November 2004 Board Meeting Minutes by Tom Blinn November 3, 2004
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 pm by Mike Lussier. In attendance were Mike Lussier, Paul Michali, Tom Blinn, David Harrison, George Bixby, Patty Bixby, Walter Wolf, Alan Legerlotz, Alvin Legerlotz, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, Peter Basiliere, and Martin Callahan.
Minutes from the October 6th meeting were distributed. George Bixby moved that they be accepted as presented. Paul Michali seconded. The members present voted in favor.
Financial Report
Mike Lussier presented a financial report covering the year through October, including the results from September that were not presented last month. Although we had been running a small deficit through September, October's expenses have left us with a net loss so far for 2004 in excess of $10,000.
The bulk of the October expenses were for driving school events and related costs. Not all of the expenditures from the October event were captured as October expenses; Mike noted current payables of about $4700 most of which is driving event related. We do expect to receive some expense relief as Club Race expense sharing from the Boston chapter, but the exact amount is uncertain, as is the date on which we will see the income.
The bottom line is that our cash reserves are at their lowest point in recent history. George Bixby moved and Alan Legerlotz seconded that the report be accepted as presented. The members present voted in favor.
Driving Events Report
DE Director Alan Legerlotz represented driving Events. Alan reported that the End Of Summer Driving School on Sunday and Monday, October 24 and 25, was poorly attended. There were about 35 students on Sunday and 25 on Monday. Due to the cold weather, the Monday schedule included a lunch break, but even with that time out the low attendance meant long run sessions. It was good value for the participants at a greater cost to the chapter. The Boston Chapter driving school on the 22nd and 23rd was also poorly attended. There were no incidents other than a few spinouts, which are normal. The Loudon Fall Classic Club Race on Saturday and Sunday was reportedly well attended.
Concern was again expressed about the low attendance and our need to increase participation, since we are losing money running driving events, which have produced a positive cash flow in past years. There was a consensus that we have a quality program with appropriate safety standards, and that feedback from both students and instructors is positive.
The DE committee is actively discussing how to return this activity to “profitability” in 2005. Some members present expressed a desire to help out but were unable to determine when DE meetings were happening. The Director has been encouraged to make sure that DE meetings are posted on the chapter web site.
Profile Report
Martin Callahan reported that there is a new Profile team in place. He is the Administrative Editor, with Dana Sion as Production Editor and several members in staff roles. The team is listed on the chapter web site’s Officers and Staff page.
The staff plan to meet the weekend before every other chapter business meeting, that is, in those months when a Profile issue is being produced, and the content deadline remains the Friday after that business meeting. The October/November issue reportedly has not yet been mailed.
The team is presently working on content for the December/January issue, which is the last 2004 issue. We are presently delivering 24 pages of content. Martin believes we have a core team on track to keep the Profile going forward.
Membership Report
Paul Michali reported that membership is down 1 to 793 official members. The “inconsistencies” commented on last month turned out to be expirations that had not been flagged in the data feed. Paul has contacted the expired members to encourage them to rejoin. In one case, the memberships were a result of attending the Street Survivor driver training.
Web Site Report
Paul reported that Greg Scott has completed a number of the improvements that we had requested. These include PayPal enhancements (Alvin Legerlotz has seen results and is quite pleased), the "Officers and Staff” page, a "Contact Us" interface, changes to the "Bulletin" email composition and posting interface, and other small improvements. The new "bulletin board" feature is under development.
The general consensus among the members present is that the web site is much improved. Special thanks to both Greg and Paul for their efforts were expressed.
Social Events Report
Patty Bixby provided a short update in Melanie Brown’s absence. The Vintage 2002 wine dinner was cancelled due to a lack of registrants. The B&B weekend is on track for late February, and needs to be listed on the chapter web site and promoted to tbe general membership.
Holiday party plans are underway. The party will be held on January 29th at C. R. Sparks in Bedford. Registration will open November 15th. There was some discussion about the proposal to have Bucky Lewis provide a special entertainment. The cost would be over and above the the costs of running the event without entertainment. Since we did not have a voting quorum, no decision was reached on the question whether we should proceed with this significant unplanned expense was reached.
President’s report: Rich Davis was not present due to business obligations.
New Business
Nova Scotia tour planning: Martin Callahan reported he and Geoff Pascoe are still working on plans for the September 2005 Nova Scotia tour. He had conversations with Eric Wensberg and has some ideas on how to proceed and have the event cover all of its own costs.
Nominations are open for 2005 chapter officers.
George Bixby presented expenses from the BMW Vintage Rally. The costs from the Holiday Inn in Concord were a bit over $1200, and the cost from Loon Mountain was about $225. Concern was expressed that the value received in Concord did not justify the cost.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.