AHRMA Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes; May 31, 2021

The second 2021 meeting of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA), was called to order at 08:00 A.M. by Arthur Kowitz (Chairman of the Board).

Attendees

Executive Director Curt Comer, Arthur Kowitz (Chairman of the Board), Kelly Shane (Secretary), Brian Larrabure (Treasurer), Kevin Burns, Jim Korn, Albert Newmann, Rob Poole, Beno Rodi, Luke Sayer, Tim Terrell, Cindy McLean (Recorder)

Absent Trustees

Luke Conner, Fred Guidi

Non-Trustees

Mike and Leona Dixon, Les and Cal Lewis, Jim Doyle, Cliff and Venise Mee, Debbie Poole, Alex McLean, Tony Paul, Dewanna Comer, Debbie Poole, Alex Mock

Meeting Minutes were approved (ACP Zoom) (Motion to approve KB, second AN, 10-0 in favor).

Financial Reports (Curt Comer/Brian Larrabure)

FY 2020 and YTD 2021

$30k losses last year were made up by the government CARES Act Payroll Protection Program (PPP) which was forgiven by IRS.  Details will be distributed by email to trustees.  Due to the tax schedule changes, financial reports for 2020 weren’t available for this meeting.

2021 Income YTD is $565,500. Expenses include deposits on future events.  We are currently at a $180K net lost YTD.  Heartland is fully paid for, but all revenues have yet to be recorded.  MSR pre-entry deposits are not posted yet, and post registration is not yet accounted for.

Roebling and CMP were extraordinarily profitable, while we roughly broke even on the Willow rounds.

Investments look good, with $150k for the Benevolent Fund and $70k in other investments.

Chairman Updates (Arthur Kowitz)

Arthur thanks the Executive Committee (EC) members for the spirit of cooperation which has been experienced starting in 2020.

Open Letter to Members

An open letter to members was published.  The response has largely been positive with many expressing appreciation for the transparency of the current AHRMA Board of Trustees.

Policy & Procedures

The EC has been working on a policy and procedures manual which is being compiled by a volunteer member.  Once sufficiently fleshed out, it will be shared with the board.

AHRMA Response Team

The AHRMA response team, comprised of volunteers, is working well, monitoring communication channels and keeping issues with lighter consequences of the trustee to-do list.

Survey for Road Race competitors

This survey was intended to find out where our RR competitors wanted to race – what their dream track(s) were, etc. The AHRMA Road Race Event Planning Committee is planning events 2 years out, and working to secure more iconic tracks.

  • Most respondents were interested in tracks geographically close to their homes.
  • JK asked about Road America and if there would be a chance for us to go back.  AK responded that until we are able to rent the facility rather than parts of it, it’s unlikely we will be able to return.
  • KB asked whether there would be more “regional” tracks which by nature are more profitable for AHRMA, with a lot of entries, and low rental fees.  Discussion ensued regarding building on our regional series.  AHRMA’s current challenges are tied to manpower and revenue.

Member Comment Period

  1. Mike & Leona Dixon, Illinois. Mike loves the mix of regional road race venues vs. national road race venues and as long as it is financially viable, he would like to see it continue. He would also like to see AHRMA Dirt Track at HMP
  2. Leona Dixon, Illinois. Shared that a friend that came back to roadracing after long hiatus (2012 to 2021) felt that AHRMA had become truly professional.
  3. Cal Lewis, Arizona. Cal is a 29-year member of AHRMA. He tried to retire, but Tony Pentecost wouldn’t let him quit.
  4. Cliff Mee, Texas. Thanks for the direction the club is going and the AHRMA MAG. He received invite to volunteer for trials – complemented the organizers of HMP on that. Cliff races a ’56 Goldstar and was here because of the Dick Mann challenge. He would have preferred a full schedule. He also made note of the convenience of having the CMA with golf carts to transport people from one area of the MotoFest to the other.
  5. Alex McLean, Florida.  Alex thanked Alex Mock for working with him and another competitor with class grid changes over the weekend.
  6. Terri Korn, Florida.  Terri commented that more east coast members would be incentivized to attend in the west if AHRMA could schedule back-to-back events with Laguna and other premier venues
  7. Tyrus Wilson, California.  Tyrus thanked the board for a great event. He made note that not everyone is getting the schedule change notifications. Dewanna indicated that everyone who pre-entered should have received them. Asked about protest procedures. He suggested that for events like this, that we have RV dump for off-road.
  8. Tony Paul, Alabama (AHRMA’s offroad director). Tony clarified that he is a motorcycle guy, his interests are not specific to vintage or modern, Road Race vs. Off-road. More recently he has been focused on developing more events for the East coast, specifically working on grass tracks. He talked about where we are headed. Kudos to the team that re-worked cross country track (Rob Poole) and kudos to Curt Comer for trials.

Secretary Reports (Kelly Shane)

The EC drafted and sent out two (2) Surveys, one for the Road Race competitors, and one for the Off-road competitors.

Road Racer Survey

The goal was to determine what tracks were preferred by our Road Race competitors (see AK’s commentary above)

Off-road Racer Survey

The goal was to find out what kind of track the off-road racers were interested in.

  • 2,000 sent out, 700 respondents
  • 75% of Vintage / Post-Vintage MX prefer no enhancements, minimal manmade, natural terrain tracks (farmers’ fields, natural terrain events)
  • The trustees discussed the best way to uncover potential natural tracks.  Tracks are there, AHRMA needs members to network to find land owners that will work with us.  West coast has been successful at finding good venues as has South Central.  East Coast needs people willing to work to uncover opportunities.

Ratio of modern bikes to true vintage bikes

AK pointed out that the ratio of modern bikes to true vintage bikes seems to be trending more vintage at this time.  Things that have made a difference may also work for off-road.

  • Road Race school program
  • Vintage Cup (which features a different vintage class each year) has been a wild success.

Executive Director (Curt Comer)

Bank of America closed the AHRMA account.  The reason ultimately given was that our “profile no longer aligns with the bank’s risk tolerance.”  We still aren’t sure exactly what that means.   AHRMA has fully moved relationships to a different bank.

Initiatives

  • MotoFests. The desire was that multi-discipline events with crossover would be well received.  We have good momentum for Laguna, returning to HMP next year.  There are a lot of moving parts and involved people.
  • Volunteer Coordinator. Volunteer appreciation, what disciplines have need for volunteers, etc.  We have the basis for moving forward after HMP.
  • Membership Drive (Luke Sayer). Luke Sayer is heading up this initiative with Mac McCowan, Tim Terrell, Hunter Longshore and Shawn Gillmore.
    • Membership is on the rise, and efforts are paying off.
    • LS managed the membership booth at HMP. AHRMA also had 2 unmanned kiosks with holders for rack cards.
    • Total new memberships at HMP = 40:  6 at the membership booth + 17 AHRMA Academy of Roadracing + 17 off-road
    • Recommended AHRMA MAG tear out contact card / rack card to encourage membership, as well as an outreach article to encourage members to help us grow.
    • LS introduced the idea of a membership promotional video (his daughter is a marketing professional – video 95% remembers message, text – 10% remembers the message)
  • Road Race Director Transition.  Program transition to Alex Mock is fully implemented.  He brings many relationships with him.  His background as program manager has helped him to get up to speed quickly.
  • Merchandise store.  Program is ramped up.  There are adjustments still being made with significant unrealized opportunities.

Marketing (Curt Comer, Brian Larrabure, Arthur Kowitz)

Branding (Arthur Kowitz)

  • Social Media.  Instagram-a-Day program was introduced to promote AHRMA to a younger audience.  As this initiative evolves, it is growing from more roadrace centric to include off-road, as well as paddock/pit activity, showing the human interest side.
  • AHRMA Logo(s).  Policy regarding use of the Heritage Logo vs. the Competition Logo has been approved and will be published this week.  Notification to be sent out to membership.
  • Push Marketing vs. Pull Marketing.  The goal is to end up with pull marketing making people curious/interested to know more about AHRMA and how to participate.  The resulting increase in revenue will make it possible to give more back to the members.

Press Releases and Other Communications (Arthur Kowitz)

  • Press Release Procedure.  Procedure is in place with specific individuals responsible for prepping, scrubbing/adding quotes, then final review and release.
  • Member Transparency.  CC working hard to ensure members are kept informed.
  • Drag Race Promotion/Awareness.  JK promoted AHRMA’s inaugural Drag Race event via social media and followed up on questions, etc.  50 entries for the Drag Race.  Lots of discussion on this topic.  JK emphasized the importance of being responsive to questions that come up whether via social media, AHRMA website contact form, email or phone.
  • Instagram-a-Day Program.  Dewanna got involved with this program, and has been responsive to questions/comments which has increased our followers/likes/shares.  We may need to identify a social media volunteer to manage this process.
  • Hashtag/Share.  AK commented that if members hashtag / “@” tag / share, we have a huge potential for growth.

MotoFests (Brian Larrabure)

  • MotoFest is another way to show the AHRMA brand. On the Barber website you have to look hard to find AHRMA
  • At Barber, only 4k of the estimated 70k participants actually make it through the museum.  AHRMA is really the show
  • We will have 3 MotoFests a year across the country
  • AHRMA will be the draw.  MotoFests reach non-AHRMA members
  • Spectators were very complimentary of HMP MotoFest. Weather hurt the attendance numbers, we had an increase in spectators Saturday afternoon when the weather cleared
  • Off-road participants – no negative comments.
  • MotoFest scheduling is based on historic seasonal weather trends
  • Fan base is different from HMP to Laguna
  • Marketing initiative includes boots on the ground.  For HMP, posters were distributed to motorcycle dealerships in 5 states.  Visit Topeka worked with AHRMA to help promote the event and VT hotel partners displayed vintage race bikes in their lobbies, etc.

General, AHRMA Mag Advertising Sales (Curt Comer)

AHRMA MAG Advertising

The AHRMA MAG advertisers have been with us a long time.  There are unrealized opportunities for advertising and sponsorship for off-road.

Advertising Sales & Business Development

AHRMA is actively recruiting/interviewing to fill this position to hit those markets.  The goal, ultimately would be to have the AHRMA MAG self sustaining, as production and mailing costs are being subsidized by other revenue streams.

Dirt Track Update with Q&A (Arthur Kowitz)

  • We have added Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally at COTA in June
  • AHRMA is working towards commitments at iconic venues, we are reaching higher to get to bucket list dirt tracks. AHRMA is partnering with the track owners/promoters for gate or show money.  Examples of iconic venues we have successfully secured for 2021:
    • Sturgis
    • Lake Elsinore
    • COTA
  • AHRMA is taking steps to increase DT entries.
  • David Aldana has transitioned from Dirt Track promoter to AHRMA Ambassador. Alex Mock will be doing more coordinating, promoting.
  • Open traction flat tracks – lot of cross over between MX and flat track.

2022 Rules Proposal Strategy/Schedules (Kevin Burns)

Cindy McLean and Kevin Burns developed a workflow process which streamlined the submission/review process for 2022.  This will allow us to have the handbook to members by Thanksgiving.

  • R&E Committee review period concluded 5/31/2021.
  • Board members will have access shortly
  • Board review meetings will be held via Zoom, and the preliminary review/vote is scheduled for June 8 & 10 7-10pm Eastern.  If another meeting is required, it will be scheduled at that time

2022 Rules Proposal Schedule (subject to change)

  1. May 1, 2021 – Rule Change Proposal submission opens – as Rule Change Proposals come in they will be forwarded to the appropriate Rules & Eligibility (R&E) committees. (2 weeks)
  2. May 15, 2021 – Rule Change Proposal submission closes – R&E continues to review (2 weeks)
  3. May 31, 2021 – R&E review period closes, Trustee review period begins (1 week+)
  4. June 8 & 10, 2021 –  Preliminary vote (Zoom Meetings)
  5. June 15, 2021 – Member Comments commence (4 weeks)
  6. July 15, 2021 – Member Comments close
  7. July 26, 2021 – Final vote. (Zoom Meeting)

Barber Schedule Proposed Changes (Kevin Burns)

KB proposed the schedule for Barber be changed from 2 days of practice and 2 days of racing to 4 days, splitting the race schedule with half of the racers practicing in the morning and racing in the afternoon on Thursday and Saturday, and the other half practicing in the morning and racing in the afternoon on Friday and Sunday. The reasoning behind this was to give the Road Race competitors an opportunity to take advantage of the off-road competitions on their days off.

The board concluded that for this to work, the race schedule should be split in half, with half of the races being run Thursday and Saturday, and the balance of the races being run on Friday and Sunday.  In order to not lose practice revenue, practice will still be charged separately a is currently done.  It was felt that this also may appeal to Barber as this would offer an extra day of gate revenue from spectators.  There was some discussion of offering a Wednesday practice as well.

Jim Korn motioned for KB to develop a written proposal for EC review.  Kelly seconded (10-0 in favor).