Meeting Minutes for June 2007 Board Meeting
Date: 6/11/07
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: The Olde Salt Restaurant, Hampton NH
Attendees : Bruce Smith, Dick Cadieux, Alan Legerlotz, Gordon Geick, Laura Fallis, Paul Michali, Mark Viola, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, Mike Francis, Bob Favre, Brian Sox, Jerry Kaiser, Christopher Bray, Pam Der Bogosia, Karl Leinsing, David Harrison.
Meeting was called to order at 6:38.
Dick began with the Sponsorship report. We have a contract with 3D Auto Works… they will advertise again this year and will also sponsor events throughout the season. They’re currently trying to figure out which ones because they’d like them to be events when they’ll be available to attend. Mike from Schneller is going to advertise with Profile and sponsor an event. Mario Langsten will sponsor as well. Covered Bridge is going to come back on board too. They spoke to Erik about this and he sent them to Dick so arrangements can be made. Mike Francis said that if we contact Mike Cooney, we’ll be all set with him too. Mike is now working at Concord Motorsport as of today. Gordon asked about sponsorship rates, and Dick indicated that Laura has one, which she passed around the table. (the full schedule is available on the web site or from Dick Cadieux). Concord Motorsport, Bavarian Autosport, 3D Auto Works, Schneller (Covered Bridge approached us today) are our current sponsors and advertisers. Event Sponsors get 2 slots for the specific events they sponsor. Laura met with Anne Van Patten about sponsorship and she’s looking at what things she wants to sponsor through us. 3D has new advertisements done by Suzin Kohler and we need those for the profile. We have more sponsors than we have in a while and we’re getting checks. Al mentioned that he talked with 3D about things they’d like to see and it sounds like some of those are being addressed already. Sponsors want more profiles and Dick talked with Martin about getting advertisers at least 10 profiles each month. Deb offered to do Tee Shirts for the instructors essentially for the cost of the shirts themselves. She has the equipment available.
Bruce gave a profile report on behalf of Martin. The latest issue has been printed and is being mailed now. The next issues after this will have some color, etc.. .The first couple of these issues were in a format to get things out quickly and to ensure that we’re meeting our requirements. There will be more advertisers, etc… in subsequent issues. Bruce indicated that National has been getting their profiles and other required correspondence from us. I asked about how National is viewing us given some of the trouble from last year. Laura indicated that she’s been inviting John Sullivan to our meetings and he has mentioned some By-Laws things that we need to edit and get back to them. Bruce invited people to check out the other chapters’ newsletters to see what they have. Dick pointed out that some of these chapters are pretty creative about with getting non BMW or non car sponsorships. The GVC newsletter even has a Subaru dealer ad in it.
Gordon gave a DEC update. Gordon announced that Mark Viola is now an instructor with us. There are 22 people signed up for the Minis only ADSS next weekend. This represents an excellent turnout. Concord Motorsport and Mini of Peabody are sponsoring the event and lunch. There is some talk of having advertising packets, Dinan info, etc… at the event. Registration for the August Heat driving school is open and currently there are 22 people signed up. Registration is open for the August ADSS as well. Gordon asked if Tania was handing registration for just the Minis or with ADSS in general; Alvin said that Tania is just doing minis. Bruce asked if we could get numbers about rollover entrants from the cancelled April events and those who got refunds instead. Gordon asked that we send out an e-mail reminding people that registration is open for ADSS and August Heat. Dick pointed out that people who rolled over their entry should get first choice for the ADSS event. Gordon looked on the web site and said that the “next event” said “Mini ADSS” and he said that at this point, the Summer Heat/ADSS should come up as next event. Paul said that he can do this. Paul also said that he’s done some things with the web site to fix some broken links. Gordon said that we’re giving the SEC a Driving School slot to be raffled off for the Drive for the Cure, which we did this last year as well. The money from the raffle goes to the Komen Foundation. The raffle winner’s name just needs to go to Alvin so he knows who gets the open slot. Gordon asked whether or not we want to appeal to other clubs in the area to partner with them. Al pointed out that we talk about this at every meeting and asked what we need to do make it happen since everyone continues to be in favor. Gordon indicated that in his opinion we need board support and asked whether or not we want to share events with other clubs. There was some discussion about whether or not a full marketing slot is warranted for the chapter and what to do about it. The next DEC meeting is 7/9 and Gordon asked whether or not this should be the membership meeting as well; discussion of this was tabled until later in the meeting. Dana suggested we advertise in other club’s newsletters. Gordon feels that we’ve made the contacts and need to follow through by partnering or something else. Dick and Al mentioned that we’ve been working closely with Boston forever, so we know how to do this. Dick said that everyone is having issues filling schools (even SCDA recently). Laura has been reaching out to Vermont to partner with them because they don’t have a track. Bruce reiterated the issue is not whether we want to do something, its what are you [Gordon] asking us to do and how to do it? Karl asked about whether we should advertise more about the fact that we allow convertibles. There was discussion that we’re already getting the word out about convertibles, but that we’ll do more because this is a differentiator for us.
Michael and Dana have the Social Events report. The Susan G Komen event is 6/19 and 6/20. We’ll be getting a live feed from a large TV station and they’ll be shooting video in Stratham. They’ll be activities and things there including face painting and booths. We’ll be transporting cars from Stratham to Nashua and the next day from Nashua to Natick). Transport drivers need to be available at 5pm. Those interested in volunteering should email Dana. Dana pointed out that in this case we’re helping the dealers, not the BMW CCA. Bruce suggested that people go drive if they can to help with the fund raiser. There was a list of available cars passed around (no M Cars). Bruce suggested that we send out an email blast to people telling them about the event. June 16 is the road rally and it has no pre-registration The route for the road rally is Newburyport to Portland and more info can be found on the web site. This year’s event will be simpler than years past and they’ll be both competition and touring classes with trophies for the competitors. The entry fee is $25. The go karting event is 7/21. Space has been reserved and the tentative cost is $75 for 15 yrs and older participants and $50 for 14 and under participants. This is a serious karting event with driver training and an allotted number of laps. Karts for the 15 and older participants go 65 mph. We will have a pavilion and people are encouraged to bring food and drink. There is a Wine tasting still in the works (more low key than an event that would take place at the Bedford Village Inn), as is a joint event with the Driving Events Committee in October. The Holiday party will be at CR Sparks again this year and is tentatively scheduled for 1/26 with sponsorships in the works as well. The SEC has been talking about a happy medium between things being too commercial and getting real sponsors that will benefit the participants through lower costs for the event. Dave mentioned an exotic car show in Merrimack at the Budweiser plant - The cost to show a car is $20 and the event is August 25th (see the web site for more info). Karl mentioned German Car day at the Lars Anderson museum in Brookline Mass – he wasn’t sure of the date. Paul asked whether the SEC has committed to using Motorsport Reg for the karting event… if so, we need to get on this now to get it set up. There was no clear answer.
Bruce gave the treasures report and as of a day or two ago we have a little over thirty three thousand dollars in the bank account, we don’t know if this is pre or post refunds from the cancelled April events. Martin has the 2006 financials in the latest profile. There is no further information regarding the question from May as to whether or not we have to report any tax information to the State of New Hampshire. We have heard back from the IRS and we have been forgiven for not filing in 2004 and 2005 We are in good standing now with the IRS. John Sullivan has expressed curiosity about the letters we wrote to the IRS because there are other chapters in the position we were in. Dana asked about “Thank You” notes for people who have transported cars. Dick said that in past years there have been shirts bought for those who transport cars. Alvin indicated that we have some shirts that can be given to the SEC to give to people as thank you gifts. Gordon is asking is we’ve made money recently, but Dick cautioned that this is “accounting” and Alvin said that we probably have 5 or 6 thousand in credits due.
Laura gave the membership report. We currently have 704 members, down 20 from last month. She has not contacted the past members who didn’t renew and she definitely will now because we’re down 20 more. Al pointed out that Street Survival and other events may have contributed to the numbers. The was some discussion and we’ll probably have 20 extra new members next month because of Street Survival 2007. Laura has recently spoken to national about discrepancies with the membership numbers reported by National and us. Our numbers have been confirms as correct the correct ones and national is adjusting accordingly. Distribution is pretty much the same between Hillsborough and Rockingham counties with Merrimack county down a bit. Laura tried to make some in roads with the local high school regarding Street Survival but met with some hurdles with respect to having to talk to the High School Police officer, etc... She recognizes that there are more things that she needs to do to get in good with them and will follow up. Laura has been reaching out on a regional level with other chapters (Vermont, Maine, etc…) and is going to the Boston Chapter 2nd quarter meeting at Turner Motorsport. Laura is almost out of postage and needs to get more through Mike Dion.
Dana will be doing a podcast through Brian’s studio (at no cost to the chapter). Brian suggested that the DEC could do a “Frequently Asked Questions” type podcast that people could access on the web site to answer their basic questions about events. Brian would like to get us to Video casts in the future, but this podcast is audio only. Advertising can be added to the pod casts as well, so this may be a way to pay for them or make a little money in the future. Dick asked how long a podcast is, Brian said its usually 5 mins to 30 mins, but that Dana’s will probably be about 15 mins. Typing “BMW Club” should bring up our pod cast in the list on iTunes. It will be talk show format… kind of like an infomercial about the club and later if we continue to develop then the advertisements can be the same.
Bruce brought up discussion of the web site. Allen Goddu gave an update to Bruce about Kelly, she’s been back and forth to Atlanta for treatment and is making progress. Bruce suggested that we don’t forget about Kelly as we move forward with our events. Kelly will be going back to college in Syracuse in the fall, depite her injuries. We need to update the web site with Kelly info to keep people interested.
The next board meeting is scheduled for 7/2. Bruce asked if we should have the next meeting in August, or schedule one in July if we have enough business. Dana asked where the location would be; Bruce answered with the concord area as being next up. Dick suggested we skip July given the 4th holiday and the fact that most of them in the past have been under attended, as well as the fact that the DEC meeting is scheduled for 7/9. Someone pointed out that there is an SEC meeting at the end of this month (6/30 after the ultimate drive) as well. Gordon has booked a DEC meeting for 7/9, so he’s suggesting that we combine the DEC and Board meetings into one. The decision was to have a combined “open” meeting on 7/9 and Paul will post that information on the web site. The regularly scheduled (first Monday of the month) will happen again in August. Gordon suggested the Derryfield Country club as a possibly location for August.
Bruce returned to discussion about the web site. Things are working, but we were asking at the last meeting about “What’s Next?”. Bruce had asked about sending Paul info about the top 3 things they do with the web site. Only 2 e-mails were received, so we want to know what to do… leave well enough alone or move forward in some way. Dana suggested making the calendar more interactive because the “bulletin board” and the calendar are confusing to him because they look so similar. Laura asked about the ability to email all the members of the committees and paul indidated that this can already be done from the different group pages. Karl suggested adding other events, not necessarily ours, into our calendar. Karl currently gets this sort of thing for himself by going to a multitude of web sites. As with every year, the problem is not whether or not we want to cross post, its getting the information about other groups and to other groups. Gordon indicated that there is already video of our advanced passing day on YouTube… we don’t know who posted it, but they’re there. Paul is willing to post links to almost anything related to us, but he needs to know what they are. Gordon brought up the idea of reimbursing Paul for his work. Al brought up the fact that we used to pay the last guy to do the web site and that he didn’t do much to begin with, and then Paul volunteered and that maybe we should go ahead and pay him. Paul said that its not a monetary issue, its one of time and bandwidth for him, so paying him won’t change the things he’ll work on or how quickly they happen. Paul would like people to help with 5 things that vary in skill and effort. The roles he sees are:
The meeting was adjourned at 9:03.