What is going on? I got an email from Fred. He is no longer regional director?
Greg Evidently other directors of the FCA didn't share his vision of the club - don't know which ones but it was enough for him to quite - he was doing a great job - I was really bummed when I got the message - I had no idea it was coming - f ..g politics
Not to worry- the FL Region is in good hands. The "new" regime isn't composed of neophytes- lots of folks with considerable experience both with the marque in general and FCA in particular. All will be well.
But based on your 17 total posts in almost 7 years, and the failure to identify yourself in your blank profile, you do? In any event, suffice it to say that those who know me will confirm that I make it a point not to opine on subjects about which I'm clueless. I can assure you that this is not one of them. P.S.: I always find it amusing when gratuitous insults are preceded by "with all due respect"!
With all respect, having been and am a member of FCA , and in South Florida, I also feel you do not know what you are talking about. I have gone to the FCA events in South Florida for the past 5 years, and without Fred Burton, there will be a general feeling that the club will fail. Freds leadership, and passion will NOT be passed on to anyone who i have met at the club functions up to and including the Holiday Dinner. His organizational skills for people down here who want to drive, enjoy their cars and enjoy each others company will look for another venue other than FCA. BTW, how many of the board members Ira, do you feel even have a Ferrari ? Lets see hmmmmmm 2
I have not always gotten along with Fred, but he has worked his ass off to create the best events ever in south Florida. If there were those in FCA that were not happy with Fred, it probably was based on arrogance, jealousy, stupidity, and all of the aforementioned. Fred Burton brought positive attention to the FCA, and the marque. On its own, the FCA is not important, it is people like Fred that make clubs like the FCA important.
I agree also. IMO, Fred has been the best Reg Dir for the past 10 years and I have been a member of the FL Region since 1994. Lets see if the current FL Board of Directors do as much and willing to get their hands dirty as much as Fred has.
Being a fairly recent FCA member (SE Florida). I concur with all positive comments about Mr. Burton. In any organization a strong competent leader is important, just as important are the individuals (Board members) that advised, supported and assisted that leader. Without these individuals Mr. Burton would not have achieved what he had over the past Two (2) years. There is so much effort that goes into the planning and execution of a single event it would not be possible for just One (1) individual to do so by him or herself. Credit is due to all Board members of the SE Florida FCA for all of their hard work.
I was also very disappointed to receive the email as well from FCA. Once Fred got involved I knew that he was really going to make a difference regarding the social aspect, the number and quality of events. I think we all agree that Fred did a great job of providing us (the members) amazing events. Fred spends more time than you can image planning these events. It is almost a thankless job; someone is always unhappy and there is always an issue and yet Fred continues to plan more events and get even more involved (not for profit, but for the passion and love of it). We are going to miss Fred’s leadership and hope that the new board will be able to fill his shoes, and those are mighty big feet he has…
no disrespect for this quote, or the other board members..... but those of us that really KNOW Fred, know that these events are really organized and produced by Fred.... not that the board would not want to assist..... But Fred just does, what Fred does..... not right or wrong, just Fred's way.... I know, I have been on the Toys for Tots committee from its inception of 2006 and look what an amazing / fantastic and successful event that is / has become and hopefully will continue. Just let Fred run, run Fred.... run.... then we all sit back and have an AMAZING time.... again Thank You Fred for the last couple of years and we look forward to new beginnings for all of the us in the year 2015. we are all very blessed to have these issues ..... and these should be our biggest concerns.... just remember that ....
"I am very proud of the significant accomplishments while I was the Regional Director during the past 2 years…… In a short period of time, the membership grew over 25%, (in fact, I came in 2nd in the entire country for signing up new members this past year), the club went from losing a considerable amount of money annually to a positive cash flow, bank account balances doubled and grew significantly, the Redline Magazine was brought back to life, relationships and sponsorships with the Ferrari dealerships were strengthened, new initiatives were implemented (ie. driving school, changes to the track event formats, partnerships with other luxury brands, controls and procedures on finances, etc), member participation greatly improved, and the intangibles such as morale amongst the members was also vastly improved. Most importantly, there were roughly 50 events in under 24 months for members to participate in." These results speak for themselves. Fred took the club to a new, better level. Here's a novel idea: the board member(s) who caused Fred so much grief out of pure jealousy and spite, thus motivating his resignation, should resign instead. Here's a thought, since I think we still live in a democracy, why not let the members vote or petition to keep Fred as president while simultaneously getting rid of the bad apples?!
Robert - that's very funny but absolutely true - another issue that has not been addressed is that Fred brought in additional support from the Ferrari dealerships in Florida-lets see how that pans out
Unless the legal settlement between FCA and FERRARI S.p.A. / FNA has expired or changed with the purchase of a new FERRARI from an authorized US FERRARI dealer the owner of a newly purchased FERRARI receives One (1) year free membership to the FCA. The state of Florida is second in new FERRARI sales in the US. Therefore to the most part claim of increase of FCA membership is due to new FERRARI sales within Florida.
Fred is an awesome guy and one of the first I met in South Florida when I got into Ferrari years ago. He's also an excellent organizer evidenced by the success of the FCA and his Toy Rally. I haven't been an FCA member in several years while we have been dealing with our daughter's health issues. However I've looked at every set of pictures and video from FCA events posted here and it seems a great time has been had by all. It's a shame a leader such as Fred won't be involved moving forward but at the same time I'm sure Fred will move on from this. Hopefully he will continue to organize excellent events. Probably really easy for FCA to track whether a new car purchase or signing up via a local club.
Fred has done a great deal to bring new young blood to an otherwise formerly stiff clientele. His style and persona may not be what these stiff folks left over from decades gone by may have been comfortable with. All the events we did a decade ago were based on the idea that we, the younger group of F-owners, was looking for a different style of event. Maybe it is time to get back to the basics. I doubt Fred is going anywhere, right Fred?
Perhaps it is time to breathe new life into Scuderia South Florida. We need to continue with events for owners, who like to drive their cars. Fred was doing an outstanding job of this, for us.
The first person who tried to bring the FCA to a higher level, get more people and dealers involved, and have more fun events was Jay Weitzel. He was booted out as a result. And instead of being divisive, controlling, and vindictive, Jay was nice and inclusive and positive.
