Preliminary posting
Or view them on line below
Or view them on line below
Based on registration only
I don’t have details statistics back very far
Location | People reg | Registrations | Total cars | Concour cars | |
2016 | Georgia | 136 | |||
2017 | Staunton | 143 | |||
2018 | NY | 93 | |||
2019 | WI | 69 | |||
2020 | canceled | ||||
2021 | SUNI | ||||
2022 | Canada | 93 | 54 | 45 | 35 |
2023 | KY | 139 | 84 | 63 | 48 |
Download the slides here or view the pdf below.
Supporting documentation
AI: Action Item
Agenda: Welcome, Roll Call, Reports, Old Business, New Business, Adjourn
Mtg started @ 1:06 EST
In Attendance: All Board members except Eric Gibeaut, he joined a few minutes later.
Also in attendance: Robert Jaarsma, Tom Hillman, Tom Calvert, Tom Ehrhart, Joe McConlogue, Kerch McConlogue, Robert Harter, Jim Lindner, David Reina, Steve Murphy, Bill Pulpitt, Joe Parlanti, Joe Montecalvo, Ron Stein, Barb Geschke, David Kellogg
1st Slide showed correction of 5 year summary numbers – concurred
2nd Slide showed balance sheet for CY23 – $7K from United offset newsletter costs, hard to track pennies due to fees
1st Slide showed net loss of 8 members to 521
2nd Slide Joe getting help from Mike Hartman; intervention still required to get funds
Question: How much time spent? Full day at end of month plus hour per day
1st Slide showed monthly cost per issue per page. Discussion on frequency from monthly to every other month. Kerch stated that it was more work to publish every other month. Tangible vs. Untangible – Keep the content, higher percentage still prefer printed, monthly for people that don’t attend the events
Motion: Leave newsletter at frequency of Monthly – Approved
2nd Slide showed Facebook facts. Active participation.
3rd Slide showed Website facts. Key take away was that new people need to be infused into the process.
3 Yr Business Plan Committee
1st Slide showed approval of the formulation of the 3YBP including: Mission, Objectives, & Process
2nd Slide showed the Board approved recommendations for action
3rd Slide discussed the 1st recommendation: Forum/Facebook. Action complete with continued maintenance as the follow-on
4th Slide discussed the next recommendations: Revision of legacy award criteria, Revision of bylaws, and TAC program improvements.
The Swift and Porter awards apply to AutoX for Tigers & Alpines only due to the intent of the people that originated them. Other driving events makes it vague enough to include rallies, etc
Motion: Accept changes to “other competitive driving event” based on if no AutoXs are available – Approved
AI: Review Draft Procedures Manual during next 60 days and send comments to Joe McConlogue
Motion: Accept draft changes to bylaws, including the increase the number of Board members to 9 – Approved
There was much discussion on the TAC vs. Tiger sales and what TAC has become. Any updates to the program must be brought before the TAC Coordinator by the senior inspectors – Tom C. and Bill P.
5th & 6th Slide discussed Regalia and Kerch looked into a few sites and found Redbubble.com to match most of the needs and there is a kickback to the club. Only disadvantage was no embroidery. There were comments that a few sources were already obtained to get embroidered items separately from other United vendors.
7th Slide discussed: Production of technical videos – closed due to no volunteers, Expansion & promotion of BASH concept by regions – continue to promote BASH, and Expansion of membership west of the MS river – continue western participation.
8th Slide showed revision of club logo that introduces the whole Rootes family concept.
Motion: Approve the new club logo and fees for graphic designer – Approved
9th Slide showed status of action to investigate qualifying for 501c(3) status – recommend close
1st Slide showed United location and dates including hotel and registration fees
2nd Slide showed planned activities during the United
3rd Slide showed current budget estimates with expected profit of approx. $4K
1st Slide brought up the topic of 2024 elections and how are behind with candidates.
AI: David Kellogg to compile the names that members pulled together from the roster within the next 30 days and within 90 days get answers from all positions and all reps of any elected position
2nd Slide brought up car donation to TEAE.
AI: David Kellogg to check with lawyer automotive enthusiast friend: Can we as 501c7 club own it? How do we own car legally?
3rd Slide brought up United 42 (2025) and to try an event west of the MS river. Discussion led to try to get a volunteer from TX or CO, need to do soonest
4th Slide brought up SUNI (2026) and main discussion was the details surrounding the account that is banking the SUNIs. CAT runs it, we reap the profits
Motion: Do we join w/CAT? Same participation as last time – Approved
Additional Reports as Required
Motion: Adjourn – Approved
Mtg ended @ 3:57, elapsed time of 2 hrs 51 mins
Submitted by Rob Harter, Vice President
One of the action items from the 3-Year Planning Committee was to update the club bylaws and to extract items which could be better handled in a Policies and Procedures manual.
Revisions to the bylaws must be approved by vote of the membership.
But Procedures, such as how late membership renewals and other housekeeping activities are handled, do not require membership vote, only approval of the board. It is intended that this written document will help in transition of new leadership.
In support of this project and in preparation for the meeting, please review the three documents below:
Taking into consideration the conversation at the last board meeting about the TEAE logo, Kerch met with the designer and was able to put together the two most popular options into two different layouts.
The horizontal view can be used on the RootesReview, mailings, and other appropriate places. The vertical one will be excellent for hats or T-shirts or whatever else we choose to make available as part of the Regalia.
As it seems there was consensus around these two concepts, these designs are offered for approval by the board and to be put into use there upon.
The designer has submitted a bill for $500.
Kerch looked into:
base cost | + markup | margin | retail price* | Red bubble fee** | Red bubble fee*** | Net to TEAE | ||
t shirt | $18.00 | 25% | $4.50 | $22.50 | $1.90 | 11.6% | $2.60 | |
mug | $14.75 | 20% | $2.95 | $17.77 | $1.30 | 9.3% | $1.65 |
* Plus shipping/tax
** From chart
*** Calculated% of margin
Fee table: https://help.redbubble.com/hc/en-us/articles/202270799-How-is-my-payment-calculated
Sample product retail costs including sample markup: https://www.redbubble.com/account/pricing
We would upload artwork and members (or other visitors) could decide upon what items the artwork would be printed, not just T-shirts and hats, but also sweatshirts and stickers mugs backpacks, duffel bags, buttons, zipper bags, etc.
Redbubble requires 5 designs in each “store.” Obviously, each of our new logos would be represented but also we could add logos of the Rootes vehicles like Talbot and Hillman etc. These products would appeal to more than our own members.
We are a 501 (c) 7: A social club … organized for pleasure, recreation, and other similar purposes.
We do not qualify according to the IRS rules.
The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.
IRS: Exempt organization type
Further
To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3),
IRS: Exemption trequirements
We are none of these things.
Any other car club that is a 501(c)3 is so most likely because they have members able to support approved purposes, most likely educational – e.g. volunteering to teach British car maintenance at a local high school — or because of some fund raising for a different cause.
Support for a local entity is not likely given our widely dispersed group.
Instead of looking for ways to make it easy for people to give us money, we need to look for ways to support charitable causes, or at the very least support young people getting into old cars. Then if we find that we are doing some good things, we can reconsider whether reclassifying our tax status makes sense.
Posted by Kerch McConlogue
2/7/2024
Please add comments below
TL;DR
Where ever two or more Rootes fanatics are gathered in the TEAE name, it counts as a BASH!
Any gathering of Sunbeams/Rare Rootes can be termed a BASH in your promotions, and you should use this term. Some events are limited to gathering of two or three cars at a meeting place, where the entertainment is limited to conversation; some can be more extensive including a prepared drive or rallye, meals, tech sessions like a carb rebuild, fix-ins where a member’s car in need is addressed.
Consider partnering with an already established event like a British Car or other type show. Ask their organization to promote the BASH concept. Ask them to promote the BASH, a gathering of Rootes vehicles. Giveaways like TEAE magnets, or water bottles, etc. are available at a nominal cost. Each region has a TEAE banner to put on display. Updated brochures to hand out to prospective members will be distributed. Contact the membership chairman.
The key to a successful event is in the planning. Leave yourself enough time to get organized. For anything more ambitious than a cars and coffee, consider enlisting an accomplice. For planning purposes, you can use the roster sorted by region available on the website here: https://www.teae.org/downloadable-rosters/. You can get an up-to-date list of members and their contact information for your region and contiguous regions by requesting it from the membership chairman. Until your region has coalesced into a community, you may find that people ignore email communications. We encourage phone contact to establish a rapport.
You will be busy during the day of the event so enlisting help for some tasks is a good idea for a larger event:
Connecting with a larger car show is a good way to get exposure for the Marque and an easy way to put on event. For the more informal shows, just meeting together at the show will probably allow you to park together. For larger shows where cars are organized by Marque, you should contact the show promoter to ensure that there is an area designated for your group. And don’t forget the club banner.
Some of the more active car clubs sponsor events on a weekly or monthly basis, often a cars and coffee. During the off-season when our cars may be hibernating, a social get together for a meal or conversation at a member’s home or local restaurant. For example, the UK Hillman group sponsors a monthly pub night. This is another way to build community.
The United registration form is published in one issue. Bios of people standing for election are included in one issue as well as a paper ballot for people who choose to do it. Bios should really not be longer than about 25 words!
The TEAE Annual General Meeting for 2023 was held on 15 September 2023 during United 40, with approximately 100 Club members attending. The meeting was chaired by President Jim Lindner and commenced at 6:30pm.
The following notes summarize the main highlights and provide some additional information.
A trailer for a video production being undertaken on the Tiger in celebration of its 60th anniversary. Filming was shown. The production team is looking for additional funding of $31k to complete the editing and packaging of the film. The fundraising is being done on Kickstarter. TEAE members were urged to donate.
Roger Plaskett provided an update on RAC activities and solicited donations from TEAE members. He noted that the RAC has been rebranded at Rootes Heritage.
Treasurer Steve Murphy prepared a 5 year summary of the Club finances, demonstrating the Club’s finances are healthy. The main point to note is the membership fees still continue to only cover the mailing costs of the monthly newsletter – any operating profit is generated by the United gathering. (Slide 5 shows the current balance held by the club under 2023 Ending balance. This does not include the majority of the United 40 expenses which still need to be paid).
Club membership remains steady at slightly over 500 members. Jim stated he had tried to recruit into TEAE the couple dozen members of the Colorado Association of Tiger Owners, to have them form the nucleus of the TEAE Rocky Mountain Region. They considered the proposal but ultimately declined it.
Members are reminded to ensure their e-mail address is current in the Club database.
As part of the Webmaster report Kerch McConlogue stated the Club will now charge a small fee for fulfilling requests for newsletter back issues.
The Club’s Facebook presence continues to grow with over 1,000 active users – it is giving good, worldwide exposure to the Club. One disadvantage of the platform is that information and answers to questions become difficult to find after 24 hours.
A committee entitled the Three Year Business Plan Committee has been created to study and implement new procedures and activities for the Club to better support the Rootes marque in North America. The following updates were provided on several initiatives that have already been started:
Forums and Facebook – The Forum has been cleaned up, and Facebook has had additional administrators appointed. The Club leadership has been more active in monitoring both platforms to ensure any postings requiring a response are answered in a timely fashion.
Legacy Awards – Two of the three annual legacy awards require autocross participation. As autocross no longer appears to be a widely popular activity, the qualification criteria of these awards will be reviewed and potentially amended.
Bylaw Revisions and Procedures Manual – The intent of this initiative is to streamline the Bylaws to remove procedural/transactional – type information for Club operations and embody it in a procedures manual. This will streamline the management of transacting Club business as official deliberation and voting by the Club Board will not be required to change ‘how’ our business is transacted.
TAC Program Improvements – There are now several new qualified TAC inspectors in the Eastern US and Canada, but there are still improvements that could be made to the TAC program.
Club Regalia – Rather than stocking inventory of Club regalia (hats, t-shirts, etc), a vendor is being sought who can create and provide these items as they are ordered.
BASH (Bring A Sunbeam Here) Promotion – Regional reps will organize local events around the theme of ‘Bring A Sunbeam Here’. The intent is to bring a better focus to Rootes owners and what they are doing.
A new slate of officers needs to be elected for 2024. All the current incumbents have volunteered to continue in their positions and were nominated at the annual board meeting, but the position of President will require a new nominee, in accordance with the Club bylaws, since Jim has reached his term limit. A call for nominations was made for all officer positions and one board position. There was one nomination from the floor for a Board Director, Richard Fritz nominating Brian Baum. No nominations were received for any of the officer positions.
Jim reviewed the timeline for nominations and the election and advised that anyone wanting to run can still do so by contacting him or the Membership Chairperson.
The next United is now set for West Lebanon, New Hampshire August 15-18, 2024. The main organizer is Robert Jaarsma and much has already been organized, including the host hotel, the concours site, the driving tour, and the autocross.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.
Submitted
Gary Corbett
Secretary