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BMW ACA/CCA
Zündfolge Article, February 2000
General Meeting
The decision on whether to remain an independent club or become a chapter of BMW CCA has been the subject of discussion in the Zündfolge for several months. On March 11th, Saturday, the Club is holding a General Meeting to discuss this important topic. BMW CCA Regional Vice President Keith Wollenberg will be in attendance to answer questions. In addition, almost all the BMW ACA Board of Directors will be there.
This will be an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns and discuss the future of our Club. The location has not been determined but we are planning on a venue large enough to accommodate 100. Time is tentatively 1:00 p.m. until about 3:00.
All members interested in this important issue are urged to attend. Remember, the vote will follow this meeting by about three weeks. Watch the March Zündfolge for the location.
Other Considerations
Below are short articles on current Club governance including administration, selection of the Board and financial responsibility. Following these are articles discussing topics related to the consideration of whether to remain independent or become a chapter of the BMW CCA. These topics are the relationship with BMW and the potential co-existence of two BMW clubs in our area.
All of these articles have been prepared by the Committee working on the BMW ACA/BMW CCA Issue. This Committee currently consists of: Roger Wales, Stephen Niver, Lucetta Lightfoot, David Lightfoot, Greg Mierz, Jim Millet and Tom Cox. Letters from general members can be found elsewhere in this issue.
Administration
The BMW ACA, Puget Sound Region is governed by a Board of Directors currently comprised of 14 members. The current Board positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership, Roster Manager, Zündfolge Editors, Driving Events, Banquet, Concours d'Elegance, Tour Coordinator, Web Site Coordinator and Past President. We also have a Technical Events position which is vacant. The Driving Events and Zündfolge Editors positions can be one or two people while the rest are one person per position. We do change Board positions depending on needs and circumstances. For example, we recently to created Web Site Coordinator position to re-design and maintain our increasingly important Internet communications tool.
Many of the Board positions are committee chairpersons. For example, there is a committee that conducts our driving events, but only the chairperson of that committee is a Board member. Similar committees exist for the Zündfolge magazine, banquet, concours, and membership. The use of committees allows us to involve more people while keeping the Board a manageable size. Committee members are also a good source of future Board members.
Important policy, financial and other issues are decided by a vote of the Board of Directors. Generally the Board tries to build a consensus for important issues. It is rare to have significant dissent on a major issue. Most of the Club business is conducted at the monthly Board meetings, which have always been open to the general membership.
Selection of the Board
Membership on the Board of Directors of the BMW ACA, Puget Sound Region is selected by a Nominating Committee. Each fall, the Nominating Committee, made up of three members, solicits volunteers through the Club magazine, Zündfolge. Historically there have been few, if any, volunteers. The Nominating Committee must actively recruit a slate of candidates.
The Club does not hold general membership elections for Board positions because we historically have not had multiple qualified candidates for each position. Often, we are fortunate to have one qualified candidate for each position. In addition, we do not want to turn away a qualified and willing volunteer. If we have two people expressing interest in one position, we will attempt to satisfy both interested parties by identifying a position for each of them.
While there may be the potential for abuse of power from this type of system, it has always worked well for the Club. New club members who wish to get actively involved in Club events and governance are always welcomed. Some members have expressed concern that the Club is run by the same group of people every year. In fact, there is quite a bit of Board turnover. Currently, there is a wide range of Club experience within the Board membership. Three of the Board members have been active in the Club for over 20 years, however, only six of the current fourteen Board members were on the Board in January of 1997. This longevity and experience provides continuity while new Board members bring new ideas and creativity.
The success of any volunteer organization rests heavily upon the cohesion and cooperative spirit displayed by energetic members willing to pull together to achieve a common goal. BMW ACA has been fortunate to be populated by just such a group of dedicated, high-spirited members. One of the reasons that Board members have worked together in harmony is that the current selection process allows for grooming replacements thereby ensuring a smooth transition into Board positions, minimizing conflicts, and increasing Board efficiency.
Financial Responsibility
The Club Treasurer is responsible for Club finances. Each month the Treasurer reports in writing or verbally on the Club's financial health at the regular Board meeting. Periodically we have published financial statements in Zündfolge. All Board members and event chairpersons must account for their event or function to the Treasurer and the full Board membership. Expenditures over $100 require Board approval.
The Club has a fidelity bond to protect the general membership. A blanket insurance policy covers all Club events. The Club is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the State of Washington.
Club members are always reimbursed for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. No one is ever paid anything for his or her time; everyone is a volunteer.
Our policy is for all events to cover themselves through participant fees. The exception to this policy is our annual Concours d'Elegance which receives a subsidy from the treasury. This exception is based on the fact that the Concours is our most widely attended event and the nature of the event makes it difficult to charge fees high enough to cover costs. Minor exceptions are also made for tours and social events that may be provided a small stipend from the treasury to cover incidental expenses.
Annual Club dues are $25. This has not changed since the middle 1980s. The majority of Club financial resources are expended on our Club magazine, Zündfolge. It is the Board's position that Zündfolge is the one single benefit enjoyed by all members and thus deserving of the preponderance of our financial resources.
Relationship with BMW
The November/December Zündfolge article provided the history of our organization, ACA, and CCA, AG, and NA relationships up to the point of the Los Angeles ACA chapter becoming a CCA chapter. What that article did not say is that up until that time, ACA was recognized as a fully independent BMW Club with a seat on the International Council of BMW Clubs. When the Los Angeles ACA chapter joined CCA, the ACA organization lost its seat on the International Council of BMW Clubs. BMW AG desires one "umbrella organization" for all the BMW Clubs in each country it does business in. The International Council of BMW Clubs must recognize the umbrella organization in each country. Only recognized members of the International Council may use the BMW roundel logo.
Since ACA and its associated chapters are no longer part of a Club recognized by the International Council of BMW Clubs, we, the Puget Sound Region of the ACA, may be precluded from using the BMW roundel without explicit authorization. This is an issue that will need to be dealt with at some point. Additionally, BMW NA and AG provide us with press materials for use in the Zündfolge. This support could also be withdrawn at any time. BMW has, in some cases, even attempted to restrict the use of the letter sequence "BMW" to those clubs recognized by the International Council of BMW Clubs. The impact associated with these possible outcomes cannot be fully measured at this time, but it is clear that ACA will be further distanced from recognition by BMW AG and BMW NA.
Co-existence of Two Clubs
There is the potential for the co-existence of two BMW marque clubs in the Western Washington area. The argument has been made that one BMW club with 700 plus members and another with 1100 plus members could coexist in the large and growing Western Washington area, if the two clubs catered to different interests. For example, one club might be focused on concours and vintage cars and the other club might be focused on driver's training and track events. The reality is that the ACA and the CCA serve the same broad BMW enthusiast constituency.
Two competing BMW marque clubs in Western Washington would prove confusing to prospective members and would complicate recruiting efforts of both clubs. Additionally, businesses catering to BMW owners would likely prefer to deal with one organization, particularly in the areas of financial support and advertising. Reaching a large number of BMW owners via one publication is more cost effective to the business advertiser than supporting multiple publications serving overlapping audiences.
Two BMW marque clubs in Western Washington would also compete for scarce resources such as track dates, which are always difficult to obtain at the limited number of tracks in the Puget Sound area. Another scarce resource most volunteer organizations confront is the limited number of members willing to do the work necessary for successful activities such as driving events, a quality club magazine and an informative web site.
The basic principle of "economies of scale" applies in full force to marque automobile clubs such as ACA and CCA. A large membership base is a prerequisite to drawing enough members to make a particular event economically viable and successful. Membership size is of particular importance to the publication of a periodical, high quality magazine, where significant economies of scale impact the printing process employed and the size of the publication.
An argument can be made that the interests of Western Washington BMW enthusiasts are better served by one large club rather than two smaller, competing clubs.
More Later
Further discussion of the topics related to the BMW ACA/CCA issue and the balloting procedure will occur in the next two issues of Zündfolge and at the General Meeting mentioned above.
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