TVRCC Committee - Profile / Job Role
Please direct all membership enquiries, detail changes etc to the Club Office (Tel; 01952 822126), rather than to Committee members. Members are reminded that most of the Committee Members are volunteers and therefore your co-operation is requested in phoning before 9pm please!
Public Relations - Ralph Dodds
I first got into TVR in the mid 80s and bought my first car - a Tasmin - in 1989 joining the Club a year later. I am a dedicated wedge man although did have a brief foray with a Chimaera 94-96 which was fabulous but since at the time I was a Naval Officer, found that it spent far too long sitting in the garage while I was away defending our shores from the beastly hordes. I still have the original Tasmin and spent 2000-2004 undertaking 95% of a restoration of one of the very rare 350+2s which I finally finished the last 5% in May 2011. I am about to start the full nut/bolt restoration of the Tasmin, honest (and yes I know I've been saying that since about 2006!)
I first joined the Committee in 1992 and edited Sprint from then until retiring in 2001; I also acted as Club Vice Chairman for the last 2 years of this time. I was elected to Life Membership of the Club in 2001 and thought at the time that that would be my last time on the Committee. However, in 2003, after consuming too much alcohol at Le Mans I was persuaded/cajoled to stand for the then vacant post of Public Relations Manager. Despite saying that it would be for three years only, I have served on the Committee ever since in that role and again for most of the time as Vice Chairman. I did decide in 2009 not to stand for re-election in order to see if there was anyone else willing to take on the mantle and am pleased to say that a volunteer came forward; however, sadly his tenure did not last long and I soon found myself back with the PR portfolio. However, after advertising again, I was very pleased to see that the hugely experienced marketeer Tony Cottrell joined us to take on Marketing and Public Relations enabling me to simply concentrate on Vice Chairman duties. But after just 10 months, Tony was elected Chairman position, which left me once again fulfilling the PR portfolio. Follwoing a change in our Articles of Association in 2012 in which the Vice Chairman was to come from the Board of Directors, I relinquished that role to Treasurer Matt Maneely.
Because of my length of tenure on the Committee, I also bring a wealth of experience to the role and can advise where we have tried things in the past that may or may not have worked. In addition, I continue to refresh the website content to ensure that it remains as up to date as possible and have the lead responsibility for organising the TVRCC stand at the annual NEC Classic Motor Show in November. Look out for me on the stand!
Public Relations/Marketing Role
I see the key to this role is to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy the ownership of a TVR along with the benefits of membership of the TVR Car Club.
I believe the main advantages of club membership that should be highlighted are our award winning Sprint magazine, our award winning club website, our range of varied local and national events and our strong regional network. These together with other benefits, including discounts and free advice regarding TVR ownership, provide the club with a strong basis to recruit new members and retain existing ones. A popular and active club will ensure we can continue to offer a broad range of valuable benefits to all our members.
I also feel it is particularly important at the moment that the role should ensure the club highlights the events and services to existing members to ensure they get the most out of their membership.
One of the key elements is to ensure that the club enjoys the maximum exposure within the public eye through the motoring press, club and third party events, and other activities. To that end I maintain a very close links with the editors from all of the major national motoring magazines and routinely get our members' car into road tests/photoshoots. I also produce the TVRCC submission foe the Classic & Sports Car Annual Club Awards in which we have either won, or taken a runners up position, in at least one category in every year since 2004. However, I firmly believe the best basis for effectively marketing the club is by using our impressive range of British TVR sports cars and our enthusiastic members.
2 March 2018
I first joined the Committee in 1992 and edited Sprint from then until retiring in 2001; I also acted as Club Vice Chairman for the last 2 years of this time. I was elected to Life Membership of the Club in 2001 and thought at the time that that would be my last time on the Committee. However, in 2003, after consuming too much alcohol at Le Mans I was persuaded/cajoled to stand for the then vacant post of Public Relations Manager. Despite saying that it would be for three years only, I have served on the Committee ever since in that role and again for most of the time as Vice Chairman. I did decide in 2009 not to stand for re-election in order to see if there was anyone else willing to take on the mantle and am pleased to say that a volunteer came forward; however, sadly his tenure did not last long and I soon found myself back with the PR portfolio. However, after advertising again, I was very pleased to see that the hugely experienced marketeer Tony Cottrell joined us to take on Marketing and Public Relations enabling me to simply concentrate on Vice Chairman duties. But after just 10 months, Tony was elected Chairman position, which left me once again fulfilling the PR portfolio. Follwoing a change in our Articles of Association in 2012 in which the Vice Chairman was to come from the Board of Directors, I relinquished that role to Treasurer Matt Maneely.
Because of my length of tenure on the Committee, I also bring a wealth of experience to the role and can advise where we have tried things in the past that may or may not have worked. In addition, I continue to refresh the website content to ensure that it remains as up to date as possible and have the lead responsibility for organising the TVRCC stand at the annual NEC Classic Motor Show in November. Look out for me on the stand!
Public Relations/Marketing Role
I see the key to this role is to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy the ownership of a TVR along with the benefits of membership of the TVR Car Club.
I believe the main advantages of club membership that should be highlighted are our award winning Sprint magazine, our award winning club website, our range of varied local and national events and our strong regional network. These together with other benefits, including discounts and free advice regarding TVR ownership, provide the club with a strong basis to recruit new members and retain existing ones. A popular and active club will ensure we can continue to offer a broad range of valuable benefits to all our members.
I also feel it is particularly important at the moment that the role should ensure the club highlights the events and services to existing members to ensure they get the most out of their membership.
One of the key elements is to ensure that the club enjoys the maximum exposure within the public eye through the motoring press, club and third party events, and other activities. To that end I maintain a very close links with the editors from all of the major national motoring magazines and routinely get our members' car into road tests/photoshoots. I also produce the TVRCC submission foe the Classic & Sports Car Annual Club Awards in which we have either won, or taken a runners up position, in at least one category in every year since 2004. However, I firmly believe the best basis for effectively marketing the club is by using our impressive range of British TVR sports cars and our enthusiastic members.
2 March 2018
