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April 2016 Sports Car Club of America – Yellowstone Region 108
 Meeting Minutes March 2016 Meeting The monthly membership meeting of the Yellowstone Region SCCA was called to order by Regional Executive Dean W. Johnson on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at 6:03 p.m., in the GH&R Law Firm conference room. Minutes of Previous Meeting: A motion was MS&P to accept without addition or correction the minutes of the January 2016 meeting as published in the January 2016 issue of Fast Times. There was no membership meeting in February. Treasurer’s Report: Secretary/Treasurer J. Reuss reported the current checkbook balance and noted that all bills have been paid. A motion was MS&P to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Old Business: There was no old business. New Business/Announcements: The annual discussion was held regarding whether to schedule the first event for April or May. It was decided that May might be more appropriate. J. reported having recently learned that Ben Caudill has moved to Columbia Falls and is no longer a member of the Yellowstone Region. A discussion was held regarding the priority of setting event dates for the upcoming season. Dean provided an update on the car he is building as well as news regarding his new hauler. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:20 p.m. Media Update By the Webmaster The Yellowstone Region has had a newsletter since the 70s.The Newsletter Archive on the Region’s website contains a February 1973 newsletter which predates the club’s association with SCCA. (Also of note is the newsletter’s mimeograph format–remember the smell?) If you are reading this, you have likely noted a new format for Fast Times. This newsletter was created with a WordPress “plugin” called Mail Poet. Since I assumed the position as Newsletter Editor August 2007, I have used Microsoft Publisher to create newsletters and Microsoft FrontPage to administer the website. At that time, FrontPage was a state-of-the-art WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor designed to hide the details of pages’ HTML (hypertext markup language) code from the user. However, with the advent of smartphones and tablets with screens of various sizes and configurations, web design needed to change to allow content to adapt to differing display sizes. Web developers began moving away from traditional html editors and toward content management systems (CMS). The Region recently changed to a “WordPress” CMS. Below is a screenshot of the homepage of the Region’s website on a cellphone. The image is substantially different from what you would see on a computer. Software like WordPress manages the content on webpages so that they fit displays in more useable configurations. Log onto the website with different devices and you will see what I mean.   MyT13B’s Corner From the Regional Executive A highlight of the Region’s Year-End Party at the Windmill is honoring the Region’s best. This year, the Dick Hager Memorial “Spirit of the Sport” (Member of the Year) award went to Joel Gruver. Joel started autocrossing with the Region in a Mini Cooper, but has since moved into the “Miata camp.” Joel has recently assumed the position the Chief of Timing and Scoring for the Region. Joel works for Shepherd Stainless and is a valuable member of the Region. Congratulations, Joel! D.W.J.
 Race Notes From the Competition Chair The winner of the Grant Cameron Memorial “Driver of the Year” award was new member Orry Boettger. Orry redefined “learning curve” by taking fast-time-of-day at only his second or third event. Orry was driving a Ford Focus ST when he first joined the Region, but has since moved to an AWD VW Golf GTI. Orry is a Staff Sergeant for the Army National Guard and an instructor at MSUB. Did I mention he is fast? T.S.
 The Finish Line From the Webmaster A (beneficial) by-product of building the new website was cleaning up some of the “dead” links, many of which were contained in the links to neighboring regions and links to pages in the national SCCA site. Take a moment to check out the updated links on the new website under “Contacts” on the menu bar. Corrected website addresses (URLs) are also listed at the bottom right. Curiously, Eastern Idaho no longer uses a traditional website. They rely solely on their Facebook page to maintain their Internet presence and to keep members informed. Speaking of Facebook, I checked out the progress of Dean Johnson’s“MyT13B” project on his FB page recently. One word that aptly describes Dean has got to be “innovative.” J.  Next Monthly Meeting May 3, 2016
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Yellowstone Region SCCA | P.O. Box 2334 Billings, MT 591o3 |
