February 2022 Board Meeting Minutes
The February board meeting was held on February 9th at 6:00 PM via Zoom video conference.
In attendance were:
Robert Jacobsen – President
Kristin Larson – Treasurer
Glenn Champagne\Betty Mae Mosley – VP Administration
Lisa Burke – Membership Chair
Erick Aubin – Secretary
Jerome Gangitano – VP Driving Events
Luis Rivera – VP Communications
Stan Corbett – DE Registrar
Adam Schwartz – DE Co-chair
David Melchar – Concours Chair
Not in attendance:
Nick Shanny – Past President
The Board approved the monthly Treasurer’s Report. The January Meeting Minutes had been approved via email and published on Porschenet.com prior to the February meeting. A discussion of club activities, events, and general business followed.
- Sponsorship & Advertising Update – Robert circulated the latest sponsorship & advertising deck prior to the meeting, requesting feedback. Discussions included limiting allowance of business promotion on the NER PCA Facebook pages to those with paid advertising agreements in place. Logistics around policing this to be determined as additional administrators may need to be set up in Facebook. Luis also proposed pursuing paid advertising opportunities within the Facebook platform.
The board also discussed wording of Gala sponsorship as the event typically celebrates all of the advertisers and sponsors who support the club throughout the year. Listing this opportunity will be framed as one of the benefits of advertising with the club rather than an opportunity to be a sole sponsor of the gala itself.
- Administration – Event planning continues and new events will be added to the Porschenet.com calendar as confirmation is received by the hosts.
The team continues to monitor COVID guidelines and announcements with the hope of moving potential events to earlier dates.
Newcomers Meeting confirmed for April 10th at Porsche Norwell. Activity chairs are requested to attend. Glenn and Betty Mae will connect with Jerome for appropriate contacts.
- Driving – Budgets are on track, no significant issues or changes over last year expected. Revenue expectations will continue to be in flux as COVID guidelines and resulting attendance may fluctuate.
Ramble: On track to be on budget, revenue dependent on final attendance headcount. Clarification requested of Ramble budget documentation method in terms of lodging expenses and credits which are paid directly by participants.
Autocross: Contingency in place for potential purchase of replacement timing electronics. Autocross to continue typical annual donation.
Driver’s Education: Tracks have raised prices including some pass-through cost for safety resources. Entry fees for specific events will increase proportionally where necessary. Previous year discounts for 3-day bundles will not be offered this year. Instructor entry fees will be reduced for some events and the committee is proposing entirely subsidized instructor entry fees for the Thompson event as the increased beginner turn-out for this first event of the season warrants a need for as many instructors to be available as possible. Sponsorships have not been factored into the submitted budget as commitments have not been secured yet but the DE committee projects normal profitability given expected attendance rate. Additional tech inspection station has been added at Porsche Stratham in NH. Forms stamped by an NCR-approved inspection station are also accepted at NER events.
Concours: Scheduled for October 1st during Audrain’s Motor Week with a rain date of October 2nd. Porsche Warwick will continue to be the primary sponsor for this event. There were 118 entrees in 2021 and the estimate for 2022 is expected to be the same, roughly 120 participants with space to accommodate volunteers and some spectators. 2022 classing will continue to include the Full and Werks categories. David will attend upcoming meetings between Audrain management and Porsche Cars North America representatives as PCNA expects to have a larger presence at the 2022 Motor Week.
- Communications – Porschenet.com traffic, both users and sessions, have increased 60% over last year. Increased content availability is trending in a positive direction including contributions in response to Anker’s Drivers License story request as well as the continuation of the #WinterBeaters series with 3 new articles in the pipeline at the time of this meeting. There is a significant uptick in traffic within the 35-40 year old age group which seems to be in line with the perceived shift in target demographics from Porsche advertising as a whole. Being attuned to the age demographic and geographic concentrations of active members can impact event planning and benefit the membership experience.
There have not been opportunities to use the standardized templates for event reports yet but they are expected to be adopted as a positive gateway to foster participation by currently passive members. Luis will ask Maddox to set up a meeting to further discuss implementation of templates and logistics for members to access and submit these to the communications team.
- Membership – Our PCA Northeast Region currently has 3,387 primary and affiliate members. No significant increase or decrease in the numbers over this time in past years. Lisa has requested PCA decals from National for the Newcomers meeting and will also bring the NER logo decals remaining from last year’s Rallies. Discussion regarding availability of NER-branded giveaway items; Lisa clarified we do not have a supply on hand but can choose to order promotional items if the board requests. Types of merchandise and quantity will need to be discussed and approved.
Recent new member welcome emails highlighted that the Ramble is not showing up on the Porschenet events calendar. Lisa will add it and link to the registration instructions.
Gala rescheduling has resulted in a number of cancellations and very few new registrations. Lisa will increase advertising push in conjunction with the reminder that the special rate for hotel bookings expires on February 24th.
The next NER board meeting is scheduled for March 9th at 6:00PM on Zoom.
The Club’s monthly Board meetings are planned for the second Wednesday of each month and typically begin with a social period at 6:00PM and the official Board meeting at 6:30PM – although when it’s a Zoom meeting, the social piece is brief and the meeting begins shortly after 6:00 PM.
Club members may attend any of the monthly Board meetings. Please contact the Club Secretary ([email protected]) in advance of the meeting to confirm your attendance and the meeting time and place.
