---------SoCal Team Name List--------

Team G or G Team (we can make the logo look like the "A-Team"
G Squad
FocalPoint <------Don't know where that one came from
G-Spec
Trends
G-Unit <-------Sorry Just had to
VQ Excellence
G-TekNiC
G-Tunerz
GEN35IS = Genesis
VQ-Power
Team Unlimited
CONCEPTS
Balanced Power
Power Innovations
Team Concepts
Driver Evolutions
Street Concepts
New Order
Visual Balance
Team DDG “Daily Driven G”
G-Ryderz

 

Those kinda sound like either shop names or vanity plates, not really "team" names. Like, "the Arsenal" is a team name, as is "Buccaneers" or what have you. I think of them more as something that is a noun rather than an idea. G-Ryderz and -Tunerz almost work but the "z" is a tad cliche these days. I'm in L.A. so I'm definitely down to join this thing, and I think it'd be cool to go old school, like, a "mascotable" thing or something. Not a Dolphin or some wacky thing like that, but some animal that happens to be quick and kickass that makes it's home in SoCal. If possible I'd throw in a reference to the car (G-something, i dunno yet). Just my thoughts, I'm a bit drunk right now, not much, but I'm not sure what I just wrote. I think it's good though.

 

I'd talk to a lawyer before I told people information that was of "legal" nature. Especially info that may not be factual like "there are still ways around this".

There are "DNO" policies and "Liability Insurance" policies which you will need if you are going to start a club. This may run you $500-$10,000 per year depending on coverage limits, availability, etc...

Are you going to pay taxes? If not, you need to file for "Tax Exempt" status with the IRS, 501C7 to be exact. You'll also have to establish club Bylaws and will probably need legal help to file the correct paperwork with the IRS. This will run you a good $500+ (assuming the lawyer donates his/her time for free). Don't forget to get an accountant to donate their services for free, unless you want to pay for an accountant each year too. Filing taxes for a corporation is a little more expensive than filing taxes for an individual.

Want to give yourself a club name? If so, you'll need to file with the state of CA and create your club's Articles of Incoporation. In Florida these fees were just under $130, which is one of the cheapest fees you'll pay.

BTW, if you say or do something that is considered "prejudicial" to another of your club members, they can sue you for discrimination... a "DNO Policy" protects you from this. If you are not set up as a corporation they can and probably will sue you personally. Not to mention the issue of liability. If something happens that is completely out of your control, you can still be sued. Even if it is an assenine lawsuit you'll still need legal defense which could run you $50,000 or more in no time flat if you don't have a liability insurance policy. Without insurance you could lose your house, your investments, your car, etc...

There is a lot to starting up a club, if I had known what was involved I GUARANTEE YOU there would not be a Florida G35 Club right now.

It's a lot of hard work for a few people and very few others will do as much as lift a finger to help. They'll be the first to criticize but the last to offer any kind of help. It's really kind of sad, but that's the way it is and you should know this before going in. People will show up to some of the meets, take all of the freebies you can dish out, but they will leave you hanging at the first sign of having to fill out a piece of paper and mail it in to you. GUARANTEED!!! FYI, the FGC just finalized our first election and less than 25% of the people actually voted for club officers. All people had to do was print out a piece of paper, put an "X" in a box and mail the paper to the club PO Box. Oh, there's another fee I forgot to mention.

IMO, a good annual membership would be ~$50 per person with a club sized at about 75 members. Anything less and you'll be scraping the barrel literally.

I wonder if Team Transport did all of this when they established their club???

 

David,

Sorry, I've got very little artistic skills. Here's my ideas -

* G Speed
* G Force

 

Not sure what was meant by Randy's "See what I mean" comment above? So I'll bite.

I hope folks don't think that Transport would get all huffy about another team starting up. In fact, my post was to wish him and the group's efforts the best of luck. David answered my question why he did not join Transport, which was all I was looking for. I just wanted to know what we could do differently in the future to encourage more members.

I am little more grown up than to think that Transport owns the whole playground. Making it free was not an option for us. A true team has expenses to survive and have a footprint at shows. In fact, of the organized teams out there (Hybrid, Showcase, Autobots, etc.) Transport has the lowest dues/fees. We took that into consideration when forming.

As for a daily driver club, that was what SCGOA (or "name to be determined") was all about. I will be more than happy to join that club when someone else takes the reins, since folks didn't seem too interested in my last attempt to jump start it.

Again, good luck Dave and we hope to see you at the shows. We will def see you at any G35driver/Socal club events.

== to answer Neffster==
We buy insurance for our events, especially events like the Toys for Tots Car Show that we put on at the Pond last December. We also have pretty strong disclaimers for our events.

We opted not to incoporate at this time, waiting to see if the Team would survive a year or two. No need to go through incorp fees and process if it dies... $800 down the drain. (inc'ing in Nevada... hides your personal info and your board's)

instead I have filed with the State of CA to register our logos and names as associations so that groups cannot use our images. This also protects our identity and does not require incorporation.

Don't forget vinyl costs, identity apparel, banners and website costs in addition to all the rest!

Cheers, ted

 

Make it exclusive with a character test, like... kicking their *** at GT4. See how they react and allow entry based on that.

 

HAhahahah That’s a good one.

But after reviewing what it would take to " safely and legally" start a new club I don't think it's going to happen.

Not looking good.

 

Does it have to be official? Could we do shows on a group ticket instead of a club one? And ****, I'm down just to have some sort of uniting thing between a bunch of cool G owners, like the windshield/rear-window sticker thing. I'm sure there are loopholes everywhere to get in on this and not have to deal with the gov't or high fees.

 

Well thats what I was thinking but, Lets say one is running a banner and crashes into someone while street racing or doing somthing stupid. That will come back to the person that first started the group. I could get sued If i'm not protected. Thats scary. Or lets say some one running the banner does somthing to **** another group/team off, now everyone running the banner has to worrie about there own car getting messed with.


Thanks

David G

 

That's a good point...

Things would be so much easier if people weren't idiots. We could just be cool about it, no competition, don't advocate illegal activity, etc. I mean, we have LACR and Pomona, it's not like there's a shortage of places to legally drag race, and we could be against reckless driving and such. Anyone screws up they have to turn in their sticker and renounce all direct links with the club. If we get rid of them quickly and cleanly they should cause little trouble.
I've got a pretty good background in law and excellent hookups in that department, so if this gets started maybe I should co-found it with you... Also, loopholes and easing things are my specialties.

 

Yehh i really think people are thinking way too into this, lets just make some small stickers to put on our side windows to distinguish who we really are. I honestly don't think we have to go through all that trouble just to put a little sticker on our window. and o yeh btw... G Force would be a cool name

 

Well In that case I wonder why no one have made a
"G35 Driver" Sticker like a small one to put on the side windows
or a bumper?

 

If it came down to it and there was a need to put some money out for things I'm sure people wouldn't mind if they really like the team!

 

I didn't really want to put a damper on the whole thing. I just wanted everyone to be aware of possible consequences - especially in sue-happy L.A.
Just passing along info, ya know, because this was brought up in the previous thread I mentioned.
Anyway, I think I remember a previous thread on a g35driver sticker going around. I'll try searching for it later.

 

Damn Sue happy people.

I think I'm going to Join TEAM TRANSPORT