2007 COUNCIL OF COUNCILS MEETING
Holiday Inn
Grand Island, NY
10 February 2007

Brian Walker called the meeting to order, welcomed the reps and thanked Vanners Without Borders (V.O.I.C.E.S. and Ontario Federation of Vanners (OFV)) for hosting this event.

A motion by Doc to waive reading of the minutes of the 2006 meeting was carried.

Brian thanked everyone for the kind words and prayers for his father.

There was a moment of silence to mourn those vanners who passed away this past year.

Brian introduced the Council of Councils (CofC) Board.

Bob Bundy (of V.O.I.C.E.S.) and Doc Maksymchuk (Ontario Federation of Vanners), the co-chairs of Vanners Without Borders, the host council, welcomed the reps to Grand Island.

Geoff thanked OFV and V.O.I.C.E.S. for the excellent job they had done in hosting this year’s meeting. He also noted that a council must have at least 3 van clubs and represent vanners in a defined area in order to be recognized by the Council of Councils. Geoff said we will try to get all the correct council addresses on the CofC website.

At this point the roll was taken, and each council rep introduced his council and gave a little background information on his council. Information included how many clubs were in the council, what geographic area the council served, and how long the council had been in existence. The reps were reminded to give any updates to their council address to Kathy Willis at the break

There were 29 councils in attendance at the meeting.

Brian returned to the point that we had strayed from the process of having new councils become recognized by the Council of Councils. We had just left it to the CofC Board. He proposed that we formalize the process by having all new councils file a petition for recognition with the CofC Board. This would be similar to the way we currently turn in bids to host the CofC meeting to the CofC Board. The Board would review the petition for recognition for content and completeness. Then, the new Council would present itself to the reps for recognition near the beginning of the Saturday meeting. Raul noted that we used to use a procedure similar to this in the past.

Brian noted that we only vote on a couple of items each year, and it is critical that only the recognized councils get a vote. Otherwise, your vote is diluted. Southeast Van Council, representing the NC/SC/Alabama/Tennessee area, then presented itself to the Council of Councils and became a recognized council by a majority of the reps present and voting.

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Two bids to host the CofC meeting in the Year 2008 were presented.

Florida Van Council (FVC) made a bid to host the 2008 meeting on February 7 - 10, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Resort. The resort is on the beach at Cocoa Beach, about a 45-minute drive from Orlando. The theme will be a Space Coast theme, I Dream of Jeannie. Room rates vary from $99/night (up to 4 persons in a room) to $199/night for lofts and oceanfront suites. Room rates will apply for 3 days prior to the event and 3 days after the event, based on availability. There is no hotel shuttle to the Orlando International Airport, so FVC is working on a shuttle service for those vanners who choose to fly in.

The temperature in Cocoa Beach yesterday was 78-degrees Fahrenheit. The hotel has been featured on the Travel Channel. No organized activities are planned. When the FVC last hosted a CofC meeting in Florida, the organized tours were not well attended. When vanners come to Florida, they choose to make their own activities. However, if your group wants a specific trip they will try to set it up for you. They are planning a van show on Saturday. There will be one hospitality suite.

National Street Van Association of the United Kingdom (N.S.V.A. U.K.) made a bid to host the 2008 meeting February 11 – 17, 2008 at the Old Ship Hotel in Brighton, England. The hotel is 450 years old. The Old Ship recently spent 5 million pounds to renovate the hotel in such a manner as to retain its original charm and elegance. The theme will be Van’s Across the Sea. This is the same hotel that was used to hold the meeting in the year 2000. Peter Lee clarified that having sponsorship by Ford does not mean that the N.S.V.A. U.K is associated with Ford. Ford just supplies some goodies for them.

There will be lots of tours. N.S.V.A. U.K. will provide transportation from the train station in Brighton to the hotel. They will not be able to offer any assistance getting on the trains from Heathrow, just the airport at Gatwick. There is a direct train from Gatwick to Brighton; no stops. The hospitality room will be open all day Monday. On Tuesday there will be a tour to see the oldest warship in the world. On Wednesday there will be a tour of the oldest house in England, a 2,500-year-old Roman House. Thursday, sightseeing in London. A trip to the seaside town of Hastings & St. Leonard’s will be offered on Friday. There will also be a nighttime boat trip and party on the Thames. Of course, the Pub Crawl will be held, as it was last time. There will be a van show Saturday morning, followed by the CofC meeting after lunch.

The trip won’t be cheap, but it will be a bargain for what you get. If you partake in all the parties and tours the cost will be about $1100 per person. For those who want to stay a little longer, there will be an option to spend some time in Holland, in conjunction with the Dutch American Van Club. In response to a question as to what it cost Peter to get here from the U.K. this year, he said it cost 270 pounds (around $550) round trip.

NATS Board. Judith noted that the NATS Board filled some vacancies on the board this weekend. They had 7 excellent applications, so the choices were hard to make. The new alternates are: Doug "Virtual Vanner" Nykanen, Steve Ashley and Dan "Dimples" Richard.  She noted that all the resumes of those not selected would be kept on file for the future. She also noted that, except for the actual bids to host the NATS, all their meetings are open. She said they want you to come to the meetings to see how things are done.

She noted that, as of now, if you won “Best of  Show” twice at the NATS, you would no longer be eligible.  However, you will be able to compete with previous two-time winners of  “Best of Show” in a competition for Best of the Best at the NATS.  Also, you will still be eligible for the other  “Best Of” category.  There will also be a trophy for the Best Van for first time showing at the NATS.  There will be a new, permanent classification card.  Once you receive the card you will no longer have to get in the classification line unless you make changes to the van.   They will also be trying to get a pool of certified judges.  There will be classes in July on “How to Judge a Van” where folks can attend and become certified.

Also, panel vans are allowed at the NATS. And, the panel version of Chevy’s HHR (Chevy’s answer to the PT Cruiser) is allowed at the NATS. The window version is NOT.

If the host council allows golf carts at the NATS (some campgrounds and fairgrounds do not allow golf carts), they must have headlights, insurance and a sober driver. As far as skateboards, bikes, etc., the campground/fairground rules apply. The NATS Board thanked all who made bids to host the NATS. At this point, Judith announced that there were two bids to host the NATS in 2008. One came from V.O.I.C.E.S. in NY and one came from Mid America Street Van Association in Illinois. Mid America Street Van Association won and the 2008 National Truck-in will be held in Altamont, IL.

Update on the 2007 National Truck-in There is plenty of electric; 304 electrical outlets. Port-a-johns are available. There will be a Vanner’s Night Out on Wednesday. Show-n-Shine on Friday.

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The Hot Rod Power Tour was a great success. This year, it starts in Cleveland and ends in Arkansas. You can sign up for the whole tour ($65) or one leg at a time ($22 per leg). It is an excellent way to show the rest of the custom automotive world that the vans are alive and well. We picked up a lot of vans on the way this year. Judith noted that one of the panel vans we picked up last year came to last year’s NATS.

Left Coast Vanners noted that they made enough money from the CofC meeting in San Jose to donate $1000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They were only able to do this as a result of the financial support they got from Ford.

Van Council of Victoria (Wacko) noticed that there are lots of vanners here this weekend who are enjoying the refreshments at the hospitality rooms, dancing to the band, etc. who are not in this room, attending the meeting. Basically, they are getting a free ride. He suggested that future host councils for the CofC meeting charge for attending the dance and the other activities. There was a discussion of charging each council $20 to attend the CofC meeting. Also, the discussion brought up whether the councils should pay, or the reps should pay. And, where to pay? At registration? At the activity? At the end of the discussion, the following motion by Judith (with a second by Cathy Smith) passed with one Nay vote: "Host councils for the CofC meeting have the option to charge up to $10 per person to attend the event. That would give them a "party pass" to all activities for the weekend."

Judith noted that she made a promise at the CofC meeting in Pumpkin Center, Louisiana in 1983 to maintain a list of vanning events. She is still trying to keep that list accurate and up-to-date. The list is titled "Vanning Around the World" and can be found in the Florida Van Council Newsletter, or on-line at www.floridavancouncil.com/vanning_around_the_world/vanning_around_the_world.htm Please send information on your events to her at www.floridavancouncil.com or e-mail her at JudPilon@aol.com  

Gomer suggested that we could have show points for vanners who show their vans. Something like 1 point for each time you show your van, 1 point for each trophy you win, etc. It could work something like NASCAR or the custom car circuits.

The lunch break was taken at this point in the meeting.

Ballots were passed out to the reps to vote on where the 2008 CofC meeting is to be held.

One rep said that the way to handle the $10 deal is to have everyone register at the hospitality room when they arrive. One color badge for reps, another color for everyone else. No ticket for entry to anything. Brian recapped that we voted earlier that the host council has the option to charge $10 per head at registration for the party. Entrance to the meeting is free.

At this point topics were taken from those non-reps attending the meeting.

There was a suggestion that the host council for the CofC meeting could sell dash plaques to the pajama party to raise funds.

Chooie said that, once again, they were successful in getting a caravan of vans to a non-vanning event. He got 33 vans to caravan to a cruise night to promote vanning. They showed up unannounced and wowed the locals.

Another vanner noted that Van In Magazine (Vanner Made – Vanner Supported) is now available. The Summer 2006 issue is available now.

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Further update on the upcoming NATS. We rented a fairground, not a racetrack. There will be no "burn outs". Also, no raffle tickets will be sold throughout the evant. If you have a raffle, then, for $50, you can have a spot on Vendor’s Row. All your tickets must be sold from there. And you will be responsible for ticket drawings there; no stage time will be allotted for ticket drawings.

Motor homes at the NATS:  You may bring your motor home and tow your van to the NATS but you will have to leave the motor home outside.  The motor home will not be allowed in with the vans.  You should contact the host club to see if they can accommodate your parking of the motor home outside the gate.  The host club will not prohibit golf carts, but you MUST HAVE INSURANCE on the cart, lights, and a sober driver. They are also considering having an "Air Band" contest.

There will be an aerial shot on Thursday. They will need 46 vans available on Thursday to spell out "USA 35" from the air. If your van will be available, please register when you check in.

Virtual Vanner. There is a Silent Auction on www.vannin.com  to help 2 families. Also, let Virtual know if you have any ideas for improvement of Vannin’.com.

Funding for Events. Kevin said the funds are there. You don’t need to have car washes, etc. to raise money. There are plenty of local businesses that will profit from your event. They’ll be glad to advertise in your booklet, or sponsor a trophy. But, you do have to ask!

Judith recognized all the attendees who showed up for the seminars and stuck around and learned something. There was very good participation in the seminars this year. Gomer thanked all those who presented seminars this year.

Bob Bundy asked the vanners to sign up if they wanted a lift to the airport tomorrow.

Dave/Astro said to talk to him about anything regarding Vannin.com. He just runs it, you guys give the input.

At this point, Brian announced that the 2008 CofC meeting would be held in Florida.

Bob, from V.O.I.C.E.S., and Doc, from OFV, gave the Pass-Along-Plaque to Cari (FVC) and passed the traditional $300 starter check to the FVC for the 2008 meeting. The SouthEast Van Council donated $50 to the FVC for next year’s meeting, and Peter Lee, of the NSVA UK, gave $100. Another $10 came from Doc, whose cell phone rang during the meeting. That was what we voted on at the last meeting. If your cell phone rings during the meeting, you donate $10 to next year’s host council. If you actually answer your cell phone during the meeting, it’s $20.

Doc passed out specially-made souvenir clocks to the Council reps, the NATS Board reps, and the CofC Board members.

There was a motion to adjourn and the meeting was concluded.

ATTENDEES AT THE 2007 COUNCIL OF COUNCILS MEETING:

A.L.I.V.E.
Arizona Van Council
Colorado Van Council
Downstate Illinois Van Council
Florida Van Council
Greater New York Van Council
Heart of America Van Council
Hoosier Van Congress
Maritime Van Council
Midwest Van Council
Missouri Van Council
National Street Van Association - UK
New England Van Council
New Jersey Van Council
New York Van Council
Northeast Ohio Van Congress
Northern California Van Council
Ontario Federation Of Vanners
Pennsylvania Van Council
Quebec Van Council
SouthEast Van Council
Southern Ohio Van Council
Texas Van Federation
Van Association of New Zealand
Van Club Association of Michigan
Van Council of Victoria – Australia
V.O.I.C.E.S.
West Lake Erie Van Council
Wisconsin Van Council