June 2024 Board Notes

Date:

06/11/2024

Attendance:

Board Attended: Alli Cassel, Sky Dunn, Kevin Ehrler, Alyssa Johnson, Christina Kramer, Hope Kronen, Bruce Levine, Chelsea “Buttons” Lieser and Nick Nelson
Board Absent:
Observers: Andrew Janssen, Andrina Moe, Anthony LaBerge, David K Vetrovec, Emily Haack, Erick Hofer, Evan Miller, Jeannette Wallen, Lori Fischer-Fairbanks, Matt Ely, Michael Anderson, Samantha Cozort, Sherilyn W. Brown, and Tori Winkelman

Notes:

Anime Twin Cities Board Meeting Minutes

June
11th, 2024
6:30 PM

Board Present - Alli Cassel, Sky Dunn, Kevin Ehrler, Alyssa Johnson, Christina Kramer, Hope Kronen, Bruce Levine, Chelsea “Buttons” Lieser and Nick Nelson

Public – Andrew Janssen, Andrina Moe, Anthony LaBerge, David K Vetrovec, Emily Haack, Erick Hofer, Evan Miller, Jeannette Wallen, Lori Fischer-Fairbanks, Matt Ely, Michael Anderson, Samantha Cozort, Sherilyn W. Brown, and Tori Winkelman


Agenda is available in the link in the description of the livestream, these meetings are counted for attendance for voting rights please comment your name in the chat and fill out the google form in order to gain voting rights.

 

Recap off cycle board actions and votes.
 

  • Congratulations Sky, Hope, Kevin and Bruce
    • These four got elected in, with the exception of Bruce, for Sky Hope and Kevin this is a transitional meeting, and they will be formally inducted in the July meeting, after which they can then vote on board matters. Bruce has been elected for an additional term.
  • Thank you for serving Chelsea and Kristen
    • This is their last meeting as board members.
  • Consolidated SOS and Communities Coordinators into Special Events Coordinator
    • We had many coordinator positions open for a long time so we consolidated two of them together.
    • This is the position that will work on ATC tables at different conventions and events throughout the Twin Cities and Midwest, we are looking for someone to fill this opening. We just posted about the role yesterday.

       

Open Session (First 30 minutes)
 

  • Any members of the community can bring new business to discuss with the board.
     
    • Q- Do we think we need to vote on consolidating the coordinators? A- Not really, it isn’t in the bylaws and it’s just an organizational adjustment.
    • Something is happening on a road crew; the board hasn’t received information on that if you have information, please send it to the board and we can investigate it.
    • Can we work on a way to gain voting rights if people are not able to make the meeting in person or virtually.
    • A- It is possible, right now you need to attend 60% of board meetings, those are always the second Tuesday of the month and those are already online. Anime Detour planning is also 60%. It is definitely something we can look into. Not sure how feasible it would be, but would be good to have participation in the meetings that the voting rights are for.
    • Something brought up in Facebook/Youtube comments isn’t the right way to report something to be investigated, please email the board.
    • Jennette is asking for an introduction from us, if you go to animetwincities.org, it talks about the current board, and we will be updating that section for the new members in July.
    • Christiana has been going to Anime Detour since 2010 and is the head of merchandise. Has been the president since February.
    • Q- Who can you go to if you have concerns of the board, A- Well we were all elected in, so we are the best people to help you.
       
    • We did a few short introductions for other board members:
    • Sky – Has been training under Kim for the last year and has been going to Detour since 2008.
    • Kevin – Long-time staff member, has been going to Detour since the beginning, it is a pleasure to be on the board again.
    • Hope - Long time staff member, been attending many years and is looking forward to serving the board
    • Alli – This is the 2nd half of her second term, been with Detour for a while.
    • Alyssa – This is the 2nd half of her first term, been attending since 2009 and has been staff about 6 years now. She works primarily in the exhibit hall / artist alley, used to work with the board game group.
    • Bruce – This will be his first full actual term. He has been on staff since 2023 took over tech services November of last year, helped run it for the 2024 event. He is looking forward to continuing to serve and to steer us in the right direction towards a stable foundation for 20+ years to come
    • Nick – I’m the secretary for the board, which I started in early 2023. I have been attending Detour since 2019 and I helped in the programming department at the 2024 convention.
    • Chelsea – If this is your first time watching this will be the first and last time you see me, I have been on staff for 5 years, but I am planning on taking a break.

 

 

Planned Discussions from scheduled visiting parties/ATC Partners

  • None
     

Coordinator Updates

  • Positions open for application:
    • Anime Detour coordinator position
      • We posted this on Monday June 3rd, and will be closing it on June 17th.
      • We are hoping to do interviews and have a new coordinator for Anime Detour selected by the end of the month.
    • Special Events
    • Charities and Communication is open as well
       
  • Finance – Sky
    • Please send her reimbursements so everything is paid by the end of the year which is September 30th.
    • The total dollar amount in each of our accounts are as follows:
      • Business Checking - $351,603.62
      • Education Fund – $3,098.11
      • Business Market Rate Savings (Community Fund) - $14,506.06

         

15 Minute Break (If the preceding topics take little time, the board may vote to skip this)- skipped



Motion to Skip
Seconded
Motion Passes



Current Month Board Topics

 

  • Obon Festival 2024 Proposal
    • We did receive a proposal for the Obon Festival about them needing some funding for this year. The Obon Festival formerly known as the Japanese lantern lighting festival takes place at Como park in August. It is hosted by the Saint Paul Nagasaki Sister City Committee as well as the Japan America Society of Minnesota. We have historically had a table there for many years, they have typically received funding from a different org but they declined this year. The Obon festival is looking for $5,000 from ATC to help host all their entertainment for the festival this year. The board has been sent this proposal in more detail for review, their attendance last year is about 8,000 people. We know a lot of ATC members like going to this event, so it would be good to help them fund it.
       

Motion to pass the funding for 5K

Seconded
Motion passes

We are hoping to have a Special Events coordinator by then to help us run this table and get other volunteers otherwise Christina will be filling in until then.


 

Open Board Projects/Future Meeting Discussions

 

  • July - Financial Overview (Sky)
    • She will be doing financial overview next month between AD and ATC
  • Charities Discussion
    • We should be able to have the Charities Discussion in August once we have a better financial understanding after the July Financial Overview.
  • Bylaws Update
    • Looking for a non-profit lawyer to get the Bylaws updated, and for writing various policies filling gaps for leadership. We will try to get back to more board specific things once we are able to.
  • Policy Updates
    • Bans
    • Coordinator Reviews
    • Board Training
    • This is set for the future, but unsure on bandwidth for these. The general timeline is Summer/Fall.
       


Motion to adjourn
Seconded
Motion Passes
 

6:52pm meeting adjourned.


Please contact atcboard@animetwincities.org or atc_secretary@animetwincities.org if you would like to be added to the agenda for discussion items.