January 2002 Board Meeting Minutes by George Bixby January 2, 2002
The meeting commenced at 6:45 pm at Jillian’s in Manchester, NH. Club officers in attendance were Dan Guliano, Mike Francis (President elect), Mike Lussier, George Bixby, and Phil Brown. Also attending were Peter Duffy, Dick Cadieux, Dan Croteau, Bruce Smith, Rob Greer, Ed Valpey, Pat Francis, Lee Walsh, Rob Stager, Gordon Geick, John Cloutier, Rich Davis, Tom Blinn, Mike Lucci, and Patty Bixby.
Dan started the meeting by telling everybody that Mike and he would co-chair the nights meeting to help Mike transition into next months meeting. Dan asked that the members introduce themselves.
After introductions Dan asked Mike Lussier to give the treasurer's report. Mike reported that the club’s finances were not much different from the previous month. He was asked about the possibility of some income for an insurance rebate. Mike told the group that the rebate would not be allowed because of a minor incident at the End of Summer School.
Mike Francis asked Phil Brown about Driving School dates next year at NHIS. Phil announced that the club had secured the three dates he mentioned. The first date is April 19th, the next date is September 6th, and the last date is a two day event of October 20th and 21st (this is packaged with the 18th and 19th with Boston).
Mike asked Bruce if there was any word on the Mt. Tremblant date. Bruce reported that Phil Abrami has not secured a date with Tremblant at this time. Peter Duffy was asked about progress with Pocono raceway. Peter displayed a brochure from Pocono and said that there were two days available in early May and two days in early October but we needed to act fast to secure them. He went on to explained that there were several configurations that could be used but each date had different configurations available. There was quite a bit of discussion.
Although the chapter expressed interest in sponsoring event at other venues, there were concerns about over extending ourselves. It was noted that we already had an extra day at NHIS and we were pursuing the event with Phil Abrami at Mt. Tremblant. Mike asked that the driving committee take up this issue at the next meeting in two weeks.
Next, we discussed the holiday party. Bruce was asked about registration for the party. Bruce responded that about sixty people were registered and expected more. He added that Dreher-Holloway, 3-D Auto, and BMW North America (as well as others) had agreed to sponsor the party. In addition to the door prizes provided by the sponsors, he said that the club would give away wearables (left over from club events).
Dan announced that the slate of club officers was nominated and would be installed at the Holiday Party.
Ed Valpey spoke to the group about the proposed "Rally Cross". He explained that he had worked with Tim before and thought that this would be a wonderful winter season opportunity for the club to participate in. He said the cost was reasonable (at $1000) and the event emphasized car control. There was some discussion about how many participants to open it up to. There was consensus to hold the event for thirty to fifty people due to limited experience. Rob Stager volunteered to champion the event. Ed said that an SCCA event was planned for Jan. 26 and asked the members to come up and take a look (the location is around Littleton, NH).
George reported on the proposal to invite a local automotive writer to partake in Advanced Skills School. George told the membership that he had received an enthusiastic response from the writer, who asked for enough notice to use an available BMW from the press pool. He added that during the conversation they discussed driver’s ed events and the writer expressed interest in attending one at NHIS. The membership agreed to invite the writer to both events (without charge).
On a related topic, George asked if Advanced Skill School dates had been set? Mike and Dan instructed Phil Brown to arrange two days in April. The days are April 13th, for instructor development, and April 14th for the (before track) student school.
The next agenda item was activities director. George reminded the group about the previous meeting’s decision to actively pursue someone to organize other activities for the club. George nominated Patty Bixby to be the club’s activities director. The nomination was seconded by Dan Guliano and passed unanimously.
Dan asked the membership if there was any new business for the club to consider? Peter Duffy asked why we hadn’t published the meeting minutes in the "Profile"? John Cloutier responded that he was restricted to eight pages based on the amount of articles submitted. He added that if he expanded the number of pages, it would need to be four (for a total of twelve). To fill those pages he would need more articles written by club members. After some discussion, it was agreed that if enough articles are accumulated, to fill the extra pages, the minutes would be published.
George reported that he had just become aware that "Eurosport Automotive" had changed ownership. He realized that they had been advertiser in the "Profile" and provided "Tech Inspection" for driving events. He suggested that the advertising manager approach them, in a month or so, to see about continuing the relationship.
Dan asked if there was other new business for the club to consider and adjourned the meeting at 8:15 pm.