2014-03-18 TRC Business Meeting Minutes [amended] Called to order at: 7:45 pm. Members present: Darin McGrew, Dave Moen, Michelle McGrew, Ed Slintak, Mel Nicholson, and Dean Stanton (arrived late). Agenda for current meeting: Approved as amended. Minutes from previous meeting: Approved as amended [add?: Steve, include tar9 start at the park rather than larry's; and fix typos] Minutes from earlier meetings: * June 2013: Approved as amended, pending handout from treasurer - AI: Ed to email handout to Michelle. * February 2013: Approved as amended, pending treasurer's report - AI: Ed to email the report to Michelle. OFFICERS' REPORTS * President: - No report. * Vice President: - No report. * Secretary: - No additional reminders were emailed as my computer is in for servicing. February's amended and draft of March minutes will be emailed when my computer gets back from servicing. * Treasurer: - 21 cars for March's "The Dog Run" rallye; yet good net proceeds, improved by Mel paying the rallye expenses. - Annual insurance fee paid; per-event fees are now $190 (budget says $154) - Monthly net looks better than budget: - March mailing will be in April, and will cost less if we use postcards - Year-to-date budget is quite far in the black: - the mailing and the 2013 championship awards still need to be purchased - Approved: If the board wants Dean to revise the annual budget, he can do so for the April meeting as follows: - raise the per-event insurance fees, increase rallye entry fees, reduce the mailing costs (postage and mailing printing), reduce the "promotional" expense for the 2013 Championship awards, and hypothesize some new memberships after September 1 due to our reduced pricing. - These changes make the budget "break even" for the year (assuming GGLC pays the December insurance again)! - AI: Ed to email treasurer's reports for February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2013 to TRC-Business. - AI: Ed to email treasurer's reports to Michelle for inclusion in the minutes. - AI: Ed to let Membership Chair know the number of paid memberships and associates for 2013. - AI: Ed to report the member vs nonmember percentage of income for 2013. COMMITTEE REPORTS * Insurance: - Cris got confirmation from ESCA that the new insurance rate is $190/event. - Our February and March payments of $154 were accepted by K&K apparently because they thought we were applying for a "Class I" event, rather than a "Class II" event (which is what our rallyes are). - We will pay $190/event going forward. - Motorcycles are not covered by our rallye insurance. - Our Gimmick Rallye Rules and Registrar Instructions should state this - AI: Darin to update Gimmick Rallye Rules, but we're not updating reg info. - Maybe flyers should say "any car" instead of "any vehicle"? - Not adding to flyers; will inform if it becomes an issue. - Our insurance covers events up to 50 miles. - Our Gimmick Rallye Rules should say that, too. And the CompDir should verify that the rallye qualifies. - Our rallyes do not come close to this distance. * Membership (Steve Hartwell): - AI: Steve to update the database with info from Membership Rallye in time for the next mailing. - AI: Darin to email bounced card info to Steve H. to be sure these are updated, too. * Publicity (Mel): - Mel looking for old mailing list so he can contact those who are not rallying. - Cris sent Dean artwork for membership or First Timer cards. - AI: Dean to update these cards. - AI: Mel to email trc-business better wording to describe gimmick rallyes. - AI: Mel to draft a "How You Can Help" brochure to hand out at the finish for a future rallye. - Has first draft; working on second draft. * 2013 Championship - Results (and awards) were not ready for February - AI: Darin to contact Nick to discuss design for par plaque championship awards; use standard size par plaque. - AI: Darin to update Championship results. - AI: Darin to figure out where the breaks are in Championship standings for awards (need info ASAP). - AI: Darin to post without names to TRC-Business so we can see where break is. - Drop if no 2014 championship: - AI: Darin to revise Championship Rules so we can approve them at the April meeting (describe "general" and "rookie" classes better, better define "worker", explain how one becomes "championship subscriber", clarify cancellation policy). * Webmaster - AI: Steve H. to resend Steve W. access info for new web site. - Ric observed that the prices for rallyes after April increased, but there's no formal "we're raising prices" announcement. - Ric asked that ANYONE updating the wiki or the new site notify him of the changes so that the main site gets timely updates as well. - Facebook posted through July; Ric updates as needed and lets Mel know. PAST EVENT(S) REPORT * 2013-11-02 The A Team Returns Again (John Kleder, early start) - AI: Steve H. to email results to participants. * 2013-12-07 Toy Rallye 2013 (Darin, A-B, early start) - Score Sheets: pending * 2014-02-01 The Road to Sochi (Cris & Dave G., AB/QA Membership Rallye) - Score sheets: pending. * 2014-03-01 The Dog Run (Mel, AB, includes unmanned CPs) - Report: - 21 cars. - Only 1 protest of many approved. - Missed fixing 1 error due to a missing sign; otherwise, went well. - Reminder: Important to remember to write the critique, explaining gimmicks for new rallyists. - CMs down. - Results: Pending. - Scoresheets: Pending. NEXT EVENT(S) REPORT * 2014-04-05 Life Is Full of Detours (Dave M., 3 pm start, CM) - Rallye is written; going to precheckers. - AI: Dave to coordinate with Nick for awards. - Registrar: Mel - Neighborhood: Charleston Park area. - Finish: Round Table; Dave M. reserved room. - Compdir: Abby? * 2014-05-03 Mayday! (Darin, AB) - Registrar: TBD - Neighborhood: TBD - Compdir: TBD * 2014-06-07 Stuck in the 60's (Don Bess, early start time, CM) - Don requests help from the club with the following: - Putting up CMs: Steve H. - Taking Down CMs: Clayton and ??? - CP workers (at Start and 2 on route): Mel (1 CP) and Steve H. - Rochelle will do start CP. - Reduced on-route CPs from 2 to 1; Mel and Steve H. to staff this one. - Someone to put on the Rallye School: Mel - Precheckers: Mel, ??? - Done: Michelle to let Don know to post to the worker list for additional help and to discuss the number of CPs. - Requests to move start to 3 pm and finish at 8:30 pm. - finishing at boardwalk may be a problem as they are more crowded then due to little league, etc. - AI: Darin to discuss possibly starting 2:30, with 7-9 finish (especially if finish is at the Round Table), but would be better not to extend longer if it can be avoided. - Mel is still finishing his rallye results, etc., so he will need a bit longer to finish with his rallye before he can begin prechecking this one. - Ai: Darin to be sure jun2014 is forwarding to Don. - Emailed flyers; these have the 3 pm start and 8:30 pm finish times. - Rallye is ready for precheck; will contact Mel. - Registrar: Darin/Michelle - Neighborhood: TBD - Compdir: TBD * 2014-07-05 TAR9 (Steve H., Cris Wendt, John, et al.) - Dave M. to precheck. - Registrar: Darin/Michelle - Neighborhood: TBD - Start at park instead of Larry's? - Some concern expressed as this is not the usual start location. - Compdir: TBD - AI: Steve H. to look into the possibility of holding a bake sale at the rallye. - If so, perhaps have a discount for rallye for those who bring items to sell? OPEN DATES - AI: Darin to send email to trc-rm seeking rallyemasters and asking if anyone has the box of old rallyes that Bill is missing, and ask for volunteer to write leg of TAR9. - 2014-08-02 - 2014-09-06 - 2014-10-04 - 2014-11-01 - 2014-12-06 UNFINISHED BUSINESS * Revision of Dues Section of Operating Procedures - AI: Darin to update Operating Procedures * Old rallyes - AI: Dave M. to see if Bill wants him to store rallyes up here where they are more accessible for rethrowing. * Web Site-Wiki vs Non Wiki: - AI: Steve H. to create wiki page to work out migration plan. - AI: Steve H. to schedule meeting with migration team. * Tax ID - AI: Darin to send new officer list to the state. - AI: Darin to identify next step for 501(c)7. - AI: Ed to provide 2013 annual report (or, at least, 2013 total revenue) - AI: Darin to file TRC tax forms for 2013. * Feedback form - AI: Darin to contact Ric regarding feedback form - Rename this as "we miss you" and put on main page - AI: Ric to implement and add links to calendar page. * Eval Cards - Update questions - AI: Darin to put new eval cards on wiki and solicit feedback. - AI: Darin to print more eval cards as needed. * Board & Bungee Technique for CMs - AI: Clayton to test sleeve design (board & bungee) on aggregate poles. * Definition of "life-time membership" - Darin found pieces and discussion about the membership policy in old Minutes, but could not find the policy itself. - AI: Darin to recreate membership policy and post on wiki for discussion and update so we can approve at the April meeting. - Life members are currently nonvoting members; will need to update once membership policy is recreated. - Dean found some notes on this; Dean and Darin to coordinate. * Simplify Registrar Duties - AI: Steve H. to update the Wiki page with registrar instruction priorities. * Redwood City location (Harry's Hofbrau) for business meetings - Ongoing AI: Dave M. to call each month at 6 to have tables set up. - Done by Ric: Mel to post to Facebook that we are meeting here. - AI: Bill/Michelle to post new meeting site on TRC-Events. * Survey: - AI: Steve H. to email summary of results. - AI: Steve H. to bring in survey forms when he finishes summary so others can read them. * Gimmick Rallye Rules - AI: Darin to update rules as follows: - Under score sheets and scoring, need passenger club affiliation (not just passenger names). - Provide artwork for postcard mailing. - For postcards: Need small graphic (will be printed in black and white), title, type, and time. - Provide the new web site's announcement page or the info it contains? - For website: need small and large graphic (in color), title, type, and time. * April mailing: - Include May, June, and July rallyes - Include bake sale announcement (if this is happening). - Need artwork for PDF, need PDF (postcard) for mailing and for web site. - AI: Darin to prepare postcard after getting info from appropriate people. NEW BUSINESS * 2014 Championship? * Registration - Registrars should talk up the fact that membership is now "free": both the nonmember entry fee and the membership fee (with a free rallye) are $25 - Should the registrar have a current list of members? - Yes. - AI: Steve H. to produce list of members for April rallye registrar. - We should reconsider reducing the cost of membership in September; it does not make sense for membership to be cheaper than a nonmember entry. - Or should we increase the cost of membership by $5, to match the increase for rallye entries? - AI: Mel to draw up revised dues language for next meeting. * Do we want to accept credit cards? - We currently accept cash, checks, and PayPal (in advance). - PayPal charges us $0.74/$15, $0.88/$20, $0.45/$5, $1.03/$25, at least 4.12% - OfficeMax has a deal to provide free card readers (attach to the registrar's smart phone) and process MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or debit cards read by the machine for 2.69% fee. - Decided not to do credit cards. * Do we want to sell double clipboards? - We can buy 6 at $10.33 each or 12+ at $9.76 each - We can eventually sell them at $12 each, possibly more. - We have 3 names on the signup list. - We might take orders and fulfill the order at the next rallye to avoid carrying them around. - AI: Dave to look into whether we can make these ourselves using low profile clips. - If we can't make them, we'll purchase them, and in that case, Dean should purchase 12. * Pacific Coast Dream Machines (Half Moon Bay Car Show) - We got an invitation to this event. - Will advertising there for rallyes here get any traction? - Do we appeal to "car people" or "puzzle people"? - Decided not to do this. * EHC LifeBuilders is now "Home First" - New website: www.HomeFirstSCC.org - If we want to continue donating toys (from Toy Rallye) to them, we should get the correct info on our web page and flyer. - Updated. ANNOUNCEMENTS: * Adjourned at: 9:30 pm. * Next meeting: 7:30pm, April 15, 2014 at Harry's Hofbrau, 1909 El Camino Real, Redwood City.