Brian Walker called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM and welcomed the reps.
John Cunningham read aloud the minutes of the 1997 meeting.
Brian introduced the Council of Councils (CofC) board.
June Juszkiewicz, President of the Southeast Virginia Van Council (SEVC), welcomed the reps and introduced the officers of her council.
Next, the reps introduced themselves. There were 36 councils present, including the representatives from Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
The NATS board introduced themselves.
Brian announced two bids for hosting the 1999 CofC meeting. Northwest Van Council made a bid to host the meeting in Seattle on February 12 - 14, 1999. Southern Ohio Van Council made a bid to host the meeting in northern Kentucky (just south of Cincinnati) on February 12 - 14, 1999.
At this point Mountain wanted a public vote done now, with the results announced now, and not at the end of the meeting, as has been done in the past. A number of the reps wished to confer with their members on the vote so it was decided to have the vote done on returning from the lunch break.
Mid America gave an update on the NATS. They will have a history of vanning and a Vanners memorial. The Show ‘N Shine will be on Friday. There will be kid’s activities. You can reserve your own port-potty for $100. This is a fenced-in campground and the bands will be outside.
Brian passed out a sheet with the rules of the CofC board for those reps who were interested. It was also noted that Jim McCleaf has had several operations and is not in very good shape at this time. For those who want to send him a card or letter, the address is: Jim McCleaf, 113 Inglewood Dr., Glen Burnie, MD 21061.
Next, came a discussion of topics. Brian noted that, from all the council rep pre-registration forms sent, only 15 responded to the question asking for discussion topics for the 1998 CofC meeting. The topics were discussed.
On the topic of generators, it was noted that you should keep your generator confined inside your campsite. It was also noted that most stereos are louder than the average generator.
It was noted that you can take advantage of your club and council newsletters to spread information about your event. It was also noted that you should get your event information to your newsletter editor in a timely manner. Most newsletters can be subscribed to. And, the latest information is on VannerNet. Also, please announce on your flyers if your event has handicapped facilities available.
Raoul had a problem with the Long Distance trophy being given out to the pre-reg vanners only. He noted that Hard Luck and Long Distance awards are the essence of vanning. Lots of folks don’t know for sure that they can make a given event, and suddenly, at the last minute, get a chance to go. Lynn noted that he goes for the run, not the trophy.
On the topic of is one year not being enough time for the host club to prepare for the NATS or CofC meeting, the NATS board noted that they actually have 18 months. It was also noted that this is plenty of time to prepare for the CofC meeting because you already have secured the hotel facilities at the time you make the bid.
Peter, of the NSVA UK, gave an update on the proposed bid to host the 2000 CofC meeting in England. You will need a passport. He noted that the policemen in England didn’t have guns and asked that you not bring yours along. He noted that you can’t get the airlines to commit to a rate 2 years in advance. He did note that the airfare (from Boston) would be around $300. Also, the Bed and Breakfast facility in Brighton would run about $400/person/week. The current exchange rate is $1.62 = £1. The week he talked about begins on Monday and ends on Monday.
Brighton is a convention center destination for all of Europe. They will have a Show N Shine for us. There will be a raffle to sleep in the room with a 300-year-old 4-poster bed that was slept in by the King of England. Trips will be set up for a tour of Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and a brewery. Other trips may be set up, also. Side trips will run about $30 per person per trip extra. In keeping with the English theme, there will be a "Knights In Armor" party, rather than a toga or pajama party. Peter guaranteed that there will be more Union Jacks than Stars And Stripes in the meeting hall.
At this point Peter passed out secret ballot forms for the reps to indicate how serious they were about attending. He has already written 169 letters, etc. It’s a lot more work to continue from this point on and he didn’t want to expend the effort, only to find out at the 1999 meeting, that there was no serious interest in having the meeting in England.
Brian read a portion of a letter that suggested that the NATS could be moved a little later in the summer to allow more people to attend. Joe noted that moving the date a little later wouldn’t really help out because many factories have different "shut down" times.
It was noted that a number of states are passing laws trying to get the older, less fuel-efficient vehicles off the road. There are incentives for crushing, etc. Raul noted that the law in Colorado requires that vehicles pass certain emission standards, regardless of age. As a result, this has cost him several hundred dollars in engine work.
On the topic of boycotts, it was noted that some clubs send lots of vans to other events, and can’t get even one host person from the event to come to their hall party, which is only a few blocks away. Raul noted that we don’t go to events hoping you’ll come to ours, we go to have a good time.
The New York Van Council wanted to know if any of the ideas from the 1997 meeting to promote our sport have been implemented. Joe noted that he has pushed Truck-In magazine to put in an article on the NATS. Judith noted that we have spread the word in chat rooms and websites on the Internet. Mid-America noted that they are hitting up big car shows with flyers. Desperado noted that, in the last few minutes, the word he heard most was "promote". That’s what we have to do, promote our sport.
The lunch break was taken from noon until 2:15 PM.
Ballots were passed out to see where the 1999 meeting would be held. The results were that, by a vote of 20 to 14, the 1999 Council of Councils meeting will be hosted by the Southern Ohio Van Council (SOVC), in Northern Kentucky, on February 12 - 14, 1999. Southern Ohio noted that the hotel was all set up to take your reservations now.
Continuing the topic of what’s been done about the good ideas at the 1997 meeting, Excalibur Van Club noted that it is setting up a van show on the same scale as the North American Auto Show. It will be "Custom Van Expo 99", held in April, in Detroit to help change the public image of van clubs and show what we stand for. The hall will hold 1000 vans.
A debate ensued about whether it is right to only include the show vans. After all, some of the vanners can only afford an old rust bucket. We need to not show a one-sided view of vanning; it’s more than just show vans. The problem is, that no one is going to a van show to see rust buckets. The best compromise seemed to be that we put our best vans in the show, and perhaps have club photo albums or videos showing the total picture of vanning. A good idea would be to have a finished van, with photos or videos of the vehicle all during the construction phase. This would show the public the whole picture.
Brian read a statement of complaint that was delivered to the NATS board regarding the "on-the-spot" formation of Spread Out Vanners (SOV) at last years NATS for the sole purpose of winning the largest club award. This deprived a deserving club from winning the trophy. This prompted a very lively debate, with pointed questions directed at the NATS board. "Who complained?" "Exactly what is the definition of a club?" "How long does a club have to be in existence to be a club?" "Exactly what is the definition of a trophy?" "What about the situation where a small club recruits some independents and members of another small club so they can have enough members to be able to participate in a game at an event?"
Nothing was resolved. Neither argument persuaded anyone to change their minds. The essence was that those against the formation of SOV said that it kept a deserving club from winning the trophy, and that is morally wrong. The 16 SOV members present (out of 211 total) in the room said that this type of spontaneity is the essence of vanning. They said it was a lot of fun, and they met a whole lot of people that they wouldn’t have met otherwise. The author of these minutes wonders why nobody had the presence of mind to create an "on-the-spot" trophy for "The Largest Van Club Created Spontaneously At A National Truck-In". Oh well, another missed opportunity.
At this point Joe reiterated the point that the NATS board doesn’t run the NATS. They have guidelines; interview prospective NATS hosts; inspect potential sites; and then award a signed contract. Specific details not spelled out in the contract are implemented by the host. The bottom line is that there are no specific answers to the questions raised in the paragraph preceding the last one.
At this point, the open discussion portion of the meeting began. Prior to this point, only the reps were allowed to speak, the guests were listeners. Now, they asked their questions.
The first question was "Why does the CofC meeting always fall on Valentines’ Day?" The airline rates are always the highest on this weekend." It was noted that some hosts bid for this weekend because of President’s day. Also, there is always some spring break for some college going on during any given time in the winter. There is no specific regulation that says the meeting has to be on this weekend, just in February.
The guests complained that they could not hear the questions from the back of the room, because the reps asking the questions were not using the portable microphone, but the moderator was using his. They requested that the moderator repeat the question before going on with an answer so they could know what was being responded to.
Several folks complained that the children’s game trophies at the NATS should consist of more than a paper certificate.
Chris, of Northwest, took this opportunity to thank everyone who voted for their council to host the 1999 CofC meeting.
One person complained that it wasn’t right for the host of the NATS to take all the prime spots. In response, Mid-America said they would be in the sun. Raoul said that if you want the prime spots, you put them on.
National Federation Van Council thanked SOVC, who hosted an "on-the-spot" raffle to help the family of the woman in their Council who died Thursday.
The thought was brought up that the NATS could be held in the fall. Most of the reps thought that wasn’t a good idea because you have rain, and the kids are in school then.
Southeast Virginia Van Council gave out plaques to each council in attendance.
Norway presented a plaque to Old Dominion in honor of their 20th birthday. Grateful Sleds presented a plaque to "Web Master" Astro Dave. June passed the "Pass Along Trophy" to SOVC, the 1999 CofC host.
A motion was made to adjourn and the meeting was concluded.