June 2003 Board Meeting Minutes by Tom Blinn June 4, 2003
Members Present: Mike Francis (Director, presiding), Phil Brown (Vice-President), Mike Lussier (Treasurer), Tom Blinn (Secretary), Patty Bixby (Activities), Martin Callahan (Profile Editor), Susan Dugdale, Melanie Brown, Paul Michali, Dick Cadieux, Rob Greer, Paul Lillios.
Mike Francis called the meeting to order at 6:45pm. Allen Goddu (President) was unable to be present.
Old and new business:
Minutes from the May, 2003 meeting (printed as posted on the chapter web site) were distributed. The minutes were approved as presented.
Mike Lussier (Treasurer) reported that we have had a positive cash flow for the driving events in April and May and our financial position is positive; details are available from him. We are mostly current with our sponsors and our Profile advertisers, whose continued support is much appreciated.
No membership status was reported. The position of membership chairman is open and a volunteer from among the membership would be welcomed to contact Allen Goddu.
No autocross events report was presented. Autocross events are posted on the chapter web site. Events include June 8 (SCCNH), June 22 (WMC), July 6 (SCCNH), and July 27 (WMC).
No driving events report was provided, beyond the financial information in the Treasurer's report.
The Boston Chapter concours at the Lars Andersen Museum of Transportation in Brookline, MA is on June 22. Additional information can be found on their web site.
The "Ultimate Drive" event will be July 9th at Holloway BMW in Stratham, NH. Contact Allen Goddu agoddu@wmc-bmwcca.org if you wish to participate and especially if you are willing to help shuttle the test fleet to Bill Dodge BMW up near Portland, ME. Every mile driven during the event, including the shuttle, results in a $1 donation to the Komen Foundation.
Patty Bixby reported that the next Social Events committee meeting will be June 12th at The Yard. Melanie Brown has joined the committee. The NH seacoast road rally is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 13. The proposed route will start in Exeter, NH close to Exeter Hospital and end at the Club Casino in Hampton Beach. The proposed route is about 150 miles. Martin Callahan is planning the route. The wine tasting dinner is scheduled for Friday October 17th, again at the Bedford Village Inn.
The content deadline for the next Profile issue is June 11th.
Paul Michali reported on his interactions with the chapter's webmaster, Greg Scott, about the chapter web site and email lists. Greg can provide an "email only" administrative access. We have contracted to have SSL support added to the web site, which will enhance privacy and security. The board recommended that we do a one-time mailing to the members whose addresses can be provided by the national office in electronic form, telling them of about the chapter web site and explaining how to sign up for the chapter's Bulletin email notices. We will not add those addresses to the chapter's Bulletin email database. Tom Blinn will follow up with Allen Goddu to get the email addresses in electronic form and will do the one-time mailing.
Paul Michali moved that we should contract to have the Bulletin email database enhanced to allow members to request just mailings in their areas of interest, such as "driving events", "social activities", "general notices", and perhaps breaking down the driving events into even more categories. We would also enhance the mail posting interface to allow the author to indicate which sublists would receive the message. The estimated cost for the project is $200. The motion was seconded and approved. Paul was asked to solicit feedback from the current mailing list members whether we needed to break things into lots of categories or whether a smaller number as noted above are sufficient.
Paul Michali proposed that we have a similar "content tagging" facility implemented for the content pages on the web site, similar to what has been for the Boston Chapter web site. This motion was tabled for future consideration. Discussion was supportive but in general people felt we did not have an immediate need for this capability.
Paul Michali proposed that we find out the cost to add a "My WMC Profile" area to the web site, which would be modeled on the "My Boston Chapter" facility in the Boston Chapter's web site. This proposal was seconded and approved, with a request that Paul report back to the board with more information on the costs and the benefits to the membership.
The meeting adjourned at 8:05pm.
The Yard will be closed on July 2nd for renovations. The next schedule board meeting will be Wednesday, August 6th.
All members are reminded that everyone is welcome to attend the board meetings. The usual venue is "The Yard" restaurant at 13500 South Willow St., Manchester, NH, about a mile south of the Mall of New Hampshire. Be sure to check the chapter web site for any last minute changes in schedule or location.