BMW CCA, Puget Sound Region
Board Meeting Minutes
May 5, 2005

The meeting was called to order by President Rick Gulstrom at 7:05pm at the Mercer Island Fire Station 91.

Those in attendance were:

Rick Gulstrom, President
Lance Richert, Concours Chair
Jeff Butler, Tech Event Chair
Tom Olsson, Driving Events Chair
Chris Mason, Member
Rich Milham, Risk Management
Jim Millet, Zündfolge Advertising
Walt Conley, Chief Driving Instructor
Dave Lightfoot, Vice President
Alan James, Tour Coordinator
Martin Hovenkotter, Treasurer
Jane Hesselt van Dinter, Secretary
De Anna Martin, Banquet Chair
Dane Martin, Member
Mike Ellis, SIG Coordinator
Don Robisch, Member
Lynne Eskil, Membership Chair
Dave Clary, Member
Jeff Schlimmer, Rally Coordinator

Presidents Report

Newsletter Editor/Webmaster Conference will be held May 13-15, 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Lucetta has confirmed that she plans to attend. Carrie had mentioned that she would also like to attend but that has not been confirmed.  Martin will contact Carrie to verify her attendance and will let National know if she will be going. 

National also reports that we have once again lost members.  National is asking members to come up with recruitment and retention ideas.  They are thinking about some sort of incentive program for members who recruit new people into the club.  It may consist of prizes for the members recruiting the largest number of new members.  Any ideas are welcome and can be emailed to National through the website. 

Rick reminds us to keep club brochures in our cars and to talk to BMW owners anytime we can. 

Jeff mentioned that getting BMW salespeople involved in the club would also help stimulate membership. He feels there should be a way to get the local BMW dealerships involved in our club activities which, in turn, could stimulate more membership.  Rick, Jeff, Jim and Lynne will get together an idea for introducing our club to the local dealerships. 

Martin needs to send the final 2004 financial report to National ASAP.

National Board Meeting is in Portland, Oregon on June 4th.

New BMW CCA National website at www.bmwcca.org 

Treasurers Report

Martin reports that the club has total Liabilities and Equity of $89,427.24. He is going to reformat the financial statement to break down each area into an easily readable table showing which event is in the red and which is in the black. 

General Meeting and Non-track Event Calendar

Lance states he has orders for 38 specialty club T-shirts and sweatshirts. 

Jim reviewed the Haury's Tech Session stating the 40-50 people attended. The event went very well.  There were 3 cars on display.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is seeking 19 drivers to drive BMWs from Seattle to Portland to raise money for their cause.  A notification will be in the next Zundfolge and Rich will act as contact person.

Upcoming Events:

David discussed the 3 Across America event. 

Martin states that there will be a North Cascades Highway Drive on May 7th. So far, he has had 43 RSVP. There will be four groups and the lunch restaurant has agreed to close down to the public and serve only our club for this event. 

Lance states that there will be a Griots Garage Tech Session on June 25th.

There will be Women's Tech Session at Car Tender on May 21st.

Jeff states that he got immediate response to his article about the Dyno Event and BBQ scheduled for July 30th.

David discussed the Group 2 Motorsports Tour which will be held June 11th from 10:00 - 12:00.  Next door to this venue is a unique car museum which will also be open to our attendees on this day. 

De Anna and Dane Martin are attending the Portland Historics on July 9th. 

The Greenwood Classic Car Show will be held on June 25th.

The Seattle 5s and 7s are planning a Live to Drive Wine Valley Tour. No date has been set yet.

Nothing else was added to the event calendar. 

New Event Ideas? 

The LeMay Tour date is still pending according to Alan.

Rick mentioned a possible tech event at Speedware and is still working on the details.

A lively discussion was held about a possible Autocross Event. It was decided that it was not cost effective for our group to be involved in a joint venture with other clubs. David suggested that we concentrate on doing our own club event in the fall. The difficulty seems to be securing a parking lot large enough to accommodate this type of event.  David and Lynne will continue to work on alternative locations.

Lance had no updated report on Oktoberfest.

The Sovran Historic Race and Car Corral will be held July 2 & 3.

Jeff suggested Magnolia Hi Fi for a potential Audio Tech Session.  Jeff will approach them and see if they would be interested in holding such an event.

Alan and Marty are in the process of planning the Hill Climb Tour in October. It will probably be October 9, 2005. They would like for this event to be held in conjunction with the Fall Colors Tour. 

No date has been set for the Whidbey Island Tour.

Per Alan, there will probably be a Leavenworth Tour sometime in the fall with a potential overnight stay.

David is putting together the BMW Collectibles event. This will be held sometime in December. 

Track Events

Tom Olsson states that he already has a wait list for the two day track event in June. There are already 69 people on Sunday alone. 

Walt states that he has had no trouble finding instructors for these two days.

Tours/Rally

Jeff Schlimmer reported that the April 30th rally went off really well. He had 22 teams. Everyone enjoyed dinner at the Elk Run Golf Club. 

There are no additional Novice Rally dates scheduled at this point.

SIG Groups /Events

No reports on past events.

Upcoming Events:

Dave Clary reports that the SIG Karting Challenge has been cancelled.  We try to hold another one in the winter. Dave also gave a proposal for the 8 Series event. He is requesting the our club provide sponsorship in the form of financial assistance for insurance.

Martin made a motion that this sponsorship be approved, but the amount should not exceed $300.00.

Mike Ellis seconded the motion.

Motion passed with a majority.

Lance reminded the Board that the E-30 Picnic will be held on Sunday, August 14 @ the XXX Drive Inn in Issaquah.  This year the Drive Inn is asking us to make a donation to a local charity for the use of their facilities. Lance proposed that $1.00 per head go to this charity.   Motion carried by majority. 

The 8 Series event will be held on Whidbey Island, August 19 - 21. More details to follow.

2005-2006 Banquet

David is still working on the program. Nothing is firm at this point. The date and venue must be decided before speakers can be booked.

Concours

The Concours will be held on Sunday, July 24.

Lance stated that the first promotional information just went out. The Doritos Challenge will be reintroduced this year. This award goes to the car that is given the score that falls in the exact middle of the scoring range for all the cars. Usually this coveted award is a six pack, a bag of Doritos and some super swell gifts.

There was discussion about a possible social event the night before the Concours, but details have yet to be ironed out. 

Also, the Vintage Cars will be in their own class this year.

Zündfolge

Jim reminds us that the deadline for the May 2005 issue is Wed. May 4th.

Jim also discussed that the Autohaus advertising agreement was first changed from a business card sized ad to a full page one and then back again. He is wondering about charging this vender for the difference.

Roster/Membership

Lynne gave the National statistics for membership enrollment and how many members we lost as a local and a national club.

Web Site

Tom O discussed the new Yahoo Group. He explained that we all need to join this site and will be able to use it for our bulk mailings. We also need to promote this site to all members.  He thought that a mention of it on our present website would be appropriate. 

The next Board Meeting will be held on June 2, 2005 at the Mercer Island Fire Station 91.  This meeting will start at 6:45 p.m. 

Someone needs to volunteer to bring food.

Roundabout

Lynne talked about the SWERVE Driving School Charity Event on June 18th. This event will benefit Children's Hospital. It will cost $220.00 per person for a 1/2 day session. There will be a 1/2 day Teenage session in the morning with the adult session in the afternoon.  This will be held in QWEST Fields North parking lot.

Lance showed us his new driving suit.

Dave will speak with Bill Spornitz about the insurance issue for the the 8 series event.

Don Robisch was wondering where the new Nascar Oval track will potentially be built. General consensus was in the Bremerton area.

David Lightfoot is attempting to obtain a copy of a movie about the 75years of BMWs. He thinks that a company called Mobile Traditions will be able to help him obtain this.  He also went to the races at Laguna Seca. The BMWs did very well.  There was also al huge field of Miatas.

De Anna mentioned that she and Dane took the Z4 thru several mountain passes which included 15 miles of gravel that they were not aware of. 

Jim Millet stated that three people went to Thunder Hill for a 3 day, Northern California Shelby Club event.  He said they all had a great time.