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User:Beethoven05/NASIOC

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The North American Subaru Impreza Owners' Club, Inc. (NASIOC, Inc.), incorporated in November 2002,[1] is the world's largest Subaru-related enthusiast community. The website boasts over 166,000 members, which ranks as the fourth largest English-language automobile-based website[2]. The website offers technical forums for discussion of repairing, maintaining, modifying, and racing of Subarus, as well as regional forums for organizing meets, track days, and dyno days. The site also features an active Off-Topic forum.

History

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NASIOC was established on July 28, 1999 and is currently run by Nick Catalfamo. Since its beginnings as a website dedicated to the Subaru Impreza, it has grown over the years to include not only all models of the Impreza, but all other Subaru vehicles and Saab's Impreza clone, the 9-2X. Subaru's decision to introduce the Impreza WRX in 2001[3] and the Impreza WRX STi in 2003[4] helped buoy the site's popularity.

Publications

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NASIOC distributes two publications, The Monkey's Trunk (TMT) and the Periodic Review of NASIOC (PRoN) [5]. The Monkey's Trunk is a Subaru enthusiast and lifestyle E-Zine released. PRoN has been described by a reviewer from CarDomain as "one of the most ingenious things that any car forum has done"[6]. The reviewer continues:

"The 15-minute episodes, aired on YouTube, manage to be both charmingly home-made and slickly edited at the same time, giving viewers an inside look at the world of Subaru enthusiast culture. Segments within each show feature hosts and guests pulling stunts, working on project cars, clowning around, and profiling various Subie luminaries, all the while educating the viewer on the NASIOC forums and Subaru in general. I love watching these, and like many viewers, I don't even own a Subaru. It's really a wonder that no other forums have shows like this, because of what they've been able to do with this show. I hope that episode 5 will convince other forums to do the same, since there's no better way to spread the word about your cars and your scene at the grassroots level."

Chapters

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NASIOC is divided into thirteen local chapters which have been individually founded and four regional areas comprising the areas which have not yet become chapters but still communicate on a regional level. Qualifications for becoming a local chapter include demonstration of an active, club-like atmosphere including organization of an executive board and weekly localized meets for members as well as frequent, regular chapter-wide meets.

The thirteen chapters are:

  • Alaskan Impreza Club -- AKIC was founded January 10, 2002 and includes Alaska.
  • Bay Area Impreza Club -- BAIC was founded March 27, 2000 and is comprised of the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Hawaii Impreza Club -- HIIC was founded February 24, 2000 and includes Hawaii.
  • Mid-Atlantic Impreza Club -- MAIC was founded April 21, 2005 and includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia.
  • Mid West Subaru Owners Club - MWSOC was founded February 23, 2000 and includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin.
  • New England Impreza Club -- NESIC was founded February 23, 2000 and includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
  • North West Impreza Club -- NWIC was founded February 23, 2000 and includes Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington.
  • Puerto Rico Impreza Club -- PRSIC was founded February 23, 2000 and includes the US Territory of Puerto Rico.
  • Rocky Mountains Impreza Club -- RMIC was founded October 13, 2000 and includes Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.
  • Southern California Impreza Club -- SCIC was founded February 23, 2000 and is comprised of the southern California metropolitan regions and outlying area.
  • South West Impreza Club -- SWIC was founded October 12, 2000 and includes Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.
  • Texas Impreza Club -- TXIC was founded October 16, 2000 and includes Texas.
  • Vancouver Impreza Club -- VIC was founded February 23, 2000 and is comprised of the Vancouver, British Columbia metropolitan region.

The four designated Regional Areas are Canada, South East, Tri-State (CT, NJ, NY) and International for members working, studying, or serving overseas.

Events

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NASIOC divides up into regional forums that are focal points for organizing get-togethers of Subaru enthusiasts. Weekly meetings are not uncommon in many of the regions, and there are two large, yearly events that NASIOC is known for.

The first is the "Wicked Big Meet", hosted by the New England Subaru Impreza Club (NESIC) subforum. This gathering brings together over 1000 Subaru enthusiasts and their cars and in 2006 hosted Subaru Rally Team USA, who brought Travis Pastrana's rally race car.[7]

The second event is the "48 Hours of Tri-State". This yearly event is sponsored by the Tri-State regional forum and is a Drive-A-Thon for charity. Subaru owners are sponsored for each mile of road that they drive, with all proceeds donated to the American Cancer Society.[8] In 2007, the 48 Hours of Tri-State raised $14,000 to fight cancer.

Charitable Donations

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Over the years NASIOC has made donations to help those in and around its community. The latest of which was a donation sent to the Jerviswood Trust Account (to benefit Bravehearts Childrens Trust, Childrens Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), and Make-a-Wish Foundation) created shortly after the passing of rally racing legend Colin McRae in a helicopter accident that took the life of not only Colin, but his young son, and two family friends.

Another donation was sent late in 2003 when a rally team of Mark Lovell and Roger Freeman were taken before their time on a rally stage in the US. The two were well known in the community and in fact were close friends with several of the sites members.[9]

Accolades & Articles

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  • CanadianDriver.com has described the site as a "seemingly bottomless well of knowledge".[10]
  • Subaru of America's "Drive Magazine, Spring 2002" recognized the NESIC regional forum in its Spring 2002 issue.[11]
  • CarDomain conducted an interview with NASIOC owner Nick Catalfamo in January of 2007.[12]
  • Subaru of America communicates with NASIOC members under the name "SOA Blog" to update owners on Subaru news and answer questions about Subaru and its products.
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References

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  1. ^ "Florida Department of State"
  2. ^ "Big-boards.com"
  3. ^ "Car and Driver"
  4. ^ "Road and Track"
  5. ^ "ITunes"
  6. ^ "CarDomain"
  7. ^ "Drive Magazine, Version 3.2"
  8. ^ "48 Hours of Tri-State"
  9. ^ "Lovell/Freeman Memorial Decals"
  10. ^ "CanadianDriver.com"
  11. ^ "Drive Magazine, Spring 2002"
  12. ^ "CarDomain, NASIOC Interview"
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