As we close 2022 and look to 2023, I don’t know about you, but I feel like Fall to Winter just happened in reverse. I hope you and yours stayed safe during the crazy weather week surrounding Christmas.

So what does 2023 hold for your car club? Well, last year we had 23 events spanning HPDEs, CCCs, Car Shows, Tech events, and our 50+2 Celebration. More than 2022 and 2021. Most recently we had the Wundercars event. I hope you were able to attend some of those! They were a lot of fun.

Looking at the data from this year, it appears that, out of our ~1,800 members, only about 500 of you participated in an event. The majority of those only participated in one event. So this year, my New Year's Resolution, and question to you is, what do we need to do better to make club events enticing to you? I would love to hear your feedback at president@bmw-club-psr.org.

At the same time, I am also asking you to consider volunteering to lead events you want to see happen. We only have volunteer positions on the board and for running events and tours and such. The board is a small but great group of people, but we need more participation from the rest of you. The club exists to support our shared love of the brand, across multiple generations of BMWs, and I want to make sure we offer enough cool options to provide something worth doing for all of our members.

Related to the above, overall BMW CCA membership is declining. It has declined by about ten percent over the past two years and our chapter is actually doing better than a lot of others around the country. So, in addition to telling us what the club leadership can do better, please take the time to tell your friends about the club and what we offer. The main national benefit to the club is Roundel (it consumes the majority of dues). What we do locally is to provide access to cool, well-run events that are only available to members. Our main offerings include:

• Driver Education (including High Performance Driving Events and Car Control Clinics)
• Driving Tours (all over the PNW, some overnight)
• Tech Events (dyno events, exclusive tours of local shops. etc.)
• Social Events (Burgers and BMWs, M Car Day at Griots, the 50+2 Party, the Wundercar Event, or a visit to the Museum of Flight)
• Special Interest Groups (SIGs) (E24, E30, 2002, etc.)
• Information and Entertainment (Z-Mail, website, and social media)

So, if something along those lines interests you, be on the lookout for Z-Mail updates and events to populate our calendar page at bmw-club-psr.org. Or contact us and tell us you want to host something new and interesting. And if you have skillsets to apply to some of those things, let us know!

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our offerings this year.

mit besten grüßen!,

Andy Wiest, President

BMW CCA, Puget Sound Region