Planning Meeting wrapup

A big thank you to all the members who came out to our 2nd annual planning meeting! A group of about 20 members met on Nov. 20 at Sam & Louie’s New York Pizza in Urbandale for a pizza and brainstorming session.

We came up with a TON of great ideas for the 2012 calendar, and maybe some that we can use in future years. Some of these ideas included doing a progressive garage tour, and sampling hors d’oervres along the way, a ladies’ night tech session, or how to take great automotive pictures.

We also discussed partnering with other car clubs and advertising their events on our website and vice versa. There are a lot of other great car clubs in the area, and maybe we could recruit some of their members to be a part of our group!

We discussed changing the format of the annual photo rally to make it more of a scavenger hunt or trap rally, as well as doing more driving-oriented events. Several suggested doing a Sunday drive to a wine tasting at one of the many Iowa wineries, or perhaps a drive to our monthly social dinner. All that attended the Vintage Torquefest and karting events in Maquoketa agreed that they were good events to add to the 2012 calendar.

At the end of the lunch, we started to firm up our 2012 calendar. Here’s how things shook out:

January: Social at an Iowa Energy or Des Moines Bucaneers games
February: Annual Dinner & Awards Banquet at BMW of Des Moines, Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m.
March: Spring drive to Blakesburg Antique Airplane Museum, starting in Pella, Marh 25.
April: Photo Rally in Des Moines, Sat. 28th; 14th — Tech Session at J&J in Cedar Rapids
May: Sunday 20th, karting in Maquoketa, Vintage Torquefest 4th & 5th
June: 8th-10th, Longest Day Driving School, Mid America Motorplex, Pacific Junction, IA; Possibly help with traffic at Iowa Speedway
July: Annual picnic, maybe near Des Moines; tech session at Jon Volz’ shop
August: I-Cubs game; possible multi-chapter driving school at Heartland Park Topeka
September: Oktoberfest, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Monday 17th-Sunday 23rd; Sunbelt/KC chapter driving school at Hallett Fri. 7th-Sun 9th; Salisbury House Concours d’Elegance Sat. 8th and Sun. 9th
October: Sun. 7th European Car Show at J&J in Cedar Rapids; Fall Color Tour, date & location TBA
November: Annual Planning Meeting
December: chili/video game session

Again, thanks to all who participated, and we hope to see everyone at an event or two in 2012! If you couldn’t make it out to the meeting, but have ideas, email Social Events Coordinator Alison Bell at alison.bell@bmwia.org.