Front Bumper - Issue 1

Phil Abrami, President
BMW Club of Canada
abrami@education.concordia.ca
514-487-4646

What a waste. I fly all the way across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver and all I see of one of our great cities is from the inside of the shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel. Got in on Friday afternoon, met with Rolf Drommer to go over the agenda for the Directors' meeting and then talked about club racing to a few possible converts that evening. Up Saturday morning for a full day meeting with lunch served at the conference table. But we did go out for a nice dinner that evening even if it was under some humungous bridge. Sunday was a half work day with lunch brought to us again and then back to the airport for the flight home in time for the late local news. Monday? Well, I don't think I was at my best for those morning meetings with our research team at the university. But they know me by now and they've come to accept my rantings and ravings about BMWs.

The other Directors had a bit more sense and a (slightly) more forgiving schedule. Nevertheless, there were eight of us assembled from across Canada to do their part to make our new club really work. So there we were on Saturday morning set to go and we did not quit until we had gone through all the items on a very ambitious agenda.

Most of us came to the meeting with a great deal of enthusiasm and a slight degree of apprehension. We had not really met one another before given that we truly came from cities all across the expanse of Canada: Richard Bureau from Halifax, Phil Abrami from Quebec, Chris Pawlowicz from Ottawa, Gerry Low from Toronto, Ivo Hula from Calgary, Jim Robson from Edmonton, Rolf Drommer from Vancouver and David Saville-Peck from Victoria.

We had the new bylaws or so we thought. Yes, we had a strong vote to endorse them (198-4) and votes to join from BMW CCBC and BACVI too. This was what took us almost two years to develop and now that we were about to meet it seemed like it was worth it. But then just before the meeting we learned that Industry Canada had not accepted the new bylaws. What's the problem? Are we back to square one?

Wow, eight chapters and about 1300 members. We've never been so big before. And most of the membership money stays within the region to promote local events. That's solid footing or so it seemed. But we had other troubles and growing pains to begin with. Where did the huge insurance bill come from and why was it going to get even larger? Can we even afford to continue as a club?

We had the coast-to-coast representation that we wanted and worked for. There were already great signs of activity among all the chapters with wonderful web sites, regular newsletters, and plenty of activities throughout the year including a record number of karting events and driving schools. But would we really work together as a team? Had people come together to roll up their sleeves and work? And were we all willing to put aside our differences to reach compromise and consensus?

I think you can guess at the answers. The inaugural meeting of the National Directors of the new BMW Club of Canada was a great success. The fruits of our labors are summarized in the minutes of the meeting.

We've got a great team working at the national level to help support and promote local club activities. As we get organized and make the full transition from the old structure to the new structure, it is my hope that we will develop both short-term and long-term plans for the BMW CC which will result in an increase in our size and the number and quality of local events we offer to you, the members. And it is my hope that we can offer some value-added at the National level through events like car raffles and East Coast and West Coast Oktoberfests.

I like to think of what we've created, and are now working to promote nationally, as the interdependence of the local clubs and not the independence of the local clubs. It means that each club needs to be strong on its on but also that each club has to work with the others for the sake of all the members. We even have some of that spirit captured in the new bylaws giving you the right to attend any club event anywhere in Canada because you belong to the BMW CC.

Yes, it was worth the trip.

Until next time and more good news.