Minutes of The 2007 Annual General Meeting of the North American MGB Register

Minutes for the Annual General Meeting of the North American MGB Register
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, October 27, 2007

The Chairman, Bruce Wyckoff, started the meeting at approximately 1 p.m. with a brief statement on what a successful year the register was having and then had everyone in the room to stand up and introduce themselves.
After introductions, the conventions coordinator, Tony Burgess, spoke on the convention to be held in 2008 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. He stated what a beautiful area this was going to be for the car show, not just in King of Prussia, but the surrounding area as well. He also expressed that the room in the convention host hotel were very reasonable for the area at $95.00. Tony further stress that you should reserve your room early if you plan on attending as they are going fast. Plans or the convention include; driving tours, tech sessions by Peter Cosmides and John Twist, historical re-enactors, a "drive-in" movie, dinner at the Mermaid Lake resort and of course the car show and awards banquet at he host hotel.

Executive Officer Reports

Chairman's Report: The Register had a "record-breaking" convention in 2007. The convention was the largest west coast convention to date, with many first time attendees, and a joint advertising campaign with NAMGAR which featured an ad on which we received a number of complements. The Chairman gave a special thanks to Charles de Bourbon for putting it together.
The Chairman is excited to be sharing MG2008 with the American MGC Register and is hoping this will prove to be another "record-breaking" event.
The Chairman was also encouraged by the increased number of letters to the editor. I believe this is a good barometer to what is happening within the club.
The Chairman, on behalf of the coordinators and registers, thanked the membership for making 2007 another successful year. He also expressed thanks to the Philadelphia MG Club for hosting both this AGM and MG 2008 in June.

Vice Chairman's Report: Richard Liddick reported his work with the local chapters and his duties as the NAMGBR representative on the North American Council of MG Registers.
The Register added four new chapters in 2007.
1. Blount British Cars Ltd. of Maryville, TN
2. Brandywine British Chapter of Wilmington, DE
3. Idaho British Car Club of Boise, ID
4. Greater Ozarks British Car Club of Springfield, MO

We have 87 chapters, 17 chapters are not in "Good Standing". That means to 19.5% or our chapters are not maintaining their minimum of eight (8) NAMGBR members. It breaks down like this. Two chapters have no members, two chapters with 1 member, one with 3, one with 4, three with 5, two with 6, and six with 7 members.
We also have three chapters with high membership numbers. They are the Chicagoland MG Club with 38 members, the Emerald Necklace MG Register with 31 members, and the Peachtree MG Register at 29 members.
The Vice-Chairman's annual work includes mailing "re-affiliation" forms, in the beginning of the year, to all our chapters. It is amazing how many of these forms get returned by the post office as undeliverable. We cannot ask the chapters enough to let us know when your change officers and/or mailing addresses. It is a simple matter of visiting our website and updating the listing for you club. It would go a long way to save your Vice Chairman and our Webmaster, Rick Brown, a lot of extra work.

The Vice-Chairman, as representative to the MG Council, reported that planning is under way for the big quinquennial meeting with all the North American MG Registers. There has been some lobbying by some of the Western MG clubs for a west coast event, but no decisions have been made yet. On a note of interest, Rick Ingram, former NAMGBR Chairman, has been chosen as Executive Director of the MG Council for another term. For more information on the North American Council of MG Register, check out their website at http://www.mgcar.org.uk/mgcouncil.

Secretary's Report: Jerome Rosenberger reiterated that we had a very successful year. Our membership numbers have increased from 1830 at last year's AGM to the present level of 1901. In addition to the usual recruitment sources, we recruited 15 new members at MG 2007 and at the University Motors Summer Party we only recruited four new members, but we did manage to bring a half dozen lapsed members back to our ranks.
The Secretary attributes the success to improved response time to the membership, a series of very successful conventions, and the "new and improved, all color" MGB Driver. With special thanks to Robert, Charles, and Kim for going the extra mile with the newsletter. Having assets like these, it's much easier to keep your members.
In closing the Secretary called upon the other Executive officers, Coordinators, and Registrars to make member service, recruitment, retention, and getting the membership over 2000 their primary goals in during the next year.

Treasurer's Report: Alan Magnuson reported that this past fiscal year has seen continued strengthening of our membership which has resulted in a very strong financial year. In 2007, we had income of $79,904.26.
The largest source of income continues to be dues, followed by income from car shows, advertising, and regalia.
Expenses for the fiscal year were $60,267.20. Printing of the Driver and the Mutual Aid Directory being our largest expense, followed by car shows, insurance, banking fees, postage, office expenses and regalia. Our net Ordinary Income is $19,637.06.
Full reports have been presented to the NAMGBR officers and membership, via the MGB Driver, as required by the constitution and by-laws.

Coordinators and Registrars Reports

Editor: Robert Rushing reported 2007 has been a fantastic year for the MGB Driver. We switched printers from Kingery Printing in Effingham, Illinois to Image Graphics in Paducah, Kentucky. The January/February issue had a color cover with black & white interior as a test of their quality and ability to produce the issue successfully. Image Graphic's cost per issue in full-color was less than the cost per issue of Kingery printing in only black & white. This allowed us to switch to a full-color format for each issue starting with the March/April issue.
Currently, we have articles for at least two issues on hand and are always on the look out for quality material to present to the membership. He would like to thank everyone who provided photos, articles, and entries over the past year. Charles and he looks forward to 2008 and hope that they can surpass the quality of the past year.

Advertising Coordinator: Charles de Bourbon reported that he is honored to have taken on the position of Advertising Coordinator. He regrets seeing Pete Cosmides move on from this position. Peter did a great job of setting me up as Advertising Coordinator. Peter was definitely instrumental in pointing me in the right direction with regards to our advertisers.
There was minimal increase in advertising rates this past year. This is the first increase in advertising rates since the creation of the MGB Driver in 1991.
The MGB Driver magazine remains an affordable option for smaller advertisers by the introduction of smaller sized ads. These ads create a new niche advertiser for MGB Driver, the limited advertisers, who are interested advertising for 1 or 2 issues only. Classified ads have a minor change. All classified ads have expiration date in the lower right hand corner of each ad. It lets advertisers and NAMGBR membership know when the classified ad was first run. All classified ads have a 3 issue maximum.
Advertising account information has been streamlined. Advertisers send their checks to him, he scans and record them, and then sends them to our Treasurer. The purpose of this is to have a first hand account of each check sent, the date sent, and the amount. As time passes, this eliminates guess work and requests for researching information. This also creates a back up for our Treasurer if he requires a copy of an invoice or a check in regards to the MGB Driver advertisers.
This year we have lost one advertiser, but gained two. All our advertisers are currently paid up to date. He has created advertising cards sent to all our membership clubs for distribution to potential advertisers.
In 2008 it is his intention to institute a public relations/marketing plan for the MGB Driver by creating market regions in the US and Canada. In closing he'd like to ask the membership to send him leads for potential advertisers in the future.

Publicity Coordinator: Richard Liddick reported that for 2007, he posted information about the MG 2007 convention at Rohnert Park California, on various web auto events calendars. As far as, written articles or pieces about the Register go, he did not send anything out. As he has said before, with the advent of the World Wide Web most of what this position was originally set up for is no longer needed since the local chapters get the word out about their events.
The position of publicity coordinator should be redefined to blend in with the changing media. He would like to offer the position up to another member out there that may have a fresh approach and new ideas on getting the word out about the Register, the chapters, and our events. He will continue doing what he has been doing until that member steps forward.

100K/200K Coordinator: Jai Deagan reported that there is a 1-2 year supply of dash plaques (20) for the 100k registry and probably close to 100 plaques for the 200k registry.
The database currently contains 154 cars with almost 140 members. There are several members who have registered more than one car in this sub register. There were four members who requested to join the 100k Register and one who joined the 200k since my last report.
Most of the members applying for admission to this sub registry are relatively new members have joined within the last two or three years.
Many different models of MGs are represented in the registry. The greatest majority of owners have an MGB or MGB/GT. Next most plentiful model is Midgets and several MGC and MGC/GTs. Members have joined this sub-register from north to south and from coast to coast. It appears that a majority of the members of this sub Register are still members in good standing of NAMGBR.
He converted the database to MS Access and sent a copy to the Secretary. He occasionally receives a request for admission to this registry from persons who are not members. When this occurs, he sends them a polite response with information on joining NAMGBR.

Concours Coordinator: Paul Hanley reported that it was another banner year for Concours participation. This year's "Top Point MG" was displayed with five other pristine examples of the Marque on the show field at MG2007. Regretfully, he was not able to see first hand these as-original, highly maintained vehicles. However, Mr. Robert Gloyd, a seasoned veteran of Concours judging graciously offered to perform the scrutinizing duties of the day. Accompanied by gracious members of the host club, a team of knowledgeable enthusiast examined each of the cars for originality and condition - the two tenants of the Concours Program.
For the last five years, Concours participation has netted at least six participants each year - most years assembling twice that number. There have been four judges assist with the examinations at least two consecutive years and there are now a couple of stalwarts that have carried the clipboards three years running. Previous participant and "Top Point" recipient, Bill Harris also stepped up to the plate. As enthusiasm for Concours increases, so do the judging standards. Thanks to all.
There was once again a bonus, unexpected award for "Top Point MG" - it has graced the cover of MGB Driver's Annual Convention Edition now for the 2nd straight year. Perhaps a NAMGBR tradition has begun?? Thanks to our editor and his staff for helping to promote the program.
Lastly, inquiries about originality and Concours were consistent through the year. One question consistently comes up more than any other. What to do about original tire sizes & manufacturers if one hopes to participate in Concours. And the answer is always the same. Go for safety. A period correct tread design is partially what judges look for. 165/14's or even 175/14's may net a point or so deduction for originality, but don't sweat the small stuff… Concours will always be about a much bigger picture.

Regalia Coordinator: Elvin Davis reported that this year we have sold 22 grille badges, 8 key fobs, 9 window decals, 3 back issues of the Driver, 26 back issue CDs, 5 coffee mugs, and 3 golf shirts.
Total sales: $1087.80 Total expenses: $62.73 Net income: $1025.07

Service Coordinator: Bruce Wyckoff reported that 2007 turned out to be another successful year for the Mutual Aid Directory.
For those not familiar with the MAD booklet, we print a list of recommended repair shop around the United States and Canada, submitted by the members of the B Register. In the event you are traveling through the US or Canada and you have auto problems, hopefully, there will be a MG friendly repair shop near by.
In addition to the listed repair shops, a large number of NAMGBR members have volunteered to have their contact information listed in the directory as well. By doing so, each member has pledged to help a fellow register member if the occasion should arise.
Also listed in the directory were 85+ chapters of the register with names and contact information. I would encourage any of our traveling members to contact the local chapter if you are in the area.
A number of advertisers were involved with publishing this year's MAD. This year's advertisers included Moss Motors, Sports Car Craftsmen, Eric Jones, JC Taylor, Eclectic Motorworks, Victoria British, University Motors, All British Car Repair, Autosport, Apple Hydraulics and Little British Car Company - all helped to make this years MAD possible. Thank you to all our advertisers.
Again, this year, we had a couple of members that wrote in the MGB Driver about their travels to MG 2007 and the need to pull the little blue book from their glove box. We hope you never have to use the MAD when you travel, but it's great to have if there is an emergency.
The plans are in the works for the 2008 version of MAD. If you have a repair shop that you would like to recommend, please contact me through the web site or my email address on Page 3 of the MGB Driver.

There was a discussion on how to make car model registration easier, especially for Midget and 11/1300 owners. At present, the only form going into the new member packet was for the one for MGB owners. It was felt that this oversight was leading to low registration of Midgets and 1100/1300. The Secretary agreed to reword the "Welcome" letter to new members and to include forms for Midgets & 1100/1300s in the new member packet.

After the break was the announcement of our regular annual awards as follows.
Enthusiast of the Year: Robert Gloyd, Centennial, Colorado
Chapter of the Year: MG Owners Club - Northern California, El Cerrito, California
Newsletter of the year : "Octagon", MGCC Toronto, Canada
Good Samaritan of the Year: Brian Goldsmith, Treynor, Iowa
Special Award: Sorry Safari Touring Society, Oakland, California

Elections

During the break, a final tally of the ballots was calculated and it was announced that Bruce Wyckoff had been re-elected Chairman and Alan Magnuson had been elected Treasurer.
The Executive stated for the record that they were quite pleased with the response to this year's election. 46% of the Register Chapters returned their ballots; in spite of the fact the both candidates were running unopposed. We believe this is the best response we have had in ANY election.

Insurance

Following the election of officers, there was a discussion on the subject of insurance. The Secretary outlined for those present our current general liability coverage was and what it covered. Also there was a discussion about a proposed "Directors and Officer" coverage. There were a number of questions and concerns from the regarding liability limits, cost to the chapters, and whether coverage would be extended to Canada or not.
The Secretary answered the questions that he could and promised to follow up with the underwriters on those he could not.

Next, there was a question from the floor about the possibility of acquiring a couple gift certificates for an upcoming holiday party. The Secretary promised to mail them out upon his return to the office. There being no further business from the floor, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:00 p.m.

Submitted 11/5/2007

Jerome Rosenberger
Secretary, NAMGBR

Footnote to Minutes: During the meeting neither Bruce nor I could find the copy of MGB Registrar Ken Smith's, report. It later turned up so I am including it here with apologies to Ken for its omission on the day of the meeting.

MGB Registrar: At the time of this report (10/14/2007) we currently have 2906 (+114) MGBs listed on the database. These include:

MGB Limited Editions: 340 (+ 61)

MGB/GT Factory V8's: 18 (+2)

MGB/GT 1967 Specials: 115 (-1)

Since my last report we have continued to receive registrations at a steady and regular rate, resulting in a gain of 114 new entries. Many new members have sent details of their cars to me and where possible their registration has been acknowledged by a personal note or e-mail. Names of new registrants are also posted in the MGB Driver.
The largest increase has been seen in the number of MGB L.E.s registered, or notified to me - a gain of over 30%.
We have also continued to consolidate the information received from Steve Harding on the 74 1/2 MGB register into the main database, and this process is ongoing. Steve relinquished the position of 74 1/2 Registrar due to his commitment to MG 2008.
We have continued to receive requests for information on specific models and have been able to advise several members on the purchase of an MGB, and possible information they needed to get the best car for the money.
The only problem we have experienced is that overseas hackers gained access to the MGB Registration form through the NAMGBR web site and thus we were receiving registrations touting EDS products, young ladies wishing to speak with us, and other scams from Russia, Nigeria, Bosnia and several other far flung outposts, none of which had anything to do with Registering an MGB! Once Rick Brown was made aware of the situation he amended the entry code for the Register your MGB section and the number of false registrations has dropped dramatically.
Once again, I urge all members of the NAMGBR to register their MGB with us, as the more knowledge we gain, the better equipped we are to assist members in their search of knowledge on their MGB.