2002 COUNCIL OF COUNCILS MEETING
Sheraton San Jose Hotel
Milpitas, California
23 February 2002

Brian Walker called the meeting to order at 9:45 AM and welcomed the reps.

A motion by Lynn Harmonson to waive reading of the minutes of the 2001 meeting was carried.
 
Brian introduced the Council of Councils (CofC) Board and noted that Kathy Willis is now in charge of collection and updating the official CofC addresses and e-mail addresses.  He noted that we need the official council address (e-mail + snail mail), not just the address of the rep who’s attending the meeting.  Brian also noted that Geoff Koome is the new webmaster of the CofC website.

Ma Shit and Beer Bob welcomed the reps on behalf of Left Coast Vanners.  Kathy Willis noted, to a round of applause, that Beer Bob is the backbone of this years meeting.

There were 29 councils in attendance at the meeting
 
Joe Madonia passed out a survey questionnaire to the reps to get their input on ideas to improve the National Truck-in (NATS).

There was one bid to host the CofC meeting in the Year 2003.
 
Downstate Illinois Van Council made a bid to host the meeting on February 7 - 9, 2003 at the Holiday Inn Holidome at the airport in St. Louis, Missouri.  Room rate = $69/night plus tax (up to 4 people per room).  Since this was the only bid, the bid was accepted (to a round of applause) by acclamation.

Woodstock gave a recap of this summers NATS in Hillsborough, Ohio July 17 - 21.  They will do trophy sponsorship and have a special sponsor note on the plaque.  Will have Vanner’s Night Out, Hippie Peace March, and Show ‘N Shine.   If you’re coming by air, there are 3 airports, each located about 60 miles away: Hillsborough, Columbus, and Dayton.

The campground is flat, with electric hookups and/or electric generators.  There are a limited number of trees on the perimeter.  There is limited water in the campground.  The site has 3 permanent restrooms and 2 shower locations. Entrance fee $35. Club trailers free.  Sleeping trailers = same price as van. There will be separate parking for ATF agents.

He noted that they could use some more vendors.  There are 169 pre-registrations to date.  There will be a warm-up party hosted by M.O.V.E. with bands, but no activities.  The party is a 2-hour drive from the NATS.

Suggested agenda items from the councils were discussed.

Florida Van Council.  Council websites bring back old vanners as well as recruit new vanners.  In 9 months the FVC has gotten more than a dozen e-mails from old vanners who thought vanning was dead until they checked the website.   Most of the vanning website links are available at www.vannin.com.

Peter Lee agreed that the way to keep vanning alive is by the net .  That’s where the youngsters are.  He said that UK membership has grown since they worked on the website (nsva.com).  They send out e-mail info on truck-ins to anyone who has sent an e-mail question to their website.  New England said that it’s a good idea to advertise your  “.com”  link with a bumper sticker.

One rep who doesn’t have e-mail asked that flyers be sent to the home address of those who don’t have e-mail.  Geoff Koome noted that, if one person in the council has a computer with e-mail, then that individual can get the information to the newsletter and on to the vanners who only have regular mail.  New England noted that they have someone (in any council it could be the PR person, not necessarily an officer) who can get the information to the council.

Geoff repeated the request that the CofC needs the permanent COUNCIL address (e-mail + snail mail).  Kathy noted that only 18 of 29 councils sent in the pre-reg forms for this meeting.  If all of the councils had sent in the pre-reg form we would have an updated list of addresses at the beginning of the meeting instead of at the end.

Southeast Virginia Van Council said they are having problems getting newsletters, even though the rep updates the address to the newsletters and annually at the CofC meeting.  It seemed to be an isolated instance, as no one else was having that problem.

New York Van Council.  They want a standard van judging sheet between councils.  Some of the reps felt that van judging was unfair because different councils use different judging standards.  Joe Madonia noted that there is a NATS judging sheet which could be used as a standard if the councils were interested in that.

It was noted that you can’t force everyone to use the same judging sheet.  New England said that their policy is that each club should have control of its event, including van judging.  They prefer to have diversity at different events, including different judging rules.

Corn Belt said that a uniform judging sheet is sometimes hard to implement when you only have a few vans entered in the Show ‘N Shine.  Mountain noted that he shows his van so other people can see it, and doesn’t worry about a particular set of judging rules or classification.  Getting a trophy is just a bonus.  Competition is great to keep you sharp, but showing your van is for fun.  One rep noted that he met a lot more vanners by showing his van than by not showing his van.

In response to a question from Joe, Magic noted that he did have a standard judging sheet in his council, thanks to input from 15 clubs.  It was noted that, if you do use a standard judging sheet (such as the NATS judging sheet), then you should advertise that on your flyer.  Geoff noted that the judging sheet can be used as a guideline, not to be so specific as to state the number of points given for items (ladder, etc.).

Last year we talked about commercial sponsorships and formed a group.  None of the 5 members of the group was contacted.  Howard was thought to be head of the group.  He said nothing has been done.  He said that, for 1000 vans, national sponsorship is not in the cards.  The sponsors won’t talk to us because we aren’t open to the public!  It was noted that folks who do get sponsorships should put it on “vannin.com”.  Jeannie from New Jersey is the most interested in commercial sponsorships so she volunteered to chair a meeting on that topic later today.

One suggestion to get sponsorships would be to have a deal with a local car dealership to have a Show ‘N Shine (for a couple of hundred dollars) at the dealership.  Peter Lee gave his thoughts on how to establish a rapport with a selected individual from the council talking to the same individual from the sponsor on an ongoing basis.  Don’t take no for an answer.  Initially, you may only get a few key rings, etc., but polite persistence will pay off.  And don’t forget to thank the sponsor each time you get something.  Especially when they start giving big stuff.  Take photos of you handing out the check to charity on behalf of the sponsor, and be sure the sponsor gets a copy of the photo.  Good PR doesn’t just happen by itself.  Mike noted that all correspondence to the sponsor should be on the Nationals letterhead.

Brian noted that he usually hears a lot of negative comments at the meeting.  He was encouraged to hear so much positive input at this meeting.

This ended the “reps only” portion of the meeting.

OPEN DISCUSSION:

Colorado Van Council asked if anyone has the time and energy to put together another council e-mail address book.

Promotion of Vanning.  Cari, of the FVC, noted that she had business cards made up that said “Call Me About Vanning”.  Also NEVC and FVC have made 8 ½ x 11 tri-fold pamphlets titled “I Noticed Your Van” to give out at events, concerts, etc.  Kathy Willis noted that a window decal stating that you belong to a van council is a good way to promote vanning.

Oregon wanted to go over Joe’s survey questionnaire on how to improve the NATS.

Joe noted that every year he gets pumped up before the meeting and then gets depressed by the end of the meeting.  He thought we should focus on keeping the vanners we already have.  He wants to stop the bleeding before trying to get new blood.  He suggested, especially at the NATS, that we save some money from the last event to have front money for the next event.  That’s just good common sense.

He noted that the $1 per van collected at the NATS is used for advertising for the event.  Judith noted, for example, that she put an in for the NATS in Cruisin’ Style magazine and got a lot of comments from old van vendors.

On the question (from the survey questionnaire) about a hosting group being hired to run the NATS, the consensus was that it could work if the money were divided into thirds.  One-third profit to the NATS, one-third to compensate the local host, and one-third to charity.

On the question about raising the standard of the event, it was noted that we could just go back to campgrounds if we’re looking at 500 or less vans at the NATS.

On the question about what might encourage more people to attend the NATS it was noted that we could clean up our act.  Be discreet, it isn’t the 70’s anymore.  Cari noted that Florida has been asked not to return to several campgrounds.  We need to be considerate of others, even as we are having a good time.  Another comment was that we need to be more open in what vehicles we allow in.  Geoff said it is OK to allow pickups into a local event, but the NATS is a national vanning event and should be limited to vans.

On the question of  the NATS location, nobody wanted it to stay in one location or rotate between 3 or 4 locations.  Everyone liked the idea of getting to see different parts of the country.

On the question of whether we need a central bank for the NATS, Raoul said that if it’s a family reunion, then we don’t need a central bank.  If we’re going to turn it into a World Of Wheels, then we need a central bank.  He said we’re losing people because we’re getting old and dying.  Lynn said we need the NATS to be a mixture of both or eventually the reunion will only have 5 vans in attendance.

At this point Peter Lee declared that, “Vanning is not dead until Brian Walker is dead in his grave and I’m buried on top of him.”  His comment is that we need to talk positive, not negative.  If other folks only hear our negative comments about the NATS they won’t be inclined to attend.

On the question of paying $50 or more to attend the NATS, the consensus was that $50 is cheap for a national event.  The Keys event in Florida last year cost $70 at the gate.  One dissenting comment came from an individual who said that if he only arrives for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, he shouldn’t have to pay the full fee.

On the question of why attendance is down one response was that the old vanners are fed up with politics and bickering at the local level.  Also, we need a variety of bands to keep the young kids at the dance floor.  We need to help the 20-year-olds who are coming for the first time to find out where the band and other activities are.  We shouldn’t harass these “puppy” truckers. The hazing should stop.  The original designation of “puppy” trucker was to identify newcomers and make them feel welcome, just like king for a day.  Howard said we need to stop staying in our same old groups.  Half the fun of any event is meeting new people and making new friends.

Mountain said that the results of the survey about the NATS should be posted on the CofC website, along with the minutes.

It was announced that next year’s NATS will be hosted by Hard Core Vanners in Kansas City, Kansas.

Left Coast Vanners passed out a plaque made from a printed circuit board to each council in attendance and to each member of the CofC board.

Howard thanked Brian and the rest of the CofC Board for continuing to see that we have a good meeting and the meeting was concluded without a formal motion to adjourn.

ATTENDEES AT THE 2002 COUNCIL OF COUNCILS MEETING:

A.L.I.V.E.
All In One Alliance
Colorado Van Council
Corn Belt Van Council
Downstate Illinois Van Council
Florida Van Council
Heart Of America Van Council
Hoosier Van Congress
Maryland Van Council
Midwest Van Council
M.O.V.E.
Missouri Van Council
National Street Van Association - UK
New England Van Council
New Jersey Van Council
New York Van Council
Northeast Ohio Van Congress
Northern California Van Council
Northwest Van Council
Ontario Federation Of Vanners
Pennsylvania Van Council
Southeast Virginia Van Council
Southern California Van Council
Southern Ohio Van Council
Southern Van Council
Texas Van Federation
Van Council Of Victoria – Australia
West Lake Erie Van Council
Wisconsin Van Council