WA-BC – AFS Chapter
EXCOM Teleconference Meeting Minutes
September 13, 2011
Roll call: Mark Pedersen, Lisa Harlan, Brian Missildine, Jessica Rohde
Email in: Mark Celedonia
Absent: Yvonne Muirhead, Emily Pizzichemi, Orlay Johnson, Chris Clark
Minutes: Approval of minutes for July 12th, and 26th , Aug 23rd, 2011 teleconferences will be done by email vote, due to quorum not present.
Officer Reports
President – Mark Celedonia (email): Mark C has been very busy with 2011 Seattle. He would like to know what time/date will work well for the new Excom teleconferences. Of those present, the current time/date time will work for Brian and Lisa, but Jessica has class at this time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mark is also working on a time and place for the Retreat.
President Elect – Yvonne Muirhead: No report.
Vice President – Brian Missildine: Brian has been very busy with 2011 as well.
Past President – Mark Pedersen: Mark is completing an informal audit for the past year. He will write checks to scholarship winners and for Excom members needing reimbursements.
Treasurer – Emily Pizzichemi: No report.
Secretary – Lisa Harlan: Lisa has been busy preparing for and working at 2011. She took minutes at the Business mtg and will get them typed up and distributed. She is working on getting July and August 23rd minutes approved.
Communications Officers– Orlay Johnson / Stephanie Caballero: No report.
Student Sub-Unit Representative – Chris Clark: No report.
UW Student SubUnit – Jessica Rohde: Will switch officers when school starts on Sep 28. First event will be a trivia night. She would appreciate any ideas on getting more involvement from chapter members at their events. She is planning on being more active with use of social media for the sub-unit. There were around 20 students from UW who participated in 2011 AFS.
Old Business:
2011 Debrief: The Conference overall went very well, with over 4300 people attending! Being prepared for the unexpected is a good motto – more than 900 people were walk-ins which was definitely not expected. The Trade show vendors were very happy with the show. A Green Booth award was initiated this year, although the vendors were largely unaware of it. Loligo, a company out of Denmark, won it this year. The booths were judged based on use of current technology, minimal or no trinkets and papers, and minimal or no use of electricity. 6 people did the judging – three committee members and 3 volunteers. AFS Bethesda will hold the award until the show in Twin Cities. To help reduce waste at future shows it would be nice to offer the program and other info for download via QR codes and smart phones.
WABC Business meeting – Not as well attended as expected. There were 94 reservations, but only 30 or so showed up. Fortunately there were about 20 walk-ins which helped. A lot of food was ordered for people who didn’t show up despite dedicated efforts to confirm attendance. We will consider sending a notice to chapter members explaining the loss of money due to quantity of food ordered. A sign-up sheet outside the business meeting and at the chapter booth was used to collect names and contact info for people interested in getting more involved in the chapter.
2012 AGM @ UVic – We need to get people assigned to the various committees. The sign-up sheet will help populate the committees and working groups. The combined meeting is expected to have 500 or more attendees.
Excom Retreat – Mark C is looking at dates in October – 1st, 8th, or 22nd.
Website update – Excom is supportive of using social media more – Twitter and Facebook. We should set up a process for deciding on posts – who will approve, how often will them be posted, how they will be tracked, etc. This process should possibly go into rules and procedures as guidelines are established. We need to update content on WABC website over the next couple weeks. Bryan Bougher did the AFS 2011 website which has translated into interest from Western Division. The website will become a big focus over the next few months. Jessica and Brian will work on building use of Facebook and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter accounts can be linked so that updating one will update the other.
Newsletter – There will likely be a fall newsletter following up on 2011 – including the highlights from our business meeting.
New Business:
Habitat enhancement support grant: Mark P will work with Jim Shannon to get this started.
New award for Chapter: Habitat Restoration Project of the Year: Mark P will work with Jim to get this started.
Action Items for next meeting:
Action: Set up time and place for the retreat – Oct 1, 8, or 22.
Action: Excom: Send all retreat agenda ideas to Mark C.
Action: Mark P will work with Jim Shannon on the Habitat Enhancement Support Grant and the Habitat Restoration Project of the Year award.
Next Teleconference: September 27, 2011, 9:00am – 10:15pm, via WebEx.