Club News

Michael Branning

I’m running for a third and final term as trustee and would appreciate the opportunity to continue my contributions to this fantastic club.

Over the past six years (three as president and two as vice president) it’s been a privilege to help lead the Porsche 356 Registry during a period of change, while staying focused on what matters: supporting our members, preserving knowledge, and keeping these cars on the road.

Much of my contribution over the past two terms has centered on modernizing club operations, improving technology, and making our technical resources easier to access. These efforts were led in a “player-coach” role, taking on significant hands-on work personally, but often with the help of dedicated volunteers and, in some cases, outside professionals when needed.

Key early work included organizing club records, scanning contracts, and recovering 400 GB of magazine data from Gordon Maltby’s backups, including high resolution PDFs of our earlier magazines. A new website was scoped, proposed, and managed from RFP through vendor selection, design, implementation, and launch. Crucially, the project preserved the existing 356Talk forum and provided a scalable content platform with modern membership management. The forum infrastructure was also upgraded to improve reliability, backups, and add single sign-on once ClubExpress offered the capability.

Preserving and unlocking technical knowledge is a major personal priority. Our work has made decades of Registry articles searchable and led to the release of members-only downloads, including the Leoni 356 electrics books, annotated parts manuals, tool catalogs, etc... and more are in the works. The Literature Zentrale project has added considerable historical content and was launched with Jim Wayman, Brett Johnson, and Lori Schutz.

Recent efforts included hosting a strategic planning session for the trustees with a Sunday BBQ for about sixty members in early 2025, securing rights to another downloadable member resource, and developing two free public guides; one to promote interest in the Porsche 356 and one that explains how to buy one.

Looking ahead, implementing our strategic plan is a top priority and would benefit from my experience. Some other projects I want to tackle include a members-only AI-powered search across all Registry content and developing more guides to help existing members (and support marketing the club to potential members).

I’d appreciate your continued support.

Michael Branning 803-422-5189
mbranning@porsche356registry.

Lee Raskin

My love for the Porsche marque and the TYP 356 has been a constant component in my life for over 60 years… while admiring its design, racy elegance, performance, and its enduring legacy.

Having said that, I have been a faithful Porsche 356 Registry member since the mid-1970s, as well as a current contributor/ columnist to the Registry magazine… writing a feature column, “Through the Rear View Mirror,” about various celebrities owning 356s and 550s, while also contributing book reviews and covering 356-related Registry events on the East Coast. I have also been a long-time member of the Potomac Owners Group in the mid-Atlantic area.

I am Lee Raskin of Brooklandville, Maryland, and I am running for re-election as a Porsche 356 Registry trustee. My first Porsche was a used 1960 Condor Yellow B coupe, which I purchased while I was a freshman in college. During my adult life I have been a multiple 356 owner, concours enthusiast, a vintage racer, and now a 356/550 Porsche historian, recognized author, and storyteller.

Over my Porsche-related past, I attended 356 East Coast Holidays, West Coast Porsche club events, and Potomac Owners Group gatherings. I have served as a PCA National Panorama contributing editor, PCA Chesapeake Region vice president and treasurer, Porsche Patter newsletter editor, a region Chesapeake Challenge chairperson, and a National PCA Parade Concours competitor, beginning in 1979 and participating in a full concours as recently as 2023.

For over the past twenty years, I have been a multi-marque vintage racer competing in VSCCA/SVRA/VRG/Rennsport racing events along the Eastern seaboard from Watkins Glen to Daytona; as well as cross country to the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca with my 356A coupe.

I am a retired trust and estate lawyer working on my second career as a Porsche historian and author… having published five Porsche-related books over the past twenty years.

During my first term as Registry trustee, I used my vast experience as a public/private sector fiduciary, a 356 ownerenthusiast, and a Porsche historian/author to work alongside of our 356 Registry officers and trustees, Registry magazine staff, especially with Lori Schutz, our membership services club coordinator, to assist with improving our online 356 Connection and 356 Talk forum, marketing for new members, and increasing our corporate sponsorship, while becoming more engaged with other Porsche-related social events to promote our club.

During the past three years as a trustee, I believe the Registry has shown tremendous growth in offering more digital-oriented services to our members as well as a strategic plan of real initiatives for our future membership growth.

It would be a privilege to continue to serve you as a mindful fiduciary and trustee... to assist in making prudent decisions that will benefit the Porsche 356 Registry. I would sincerely appreciate your support... and your vote.

Lee Raskin 410-979-0672 lmr356@aol.com