DATE: Wednesday November 5, 2009
EVENT: Teleconference – 2011 Core Leadership Team
PRESENT:
Cleve Steward, Larry Dominguez, Wayne Hubert, Eric Knudsen, Keith Wolf;
Local Arrangements Chairs Reports:
Discussion about how to increase involvement. Larry said he is meeting more people who want to get involved. He suggests an official request to Phil Anderson, Director of WDFW.
Cleve noted that Craig Busack needs a letter to his new NOAA boss requesting his continuance as program Chair. Craig and Cleve will draft and Wayne will send to NOAA.
Keith suggested the benefit of approaching the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission for their support.
Larry suggested contacting other agencies to trey to get their support for fillign the other openings.
Eric pointed out that we have a volunteer list with nearly 100 names on it that can be used as an excellent reference for filling positions. He suggested that the most effective method for getting volunteers was to call them directly and make a personal request.
It was suggested that the Tours and Transportation subcommittee be split because they are somewhat separate activities and it may distribute the workload.
Ambassadors Committee:
The main topic was the letter of invitation to VP Al Gore. Wayne mailed the letter on October 27. Now we need to pull out the stops on all the other “behind the scenes” connections we have to promote his attendance.
Keith has talked to Bob Nichols, assistant to Gov. Gregoire about our plans. Eric will call Mark Pedersen re contacts with lee Blankenship at NMT.
Cleve will draft letters to Bill Ruckelshaus and Billy Frank, Jr. for Wayne’s review and signature. It was noted that both of these gentlemen also have connections to VP Gore.
Cleve will also set up a meeting with David Dicks to talk about the coordination with PSP and to encourage his father to talk to Al Gore. He will ask D. Dicks for a letter of support from PSP.
Conference Attendance:
Wayne reported that on the AFS Executive Committee teleconference, it has been reported that conference attendance is down 10-20%, mostly as a result of limitations on state employees. So we need to be careful to not overestimate.
Keith suggested fashioning more of the sessions as continuing education so participants can more easily justify their attendance.
Cleve commented that drawing students will help as well. He noted that we still need to fill the Student Activities Chair and he will pursue that.
Socials and Entertainment:
Keith submitted the following list of plans, etc for consideration
- EMP – contract under review (less admission fee that I expected – good news). Have range of world class bands in a world class venue adjacent, and in coordination to the next six items)
- EMP – Outdoor Food (large tent to handle any overflow – EMP holds 3,000 at any given time
- EMP – The Science and Futures Museum (available during Entertainment)
- EMP – All access to member participation to all exhibits and interactive music recording rooms with instruments
- Seattle Center House –
- Seattle Space Needle – I have not called yet , but anticipate a group rate for observation deck
- Seattle Monorail – initial will run late for AFS. Green and saves approximately 12k in transportation.
- Have direct contact with Daniels for catering. Looking for best deal possible and use of Trident donation
- Tour of Elliott Bay – “maybe” aboard Paul Allen’s yacht. I’ve called Vulcan Inc. and looking for the right person to talk to. Coordinating with Eric on fundraising also.
- 10. Argosy Tour as fall back
- 11. Salmon Toss (pros from Pike Place) to host a “contest” at one of the on-site events. Get Wayne to catch a 30 pound Chinook! Great photo opps here for Seattle/Chapter
- Opening Social ??? Ideas. Maybe start with a bang, but worried that this is never well attended. Maybe wait for first night social, which is typically huge.
- Poster Session Social – need an entertainment or social draw here
- Closing social?
- Governing Board meeting on Elliott Bay – off site and maybe, just maybe on a big yacht. We’ll see.
- VP Gore – working with all as an “ambassador”
- Have spoken with my close colleague Bob Nichols (Governor’s Executive Policy Group) about VP, Dicks, and the Plenary in general.
- Suggest a brief, post plenary social for the dignitaries with Gus, Wayne, you, us all providing appreciation to Bill R, Billy F. Some lunch? Another great photo op for Seattle/Chapter.
Questions and comments from the others included:
- The post plenary lunch is a tradition.
- Tent for 800 may be too small – we may need more space.
- We should schedule a walk-through of the venue soon so we can all scope it out, before we settle on it.
- Too many band ideas – keep it simple, but good.
- May need busses in addition to the monorail – need to scope out the capacity over time on the monorail, and then order busses for the rest.
- Need to assure we can get the highest value of in-kind donations of food and drink. Need to work with caterer to come to an agreement before we decide.
- More coordination re the use of Paul Allen’s yacht – it may be most appropriate for the Governing board Social Saturday night.
- Need to assemble a specific social schedule with list of venues, menus, caterers, and entertainment for better planning.
Other Topics:
We will still plan to continue meeting every month, but only with all committee chairs every other month for now.
Need an official note taker of these teleconferences and meetings so we can keep up with recording decisions etc. Larry will ask Mark C, since he needs to be on top of what’s happening and what needs to happen in the future.