organize I had in my freshman year of college and have slacked off on organizing meets. Part of the slack is spurred on, by the infighting and complaning suffered from members. People, complane about the loaction, people complane about the time, people complane there are too many young people, too many older guys, etc... etc.. etc... I had implemted a list-serv to allow ecza people to communicate with each other...something that started off fantasticly but soon turned to infighting. People feel spammed, people argue, etc... People love to critisize the efforts put forth, but in the end forget that those of us who do this do so for free. I pay for all the domains, and web space used for the ECZA-FL, we invest our time and efforts for nothing more then trying to have a good time. The main problem with Florida's Z community is lack of communication. Once meets are posted and setup...very few let it be known they are going. Very few help out... Those of you that do, I thank you very much, because you are what keeps the commuinity alive! There is alot of room for improvement here, but the key is open communication! Open communication and tolerance of your fellow Z'r. Also, being willing to help your fellow Z'r out...have garage days, have BBQ's, submit ideas like y'all are doing here. Create an open society that benefits all. Ok, thats my rant, maybe I made some good points, maybe I have just babbled on. Y'all be the judge. Its just my opinions and experiences I could be wrong....
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HaloZ: yeah you said it much better than i. i know i use to come down every other month, then work and other items kept and detured me from coming.
don't forget to let me know when you would like to do you t belt.
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Myself: Well, said and thanks as always Ric. Nobody, expects you to make the arduous trek down from the great white north of Macon...you know who my gripes are with. Halo here has been a invaluable asset to the Florida Z community and he hasn't lived here in a Loooooooooonnnnnggggggg time... much less did he own a car when he did..lol I guess what the bottom line is, is that our community can be whatever we make of it. I look at the 240SX community around central Florida and I see what we used to be. They get together and just have fun...regardless of age, car generation etc.. Owning both a 240SX and a 300ZX has allowed me an interesting view of the greater nissan community...and I can say that no matter what 240 event I have attended there has been no discrimination against the Z'rs. Sadly, I cannot say the same for us...several months back we had a joint meet at Lake Park, in Tampa...many Z'rs opted not to attend, as there would be other cars there...in particular 240's, 200SX's, etc...thats just sad and petty. Those of you that did attend thanks....you are what makes the community fun. As a Z32 community we have become intolerant of other Z's and models of Nissans...like 240SX's. And to a certain extent we could afford to, but now we are no longer the top of the pile, the 350Z is out as is the G35 Coupe...Soon, they too will have a following...What we need to do, is try to accept the others and create a larger community. In my mind what we need to do, is set defined dates for monthly or bi-monthly meets. Perhaps, one month in Pinellas County, and the next in Hillsborough...alternating. We need to set dates where we can go to the track as a club. I've always said, if people would just represent their local areas, and do the footwork, this could become something massive I and a few others can handle the big events like our Gainesville 2002 Import Event held last Spring. We also have to remember that our actions denote our countenance as a community. In several of our latest meets there have been a few new attendees who showed up and did burnouts in the grass, and what not. While its perfectly great to have a good time and let loose to a certaine extent, we can't tolerate that sort of behavior as it will get us barred from certain locations. So, please leave that type of stuff for the ricers to do. So, thats it in a nutshell from where I am standing... Here are some ideas for events; Based off our past events.
Dyno Day
Z Repair Cookout
Park Meets
Track Day/Night
Joint Meets
Monthly Meet and Greet Meets
Street Races
Etc....
I'm here to help pull together whatever y'all have in mind. I guess i'm done ranting. Its been a long time since I unloaded all this, but its needed...if only to make a few people understand why things are the way they are.
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1994 300ZX Coupe -- Stage 5
1992 240SX SE -- Stock
1991 Nissan PU -- BPU
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Robert Maddrey
AIM: NA300ZXusa
Email: Rob@ecza.org
My Website
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