February 15, 2014
Attendees: Joe Parlanti, Tom Calvert, Steve Towle Judy Sharkey, Eric Gibeaut, David Reina, Pam Jeffers, John Logan Jr, Barb Geschke, Jim Lindner, Joe McConlogue, Kerch McConlogue, Russ Eshelman.
The meeting was called to order by President Pam Jeffers at 1:05PM.
The minutes from Board of Director’s (BOD) and General Membership Meetings held at the United in October 2013 were previously emailed to all attendees. No corrections were noted and the minutes were approved.
Former Treasurer Gary Moss’s 2013 year-end report, previously sent via email to everyone, was approved. Current Treasurer Barb Geschke reported her current balance as $10,885.75. Gary Moss still has some money in the old checking account waiting for the last checks to clear.
Barb will look into opening a second PayPal account for United registration as a non-profit.
Old Business:
Joe McConlogue was welcomed as new Membership Chairman.
Pam Jeffers submitted Tod and Merrilee Brown to be the new Editors. Motion made by Tom Calvert to approve Tod and Merrilee Brown as new Editors of the Rootes Review and to allow purchase of Publisher software. David Reina seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. It was suggested to research if the software was available in the cloud.
President Jeffers requested an update on the completion of the job description for the club Web Master and Forum Administrator. Kerch McConlogue (Web Master) advised she has finished the description of duties and responsibilities for her position (Webmaster.) A status from Eric Smyder (Forum Administrator) is pending. It was recommended that upon receipt of these descriptions they be filed/posted in a central location.
President Jeffers asked how many printed rosters were mailed during the recent printing/mailing and what percentage of the member ship requested printed copies? Initially not available, Membership Chairman Joe McConlogue has reported that the database shows fifty-nine (59) members requested a hard copy.
President Jeffers reported that volunteer Jennifer Arters continues to make progress on the disposition of Archival Newsletters in PDF. She was able to proceed with the donation of software by Tom Earhart and reports approximately 40% of the articles have been OCR’d. April 2014 remains the targeted completion date.
Judy Sharkey prepared draft wording for the changes to the Keith Porter (KP) and Wally J Swift (WJS) Awards. Judy explained that her proposed changes reflect the current thinking within the club to become an all-Rootes club. She advised her proposed wording is, therefore, intended to be more inclusive of all Rootes makes. In the ensuing discussion, it was pointed out that these awards were created to honor certain people who had specific interests and passions. The current awards reflect these and the memory of the individuals for whom they are named and should not be diluted in an attempt to embrace the new, more inclusive philosophy of the club. It was suggested that a new trophy for other Rootes vehicles would reflect the more inclusive philosophy of the club and at the same time allow the original purpose of the KP and WSJ awards to remain intact.
The criteria for the KP and WSJ awards will therefore remain as is. Eric Gibeaut volunteered to conduct/manage the research into a new, more inclusive award. Results of the research and discussion of a possible new award will occur at the annual meeting in September.
In discussing the duties of regional representatives and the difficulties in conducting regional activities, it was recommended that in an effort to stimulate reporting on regional activities the club should send emails to the regional representatives each month reminding them about the newsletter deadlines. It was further recommended that these emails should include the entire membership. Membership Chairman Joe McConlogue advised he will work on an automated email to the membership. He added that this effort had limitations since the club does not have on file an email address for every member.
Forum moderators are currently out of date. President Jeffers will contact Forum Administrator Eric Smyder to update them. Eric Gibeaut advised he will contact Eric with some suggestions for moderators.
The status of the search for a Publicity Chairman was discussed. In addition to a call for possible candidates, the possibility of seeking Robert Jaarsma to fill the position was discussed. Steve Towle will ask Robert regarding his desire to fill this position.
United XXXIII Update: The registration forms will be available soon. A United XXXIII TAC session was discussed. John Logan advised the plan is to have a TAC session during the United and that several inquires have already been received. Currently, attendance of specific TAC inspectors is not yet confirmed. The greater the demand (number of TAC inspections required); the more likely arrangements can be made to ensure inspections are conducted, even if it requires flying in an inspector. It was noted that there now is a $50.00 charge for TAC inspections. Making a note about this on the registration flyer was recommended as was a recommendation to include a check block on the registration form if a TAC inspection is required. This will enable event managers to monitor demand.
Venues for Future Uniteds: Ohio Members are discussing plans to host the 2015 United and Steve Halbrook and Nick Kintner are considering serving as hosts in Florida for the 2016 United.
New Business:
President Jeffers called for any suggestions to replace Bill Evans as the Deep South Regional Representative. Eric Gibeaut advised he believes Bill Bulpitt is willing to serve and he will contact Bill to determine if he is willing to serve.
The Tiger 50 International Rally has asked for photographs, regalia and/or a sign board for a club display. Tom Calvert is attending and is willing to set things up but the club needs to ship it ahead of time. He cannot transport it since his baggage is limited. President Jeffers requested ideas. The consensus was that the club should make available to the Tiger 50 attendees a tri-fold handout and club sticker. The handout would include an appropriate graphic or photo, a history of the club, membership info, regalia info and contact info. A scan icon could provide direct link to the club website. Tom Calvert will put together ideas and work with Judy Sharkey and Fred Baum. Judy Sharkey motioned that a maximum budget of $125.00 be allotted to this effort with any excess returned to the club treasury. This motion was seconded by Dave Reina. The motion was unanimously carried.
The need for new club banners was discussed. The original club banners are held by Tom Ehrhart and are in very poor condition. Banners made and used for the 2008 United were never retrieved after the event. Joe Parlanti advised he knows of a company—Half Price Banners—that has very reasonable prices. Ensuing discussion determined the cost from this company was worthy of further consideration. Joe Parlanti will check with the company in the next 2 weeks and will get prices for various size banners. Once obtained, additional action can be taken.
Treasurer Barb Greshke recommended the club authorize an additional individual(s) to sign on club accounts in case of an emergency.
Tom Calvert made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Joe Parlanti. The motion was unanimously carried and the meeting was adjourned at 4:07 PM.
Submitted by Jim Lindner, Secretary
Date posted here does not necessarily match the date minutes were submitted.