December 2004 SEC Meeting Minutes
	by Melanie Brown December 8, 2004

Melanie Brown called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. In attendance were Melanie Brown, Phil Brown, Susan Dugdale, Tom Blinn, Dana Sion, Michael Morin, Jan Holzer, Cassandra Vorisek-Creto and Al Creto. Items discussed are presented below.

Tonight's agenda focused on putting a plan into place for the 2005 calendar. Our goal is to improve the quality of the events by offering fewer so that we can put more effort into each one and leverage the SEC volunteers. By doing this we can spread the work out over many people so that we can keep the club events FUN. We believe that by doing this we will have more energy to "market" the events which in turn will produce more awareness of what the club has to offer.

The SEC agreed that by offering 3 events on the 2005 calendar, we will be in a position to reach the goals set forth. These events are in addition to the Bed & Breakfast Weekend (*see comments below regarding this event) and the Nova Scotia trip in September. The B&B weekend, for the most part, is already organized and the Nova Scotia trip is a specialized event that will be limited to 10 +/- participants.

The 3 events chosen we feel will appeal to and attract a large audience to help in our goal of increasing awareness of the club to our members. The events we decided on are as follows:

Family Picnic

The Family Picnic is much like the event that took place at Castle Springs several years ago. A relaxed, "come as you are, when you can" activity at a park and enjoy Frisbee, swimming, hiking, BBQ and other related activities. We threw the idea around of possibly combining this picnic with a "swap shop" of some type where enthusiasts could bring car parts, accessories or memborabilia that they might want to sell or trade to fellow club members while there. This will need further review as the rules of the parks may prohibit this.

We are trying to offer a "something for everyone" atmosphere that will attract more club members. We have discussed the possibility of holding this event at Pawtuckaway State Park.

We do not have a set date for this event yet as we decided to wait until after 12/20 when the DEC will have a meeting to set up their calendar for the year. At which time, we will be able to choose a date that will not conflict. We are considering a mid to late July date so that the weather will be warm enough to allow swimmers to enjoy the lake. Cassandra has checked into rates and availability and more details will be forthcoming.

Fun Rally

Back by popular demand will be another Fun Rally. We are thinking a possible foliage drive in late September or early October thru the northern part of NH, but have not come to a firm decision yet. We discussed dividing the event organizers into sub-commitees, for example one committee to work on the directions and questions while another organizes the restaurant and prizes. This would allow some of the volunteers to take part in the rally itself and lighten the work load so that it does not become a daunting, overwhelming chore. We discussed a possible fund raising effort to be combined with the rally. Cassandra is affiliated with the Greater Nashua Humane Society and suggested that if we decided to raise funds for them, she would be able to gather support from them to help with the event. Some ideas to raise funds might be to have the drivers obtain sponsors to "pay per mile", each participant bring a bag of pet food as part of their registration fee, obtain a corporate sponsor etc. Again, more details will unfold as we progress.

Holiday Party

The final event we chose will be a Holiday Party in January of 2006. Although it is not technically a 2005 event, the planning process will begin in 2005 therefore needed to be considered as part of our schedule. No details have been discussed at this time.

Bed & Breakfast Weekend

The Bed & Breakfast weekend in February is currently half sold out. 7 out of 14 rooms have been reserved by club members. It was agreed to, and backed by Rich Davis, that if by the middle to end of January the event has not been completely filled, we will open it to non-club members.

We're looking forward to a fun 2005, please join us for our next meeting on January 20th at 6:30 pm at the Bedford Wayfarer Inn.