Georgia Van Council was host for the 1979 southeastern regional van council meeting, dubbed "Council of Councils". The meeting was held February 10 at the Macon Hilton in Macon, Georgia. Representatives from Florida Van Council (FVC), Georgia Van Council (GVC), North Carolina/South Carolina Van Council (NC/SC VC) and Southern Van Council (SVC) were present. The itinerary included a four-hour business meeting in the afternoon, free entrance to the World of Wheels (an ISCA auto/van show) followed by a party in the penthouse.

        The meeting was opened by GVC and kicked off by a short talk from an ISCA representative from the show. The talk centered on the efforts by the Special Equipment Manufacturing Association to curb unrealistic legislation regarding pollution controls, etc. A discussion was held on qualification of ISCA judges and uniformity of judging rules.

        The first order of business after the guest speaker was finished was to elect a chairman for the meeting. Sam Crawford, president of FVC, was named chairman. An attendance roster was passed around to get names and addresses for future contacts.

The following topics were discussed:

        Sanctioning Procedure. It was pointed out that not all campgrounds have the same facilities so truck-in flyers should state exactly what facilities are available so that everyone knows just what to expect. FVC noted that their sanctioned events are not held closer together than 30 days to spread events out. When FVC was the only southeastern council all out-of-state vanners were admitted to events at the FVC rate. The representatives agreed that it would be better to modify by-laws to allow only members of the other councils to attend sanctioned events at the council rate than all out-of-council vanners as is current practice. Each council will bring this proposal at its next meeting.

        Truck-ins. It was noted that pre-registration is extremely important as the host club needs some funds "up front" and a good idea of how many vans will be at the event. The representatives agreed that schedule conflicts could get to be a problem with four councils covering the southeast. Memorial Day weekend has two sanctioned events and non-sanctioned events scheduled for this year. Both council events should have adequate support if the councils support them instead of the non-sanctioned events. To ensure that schedule conflicts do not become a serious problem in the future Ron Nielsen of GVC (404) 449-0195 (6P.M. -11P.M.) will be a clearinghouse for events in the four councils. All clubs planning a sanctioned event should call Ron and let him know which date they want. He will soon have a complete list of all sanctioned events and can advise the club if there is a conflicting event being held in another council.

        Other truck-in topics discussed were armbands, security, trailers, having qualified medical assistance available at events and ensuring that pre-registered vanners have adequate parking space. It was suggested that council officers let the host club know of their presence in case mediation between councils is needed at events.

        Council Meetings. Each council has a different philosophy on meetings. FVC holds meetings at the same central location. GVC holds meetings at different cities throughout the state. NC-SC VC holds two meetings in the central part of North Carolina and two meetings in the central part of South Carolina. SVC holds meetings in conjunction with sanctioned events or rallies, usually on Sunday mornings.

        The Public Image of Vanners. It was noted that the public image of vanners has definitely been tarnished by some vanners not acting in a responsible manner and some vanners whose conduct is unacceptable by our standards at some of the large, promoter-oriented national events. Since this type of sensationalism does get in the news it was concluded that our best counter attack would be to invite the media to attend our council meetings and see the other side of the coin - responsible vanners in action. We could also point out our community and charity efforts and seek to have these items publicized. It won't immediately eliminate the problem of promoter-oriented national events but will minimize their impact in the long run by offering vanners a better choice with council sanctioned events.

1979 Sanctioned Events. Each council noted its upcoming events.

        GVC             March 31 Poker Run

                            May 4,5,6 Valley Van-in

                            May 18,19,20 Fantasy Vantasy

        SVC             April 1 Poker Run

                            April 27,28,29 Spring Fling III

                            Aug. 3,4,5 Heavy Haulers

                            Sept. 28,29,30 Mountain Madness

    NC/SC VC     April 27,28,29 Little River Truck-in

                            May 27,28,29 Peach Fest Truck-in

                            Aug. 10,11,12 Carolina Vans

                            Mid-October Ghost-in

        FVC             July 21,21,22 Party Hardy

                            Aug. 31-Sep 3 Sun Coast Van-in

                            Oct. 26,27,28 Fiesta Key Van Fest

        Independent Council Members. On the topic of allowing independents to become members of the council the following positions were noted. FVC does not allow independents, GVC and SVC allow independents to belong and NC/SC VC will take the topic up at their next meeting.

        Van Judging. SVC has eliminated judging rules and uses people choice. FVC has recently come up with a set of judging rules which basically ensures that vans are uniformly put in the proper class but leaves the actual judging to the host club. NC/SC VC is considering a set of uniform judging rules at this time. One member of the NC/SC delegation felt uniform judging rules for the entire southeast would be a mistake; the different methods used in each council allows some variety in van judging for those who attend other council's events.

        Randy Queen was given a round of applause for his efforts in setting up this years meeting. He did a great job.

        The last item of business was a review of southeastern van council meeting formats and schedules for the years to come. It was noted that the 1978 meeting (10 people present) was informal and limited to council officers only. The 1979 meeting (20 people present) was limited to officers and key people (newsletter editors, past presidents, etc.) included a guest speaker and somewhat more formal agenda. For 1980 and beyond it was noted that a two-day meeting including more people might be in order. Some representatives felt that the one-day meeting limited to a smaller number of people would be more productive as large group meeting tend to get off the track easily. The representatives decided future meeting should be held the second weekend in February (as in the past) and should be rotated, allowing each council to host the meeting. By drawing from a hat the following schedule was set up:

                            1980 Hosted by SVC

                            1981 Hosted by FVC

                            1982 Hosted by NC/SC VC

Council of Councils Attendance List