All:
Attached below is a draft of my minutes from today's BoD meeting. Please review these and advise me of any changes that should be made.
Thanks much.
Scott
MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
NORTH CAROLINA WOODWORKER, INC.
June 26, 2010
The meeting was held at Doug Robinson's office in Durham, NC at 9:15am. Directors present: Tracy Pardue, Scott Miller, Rob Payne, Doug Robinson and Scott Smith. Travis Porter and Stuart Nelson were not in attendance.
Guests present: Incoming BOD members Steve Coles and Trent Mason
Agenda:
1. Review of the Old Minute and Accept and/or edit them.
2. Review old business.
2.1. Department reports from al BoD members
3. New Business
3.1. Raleigh Klingspor Show
3.2. Hickory Klingspor Show
3.3. WONC
3.4. Raffle Fund Raising Activities, lessons learned, improvement opportunities
3.5. Calendar Contest
3.6. Annual Picnic
3.6.1. 2010 Review
3.6.2. 2011 picnic site
1. The board unanimously reviewed and approved the old minutes
2. Old Business. Committee reports
a. Doug gave an update on the status of the 501C3 status, the current amounts in our accounts.
b. Rob Payne gave an update on the raffle and the apparent satisfaction of the recipients. Rob wrote follow-up letters to the vendors who donated the items that were raffled off.
c. A question was asked about how we were recognizing vendors who had donated items for the raffle. Rob stated that at previous BoD meetings the BoD agreed that any vendor who donated a prize greater than $500.00 would receive 3 months of free sidebar advertising on the North Carolina Woodworker website. Existing advertisers had their ads extended by 3 months free.
d. Scott M gave an update on the 2010 picnic. We had 160 persons signed up for the picnic, but only about 115 showed up. Feedback from the attendees was very positive. We came in under the $1000 budget. Lessons are that we need to reserve a location at least 9 months in advance if we want a Saturday location.
e. Tracy P gave an update on the Webmaster info. He reiterated that as a board we had decided earlier in the year to back away from pre-emptive moderation, due to dissatisfaction of our members (some members left even though they were not moderated). Doug provided some history on moderation practices this past year to Trent and Steve, and stated that we had made a mistake as a BOD by becoming too involved in moderation practices (via a moderators conference call that took place that he hosted). Doug also stated that at the beginning of the year the BoD was concerned about making mistakes during the first year that North Carolina Woodworker had an independent board, and as a result the BoD acted as more of a committee instead of a typical BoD. Lessons learned include keeping the BoD out of the nuts and bolts daily business of the site. As a result of some of our discussions the BOD agreed that Board members should not be moderators, as it is difficult to separate being a moderator from being a Board member.
f. Tracy also indicated that we have two vendors whose ads were coming down soon.
g. Scott S reported on the status of the corporate book, and his intentions to hand it over to incoming Corporate Secretary Trent Mason at the end of the BOD meeting. Scott also reported that he had created a set of Amended and Modified Bylaws and would upload it to the library on the website, and that the corporate book was otherwise updated.
3.
a. Raleigh Klingspor Show. We have volunteered to assist at the next show in September. Doug has updated the North Carolina Woodworker flyer and it is ready to print. Klingspor asked us to put together an informational booth for the show. One difference planned for this year is that Vendors will be present at the show (similar to the Klingspor Hickory Show). We also discussed opportunities to better showcase North Carolina Woodworker at the show; who and what we are about. Suggestions include workshops for different woods, bandsaw tuning, wood identification contests.
b. Hickory Klingspor Show. Scott Miller talked briefly to Coleman and he has committed the same space to us that we’ve had in the past. A great opportunity to raffle tickets again.
c. As a sidebar, Steve Coles mentioned that a great opportunity exists in conducting educational workshops for school kids.
4. WONC Gallery. WONC is subleasing 500 sq. ft from the current Raleigh Klingspor location. This is an opportunity for North Carolina Woodworker members to exhibit in the gallery. Scott S suggested that we explore obtaining a membership on behalf of North Carolina Woodworker, and allow our members to exhibit an item for a month at a time underneath our membership (i.e. no fee to the member.
5. Raffle Fund Raising:
a. Discussion took place regarding receiving credit cards directly on our website. Steve gave an update on technical aspects concerning this, and that the least expensive integrated cart that he had seen was $30.00 per month, or that we could purchase a lifetime license to a different program for $800.00. Steve also mentioned that there was an opportunity to incorporate credit card functionality directly into the site if we could write some code. Doug mentioned that he has a good friend, Paul Sabella, that does this for a living and Doug will pursue opportunities for us to receive free or discounted services. Steve has volunteered to look further into options and will provide an update at the next BoD meeting.
b. Rob would like to see us have some of our Raffle contributing vendors at our spring picnic next year. The BOD agreed that this was a good concept, and supported the Raffle and Events leads working together on this.
c. Scott suggested a wood lathe be included in the next raffle, and Doug suggested vacuum press.
6. Calendar Contest. Doug pointed out that Jeremy, our previous calendar lead, has moved to Florida, and may not be available to assist with the 2011 calendars. Feedback was provided that it would be beneficial to start the process earlier in order to provide more time for review and editing. Pre-selling calendars (before the winners are announced) may lead to an increase in sales too.
7. Annual Picnic
a. 2010 Review. The games worked, but we need more. Potential improvements include bringing in vendors or having demonstrations. The site was adequate, but not ideal. The weather negatively impacted the food delivery timeframe.
b. 2011 picnic site. Desired location is Ritter Park in Cary. It will hold over 150 persons under the roof, it has power and playground facilities, and the price is $125.00 for the day.
8. 501C3 update. Doug met recently with the attorneys, and provided information about the Google Advertising revenue and how best to describe said revenue. Doug is anticipating that we will be ready to file sometime during July. 501C3 filing regulations have become more stringent post 2008, and we have to be very careful in how we word our filing.
9. Operational Structure (new item brought forward by Doug). There is some overlap in the positions between VP and President. Although corporate officers and board members are not normally the same people, in the event of North Carolina Woodworker there is an overlap of positions (which is beneficial for our 501C3 filing). Steve Coles provide some background information on why the bylaws were written the way that they are. Much discussion took place amongst the BoD members and incoming BoD members regarding how best to work together as well as acknowledging the proper roles and responsibilities of the individual officers.
10. Rob made a motion that following the 2011 elections, that there not be an impromptu BoD meeting held immediately after to parse out the positions. Scott M seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
11. Scott Smith made a motion that the incoming Webmaster review and enhance the moderation guidelines and processes in order to improve the policy and reduce the number of potentially unfair moderations. Rob Payne seconded the motion. Discussion took place and revealed that during the past few months the BoD members have had several conversations regarding clarifications or improvements to the policy. It has been suggested that we adopt a two-tier test for the moderators to use: An example of “letter of the law versus spirit of the law”, re “political threads. Let’s say that a North Carolina Woodworker member makes a post about losing their job due to the poor economy. This post should not be in violation of our policy. However, if they state that they lost their job due to a certain politicians’ behavior, then this would be considered politically divisive and against the spirit of the law. A suggestion was made regarding creating a moderators guidelines that would provide guidance to the moderators, as opposed to trying to make the policy cover every instance. Steve Coles as incoming Webmaster agreed to take this on as an action item (reviewing and revising moderation policy) and provide an update to the BoD at a future meeting. Steve indicated that this would most likely be an ongoing process. The motion carried unanimously.
12. Executive Session. For the new board going forward, Doug pointed out that there are times that the BoD may elect to go into Executive Session Minutes, instead of regular minutes.
13. Doug made a motion to adjourn the meeting, said motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned.
There being nor further business to come before the meeting, the meeting ended at approximately 11:51 am.
Submitted by:
__________________________________________________ _
Scott Smith
Secretary
North Carolina Woodworker
Attached below is a draft of my minutes from today's BoD meeting. Please review these and advise me of any changes that should be made.
Thanks much.
Scott
MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
NORTH CAROLINA WOODWORKER, INC.
June 26, 2010
The meeting was held at Doug Robinson's office in Durham, NC at 9:15am. Directors present: Tracy Pardue, Scott Miller, Rob Payne, Doug Robinson and Scott Smith. Travis Porter and Stuart Nelson were not in attendance.
Guests present: Incoming BOD members Steve Coles and Trent Mason
Agenda:
1. Review of the Old Minute and Accept and/or edit them.
2. Review old business.
2.1. Department reports from al BoD members
3. New Business
3.1. Raleigh Klingspor Show
3.2. Hickory Klingspor Show
3.3. WONC
3.4. Raffle Fund Raising Activities, lessons learned, improvement opportunities
3.5. Calendar Contest
3.6. Annual Picnic
3.6.1. 2010 Review
3.6.2. 2011 picnic site
1. The board unanimously reviewed and approved the old minutes
2. Old Business. Committee reports
a. Doug gave an update on the status of the 501C3 status, the current amounts in our accounts.
b. Rob Payne gave an update on the raffle and the apparent satisfaction of the recipients. Rob wrote follow-up letters to the vendors who donated the items that were raffled off.
c. A question was asked about how we were recognizing vendors who had donated items for the raffle. Rob stated that at previous BoD meetings the BoD agreed that any vendor who donated a prize greater than $500.00 would receive 3 months of free sidebar advertising on the North Carolina Woodworker website. Existing advertisers had their ads extended by 3 months free.
d. Scott M gave an update on the 2010 picnic. We had 160 persons signed up for the picnic, but only about 115 showed up. Feedback from the attendees was very positive. We came in under the $1000 budget. Lessons are that we need to reserve a location at least 9 months in advance if we want a Saturday location.
e. Tracy P gave an update on the Webmaster info. He reiterated that as a board we had decided earlier in the year to back away from pre-emptive moderation, due to dissatisfaction of our members (some members left even though they were not moderated). Doug provided some history on moderation practices this past year to Trent and Steve, and stated that we had made a mistake as a BOD by becoming too involved in moderation practices (via a moderators conference call that took place that he hosted). Doug also stated that at the beginning of the year the BoD was concerned about making mistakes during the first year that North Carolina Woodworker had an independent board, and as a result the BoD acted as more of a committee instead of a typical BoD. Lessons learned include keeping the BoD out of the nuts and bolts daily business of the site. As a result of some of our discussions the BOD agreed that Board members should not be moderators, as it is difficult to separate being a moderator from being a Board member.
f. Tracy also indicated that we have two vendors whose ads were coming down soon.
g. Scott S reported on the status of the corporate book, and his intentions to hand it over to incoming Corporate Secretary Trent Mason at the end of the BOD meeting. Scott also reported that he had created a set of Amended and Modified Bylaws and would upload it to the library on the website, and that the corporate book was otherwise updated.
3.
a. Raleigh Klingspor Show. We have volunteered to assist at the next show in September. Doug has updated the North Carolina Woodworker flyer and it is ready to print. Klingspor asked us to put together an informational booth for the show. One difference planned for this year is that Vendors will be present at the show (similar to the Klingspor Hickory Show). We also discussed opportunities to better showcase North Carolina Woodworker at the show; who and what we are about. Suggestions include workshops for different woods, bandsaw tuning, wood identification contests.
b. Hickory Klingspor Show. Scott Miller talked briefly to Coleman and he has committed the same space to us that we’ve had in the past. A great opportunity to raffle tickets again.
c. As a sidebar, Steve Coles mentioned that a great opportunity exists in conducting educational workshops for school kids.
4. WONC Gallery. WONC is subleasing 500 sq. ft from the current Raleigh Klingspor location. This is an opportunity for North Carolina Woodworker members to exhibit in the gallery. Scott S suggested that we explore obtaining a membership on behalf of North Carolina Woodworker, and allow our members to exhibit an item for a month at a time underneath our membership (i.e. no fee to the member.
5. Raffle Fund Raising:
a. Discussion took place regarding receiving credit cards directly on our website. Steve gave an update on technical aspects concerning this, and that the least expensive integrated cart that he had seen was $30.00 per month, or that we could purchase a lifetime license to a different program for $800.00. Steve also mentioned that there was an opportunity to incorporate credit card functionality directly into the site if we could write some code. Doug mentioned that he has a good friend, Paul Sabella, that does this for a living and Doug will pursue opportunities for us to receive free or discounted services. Steve has volunteered to look further into options and will provide an update at the next BoD meeting.
b. Rob would like to see us have some of our Raffle contributing vendors at our spring picnic next year. The BOD agreed that this was a good concept, and supported the Raffle and Events leads working together on this.
c. Scott suggested a wood lathe be included in the next raffle, and Doug suggested vacuum press.
6. Calendar Contest. Doug pointed out that Jeremy, our previous calendar lead, has moved to Florida, and may not be available to assist with the 2011 calendars. Feedback was provided that it would be beneficial to start the process earlier in order to provide more time for review and editing. Pre-selling calendars (before the winners are announced) may lead to an increase in sales too.
7. Annual Picnic
a. 2010 Review. The games worked, but we need more. Potential improvements include bringing in vendors or having demonstrations. The site was adequate, but not ideal. The weather negatively impacted the food delivery timeframe.
b. 2011 picnic site. Desired location is Ritter Park in Cary. It will hold over 150 persons under the roof, it has power and playground facilities, and the price is $125.00 for the day.
8. 501C3 update. Doug met recently with the attorneys, and provided information about the Google Advertising revenue and how best to describe said revenue. Doug is anticipating that we will be ready to file sometime during July. 501C3 filing regulations have become more stringent post 2008, and we have to be very careful in how we word our filing.
9. Operational Structure (new item brought forward by Doug). There is some overlap in the positions between VP and President. Although corporate officers and board members are not normally the same people, in the event of North Carolina Woodworker there is an overlap of positions (which is beneficial for our 501C3 filing). Steve Coles provide some background information on why the bylaws were written the way that they are. Much discussion took place amongst the BoD members and incoming BoD members regarding how best to work together as well as acknowledging the proper roles and responsibilities of the individual officers.
10. Rob made a motion that following the 2011 elections, that there not be an impromptu BoD meeting held immediately after to parse out the positions. Scott M seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
11. Scott Smith made a motion that the incoming Webmaster review and enhance the moderation guidelines and processes in order to improve the policy and reduce the number of potentially unfair moderations. Rob Payne seconded the motion. Discussion took place and revealed that during the past few months the BoD members have had several conversations regarding clarifications or improvements to the policy. It has been suggested that we adopt a two-tier test for the moderators to use: An example of “letter of the law versus spirit of the law”, re “political threads. Let’s say that a North Carolina Woodworker member makes a post about losing their job due to the poor economy. This post should not be in violation of our policy. However, if they state that they lost their job due to a certain politicians’ behavior, then this would be considered politically divisive and against the spirit of the law. A suggestion was made regarding creating a moderators guidelines that would provide guidance to the moderators, as opposed to trying to make the policy cover every instance. Steve Coles as incoming Webmaster agreed to take this on as an action item (reviewing and revising moderation policy) and provide an update to the BoD at a future meeting. Steve indicated that this would most likely be an ongoing process. The motion carried unanimously.
12. Executive Session. For the new board going forward, Doug pointed out that there are times that the BoD may elect to go into Executive Session Minutes, instead of regular minutes.
13. Doug made a motion to adjourn the meeting, said motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned.
There being nor further business to come before the meeting, the meeting ended at approximately 11:51 am.
Submitted by:
__________________________________________________ _
Scott Smith
Secretary
North Carolina Woodworker
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