Video Conference Meeting was called to order by President Jim Lindner on February 21, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Following Board Members were present: Tom Calvert, Tom Ehrhart, Joe McConlogue, Eric Gibeaut, Dave Reina, Sy Block. Barb Geschke came late
Also present: President Jim Linder, Vice President Gary Holman, Treasurer Rob Harter, and Secretary Kerch McConlogue
Regional Reps present: Bill Bulpitt, Gary Corbett, Tom Ehrhart, Eric Gibeaut, Tom Hillmann, David Kellogg-Achin, Joe Montcalvo, Joe Parlanti, Rob Roy
Slides from the meeting are posted here
Minutes from the last meeting were approved as posted.
Treasurer’s report was accepted as shown.
Beginning balance January 1, 2020 was $17,660.12 Year end balance was $17,988.19. Particularly noted was the $345 income for advertising. Year net: $328.07. Profit and losses for the last 3 years was reported and is included in the slides attached. See slides for details
Membership Report
The slides show 497 members which is down 17 from August of last year. But currently we have 503 members. 34% get electronic RootesReveiws; 66% get printed copies.
Joe McConlogue shared the membership numbers from the last 5 years showing a fairly consistent bouncing around 500 members. Joe also reported that the last of the old two-year memberships have been replaced with the new single year plan.
RootesReview
A report was shared regarding the costs of printing the RootesReveiw by quarter reflecting the number of pages per issue. It is noted that 12-page issues seem to fit more in line with the income from memberships. Effort should be made to hold that line if possible.
Website report:
Average website visits seem to have dropped by about 10%.
Facebook:
Membership in the group is growing and engagement remains high.
Total membership in the Facebook group is 602 with 311 posts made in 6 months between 8/1/ and 2/1 (about 50/month). In the previous 4 months, there were 236 total (about 59 / month)
The Susquehanna Region’s Virtual Rallye had 14 members signed. But only 3 participated.
Old business
Regional Rep Reports
Bill Bulpitt (Metro Atlanta) reported an upcoming British Car Day in Catersville, GA where a new auto museum is being built. He expects to have a regional showing at Road Atlanta and Amelia Island.
Joe Parlanti (Chesapeake) reported on June British Car day and a plan for Drive with the Sunbeams later in the season.
Joe Montcalvo (California) is working with Rick at Sunbeams Specialties to put on a joint swap meet in the fall. He also suggested we feature Rick McLeod and Curt Meinel in RootesReview member spotlights. This was enthusiastically approved.
Tom Ehrhart (Susquehanna) noted that no plans were set for the BASH, Tom Calvert advised that Sumra Manning contacted him about holding it at the Simone museum.
Dave Reina suggested that Regional Reps be asked to send regular reports of goings on in their region for publication in the RootesReview. These should be short, couple of sentences, with pictures if available and talk about the people in their region and not about upcoming car events. Dave will contact the reps regularly to encourage participation.
Insurance
J.C. Taylor will continue to be our insurer. Premium $1068 annually due March 19, 2021. No objection. Treasurer Rob Harter will look into other companies over the next year. Grundy and Condon-Skelly were suggested.
Advertising
Advertising seems to be a bust. 13 packets were mailed, 5 distributed by email. Followup is required. David Kellogg-Achin volunteered to help with followup phone calls to companies that have been contacted by email or by USPS
SUNI update:
Tom Ehrhart noted that SUNI is pronounced as “sunny”
September 13-17 Hilton Garden Hotel, Independence, MO
Key target dates
Tentative schedule and possible invited guests were shared. See slide #20-21
Preservation Class
Jim Lindner shared information for purchasing bumper badges from Rallye Productions and Quality Lapel Pins.
Joe Parlanti questioned the fee quoted by Rallye Production and volunteered to send the last quote he had to Jim for further conversation.
Because we don’t know how many of these may be required, it was decided that we purchase them on an as needed basis, likely in the $20-30 range rather than invest $550 to purchase a supply.
Tom Ehrhart asked that Jim confirm that the material used in manufacture be weather proof.
New Business:
Rootes Archive Donation
When the $1200 donation to RACT was approved last year, we discussed ways to recoup that money. The primary suggestion was to eliminate one issue of the RootesReveiw. General consensus is that that is not a prudent option.
It was suggested that we send a quarterly email appeal to the membership requesting donations be sent to the club to then be sent to RACT in a lump sum near the end of the year.
Because of the way the membership software processes payments, there is no reasonable way to manage donations there. Discussion will continue on this idea.
It was suggested that we look into getting the club to be designated as a 501 ( c ) 3 charitable organization. While in general it was deemed to be not feasible requiring bylaws and articles of incorporation changes, Joe Montecalvo volunteered to send the bylaws of a Volvo club he is a member of for review of the possibility of this changer
United 39 (2022)
It has been hoped that the 2022 United would be held in Canada. There are mixed reviews of whether people are excited about going or apprehensive of the cross border crossing. Gary Corbett agreed to think about it and talk to Ron Stein and hold open the idea. But he did not sound confident. He reported that Canada has much stricter rules around the COVID quarantines.
United Chairperson Courtesy
Barb Geschke suggested that registration for the United Chairperson should be free. This passed easily by consensus.
Printed Roster
Joe McConlogue proposed producing a printed roster. However, with a cost exceeding $2000 this does not seem feasible at this time. Kerch reported that there were only 73 unique page views in 6 months. Kerch also shared a screen to show where the roster is now available on line.
Membership Incentives
Regional reps should make calls to lapsed members. Personal contact is the key. Joe McConlogue will distribute appropriate lists to the reps to include the date of their expiration.
Parts sales via TEAE website was just nixed!
The meeting was adjourned at 3:05
Respectfully Submitted,
Kerch McConlogue
Secretary
