September 2014 Board Notes

Date:

09/08/2014

Attendance:

Board Attended: Lauren, Kim, John (left early), Sari, Brian, Kevin, Rin
Board Absent: Andy
Observers: Kale, Heather, Jayson, Danielle McKay, Dave Vetrovec

Notes:

PokéCon

Certified Tech in their fold, but he has not yet seen list of requested equipment
vote for Kale to continue as ATC's proxy to judge request
- as long as their Tech conveys that he knows what he's doing [Brian]

inability to consistently communicate in a timely fashion is worrisome [Sari]
Kale's e-mails may have ended up in spam folder, hence the communication breakdown [Lauren]


open session - Anime Detour Artist Alley [Kevin]

would like to (re-)institute entry fee of $50 without badge, as an option to or replacement for current entry fee of $100 with badge
- problem arising from Artists registering as attendee beforehand and ending up with two badges
- reversal of earlier problem of Artists of waiting to register until table was secured, then getting shut out of Registration [Lauren]

option: save slots for Artists from cap number [Lauren]
option: exclude Artists from cap [Lauren]
option: two badges, for Artists who can't run table solo [Kevin]

typically, 40 tables (80 badges) in Artist Alley (AA)
would prefer to exclude Artists from cap, so that there's no issue with not attaining cap due to unsold reserved badges [Kevin]
would like to keep things simple with one option [Lauren]

option: reserve block of special AA badges that wouldn't count against cap [Dave]

  • question: require badge to be purchased on paper with AA application, so it wouldn't get muddled with online registrations? [Kim]
  • question: can John enable electronic registration? [Kevin]
  • question: have checkbox on AA form indicating if badges have been purchased? [Lauren]

should currently consider financial aspects, and leave implementation to Kevin, Jayson, and Kim [John]

â–º motion for adding possibly 80 badges outside of cap for Artists Alley [Lauren, John]
votes passes with no objections, with Kevin abstaining


open session - ATC ad for Anime Fusion [Heather]

due by the end of the month

no ATC ad ready, but can use list of upcoming SOS events? [Lauren]
upcoming schedule is a bit sparse [Heather]

can use promotional material for LEG Fund as ad [Kale]
would be good opportunity to push LEG fund [Jayson]
back cover in color is available for $150
Jayson can assemble ad from art files via Sari, LEG Fund text via Kale, SOS schedule via Heather

â–º motion to buy ad space on back of Anime Fusion program book for $150, with Jayson as project leader on ad creation and submission [Lauren, Brian]
vote passes with no objections


open session - what can be done for        's family [John]

in light of his wife's spinal stroke and the resulting financial distress

set up a drive rather than setting aside money from general fund [Lauren]
worried about setting precedent of giving money to staff directly from general fund [Lauren]
precedent already exists in $500-$1,000 range [Kale]
bylaws don't contain guidelines on distributing money, which may be problematic at some point [Lauren]

        would be embarassed by public nature of a drive [Heather]
would need        's permission [Jayson, Sari]
approach from a standpoint of helping out the community, as opposed to a specific person [Heather]
have backup plan of using general fund in case         doesn't want a drive [Sari]
John will broach subject with       


Coordinator reviews

general

  • Coordinators should collaborate with Board on defining short- and long-term goals [Jayson]
  • question: can Coordinators e-mail short/long-term goals to the Board by November's meeting? [Lauren]

Jayson

  • modest announcement of last leadership meeting was a trial balloon to seek out potential leaders in community who are driven
  • working with GPS on opportunities

Heather

  • appreciates effort others put into reviews
  • agrees that more can be done about promoting ATC at events
  • inability to solidify calendar with enough advance notice (at least two months) is precluding posting half-sheets on area bulletin boards
  • there is a Google Drive folder with reports, procedures, etc. of projects related to events which will be shared with the Secretary

Kale

  • regarding comment about filtering requests, would like to see criteria that board wants met before it fields requests; if we're going to vet, we need something to vet against
  • can draft vetting criteria, after looking over policies to check that they consistently make sense [Brian]
  • questions for requestor: have you tried other options? is requested money actually going to help you? [Lauren]
  • after vetting criteria have been established, have Charity requests sent to a Charities e-mail address, so that the board does not see them until they've been vetted [Lauren]
  • have requests CCed to Secretary, in case they're time-sensitive [Heather]
  • ideally, would like form that would register who have looked at it and when [John]

JayColette - postponed until her next attendance


Anime Detour [Jayson]

trying to push training and developing leaders
talking with GPS about options to train multiple people at once via its MAP membership (20% discount) - $3,000 including subheads, assuming they all show up
goal: multiple opportunities for leadership development throughout year
personal list of who needs this training more than others; may be more suitable for those who are relatively new to leading departments [Lauren]
would like every candidate to attend at least one session
question: feasible to have trickle-down training? [Lauren]


Social Outreach Services [Heather]

recaps of events

  • fair turnout for first RenFest event
  • 10 attendees for Kotatsu that was right after Labor Day
  • a couple of repeat attendees at Cosplay Picnic
  • good turnout (24) for Drive-In

some apprehension among attendees that no one else is showing up, due to information disconnect between Facebook and Meetup

2nd RenFest event coming up on 9/28
Scavenger Hunt on 10/11 [Lauren]
possible gathering occasions before/after hangout events (Obon, etc.)
people were excited that they got reminders [Lauren]

if we paid Facebook to promote a specific event, it will do so at the expense of our other events [Dave]
will ask Jo password to ??? [Lauren]
seeks permission to advertise SOS events on Detour page, as that gets many hits; no objections

more internal, quieter events with onset of cold weather months; looking for ideas

  • ValleyScare event? [Erick, via Kim]
  • sewing/cosplay workshops? [Sari]
  • Cosplay Snowmen? [Brian]

LEG fund request - $3,593.56 grant for overdue home association fees

want to know if there's a plan for requestor to make future payments [Sari]
does requestor have employment or other means of steady income? [Dave]
- not mentioned in request; has bad credit
would be much more receptive if it was clearly known that requestor has way of paying going forward [Brian]
would be supportive if this payment would make a difference, as opposed to being a stopgap [John]

Lauren's criteria, in the effort of not judging other people's lifestyles:

  • is this someone who fits criteria of fund (part of community at large)?
  • do they actually need help?
  • is the help going to do anything? (unsure, in this case)

grant would enable him to get fees back within his budget [Kale]

what to do if there is insufficient funds for a future request? [Rin]
- there would be a drive
- it is possible to take money from general fund in extremely special circumstances [Lauren]

â–º motion to authorize grant as requested [Brian, Lauren]
vote passes with no objections (Kale voting as John's authorized proxy)
ask for writeup for promotional purposes [Lauren]


financials [Kim]

received monies from United Health Group, Amazon Smile
there would be ~$2,000 remaining in LEG fund if request is approved and after paying for Richard Townsend's dental work


Anime Detour Hotel update [Dave]

all four bids went out - Hyatt, DoubleTree, 2 others
DoubleTree replied with offers for 2016-2018
AD Tech has sent Ted a list of requests concerning setting costs up front to pass onto the hotel
make sure Rin gets copies of all correspondence that has been issued [Lauren]

constant disconnect and miscommunication between AD Hotel and DoubleTree; should be a SOP for Hotel department [Danielle]
there should be a folder of historical forms (contracts, bids, etc.) [Sari]
draft for timeline for hotel contracts [Dave] both for this year and ideally in a given year [Lauren]

Coordinators should store instructional manuals, etc. pertaining to their charges in office filing cabinet [Lauren]
should standardize all Detour department manuals at some point [Jayson]
should have an overarching timeline [Rin] and/or annual calendar [Lauren] for Detour


Charities [Kale]

link to Amazon Smile
may get space at Midtown Global Market
sell coffee (and pancakes, latkes, etc.) on Sundays at the Waterbury, concurrent with church-goers being on premises [Dave]
Light the Night on 9/28