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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Steve Boris
NOR'EASTER Online - December 2002

Well, 2002 is winding down. I thought I would take this time to reflect on some of the events of the past year. The club and myself tried many new things this year, some of which were a success and some were not. I need everyone's help to understand why this was.

There are 2 events that are mandatory for the club to hold every year. They are the Newcomer's Meeting in April and the Annual Dinner in December. Normally these are well attended and seem to work in their current format so there is no need to talk about these.

Nine out of the remaining ten months are my responsibility. I get one month off to spend in Tahiti at the club's expense (I can't understand why no one ran against me in the elections). These nine events are done not to create revenue, although we like to try and cover at least a portion of whatever expenses are incurred. These events are for you to come and have a good time and hang with other Porsche enthusiasts. It is not uncommon for the club to subsidize the larger events. The Annual Dinner despite the $50 fee will cost the club over $6000 over and above what is raised. But that's what we have money for to enjoy each other's company.

Overall attendance for the year was not very good and I am trying to understand why in an attempt to plan events that you all are interested in. Most of the events are usually free or very inexpensive for the amount enjoyment received. This year we tried some new ideas to see if they would fly. I would really like to here from everyone to get a feel for why an event didn't interest you and what would interest you. Please email me at boris@porschenet.com. The more responses the better next year's events will be.

I would now like to go over some of the past year's events. Specifically the ones the club tried something different. Remember this club has just over 1,500 members and we can't seem to get more than 40 or 50 on an average.

One of the newest ideas this year was the Nik and the Nice Guys bash. The projected attendance was 250 members and guests. Although not free, the fee of $45 seemed reasonable for a full night of food, dance, and fun. The event only attracted 100 members and guests. Why? Was the price to high? Was Topsfield too far away? Please let me know if this could be done better.

One event that should have been better attended and was free was the Atlantic Coast Trailer seminar. There are huge numbers of members that trailer their car to events. We thought this to be a vital service to our members. What was it about this event that only attracted about 20 members?

Next event is the F1 Boston Challenge. This one really stumps me. We only seem to be able to get 40 (past 2 years) out of 1,500 members to come to this event. We charged $85 for 4 races on their best track and a chance to race in the finals. Anyone who has been there knows that it cost $100 for 4 races on the City Track and combined with the competition that is inevitable with the Porsche Club, how can you go wrong. I tried to organize an enduro that combined both tracks. There would have been more races and perhaps team competition for $133 per person but because we could only get 40 people the year before, the board convinced me that not only was the price too high but we would never get the 65-75 participants. Why is this? What would make this event appealing to you? More track time? Less money? A better evening? I will do what ever you people want me to do. I can get a lot of cool stuff accomplished if I know what you want. I would really like to do an enduro this year but I can't do it without some sign of interest.

Probably the best event of the year and the best attended was the Concours with Denise McCluggage. Help me to understand what drew you to this event. Was it the fact that we had 2 events in one? It couldn't have been the great weather because we have had other events held on great days where hardly anyone showed up. The cost of Denise was considerable and was gladly covered by the club. The turnout made it all worth.

The confusing part came at the Vic Elford evening (read review elsewhere in this newsletter). I had received a number of email reservations and I anticipated a number who didn't but only 30 people showed up. The interesting thing was that this event drew many new members that had not attended other events. That's good! This was the perfect evening for something like this. A rainy Saturday night, what better time to drive into Boston have a little dinner and enjoy some great stories by a living Porsche legend. The club covered the over $5,000 of expenses for Vic to visit. What a deal those 30 people got. Their own private conversation with Vic. Was it the weather? Is Saturday night the wrong night of the week? Is Sunday better? Let me know.

Being a non-drinker I did not attend the wine tasting but I am told that they only had 30 of 40 slots filled. The members that attended had a blast. The food and wine were great. This seemed the perfect autumn event for the members of the Porsche Club. But maybe we were wrong. What would have made this more interesting?

There are a number of factors that always seem to have an effect on these events. Many of which we never know but one we do know is a member who doesn't know anyone and is afraid to show up. Being shy I can understand this one I suppose, but take it from me, once you take the first step the rest are easy. I went from having no friends to having a number of people pretending to be my friends. Just joking, there are people of every type in this club, short, tall, chubby, skinny, rich, poor, good looking, homely, smart and not so smart. So you will always find someone to identify and hang with.

The main reason I bring all of this up is that the club has plans to do some interesting events this year that could cost the club a great deal of money. We would like to bring in racing greats like David Hobbs for next year's Concours and Derek Bell. Each of these legends gets at least $5,000 to speak. That is twice what we paid Vic and 5 times what we paid Denise. That doesn't include the venue at which they speak. Does either of these guys interest you? Would it be too much to ask to charge a small fee of say $10-15 for such an event? What other event would you like to see in conjunction with either of these guys?

Honestly I think we should try another Nik and the Nice Guys type evening. Any suggestions as to how we can make it more appealing? Maybe outdoors? A Bar-B-Que/Shindig? I always wanted to use that word.

Another event I would like to try is to have an event with a dent remover like Dent Wizard where members can bring their cars and for a small fee have any little dents removed. This could be a nice way to start the spring. I know the new Carrera has at least 1 little ding.

We also plan to have an event in February at Exoticar in Avon. They are the largest retailer of high quality diecast models and they are having a special Porsche diecast party for us in their warehouse. They have many nice Porsche diecast in both 1:32 and 1:18 scale.

So please everyone take a few minutes and give me some feedback on an event you would like to do or how to make one better. I want to hear from all 1,500 members.

So remember my Driver's Window is always open for your input.

I apologize that I have nothing to Vent about this month. Things are pretty good right now but I'm sure something will raise the little hairs on the back of my neck. Maybe it will be that no one responds to my request for event ideas. See you all next year.

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region