The Chapter 2 situation developed and reached an end just before I joined the Board, so I can't speak to it from direct experience.
I do agree with most of the comments here, there was clearly a misunderstanding which was unfortunate and which was rooted partially in the cultural differences on the two sides. I do know that the Board at that time was put into a difficult situation because the start of that trouble arose from Caterpillar itself. The situation was much like the trouble we all on here encountered with the Great Tractor Race video.
Those who have been on here for a while will recall the very funny video depicting a race of all sorts of Cats with people flying off, knocking down buildings and the like. The video was filmed back in the thirties, judging by the machines and I think it is great fun. Caterpillar trademarks and licensing people are not always rational and reasonable in their administration of the brand. They felt that the video was harmful to the brand because it showed intentional unsafe operation, and I believe they even were ridiculous enough to say that someone might attempt some of the stunts depicted. Unfortunately, we in the Club are bound by their wishes. They own the Caterpillar name, trademark and trade dress. If they chose, they could shut us down in a moment by prohibiting us from using the word "Caterpillar" in our name.
I know this is frustrating to all of us, and many of us disagree with this perspective, but it is the reality. If they don't like what we do with their name, they have the right and the legal might to make us stop.
The situation with Chapter 2 arose because the Caterpillar trademarks and licensing people somehow became aware of the Chapter magazine. They noted that the Chapter used the word Caterpillar on the cover, and also noted that the Chapter did not have a trademark and licensing agreement to do so, and had not submitted the magazine for review prior to publication. The trademarks and licensing people notified our Club that this situation was a problem and indicated that Chapter 2 should discontinue using the Caterpillar name on their magazine.
Keep in mind now, that I have seen old Chapter 2 magazines, and what the Link Club is currently putting out, and I think Caterpillar is darn lucky to have their name associated with a publication of that quality. That doesn't really matter, and shouldn't have mattered to the Board members then, because the fact is Caterpillar didn't want the uncontrolled use of their name on the Chapter magazine.
Upon receipt of that notice, the Board at that time began a discussion with Chapter 2 about the unlicensed use of the Caterpillar name. I don't see that our Board at the time had any other choice than to respond to the request from Caterpillar. This is where I think things went a little sideways because of the cultural differences and probably because of the difficulties of communicating across time zones. I don't know all the things that caused problems in the discussions. I do know that somehow questions about dues payment and remittances came into the picture and I think there were other concerns, too.
However we got there, in the end, Chapter 2 was decertified, those members were lost to the Club. They have reorganized themselves into the Link Club and have continued to support preservation of Caterpillar history and machines with a wonderful magazine and great events. Since I joined the Board, we had a request to reorganize a new Chapter 2 in the U. K., which has happened. All of us on the Board were concerned that the new Chapter 2 and the Link Club support each other and not compete for members or activities. I believe so far that is what has happened. I don't doubt that the Link Club will continue to be the main force for Caterpillar activities in the U. K. for a long time. That is, in my opinion, as it should be.
Any Link Club member who wishes to join us is welcome. The opposite is also true. I'd encourage anyone in the U. K. or with an interest in U. K. Caterpillar things to join the Link Club. Since we are here, with a strong and valuable Link Club and a newly refreshed Chapter 2 in the U. K., I don't want to see one or the other change or become the preferred choice.
I think we need to recognize that however we got here, we have two groups in the U. K. and probably will for the foreseeable future.
tctractors, I have always enjoyed your posts here. I do recall the post which you mentioned complaining about your posting under Bill Glenn's Classic Plant. I didn't understand that post then and still don't now. I can tell you that neither I nor anyone currently on the Board would want to give you the "Boot to the Backside." We do understand and respect, though, your desire not to put the backsides in jeopardy. As you said in your last comment, our goal now is to coexist and complement each other. The Link Club is doing a lot of good work in parallel with our mission statement.
Mike Meyer, you are spot on in your assessment of the bulletin board statistics. I do think, though, that having 14,000 guys registered, even if they have only ever looked once, doesn't cost us anything and we might hook one or two of them back in. I look at this bulletin board like a long line fishing boat for our Club. We troll along here with forty miles of line out set with thousands of hooks, each baited with a piece of rust, a yellow paint chip, or a photo or video of a tractor. Those lines drift along behind the boat while people from all over the world sniff the water, swim over, take a look, then leave.
Every once in a while, something catches someone's eye. It might be the faint smell of diesel and dust, it might be a piece of advice about adjusting a carburetor, or it might be something misstated or misinterpreted which needs correcting. That guy swims back over for another look, and maybe makes a post or two. Sometimes, the hook is set then, sometimes it takes two or three or twenty tries. Eventually, though, if the yellow is in the blood, they can't resist and they'll start talking. Once that happens, it is only a matter of time before they're rooting around in the blackberry bushes, trying to pull the tenth froze up solid, ten ton treasure out of the brush with none of the right tools except for the five friends they've talked into joining the adventure.
I'd love it if everyone would dive in headfirst, post their basic information, location and start posting away. Unfortunately, human nature seems to take a while to get comfortable, figure out that this is a warm and welcoming discussion and begin to contribute. As long as it doesn't cost us anything in space or bulletin board operations, I'm for just leaving the door open to registering, posting what they want and when they want and requiring no commitments.
I can't wait, though, until we have a way to identify those of us who care and do financially support the Club and/or the bulletin board. That is coming soon. I'm also hopeful that the system which will allow contribution and an acknowledgement of that contribution, will also allow all of us participants to elect other participants for certain banners. We participants should have a way to acknowledge and identify contributors like Old Magnet, edb, tctractors and others. I'd like to have a way that we could go to their profile and record a vote so that their name and avatar would also get a little flag that says something like "Listen to this guy, he is one of the great yellow sages." After so many votes, the flag would appear, indicating that users of the forum recognize and appreciate their contributions. I don't know if this is possible, but I think it is something that would be good for our community.
As far as the olive branch to the Link Club, I think we've made some progress. We need to continue in that direction. I'd be the first on a plane to carry one if anyone is offering a ticket! I'd want to make sure, of course, that my trip could include one of those great Link Club working weekends.
You mentioned the need for representation on the Board. This need is one of the main reasons we created the International Director position. We felt that it is important to ensure that at least one Director from outside the U. S. is on the Board at any given time. There is no problem with having more Directors from overseas, but the Club should always have at least one non-U. S. Director. The current Ballot provides the first election to this position. There are some logistical difficulties with having people serving on a Board who are located in the U. K. or Europe, in the U. S. and in New Zealand, Australia or Asia.
It becomes very difficult to have telephone meetings with all participants when we are evenly spread across the world. For meetings now, we generally hold our calls at 7:30 pm Eastern Time, which works out to somewhere between 9:00 am and 11:00 am Australian Eastern Time for Lance, as the current non-U. S. Director. If we had a participant in the U. K., that time would work out to 1:30 AM in London. You can see that with that spread of participants, to have a meeting with all involved, someone would have to be talking in the middle of their night. We can deal with that problem, and will if necessary, but it does complicate matters quite a bit.
The importance of having representation, especially to ensure that we minimize the risk of another problem like the Chapter 2 de-certification, far outweighs any logistical concerns we might need to overcome.
Pete.