WA-BC – AFS Chapter
EXCOM Teleconference Meeting Minutes
Jan 21, 2010
Attending: Jim Shannon, Mark Celedonia, Erin Lowery, Orlay Johnson, Larry Dominguez, Lisa Harlan (Asst to Secretary/Treasurer – taking minutes), Meryl Mims (Guest – President WA-BC AFS Student Sub-unit), Jessica Hayden-Spear (Guest)
Minutes: Minutes for Jan 7, 2010 were approved.
Officer Reports:
President – Jim Shannon: Jim sent out the final call for symposium papers, extended abstract deadline to end of the month, updated the website, and contacted potential sponsors. Larry and Mark P have the master list of who has been contacted, so check first with Mark prior to contacting potential sponsors to avoid duplication. Jim anticipates having another planning meeting on Feb 5th/6th for the conference in Nanaimo. ORAFS has expressed interest in co-convening an annual conference, possibly in 2012.
Past President – Larry Dominguez: Western Division Endowment Fund – Joining the fund simply involves sending a check to Western Division to open an account. No limits to withdrawals, however, out of courtesy the volunteer manager asks for infrequent use. Larry has been following up with abstract submissions for the freshwater capacity symposia, and has been contacting potential sponsors.
President Elect – Mark Pedersen: No report.
Vice President – Mark Celedonia: Chapter of the Year (COTY) – Lisa, Jessica, and Geraldine went through the minutes and newsletters to compile a list of chapter achievements and accomplishments. This draft will be sent as a Google Document to EXCOM for review and comment. The COTY application must be submitted to Scott Bonar, WDAFS, by March 15th, 2010, who then selects a certain number of applications to forward to the Parent Society from Western Division.
SERNW – Society for Ecological Restoration NW chapter has their annual conference in less than a month in Tulalip. They are very excited about supporting each other’s conferences, and propose mutually providing the following: 1) a ¼ page ad in the program, 2) floor space at the trade show, 3) verbal promotion of our conference at the opening announcements, 4) distribute literature/announcements to listserves, 5) put logos on each other’s websites, and 6) offer member rates for each other’s conference. Mention was made of co-convening a conference together in the future, possibly 2012. The following motion was made by Mark Celedonia and seconded: That the WA-BCAFS enter into an on-going partnership with SERNW involving sharing of information, promotion of each other’s conferences, and additional mutually beneficial arrangements. The motion passed. Ali Wick, President of SERNW, needs the ad material by the middle of next week to get it into the program. Action: Mark C will contact Caroline Mercado to get a ¼ page ad together to send.
USFWS has a nature program for middle-school age kids, which teaches aquatic survey methods, and they are looking for partners and sponsors. Action: Mark C. will send their 2-3 page proposal to EXCOM for consideration to partner and/or sponsor this event.
Mark C needs award nominations for the following awards immediately: Haig Brown, Worthy Coelacanth, Volunteer Org., Cert. of Achievement, and Tommy Brayshaw Junior Conservation Award. Action: Jim will contact some people directly.
Secretary/Treasurer – Erin Lowry: So far 37 people have registered for the conference. The Canadian provinces were not selectable on the website so Erin has fixed that. An email vote approved the following motion: WA-BCAFS will sponsor the State of the Salmon conference for $500. Tad Schwager will lead up selection of a student. Erin will deposit sponsorship checks and send Jim the organization names so Jim can get their logo on the website.
Newsletter Editor – Geraldine Vander Haegen: Report by email to Jim. Action: Geraldine will be contacting Bryan Bougher for assistance with setting up the Twitter and Facebook pages. Geraldine also proposed a 2010 webpage that solicits carpooling to the conference. She offered to head this up and coordinate carpooling.
Assistant Newsletter Editor – Orlay Johnson: Action: Orlay and Mark P will be meeting with NOAA to ask about sponsoring our conference.
Topics:
Old Business:
New Business:
The WA-BC Student Sub-unit will be looking at sponsoring a documentary called End of the Line, and will be asking for help with the $150 sponsorship fee.
Student Mentor Social at AGM 2010 – Last year this was done and seemed to work out well, although there were more mentors than students. Action: Jim will let Tad know there will be a social again this year.
Action Items for next meeting:
Action: Mark C will send a draft of chapter achievements/accomplishments as a Google Document to EXCOM for review and comment.
Action: Mark C will contact Caroline Mercado to get a ¼ page ad to send to SERNW.
Action: Mark C. will send their 2-3 page proposal to EXCOM for consideration to partner and/or sponsor this event.
Action: Jim will contact some people directly to solicit award nominations.
Action: Geraldine will be contacting Bryan Bougher for assistance with setting up the Twitter and Facebook pages.
Action: Orlay and Mark P will be meeting with NOAA to ask about sponsoring our 2010AGM conference.
Next Teleconference: Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7:30am.