PEG RYAN, VICE-PRESIDENT
In 2014 I was considering retiring from Intel Corporation. My husband, Eric, told me I could not retire unless I had a hobby. I found a hobby – The Porsche Club. But I then had to tell him that the only way this would work was if I bought a Porsche! We looked for a while at used 911s. We drove to Bend Oregon to the Porsche dealer there and met an amazing sales person, Jim Heinrich. We drove a used 911. It was nice, but we needed to discuss this. We went and had dinner and then stayed overnight. We decided it was not the car for me. Then I saw 2 new black Boxster Ss. They were almost exactly the same, sparkling black with tan interiors, except one was stick and one was PDK. After much debate, we decided on the PDK. The dealership paid for us to Join PCA and Jim told me to join the local club. He was part of the High Desert Region and he said it was a blast.
I came back to Portland and immediately joined the local club!
I began to get the email blasts and noticed there was a request for a webmaster. This went on for weeks, so I decided it was time to see if I could help. While I am a bit technical, I had never managed a web. I met with Joe McQueen and he convinced me I did not need to know HTML to manage the web! Joe gave me a crash course on our web tool and off I went. I was still working at the time and I felt like I could do a couple of hours a week. By 2015, I was managing the web. I retired officially in June 2016 after 25 years at Intel. I figured out in in late 2015, that the best way to manage the web was to go to the board meetings. I attended as many as I could. About a year later, Joe called me and asked me to be on the board as the Communications Director for 2017. There had never been such a position, so I was free to make it what I wanted. In July of 2017, I picked up the role of Secretary in addition to my communications work.
I started looking at where I could impact communications. I continued updating the web and making minor changes to it. I began helping with the Anzeiger and making sure there are good articles and pictures in it as well as editing it. Eventually, I took over the email blasts. I also help with the end of year material that you get, reviewing the calendar and providing the membership directory information to be published. I also am now managing the Smugmug site that the club uses after Harold Klein decided to help with a new photoshop outside of Yellowstone!
In mid-2018, I had an idea that the web needed a major update. I was talking with a new member, Heinz Holzapfel, at a social and dinner event and found out he was a retired VP of software engineering. I asked him if he would be interested in helping with web update. He said yes! He had an incredible vision of what the web should look like. We started in October, 2018 and by May, 2019 we had a new web with all the features you have become accustom to!
This year, 2020, I am the new Vice President under Steve Miller. I am excited to learn about the managing of the club and all that entails. I will be looking to offload some of my work and eventually find someone to become the new Communications Director! Eric and I will continue to manage all most all of the events the club offers from Autocross to Arrive and Drives, Midweek Drives, Social and dinners, Tours and most everything else! We now have 3 Porsches (somehow, they multiplied), a Moonlight blue Cayenne GTS, a metallic black 911 C4S and a Sapphire Blue Boxster S (my Autocross car!). See you on the road or on the AX course!
