SoA Board Minutes
Meeting of 11/13/05
Attending:
Connie Borden
Lee Seaman
Eva Thaddeus
Sandra Bengtsson
Stephen Billias
Jennifer Peringer
Michael Thompson
David Franklin
Koichiro Fujii marketing plan:
Connie/Lee- General key questions are do we agree that we (Shintaido) should do some marketing, and do we agree that SoA is the organization to undertake it?
Eva – “Not only are we getting older but our new members are getting older. We are marketing to people we know. We need to learn to do something different.”
Stephen: “Per David’s
email, we could market to colleges, as
Jennifer is getting high school students taking the class for Phys Ed credit.
Sandra: “We need to directly and actively support people who are getting Shintaido out there.”
Lee: “We could make a glossy brochure for Jennifer; we have the technology to customize brochures for local groups, once we know what the text should be.”
Eva: “To what degree do we wish to follow the plan we were given? Lots of work involved in the effort as described in the plan.”
We could do focus groups, as Connie described. Ask questions in both gasshukus. Make a sub-committee to coalesce and use the information. Present findings to the Board.
Respond to the answers to the questions to the membership.
David: “Could we also
get some information from people who are closest to our target market? Could
Eva feels that we need help with marketing, a sub-committee with members who have marketing experience
Motion made and passed to agree that we want to market Shintaido and that that SoA should undertake this effort as our 2006 initiative
Rob Kedoin’s name put forward as a person who might want to be part of a marketing sub-committee.
Stephen and Lee also volunteer for the sub-committee.
Also, Byron, Pamela, and Naomi’s names were suggested. We want non-Board members on the committee.
Eva: “Should we do Exit interviews?” Could be a different sub-committee. Jennifer P. volunteers for this role.
Stephen thinks we could get three questions together and understand the process and do it at both Kangeikos. And also recruit other people for the sub-committee.
Sandra: “We need to define the questions in an exit interview.”
Proposal for Jennifer to bring exit interview questions to the next Board meeting for review.
David proposes Bill Burtis as an exit interview person. Jennifer will contact Bill.
SoA NTC Funding Proposal:
Some discusion of the proposal in its current state.
A Counter-proposal to fund only the room and board difference, which would be $320.
Michael stated that he thought we (the Board) once approved $500 fund for NTC. Could we do that now?
This proposal came from gasshuku manager for Pac Shin Kangeiko, not NTC.
Mention of the need to avoid appearance of nepotism, spending m our own money on ourselves. Connie mentioned the issue of ISF dues funding ISF TC and that this created problems of perception among the ISH membership.
Sandra points out that Instructors and above pay the lion’s share of the dues, so we are not just taking members’ money for our own use, but really using our own money.
Lee mentions that “SoA supporting instructors” is an important reason why people support SoA.
Proposal to give NTC $500 a year in budget, to be used this year, suggest that this year that money be used to for the support for NTC. Passed, with NTC members recused from voting.
Separate proposal to spend the extra $320 from SoA funds to completely fund the Pac Shin proposal.
Who is the money going to? Joe, Lee, Friedemann. David is not coming to Pac Shin Kangeiko. If not all spent, don’t have to pay it. Would it be $820 to use as see fit, or only used if needed.
Need to limit the contribution to sponsor NTC members to come to meetings where their attendance is needed. If money is not used at this event, money could be used at SNE Kangeiko if meetings are still needed.
Motion passes, with NTC members again recused from voting.
SoA Board Member Transition:
David would continue to be a Board member if he could still contribute. Eva offers to step aside if new people are willing to join.
Rob Kedoin is interested in joining the Board and would come on anytime we asked him.
Jennifer is interested in NTC and would also step aside if necessary.
People feel that it is valuable to have representation by Jennifer on all three councils: ISF-TC, NTC, and SoA.
Connie would be willing to become “Immediate Past President” for a year if she stepped aside.
Do we have to adhere to the timing of Kangeiko? There doesn’t seem to be any need for the election to be in the Kangeiko time frame. Sandra would like to see the current group keep going during these initiatives because we have some momentum and changing the make-up of the Board might now might change the dynamic.
Lee will be stepping down from NTC and Shin stepping up in 2007.
We could present an interim slate at Kangeiko and another slate later in the year.
Connie: Does still it make sense to have “regional reps” as part of the Board make-up?
Final note: Thanks to Jennifer for all her work on the bookstore!