Meet the new Audi Club Executive Committee and the Board of Directors

The Audi Club North America Board of Directors held their first meeting of 2020 to elect new club officers.

Leading Audi Club for 2020 is new President, Troy Sicotte, Golden Gate Chapter. Ryan Compton, Potomac Chesapeake Chapter, was selected for Vice President. Serving in the Treasurer role is Roger Labas, Carolinas Chapter. Talia Spain, Georgia Chapter, was reelected as Secretary.

These four directors will comprise the board Executive Committee. The remaining five directors at large will each serve as a regional director of the four Audi of America regions and the one Canada region.

Troy Sicotte, President
[email protected]

Troy is a 20-year veteran of the Outdoor and Automotive Aftermarket industries, currently leading the Mountain Hardwear brand as VP of Sales for North America out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

He started membership with the NW chapter back in 2010 with this 2008 A3 3.2 quattro, but really started getting involved with our Golden Gate chapter in 2013, assisting them with social media and extending an olive branch to non-ACNA Audi clubs. Some of you may know Troy from his various Audi focussed social media handles (@audiavantprojectusa, @sicotte_optimized, t.sicotte, @audiclubgg), author of many articles over the years in quattro Magazine, as a club high performance driving instructor at various tracks across the West or from his time consulting in the VW/Audi tuning aftermarket. A lifelong Audi ambassador, he’s owned everything from a 1984 Coupe GT to a 2019 TT RS, and is now currently restoring a 2007 Misano Red Pearl RS 4 that is being documented in our magazine.

“I’m thrilled to continue my journey helping the club modernize, grow and expand into new avenues just as the Audi brand has over the last decade.
My goals for the club in 2020 are comprised of five directives that will help our club double in size over the next five years:

MODERNIZE OPERATIONS: Enable the Board of Directors and Central Office to work smarter and faster, bringing more access of information to chapters and their regional members whilst being more transparent.

INCREASE RETENTION: Cherish and listen to our stalwart members. Offer members more value through better member connectivity and new brand connection opportunities regardless of where one lives.

AUDI of AMERICA & AUDI of CANADA: Fortify our relationship with Audi. Work with them to better leverage the dealer network in key markets to drive new and repeat Audi owner awareness of the club. In turn, as brand stewards, we will work as the best owner loyalty engine out there.

REVENUE: Drive growth in our two main revenue sources: membership dues and advertisement in our magazine and on our digital channels. We must also seek new ways to engage with sponsors to ensure we’re offering them a good return on any investment they make in us.

REVOLUTIONIZE EVENTS: Reexamine our eco-system of events to become more efficient while touching more members and prospective members. Leverage Audi nameplates such as e-tron, TT, allroad, Q and Audi Sport to create a whole new catalog of events and benefits.

I can promise some fast paced change to you, our loyal members to truly continue the modernization of our club to best-serve the evolving Audi owner that now stretches from Horch to e-tron nameplates. Onward and upward

– Troy Sicotte

Ryan Compton, Vice President
[email protected]

If you follow Ryan Compton on social media, you’ll find mostly three things: cats, guitars, and cars. Infatuated with vehicles since young, one of his earliest memories is crying intensely at age four when his Dad sold his Mk I Bronco. Many, many vehicle love interests later, he discovered the track and Audi Club Potomac-Chesapeake Chapter in 2006m and has been an Audi Club guy ever since.

He practices trademark, copyright, and media law in Washington, D.C., helping such amazing clients like Penske System/Racing, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and many others with all of their intellectual property needs. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his lovely and patient wife Marcy and three cats, seven vehicles, and many more guitars.

On this month’s chapter leader call, Ryan explained his three plans for the year:

• Relationships: Building relationships with sponsors, trusted partners, and Chapters
• Give Audi owners a reason to join and expand the membership base and bring more member value to existing members
• Modernize and streamline National and roll out change to the Chapters

– Ryan Compton

Roger Labas, Treasurer
[email protected]

Roger Labas had a more-than 40 year career leading EPC projects in the Chemical, Nuclear, Life Sciences, Plastics and Mining businesses. He retired from that career as the Risk Officer for his government sector in CentCom, SoCom, and AfriCom. Roger currently works at Audi Greenville as the Audi Sport Brand Ambassador Audi Logistics and Site Project Manager. He coordinates customer service and new car sales to new and existing customers to enhance their Audi ownership and purchase experience, and advance the brand. He leads the dealership’s Audi Sport program, its e-tron electrification program, Audi Sales Logistics and is the joint dealer’s (Steve White VW) site Project Manager.

Roger belongs to and has participated in many automobile sports-centric clubs and events. These include(d) the SCCA, BMW CCA, Ferrari Club of America, Maserati Club of America, and of course, Audi Club North America. He is a current member of the BMW CCA and Lifetime member of ACNA. He’s owned seven Audi vehicles since 2005 (A4 3.0TDI) to 2019 (TT RS & Q3) including a beloved and very rare 2014 R8 V10 plus 6MT. He’s been to every Audi Sport Experience except one, since 2009. Roger has served the members on the national board for 3 years as a Director at large and Vice President. He participates in many Carolinas and Georgia chapter events including 9 QdMs, 4 Treffens, and 4 National meets.

Roger’s intent as Treasurer is simple – just these three things :

• Create and maintain fiscal AWARENESS of the operating budget for the BoD and Club Membership
• Use Budget wisely for the BENEFIT of the Club Membership
• Underspend and Increase Income to increase Club Membership EQUITY going into next year

Look forward to continuing efforts, support and growth for you, the members in 2020.
– Roger Labas

Talia Spain, Secretary
[email protected]

Talia is an aftermarket automotive professional with a deep history and love for the Audi brand. She currently works in Marketing for APR, LLC, a leading aftermarket parts and software manufacturer with a focus on Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Seat and Skoda vehicles. Within the group she directly manages many aspects of Marketing such as event management, brand apparel design and sales, SEO, email and social media marketing and more! Talia first began her Board career with the Audi Club in 2016 with her election onto the Georgia Chapter board. From there she was elected to the National board with a desire to continue to push the club to a greater future and beyond. In her free time, Talia enjoys organizing local events with her splinter Audi group in Atlanta and bonding over the foundation of Audi cars.

With her experience in marketing directly in the Audi automotive space, Talia is excited to help alongside her fellow directors in continuing to modernize and strengthen our great club. Her goals for 2020 are vast, but ultimately she wants one overarching accomplishment: Talia wants to bring Audi Club to the forefront of the Audi ownership experience for all those who enjoy the brand. This will be accomplished in many ways, and she believes that with the help of the elected Board officials, they have the experience necessary to do this.
– Talia Spain

Directors-at-Large

Top-

Dan Garber*, Northwest Chapter [email protected]
Tom Mullane*, Northeast Chapter [email protected]

*Newly elected

Bottom-

Christine Lemley, Potomac-Chesapeake Chapter [email protected]
Gordon Varney, Eastern Canada Chapter [email protected]
Pat O’Neal, Golden Gate Chapter [email protected]

As you can see, we have an amazing team to help lead the club into this next decade with aplomb. There is however, a need for your help. Audi Club only succeeds when our members volunteer to make it better. We’d love for you to review the standing committees listed below and consider applying your expertise to one of them for the betterment of the club.

• Nominating
• Communication & Marketing
• Policy & Procedure
• IT
• Membership
• Driver Education
• Finance
• Audit
• Ethics
• Sponsorship

If you’re interested or have questions, please email Gordon Varney @ [email protected] who chairs our Nominating Committee. He’ll then put you in touch with the appropriate committee chair to get things rolling. I thank you in advance for your consideration in volunteering.

Lastly, I want to put wholeheartedly thank my predecessor, Bud Dannemiller for his hard work on the board for many years and most recently as club President. Additional thanks go to Jay Morgenroth for his tenure as a board member. Nothing happens without folks like Bud and Jay stepping up to the plate to contribute to our Audi Club cause.

Onward and upward!
Troy Sicotte // President