Candidacy Statement

The January Roundel has electronic instructions for submitting Your Critical Ballot!


VOTE JEFF CALDWELL FOR PRESIDENT










It is imperative that YOU vote for Jeff Caldwell for BMW CCA President in this election!
Frankly, the future of the Club depends on a change of leadership to ensure and grow and EVERY VOTE matters.

Jeff is exceptionally qualified for this position. An active Club member for over 15 years Jeff has previously served on the National Board as Regional Vice President, as New Jersey Chapter President, as part of the Oktoberfest Team in 2015 (AND committed to continue our OFest Tradition!), as a volunteer and supporter of Street Survival, and as an active competitor and steward in BMW CCA Club Racing.

Jeff knows all aspects of Club operations and will work well with the Board and Chapters to grow the Club and assure its future.

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!!

Scott Hughes, BMW CCA #1473

Sent from my iPhone

I received an unsolicited email from "the other candidate" for President to an email address I use exclusively for BMW CCA business. I mention this because Jeff has NOT spam'ed my inbox.

If the other candidate's email was approved by BMW CCA, then obviously there is an uneven playing field. If the email was not approved by BMW CCA, then the other candidate is acting in poor faith. [Edit: The other candidate has confirmed that BMW CCA had no knowledge of his email. It was sent on his own authority to a list of emails comprising members and officers that he compiled over time.]

I'll let the voter decide how to act on these facts. I'll echo Scott's statement above that YOUR VOTE MATTERS.

- Jonathan Strine

[The text above was edited without the author's permission]

Hi Jon,
hello folks, for your clarity Jon and I have been in communication. I’ll add the dialog which we had shared with the board. Thank you and happy new year.
Eddy Funahashi,
—————————————————————————————————-
Dec 31 23 7:34am pst
Eddy
Thank you for the clarification. As you know from previous events, my concern is to the privacy of all our members, not just that of my own. The timing and perception around this incident is unfortunate.
Jon

On Saturday, December 30th, 2023 at 12:15 PM, President - BMWCCA <president@bmwcca.org> wrote:

Hi Jon,

Thank you for your email.

The CCA board had no idea that I had sent this statement.

I sent this letter over a period of 2 days through this iPad and my computer depending which machine had the addresses that I’ve compiled over time, all through my personal email and my very limited yahoo server.

I continually library fellow members emails and if available phone contact.

Your chapter board seat was probably one that was listed on your website or past Tarheel entries to Roundel or Bimmerlife.

It didn’t go to the general membership other than chapter representatives that were listed on their sites.

Although I’ve recused myself from the boardroom regarding this election I felt that it was important to campaign on my own by contacting key members who help with the management of their chapters

Please know that if you feel that I violated your privacy I apologize.

Best regards,

Eddy

Hi Jeff -

Your candidacy statement is broad and covers a lot of important areas; can you summarize what are the top 3 priorities/goals from your perspective and how you would propose addressing those?

- Valerie Caprigno
X Chapter President
Boston, M Chapters Member

Hi Valerie,
Thanks for the question and also for volunteering as X Chapter President.

First, I want to be clear that I believe there are quite a few good things happening with the club at present. There are many dedicated board members, staff, and volunteers who work very hard to do the best job possible. For their sacrifices and determination, I am very grateful.

If I had to choose just three priorities to highlight, they would be: communication, chapter engagement, and modernization. Each of these areas stand alone, but as with any business or organization the sum of the parts is how we measure improvement. As luck would have it, these three areas are interrelated, so a gain in one translates to progress for all.

Communication – It is my belief that we can do better as a club with regard to communication. Professional, direct, and transparent interaction is the only way to operate in any organization. There are two parts to this assertion. One is internal communication within the club management, staff and board. There is a mix of volunteers and paid staff who work together in management of the club. The board itself is comprised of professionals who work full-time jobs outside the BMW CCA, in addition to their duties as board members. It is imperative that communication be concise, direct, and open to facilitate greater cooperation and understanding between all parties. The only way to effectively run an organization as diverse and complex as the BMW CCA is with the full breadth of information at hand and accessible for all participants in the process. I will work to not only live up to these standards myself but encourage all board and staff to ask questions and engage freely in running the club. All the while knowing their input is valuable and accepted. I believe in the culture of cooperation, and I will empower those around me to be heard. No one is perfect, but we can always strive to be more open and get better at listening without judgement.

The second part with regard to communication is external. It’s how the national organization interacts with chapters, their leadership, and to a slightly lesser degree the membership at large. One of the biggest action items on my agenda, if elected President, is to work tirelessly to change the “us vs. them” mentality that has developed over a long period. There is a pervasive perception in our community of an adversarial relationship between “national” and the chapters. Some of this is founded in reality, let there be no mistake about it. However, it’s a two-way street and communication is truly the way to dispel and diffuse a good bit of the cross talk and hard feelings that arise. As I’ve said many times, the chapters are our greatest asset as a club, as they are the primary touch point for most members. If elected I will take the time to actively engage with our five regional Vice Presidents and participate in their quarterly calls with chapter leaders. I will also make a concerted effort to visit chapter events in all regions and interact with the members and volunteers doing the hard work on the ground, including the M and X chapters. There needs to be an open line of communication for chapters to contact me and the board. The best tool we have as a national organization is to listen to our chapters, invite them into the conversations surrounding governance, and let them be heard. Sometimes it’s hard to hear the straight talk, but I am ready and willing to face it and start working together much more closely with our local chapter leaders and volunteers. It’s my belief we can accomplish this goal and, in the process, tear down the idea that this is a house divided.

Chapter Engagement - The priority of chapter engagement starts with communication, which I discussed above. Really, it starts with listening. When I was the North Atlantic RVP one of the first things, I did was organize an in person round table discussion with the New England area chapters. We had presidents and several other chapter board members attend. The idea was to first hear how things were going, then how we could do better nationally, and most importantly…how we could work together to bring great experiences to the members. We discussed cross chapter cooperation, as well as how the national organization could support event creation, marketing, and execution. Lots of great ideas came out, and we did make a lot of progress. I forged some very good relationships with many of our North Atlantic chapter leaders thanks to that meeting. We did eventually put on an excellent regional event at Lime Rock Park, which could not have happened without the hard work of North Atlantic chapters. It was a testament to how we can work together and strategically help each other. Where one chapter needed help, another stepped up to provide support and volunteers. This culminated in what I believe is the largest gathering of BMWs on the east coast in quite some time. We had nearly 1000 BMWs lining the track at Lime Rock, including 50+ E30 M3s as we hosted SIGFest as well. All of this thanks to the time, energy and cooperation of multiple chapters with support from the national organization. This used to be the model for Oktoberfest years ago. While the concept of OFest may be on the back burner, the desire to get together and enjoy our BMWs is not. If elected, I will invite chapter leaders to attend national board meetings when we are in their regions and we will make time for discussions with them in a forum that not only lets them be heard but gives access to the process. Building these relationships face to face and empowering our RVPs to get out in the field more with their chapters will serve to not only “de-mystify” the national organization but engender trust and open communication. Our RVPs have an incredibly difficult job of straddling their chapters’ needs and balancing with those of national. Let’s bring everyone to the conversation when it’s possible and pull back the curtain.

Modernization – This is an important topic for me and one that I truly believe would be a “game changer”. As you can imagine the term could (and does) cover a wide swath of BMW CCA operations. I will leave Roundel and printed publications out of the discussion, as I believe those have a life of their own and should be treated as such. The magazine is a huge part of the member experience, and we need to find the best way we can to deliver that content. Hint: I could write a novel on this subject, so I’ll spare you this time! With regard to modernization, I would like to give a real-world example. I’ve been a long time BMW Club Racer, and I also recently (2022) began volunteering as a competition steward for the series. Club Racing has undergone a massive transformation internally under the guidance of Scott Reiman who serves as the Chairman. Scott has championed and implemented a host of process improvements that benefit not only the stewards and management of the series, but racers themselves. We all benefit from greater transparency and access to information. Each event has a host of paperwork, video clips, and documentation associated with it. All of that data is now hosted electronically in a centralized location where any steward can access it freely and easily. It has made our jobs easier and made us more efficient as an organization. We’ve brought the licensing and credentialing process completely online, which makes it simpler for racers to see their status, renewal dates, upload forms, and keep organized. This is an excellent model to follow.

While the greater club does have some forms and documents available online, the user experience for members, chapter leaders, and even national board and staff is in need of updating. I will work with the board, staff, and IT professionals, as well as enlist the help of user experience pros to provide a richer, easier to navigate, and centralized portal for all club operations. We will endeavor to optimize the mobile version of the BMW CCA website, integrate social media channels and content, as well as make the desktop version more accessible and easier to understand for members. I know the IT staff have been hard at work on the website for quite some time and I applaud their progress! We can still do more and optimize the clubs’ interaction with members. I will push for a board/staff portal where the exchange of not only information, but ideas and collaboration are intuitive and easy to navigate. Efficiency of processes goes a long way in not only making all of our jobs easier but giving us more time to do good work for the club. This all comes back to the first item. Communication. The more openly and freely we share information, experiences, and ultimately our passion for cars, the better club we can build together.

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question and for your indulgence of a somewhat long reply! I hope this is helpful and gives insight into where I stand on key items for the clubs’ future.

Jeff Caldwell
New Jersey Chapter – Member# 387047

Many thanks for the thorough and thoughtful reply - very helpful!

- Valerie Caprigno

Jeff is the right person to lead the club forward!

- Anthony Magagnoli

BMW CCA needs an incredibly strong leader who is courageous enough to make change for the better of the club. Jeff Caldwell is that person, and the best candidate for BMW CCA President.

He's been a dedicated BMW CCA member and volunteer on the regional and national level for over 16 years. Jeff is selfless and will put the best of the organization first, listening to each and every member. He is the best candidate for president because he is willing to do the hard work that many can not. His values of honesty, transparency, and fairness will lead BMW CCA to the next level.

Jeff is an incredible role model for me. Both professionally and personally. I learn how to contribute better to my motorsports community, my friends, my family, and just being a good human being by being friends with Jeff. There are a few people I want to be like when I grow up, Jeff is one of them.

Please join me in voting for Jeff Caldwell. The future is bright with Jeff behind the wheel of BMW CCA as president.

- Christina Lam

Fellow BMW Car Club of America members:

My friend Jeff Caldwell has tirelessly advocated for BMW enthusiasts in his many commitments to the New Jersey Chapter and the National Board of the BMW Car Club of America. Once again, he has offered to serve. He is running for NATIONAL President and he has my vote.

Jeff is a scientist by trade, a rock and roller at heart, and a kind human who always amazes me. His is an example of quiet leadership I admire the most. When it comes to these BMWs, he knows where the good stuff is garaged. He also happens to be one of the best drivers with whom I've flown in formation.
The CCA has made my life better for 29 years and counting. With leadership from Jeff, I can predict setting the table for 29 more...

Dave Flogaus
Member #123862

Jersey strong!

- John Ream

All,
BMW CCA has a very important election for President that will define
the club's future. Now more than ever, the club needs a new leader. We
need a President who will engage the regional Vice Presidents as
partners and understand the challenges of declining membership. No one
person has a magic solution. Tough problems and challenges call for a
President who can bring fresh, modern, and dynamic ideas and energy to
meet them. This is why I am endorsing Jeff Caldwell for President.
Jeff has actively participated in BMW CCA activities, both at the
local and national levels. He owns a successful business and
understands the need to stay current regarding communication,
business, financial issues, and leading a team of employees.

It is time for a change; vote for Jeff Caldwell.

Steve Libby Member #161780

I have been a cca member before I even got my driver's license. Member since 1983, 40 years 10 months and 25 days as of today. I even have my membership # memorized (yet i can't remeber where i put that 10mm socket) and have been a supporter of the CCA. I have seen the best of CCA BUT the last 10 years have drastically declined. The club have lost interest by the younger internet groups. Even I agree the club is just too stiff and will not change with the times. It's time for new blood in the top levels to bring in changes. I voted for Jeff. I use to love Ofest but I haven't attened any in 10 years because it seems the same year after year and other local events like the Vintage draws my interest and friends more than Ofest does. I hope Jeff makes the changes needed to the top level AND Trickle the changed down to the chapter level.

- Tim Ng

I have been a member of BMW CCA for over 35 years with most all of it participating in the running of my chapter in one position or another including two stints as president. I know what it takes to run a chapter and what support it needs from National. Jeff Caldwell is the leadership we need to make this possible. It is that simple.

Ben Greisler
Delaware Valley Chapter

I believe this is the most consequential election for Club president in the 21 years I’ve been a BMW CCA member.

After reading the each candidate’s statements and talking to numerous fellow Club members from across the Country, I strongly feel that Jeff Caldwell’s priorities of communication, chapter engagement and modernization will provide the support our chapters need in delivering a positive experience for our members.

I’m endorsing and voting for Jeff Caldwell.

Fred Knotek
Past President and Vice President
Sonora Chapter