White Mountain Chapter BMW CCA

 Social Events Committee Meeting

Tuesday, November 11, 2007

 

The meeting was called to order @ 6:45 by the chairperson, Cassandra Vorisek-Creto. In attendance were Cassandra, Tom Blinn, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, David Harrison, Jerry Brenner, Laura Fallis, and Brian Sachs.  Guests for the evening were Lou Catano from Webster House and Rob DiNinni and Larry Tish from Stage Coach Improv.

 

The meeting venue was the Common Man restaurant in Merrimack, NH.

 

SEC business:  The major topic for the evening was the holiday party.

 

Holiday party preparations:

 

On line registration is open and working correctly.  A number of members have already registered.  Details are available on the chapter website.  The menu is posted there as well.

 

3D Auto Works from Hudson NH has signed up to be a “5 Series” level sponsor for the holiday party.  Some other possible sponsors have been identified and discussions are continuing.  Our sponsors help defray the overhead costs for the event, such as providing entertainment.

 

In the past we have designated a local charity to receive a donation from the chapter from moneys raised during the holiday party, for instance, the proceeds from any raffles.  This year we are proposing that the designated charity be Webster House in Manchester, NH, a home for troubled children.  Their organizational web site is http://www.websterhouse.org/ which has a statement of their mission and provides a “wish list” of items that chapter members may wish to donate during the holiday party, in addition to funds raised at the event.  Lou Catano, Webster House’s director, joined us for the meeting and provided some additional information on the facility and the residents.  He expressed his thanks that we have chosen Webster House, since they need to raise a significant share of their operating expenses each year through charitable sponsorships.

 

The Stage Coach Improv group was represented by Rob DiNinni and Larry Tish who are both principals in the troupe.  You can review their qualifications at the http://www.stagecoachimprov.com/ web site.  We had an extensive period of brainstorming about the entertainment.  They learned more about the chapter and member interests and activities, and also offered to work recognition of the sponsors into the entertainment.  Many details still need to be worked out but the discussions during the meeting were very productive.

 

Due to the interactive nature of the discussions, it was not practical to capture all of the details.

 

Brian Sachs(owner of Drumlin Downe Recording Studio) will be supporting the evening’s activities by donating Pro. sound services http://www.drumlindowne.com/ Dana agreed to determine the cost of renting wireless microphones to support the effort.

 

Dana noted that the contract with Stage Coach has not yet been completed, in part due to the open ended transportation costs and in part due to concerns around liability for any incidents during the event that might result in injury to participants.  Stage Coach’s principals assured us that they can be flexible and that we should identify any problems and they will be addressed.

 

Tom Blinn noted that we (as a chapter) routinely obtain event insurance for all of our driving events, and there is no reason why we should not obtain a similar kind of coverage for social events such as the holiday party, so that if there were any problem the chapter and its officers and other members would be indemnified.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM