Excom Mini-Minutes |
August 1, 1999
Meeting called to order by Mel at 1:06 p.m.
Present were Board members Mel Anderson, Meg Kelleher, Jerry Corbin, Carolyn Robinson, Laura Oliveira, Mike Johnson, Carol Young and Bruce Stiles. Editor Stevie Crowley was also present and looking quite jaunty.
Agenda approved. Minutes approved.
AG Report--Carol Young
Rosalie Crutcher from National Mensa will be here this week to look at hotels on our behalf. She will evaluate Pointe Hilton South Mountain , Crown Plaza, maybe Sheraton Crescent and the Biltmore.
Circulation--Cal Vance
Stevie asked if we could get another local or national address on the web site for those who want a copy of the Bulletin so they do not contact her. (She doesn’t always have extra copies. – Ed.)
1999 RG--Yvonne
Deposits for 1998 RG $7160.55. Checks written $7654.33 including one for about $500 for the MERF auction which went to National Mensa. Balance left in account $1738. Laura will put together a balance sheet with details for Stevie to use as a blueprint for next year’s RG.
2000 RG-Stevie Crowley
Yvonne graciously acquiesced to the request to continue as RG Treasurer. The title for the RG is Phoenix Phiesta 22: Phuture Schlock. Jerry Corbin will be Program Chair pro tem until and if Pat Edwards may take it over. We will advertise in the September on issues of the Mensa Bulletin. The hotel is Howard Johnson’s Express, which has been completely renovated with 3 meeting rooms, ability to bring in our own food, shuttle from the airport, hospitality suite. Located at 4727 E. Thomas Road with $65-71 nightly each room with microwave and mini-fridge. We have a signed contract with no minimum room requirement.
Membership Report--Jerry Corbin
Updated new member packet for option to be included in email notification system run by Mike Johnson. Also interested in advertising at ASU, Borders, etc. Carolyn will be given some petty cash for expenses related to member packets.
Approval of Appointed Officers
SIG Czar--still open. Meg volunteered for this position which involves coordinating the area Valley Coordinators, but Mel believed she is already too busy to hold the title of Czar. When pressured, Mel was not sure why he thought she was too busy and allowed her to assume the crown.
N Valley Coordinator--Michael Hall was appointed.
S Valley Coordinator--Bill Taylor volunteered and was heartily approved by a unanimous vote.
Young M’s--Scott Kelley appointed.
Bylaws Chair--still open
Parliamentarian--still open and not overly anxious to appoint since we don’t want anyone to tell us we are doing it wrong anyway.
Publicity/PR Chair--still open. Carol Young remembered that someone at the Art Party had some PR experience and we will try to find that person on the signup list.
Officer Reports
Meg Kelleher--rested on the accolades of her new role as SIG Czarina.
Stevie Crowley--Stevie was reappointed Editor of MAAM and held the office for a month since we forgot to vote for her continued reign at last month’s meeting. Carol is toying with the idea of stepping back as Calendar Goddess, as she tires of the constant adoration, but will not leave until some suitable person presents herself.
Stevie publicly thanked Bruce for doing the mailing this month as she was out of town. She has priced what it would cost us if we had to pay for printing of newsletter and it would be from around $400-$900. Centeon does it for us for free so we encourage members to use them for their printing needs.
Carol Young--National Testing Day is November 13.
Carolyn--too busy typing to report.
Laura Oliveira--Presented Treasurer’s Report for 1998-99 Year. Checkbook balance is $5823.25. Income was $9494.16 and expenses were $7872.03. We overspent for the Ashland Party but it was a good experience for planning the next one and for the large number of people who attended. Moved by Jerry and seconded by Meg to give Carolyn $25 petty cash for new member packet expenses which was unanimously approved. Laura discussed the need for a budget striving to reach a balance between being bound to strict limitations and the need to plan ahead for money use. She will put together something for us to look at next month.
Stevie reminded us that the Treasurer’s Report needs to be published in MAAMonce a year and Laura will work on that.
Jerry Corbin--Asst. LocSec. Still using AutoNation for the Forum because it is free but is open to new place if the price is comparable. He has hung the Group of the Year banner in his house where it tastefully decorates his entryway..
Mel Anderson--LocSec. Has worked on stationary letterhead for GPM.. There is an opportunity for us to sell Entertainment Books and receive a portion of the proceeds. Mel was immediately willing to let Meg have this position even thought she now really will be busy as SIG Czarina. Mel passed out award certificates to
Bruce Stiles, Meg Kelleher, Jerry Corbin, Jason Grimm, Carol Young, Laura Oliveira, Gene Holmerud. Stevie felt strangely bereft for not receiving an award certificate when Mel miraculously remembered she should have gotten one but he simply forgot to bring it to this meeting.
Unfinished Business
1. Scholarship Awards--Mel will get the information to Yvonne on who won the scholarships we already awarded.
New Business
1. Moved by Carol and seconded by Carolyn that a committee be formed to find a free location acceptable to the Proctor Coordinators for the Mensa qualifying test. Jerry volunteered to work with Proctors Greg and Pete to find a suitable place which is centrally located and has a classroom type room. Carol will check with Bob Hirshfield who once offered his office conference room free of charge. Passed unanimously.
2. Moved by Mike Johnson and seconded by Jerry that Ma’am calendar entries may be sent via email to members who are signed up with Mike. No individual host names or addresses will be sent via email without their position. Mike "presented the illusion of some preparation" by holding up a fine white board listing the advantages and costs of doing this. Bruce noted that the word "calendar" has been misspelled but was otherwise impressed especially since the cost is exactly zero. This calendar will be mailed in addition to the new email program Mike has started to remind members a couple of days ahead of time of each Mensa event. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Somewhere in this meeting, we started a new tradition of "friendly amendments" to motions which give the opportunity for clarification without adversarialness.
4. Passed unanimously to move the ExCom meetings from 1 p.m. to noon on the first Sundays, preceded by the Membership Committee at 11:30 a.m. and followed by Brunch and Banter at 1:15. Note that the September ExCom will be held on the second Sunday since the first Sunday is a holiday this year.
5. Carol Young discussed who should be signers on the 2002 AG bank account and it was determined that she and Laura would do it for now with only one signature required for expenditure.
Good and Welfare
1. Cal Vance heard a disc jockey on KOOL-FM 94.5 radio announce that GPM won the Group of the Year award, adding that Mensans like that station since it plays songs like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy Dum."
2. Carol read in the Tempe newspaper that a blurb ran about our winning Group of the Year and that the Sun City newspaper had also contacted her, pointing out the need for a local PR/Publicity Chair.
3. Bruce was concerned about our continued operation without a budget and does not want GPM to get into a position where we overspend our money without a plan. Discussion was held with input from several people, noting that we are a nonprofit organization and not intended to make money. Laura again reminded us that she is going to work out a tentative budget so we can use our money carefully and that she will work with Bruce if he has questions.
Mel adjourned the meeting at 2:27 p.m. by reminding us that we can agree to disagree on some issues and we shared the emotional equivalent of a group hug.