BOD changes - WAS RE: [DMVR] Winter Road rally?

[Jarrod Igou]

I'd like to take a few minutes to share the thoughts and discussion of the
board as we talked through the elimination of the rally and PR positions.
PLEASE NOTE that this is my recollection, not an official record of the
events.

(Other board members: please straighten me out if I mis-state
anything....I've CC'd all of you separately from the team.net mailing list
because I don't know that all of you are subscribed to that mailing list, so
you may receive duplicates. Sorry.)

I'll start with the PR position. This position was eliminated for two
reasons:

1. It's one less position to sucker someone.....errr, I mean "elect"
someone....to fill. Put in plain words: it just ain't easy filling board
positions. (Being a relative new guy, I don't know the answer to this, so
I'll ask: when was the last time any position on the DMVR BOD was actually
contested and decided by a vote?)

2. (MUCH more important) The Board agreed that promoting and publicizing
DMVR (and the SCCA) is the job of everyone (not just Board members,
either....). Instead of saying "Hey, ______, we're gonna have an event.
Publicize it," we as a group need to take a look at the event, and
strategically think about how, when and where to promote the event. Maybe
the promotion is nothing more than sending a quick note to the calendar
editors of the local print publications...but maybe if we talk about it,
we'll come up with something better.

This happened this past summer, with the folks in charge of their respective
areas (Solo, Rally and Competition) taking the lead, utilizing the resources
and skills of other club members to hold and publicize events. (Examples:
Mike Slater took it upon himself to get news crews out to our Solo2 events
this year at Sandpiper; Dave Volante worked with Mitch at Porky's to get us
space to display our cars in a group to help promote Solo and an upcoming
event at MAM, then worked with some Solo folks to drum up a variety of
vehicles to fill that display.)

The discussion around the position of Rally Events Director centered around
lack of interest demonstrated by the club through participation numbers
(with the usual exception, of course, of the Wicked Witches Way.)

We certainly aren't taking the stance that we will never run a Rally again.
(We'd all hate to see the Wicked Witches take a break.) Rather, I think we
all agreed that we need to talk with the other rally-holding groups in the
area (British Car Club, BMW CCA, etc) and talk to them about collaborating
on Rally events. It's truly a shame to put forth the effort to create a
rally, only to have the SCCA-mandated minimum (5 entrants) participate.
(Carol and Tony can attest to this, as can others.)

As was noted during the meeting, these two positions have come and gone in
the past; they'll likely do so again in the future, as may others. Thus is
the nature of an active, ever-changing group.

All of that said, if anyone reading this has a very serious concern about
these plans and decisions that the Board has made, please feel free to
comment - either on this list, or to me personally. Remember: even though
the positions may have been eliminated, they don't HAVE to go away. The RE
has the power to appoint additional members to the BOD as he or she sees
fit. Instead of "elected" positions, these can easily become appointed
positions with the same power they have as "elected" positions.

See some of you on Saturday!! (http://www.dmvrscca.org/annmt2k3.htm)

Jarrod
jigou@raquet.net
515-480-1315 (cell phone)




-----Original Message-----
From: dmvr-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:dmvr-admin@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Ric Johnson
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 11:29 PM
To: Rhett Farnum
Cc: dmvr@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [DMVR] Winter Road rally?


At 02:11 PM 12/5/03, Rhett wrote:
>Does anyone want to have some kind of road rally / road trip somewhere in
>Jan or Feb? I really want to do some driving with you guys before that
>start of the racing season in spring again.

Sounds like potential fun, but it might have to be organized outside the
club as the Board of Directors eliminated the position of Rally Events
Director in a revision of the Bylaws at the October Board meeting. They
also eliminated the Public Relations Director post which I find even more
inconceivable. I guess we're planning a return to being the Secret Car Club
of America.

Ric


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