September 2004 Board Meeting Minutes by Tom Blinn September 1, 2004
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by Rich Davis. In attendance were Rich Davis, Phil Brown, Melanie Brown, Paul Michali, Mike Lussier, Tom Blinn, David Harrison, Jan Mark Holzer, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, Patty Bixby, Dillon Tagget, and Chris Leddy.
Minutes from the August 4th meeting were distributed. Paul Michali moved that they be accepted as presented. Mike Lussier seconded. The members present voted in favor. Membership Report
Paul Michali reported that membership is up to 806 official members. We continue to have some churn, with members moving out or in to our chapter area, as well as some members just dropping out of the club. Paul continues to contact via postal mail those members who have not renewed to encourage them to rejoin, and in some cases has had positive results. Financial Report
Mike Lussier provided a financial report. Our account balances are down somewhat from our position a year ago. Our costs to run track events have increased and attendance is less than what could be accommodated. The recent touring rally produced a small profit. This month's financial report was generated in a new format that was generally felt to be a bit easier to follow. Tom Blinn moved to approve the report as presented. The motion was seconded by Melanie Brown. The treasurer's report was approved as presented.
During discussion after the report was presented and approved, some concern was raised about the state of the driving events program. Much of the concern involved the apparent breakdown in communication between the driving events team and the chapter board. The next driving events committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 13th at the Common Man restaurant in Concord (exit 13), in the Governor's Chamber room. Social Events Report
Melanie Brown reported on Social Events. Minutes from the Social Events meetings are posted on the chapter web site in the social events library section.
As noted earlier, the touring rally produced a profit. The feedback from members has been quite positive. Next year's rally should be even better based on learnings from this year's event. The BBQ and Blues Bash was held as planned, and some club members attended and enjoyed the festivities. Receptions for the Vintage BMW touring rally have been scheduled for September 5th in Concord and September 9th at Loon Mountain, details for both events are posted on the chapter web site.
The October Charity Golf Tournament is on track for Monday, October 4, 2004 from 11am to 5pm. The cost is reduced to $90 per golfer and should be a good time for all. There is still an opportunity to help out, contact Melanie (mbrown@wmc-bmwcca.org or 603-528-5444) or any social committee member by email or phone to get more information or sign up.
The preparations for the Wine Tasting Dinner to be held Friday, November 5th at the Bedford Village Inn are on track. The theme this year is “Vintage 2002”. Registration is open now through the web site.
Holiday party plans are underway. The party will be held on January 29th at C. R. Sparks in Bedford. Registration will open November 15th. The plan to collect food donations for contribution to a local food pantry was formally approved. Details will be worked out and communicated in advance of the event, including the selection of a designated charity or charities. President's Report
Rich Davis and Paul Michali will be doing the editorial work to produce The Profile. In the short term, Rich plans to take responsibility for the actual production of the printed media. The chapter is required by our charter to generate a printed periodic newsletter, and it is one of the few things that reaches all members of the chapter.
David Harrison moved and Paul Michali seconded that we consider paying to get the production work done. There was a general consensus that the production work is difficult and time critical once content is available, and that it is unreasonable to expect that even a small core team of volunteers should be expected to do this work month after month. It was noted in discussion that newsletter production has some similarities to web site support, and that the chapter pays for web services through an outside vendor with good results. After some further discussion, it was clear that further research is needed before the motion should be put to a vote, and it was tabled until the next meeting. Web Site Report
Paul Michali reported that Greg Scott has been doing enhancements as requested, and that in particular we are now able to use PayPal for social activities as well as driving events. Many forthcoming events are published.
Paul described the initial use of a new Yahoo based chapter forum, and noted that for a modest fee the chapter web site could be enhanced to support a similar facility that would not have advertising since we'd be hosting it ourselves. The facility could also host the driving events forum presently on Yahoo. Phil Brown moved and Patty Bixby seconded a proposal to spend $150 to have the facility implemented on the chapter web site. The proposal was approved. Paul will contact Greg Scott to ask him to move ahead on implementation. New Business
Rich reported that the National Chapter is considering a proposal for O'fest 2006 at Mont Tremblant near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Driving School at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant has a description of the facility and pointers to additional web based information. If this event comes to pass, there will be opportunities for the chapter to participate and provide support for some of the O'fest activities.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.