Zekert Excluded from SCCA Annual Convention CRB Town Hall by SCCA President Jim Julow. Allowed to return after paying fee.

San Antonio, TX. February 3, 2007. Before the start of the Club Racing Board (CR Town Hall Meeting at the SCCA Annual Convention, SCCA President Jim Julow instructed Peter Zekert, GTLite driver and long time small bore advocate, that he would not be allowed to participate in the meeting's discussion. "[Unless you register], you will not be allowed to ask questions until the end of the meeting and only if there is time left [at the end]" stated Julow. At issue is the fact that Zekert attends Annual SCCA Board of Director (BoD) meetings and Annual CRB meetings without paying registration. "I respect the host region and SCCA's costs. I NEVER attend lunches, dinners or use any of the services provided by the hotel for the convention. I simply come to bring ideas and questions from the small bore community to the BoD and CRB." stated Zekert.

The conflict has shed light on the fact that SCCA Annual Conventions are designed for administrators, stewards, & officials but are not designed to encourage driver (customer) participation. [For Example: The safety symposium has been dropped to leave time for more administrative seminars.]

The immediate conflict was resolved when Julow instructed SCCA staff to begin a modified registration process. Zekert was charged a modified registration fee of $100 to allow him to participate in the CRB Town Hall meeting. Julow assured Zekert that next year a tiered registration system would be implemented to allow drivers to come and participate in meeting without attending, or incurring the expense of, an entire 3-4 day convention.

Julow was aware that Zekert attended Convention Meeting as an unregistered member in an e-mail Zekert sent to him in January outlining the lack of drivers in attendance and the roadblocks the convention structure posed. "I told Jim that for years I would drive to the BoD Town Hall and then drive back for the CRB Town Hall. I encouraged other drivers to do the same. ALL I want to do is to be able to ask MY Directors and MY CRB members questions."