The Steering Wheel
President’s Message from ALAN POZNER, CPA-PCA President
May 2012
When model loyalty, the web and enthusiasm get out of control.
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Some of you may know about this incident and some may not. But I want to spend this month's column discussing something that happened on the web that is not a good reflection on some Porsche owners and finish by drawing some conclusions.
Our annual swap meet draws international interest and participation. We are justifiably proud of its reputation and many of us work hard to see it succeed and grow. Each year we print a souvenir T-Shirt and over the last few years we have been lucky to get our Secretary and webmester Don Hollway to design it. These shirts are timely, attractive and very popular. Our printing run almost always sells out. This year was no exception. In commemoration of 50 years of 911s Don designed a cool shirt that had the silhouettes of all models.
A week before the swap, I received an anonymous email from an irate 996 owner who told me I was an idiot and a disgrace to the club for snubbing 996s by leaving it off the shirt. I checked out our t-shirt design that was posted on the swap website and it had indeed left out the 996. I was certain that this was an oversite on Don's part and considering the 996 and 997 silhouettes are identical the omission was understandable. Since the writer was so rude I wrote back in kind suggesting that "it's a T-Shirt not a manifesto."
Little did I know that this anonymous emailer then posted my response on a popular Porsche web forum taking it entirely out of context by not including his insulting initial email. This resulted in 12 pages of posts, many insulting our club, myself and Don. I also received over 10 anonymous, hate emails. Emails with a real signature that were polite received polite responses in return. All in all this was a stressful and unnecessary event in my presidency and lead me to seriously reevaluate my commitment to the club.
I was fortunate to speak with several senior members of the National club's management who assured me that this simple omission should be ignored and that they support our chapter 100%. So, now that the dust has settled, the swap a success and the t-shirts sold out, what conclusions have I drawn?
First, the internet by nature of its nameless and faceless interactions can expose the worst in people's natures. Second, the incident reminds me that there is always more than one side to a story. Third that some people would rather cry foul and take offense then recognize a simple mistake. Fourth that we must always strive to consider everyone's feelings when doing club work but recognize that there is always someone who will take offense to anything we do no matter how well intentioned. Fifth our swap is a powerful and important event in the Porsche calendar and the things we do and say have real influence on the entire Porsche community.
And finally, to all the 996 owners out there, let me sincerely apologize for our oversight.
Alan
