September 2007
Meeting Minutes:
This was the big meeting before the show, so most of the time was spent on that one big issue.
• It was decided that the 2008 "one year build contest" would follow the Democratically Decided from-Stash Build (DDSB) as outlined in last month's minutes. In case you missed it:
In the DDSB scenario, everyone brings 5 kits that they would like to build in the coming year to the Christmas Meeting. We will go around the table and everyone will get a vote for which kit they want to see that person complete. The winning kit will then have to be completed by the individual BEFORE the next Christmas meeting (Dec 2008), where a winner will be decided based on a random draw from all completed entries.
• We also briefly discussed the topics for next year. A sign up sheet was put up, but no one has signed up as of yet. There was discussion about having several presentations to cover modelling basics, and Adam Rehorn was given a handbook by Dennis Glas so he could go over it and make up a few topics that way. This will be done by the next meeting (October).
People need to sign up for topics by the end of the November meeting, so we can get the fliers and membership cards ready for 2008.
• A discussion was also had on modifying the membership list to include information about each member's specialty. Don McCall suggested having information for new members on who to contact for specific problems, such as tracks, masking canopies, airbrushing specifics, etc. This information will be collected during the membership dues collection period, when we are confirming people's personal contact information.
• It was also brought up that there is an ex-member of the club who has been, to use a Jim Rome-ism, talking smack about the club. This individual was only at a few meetings, but apparently decided that we were an elitist group, uninterested in helping neophytes.
I, the President, found this particularly odious, and very upsetting. The good news is that no one else in the club thought it so, including Mr. Don McCall, who is one of our newest members.
When I joined sometime about 5 years ago, I found the club to be very welcoming, open minded and ready to share. It is still that way today, and I applaud our membership for remembering that modelling is a hobby, and is more fun when you share.
As for this other fellow, we were sad that he did not have a good experience, but will not let his unfounded slander dampen our spirits or change the way we do things.
• The big item, as previously mentioned, was the show.
The duty rosters got filled out and will be at the show site on Saturday.
The major awards were presented to the club. They were FANTASTIC!!! Usually, I am not at a loss for words. However, I could do little to adequately express my impressedness with the awards other than mutter, drool enviously and babble the same clichéd "Wow" over and over again. The awards are unlike any I have ever seen, or am likely to see at another show. Utterly amazing. Congrats to the show committee for not only conceptualizing original, high quality awards, but for seeing the project through to the end.
Judging was thoroughly covered by Dennis Glas, who's years of experience clearly showed as he guided us through what to expect, do and most importantly, NOT do!
Final important details:
• All members are to be at the show site at or slightly before 8:00am on Saturday, September 15, 2007, to begin setup of tables and unloading of vendors. The sooner we're done, the sooner we go shopping!
• All members are expected to help with gopher chores, as well as table guarding as part of their perusing the venue.
• The show is officially over at 4:30. All members are expected to communicate this to any parties asking about it.
• All members are expected to stay and clean up afterwards. We must be done by 5:00pm.
• There was no show and tell this week, due to the busy schedule (although there were a few things on display - my apologies to those who brought stuff but didn't get a chance to talk about it).
Next time: Lee Rehorn will discuss tips for modelling die cast vehicles, and we'll likely be discussing the show. Also, topic signup will be there, so be ready to sign up!
See you then!