Nine members and one guest attended.
Committee Chair Reports:
Secretary: Maude Svensson reviewed January’s Board Meeting Minutes.
Treasurer: Bruce Schaefer presented the revised budget for the current club year. He projects a $1,002 surplus by the end of June.
The total number of members is now 94, including 22 new members that have joined since the start of the club year. Five new members joined in February alone.
Bruce has been working on the audit report and sent a first draft to David Blass and Maude who have volunteered as auditors. Catherine Honigsberg volunteered to help set up an accounting system to facilitate recordkeeping and financial control.
The George DeBuchanne Community Service Fund has a balance of $479 after executing two projects within the “Wider Circle” and “Shepherd’s Table” (amounting to $291). Frank Gallagher is managing the Fund and is responsible for approving and signing all in- and outgoing entries.
Other Reports:
Programming: Renee Schaefer and Karen Finkelman have contracted all speakers and judges for the club year. Pete Morton enquired about evaluation of judges and speakers. After a discussion, Pete volunteered to draft evaluation forms that would be available for members to fill out at Speaker’s and Competition nights.
Cable Release: Dennis Freeman and Sherm Edwards have finalized the work on the March CR and are ready to publish it. As of next club year, Sherm will be the sole editor of the CR. There was a discussion of what the CR ought to focus on, how the work could be simplified, what could be cut, and how its publication form could change. Dennis will email an evaluation form to all board members who will assess the March CR issue. Further discussions and decisions will address how to go ahead with the CR.
Field Trips: No reports. Pete Morton highlighted that a new member has expressed interest in leading or assisting field trips, and the membership committee would follow up.
Website, Meetup, Facebook, Twitter: Up and running.
Nominations and Elections Committee: Nobody has announced interest in being Vice President. There was a discussion on how to attract more volunteers for the club, and a suggestion that a committee instead of the Vice President be responsible for the Year End Events.
Competition: There was a wide discussion about competition themes. Renee Schaefer pointed out that it is a complicated puzzle to get the right level of themes. On one hand, themes should not be too widely defined as those do not encourage members’ creativity. On the other, themes must not be too narrowly defined as those prevent members from competitions, particularly true for novices. At the Board meeting in April, the Board will vote on competition theme suggestions.
Membership: Marc Auerbach had inquired about new name tags and discovered large price differences depending on the number of name tags ordered. Most value for money would be to order at least 100 in one go. That would cost $155. We decided not to order more at this time.
PSA: No report.
Communication Committee: No report.
Other Topics:
Confirmation of Digital Submission: When a member submits a digital image for competition, he/she should always get a confirmation. If there is no confirmation, he/she must check with the Competition Committee.
Board Meeting Location: Andrew Rein will contact the Silver Spring United Methodist Church to explore possibilities to re-rent our ordinary meeting place for the Board meetings.
Year End Task Breakdowns: The Year End Event will take place at the Silver Spring United Methodist Church on June 11. Renee will start to contact potential judges. Catherine will do the printing of certificates and programs. Other tasks include securing door and raffles prices, trophies, food, slide shows, cleaning up, etc. A list of items and tasks will be circulated to give members an opportunity to sign up.