Brian Walker called the meeting to order at 9:45 AM and welcomed the reps.
Woodstock introduced management representatives of the Drawbridge estate, who welcomed the reps. He also introduced the Mayor of Ft. Mitchell, who presented a plaque stating that the City of Ft. Mitchell proclaimed Saturday, February 13, 1999 as Vanner Day in Ft. Mitchell.
Woodstock introduced the Southern Ohio Van Council (SOVC) reps and presented "Poor Man" with an official "van" gavel for use in this and future meetings.
Brian introduced the Council of Councils (CofC) board, including the newest member of the board, Kathy Willis. He noted that Jim McCleaf will no longer be an active member of the board, but will retain his position as registered agent for the CofC corporation.
Brian had the council reps, and noted that we had representatives from as far away as Scandinavia. There were 31 councils in attendance at this years’ meeting.
The NATS board introduced themselves.
A motion by Raul to suspend reading the minutes of the 1998 meeting was carried.
There were two bids to host the CofC meeting in the Year 2000. One bid, from the NSVA UK, was to host the meeting in Brighton, England from February 7 – 14, 2000. Wisconsin Van Council made a bid to host the meeting in Manitowoc, Wisconsin from February 10 – 13 , 2000. Brian noted that the actual voting would be done right after the lunch break, following the precedent set last year.
Kathy Smith noted that, when the NATS are awarded, some of the folks putting on the event get a swollen ego.
SOVC said that there should be a minimal registration fee ($15 to $25) for each council that attends the annual CofC meeting to help defray the cost of putting the meeting on. The folks who put it on in 1994 said that they had no problems with front money for the meeting. The hotel fee should be enough. Another rep said that charging a fee was normal. Most businesses who attend a convention expect to pay a registration fee Raul said that, if you don’t have the funds to put on the CofC meeting, then don’t make a bid. Another rep said that, if you collect money, you should have a treasurer’s report, for accountability. Tony King noted that we’re not talking about a lot of money and bands, etc. that are now expected at the event, cost money. Peter Lee said that the host council should put it in their bid that there will be a registration fee, if they want to. Brian noted that the CofC board had no intention of getting involved in the monetary affairs of the host council, including any proposed registration fees. It was decided that the reps should take this topic back their councils and we would discuss the topic next year.
Prices of hotels at the CofC meeting. Some of the reps indicated that they couldn’t afford to pay $76 a night (the cost of this years’ hotel) to attend the CofC meeting. SOVC noted that the $76 rate is the group rate. The normal rate for this hotel is over $100 a night. Joe Madonia noted that, even though we rent out a large portion of the hotel, we also cause extra expenses for the hotel, like extra staff to set up the meeting rooms, etc. Woodstock noted that we have to get the larger, more expensive hotels because the smaller hotels don’t have large enough meeting rooms for our group.
Election of CofC board members. Brian once again recapped the reasons why the CofC board was formed, after the 1987 CofC meeting. The board simply keeps the meeting running smoothly, and provides continuity from year to year so that we spend our time discussing ideas in the meeting, not pursuing a political agenda, which is what is very likely to happen with elections. We’re trustees of the CofC and want to keep it that way. The corporate by-laws specifically state that replacement of board members will be done by the remaining board members. A motion that we "shelve" this recurring topic forever was carried by majority of "Aye" votes
At this point Judith said that the same holds true for the NATS board. She read the definition of "trustee" from the dictionary, and noted that trustees are not normally elected. Joe noted that, from the start, the NATS board job was to investigate potential sites across the country. Mid-America suggested that the NATS board could put out a newsletter on what they are doing. Joe noted that the minutes and expense statements for all the NATS board meetings are sent to all the van council newsletters. He noted that they are currently working on a web page for the NATS board.
Mountain said that, if the NATS board are acting as trustees for us, then why don’t we get a say as to where the NATS is? We vote on the location of the annual CofC meeting; why not on the NATS? Joe noted again, that the NATS board primary function is to check sites out. Raul noted that the NATS board is an advisory board. They don't have police power, etc. at the NATS. That’s up to the NATS host. Joe noted, that to protect the vanners, all the NATS board owns is the right to the names "National Truck-In", "The Nation’s Premier Van Event", and "Van Nationals". That way, no promoter can use any of those names.
Maryland wanted to know who’s making money on the NATS. They said that they didn’t. Joe said he couldn’t tell them why they didn’t make money. Only two NATS hosts did not make money. Brian noted that this discussion needed to be a side issue with MVC and the NATS board.
Raul wanted an explanation on Item K on the Meeting Agenda, which said we need black representation on the council, since one of the 5 CofC board members is black. The rep who had the topic put on the agenda asked the why, for example, in 23 years of the NATS hasn’t there been black entertainment? Desperado noted that, in the NATS contract, there is a clause that says there should be a variety of musical entertainment.
MVC noted that it’s not about black and white, it’s about diversity. There’s nothing wrong with bringing up the question about black entertainment at the NATS and asking for an answer. Another black representative said that they aren’t getting the support at events. Brian noted that, even if the reps take the flyers at the CofC meeting, they may not be able to make events that are out of their area. There are some areas that have so many nearby events, in a conflicting time, that it’s not realistic to get to them all. Mountain and another rep said you should try to get to one new event (event you’ve never been to) every year. It helps support the other host clubs and you get to add a little more variety to your vanning. A suggestion was made that you might encourage attendance at your events by giving out one free pre-reg to each council at the CofC meeting.
Howard noted that, in one area, there are 6 events within 4 weeks. He noted that Florida has a sanctioning process to spread the events out. Maybe we could do something next year to spread the events out. Geoff Koome & Cinnamon commented that they have a hard time getting information on events and dates for their newsletters. It’s like pulling teeth. It was also noted that, it doesn’t help to have the dates for events if the clubs aren’t willing to bend a little. If one club has had the same date for a number of years and refuses to move the date, then the conflicts continue.
The lunch break was from noon until 2:15 PM.
Coop noted that, in the absence of a bid for the NATS for next year, the NATS board would see that an event is put on. He also noted, that the NATS board will accept bids for the NATS for the next 30 days. In response to a question as to why there were no bids for the NATS for the Year 2000, he said he didn’t know. The strongest suggestion was that no single group felt they had the manpower to put on the event.
Three River Vans gave an update on this year's NATS. The early entry will be in a staging area from 7 AM till noon on Wednesday. Then the vans will begin to flow into the campground at noon. DON’T come before 7 AM. There is no place to park on the highway. There are 4 or 5 campgrounds in the general area if you want to come early. At this time there are no plans for a pre-NATS warm-up party, but Flying Dutchman Vans have some plans for Monday & Tuesday.
There is a noise curfew at midnight. Instead of trophies for "Best of Show", jackets will be given out. In response to a question from the floor, Three River Vans said they had not addressed the idea of a "non-electrical" Christmas theme. Also, there will be no "Butler 99" because the clubs efforts are all geared toward putting on the NATS.
Brian requested that all councils give us an e-mail address. Van Association of New Zealand couldn’t make it this year but asked that we send them all the information we could.
Brian noted that Bob Rowland is retiring from the CofC board and Geoff Koome from OFV is taking his place. The group gave Bob a round of applause for his service on the board all these years.
Ballots were passed out to see where the Year 2000 meeting will be held. The results were that, by a vote of 26 to 5, the Year 2000 Council of Councils meeting will be hosted by the National Street Van Association (NSVA) UK, in Brighton, England, on February 7 - 14, 2000. Be sure to get your passport. One rep asked what would happen if a council wanted to host the CofC meeting in 2001, but couldn’t make it to England for the 2000 meeting. It was noted that a council does not have to be present to make a bid. They can get another council to make their presentation, or have the CofC moderator read their presentation to the reps. The rules only say that the CofC board has to receive the bid no later than the Friday night preceding the CofC meeting at which the bid is to be presented. The bid can easily be mailed to the CofC board much earlier than that.
A question came up about what to do if someone didn’t like a judging decision and broke something up at an event. The consensus was that they should be asked to pay for the damages, and, if they refused, just call the police and press charges. One rep clarified that the damage was an accident. One guy who had gotten a trophy, felt his wife was cheated out of her trophy and said, "Well here, you can have this one back!" and accidentally damaged a speaker as he handed it back.
OPEN DISCUSSION:
A topic from the floor suggested that, if we won’t let the younger dudes in pickups, suburbans, etc. into our events we won’t keep the movement going. Some of these guys may see how neat vanning is and buy a van. Another input was that more likely said young guy would just as easily buy another pickup or suburban.
Excalibur Van Club noted that it has set up a van show on the same scale as the North American Auto Show, as they said they would at the last meeting. It will be "Custom Van Expo 99", held in April 30, May 1,2 in Detroit to help change the public image of van clubs and show what we stand for. The hall will hold 1000 vans and there are 116 vans signed up, to date. Best of Show will be People’s Choice and that comes with a 6’ trophy and $5000 cash.
SOVC gave out plaques to each council in attendance.
A motion was made to adjourn and the meeting was
concluded at 3:55 PM.