October is a very important month for our Diablo Region! Yes, it is time to vote for our 2012 Board of Directors. The voting will take place on our web site starting on October 5 and will close on October 25. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to vote. All you need is your PCA membership number and about two minutes. Last year’s voting process was flawless and we expect this year will be just as smooth thanks to the wonderful effort by Steve Jones. Look at the full article on the candidates and the voting process that Kay Maloy has written in this month’s Advocate.

Thanks to Ingrid Plooy, our Advertising Chairperson, the board reviewed her findings on ad rates for other Zone 7 regions and formed a committee to develop new (higher) fees to place ads in the Advocate. Ingrid will lead the discussion with Luis Soler, Rolly Smith, and Satoshi Iwahashi on the ad prices and more importantly the sponsor levels for 2012. They will report their recommendations at our October Board Meeting. We also started a pilot effort to produce hard copies of the Advocate for our automotive services advertisers. Kay Maloy has 15 copies professionally printed every month and Ingrid distributes them to dealers and auto service businesses where they are available in the customer waiting areas. The effort is aimed at improved advertiser satisfaction and attracting new PCA members.

Our October event calendar is packed with four Diablo Region events, one PCA National event, our weekly Walnut Creek breakfasts and our two Pleasanton breakfasts! If you missed the BBQ and John Place Tour you can check out what you missed in the current (SEP/OCT) issue of Vintage Motorsport. John Place’s garage is featured in a four page article (see www.vintagemotorsport.com). Then there is Oktoberfest at our house on October 8, Rennsport IV at Laguna Seca October 14 to 16, the Castello di Amorosa Tour to Calistoga on October 22 and our Diablo Driver Education session at Thunderhill on October 27.

If you have never taken your Porsche onto a track here is your opportunity. I have asked Carlos Bocanegra, our Track Chairperson, to speak about the Thunderhill DE event at Oktoberfest and we will be taking a video tour of the track as well. We can answer all your questions at Oktoberfest so you will be ready for the October 27 DE.

Our next Board of Directors meeting is on Monday, October 10, 6:30 pm, at The Brass Door in San Ramon. It is open to all members and we would like to see you attend.

As always - Have fun and drive safely!