MC Meeting

[krandall@world.std.com]

Hi Folks,

First a bit of bad news.  Joe Hildreth has resigned as recording secretary.
 I'll do my best to sort things out for this meeting, and if I can, go sort
through the last one too, and try to get minutes out for both after the
conclusion of this round.  We will have to find a replacement, though,
before the next meeting.  Merrill, do you remember the name of that fellow
from your area who was the first to offer to help with your committee?  I
can't remember his name, (Jonathan something? Kirshner maybe?) but I
remember that he came up to NEC for the AGA meeting.  I'm pretty sure he's
active on the APD too.  Do you know him well enough to be able to say
whether he might be an option for recording sec'y?

I'd also like to remind folks that I am an INTERIM  SC chairperson, and
groaning under the load at the moment.  Please _all_ of you give some
thought to who might be a suitable replacement. (don't worry, I'm not
getting ready to jump ship, just wanted to remind people)

OK, Now I'll try to recap where we are right now.

General Counsel:

I think the only committee chair we haven't heard from is Art.  Are you out
there Art?  Have you had a chance to look over the bylaws and
organizational structure?  What about any headway on incorporation?

Finance:

Bob, is the $18,402.20 after paying all our built up printing bills?  If
so, the treasury looks like it's still going up.  Have you made any headway
on financial statements for '97 yet?

Membership:

I'm glad to hear that the transition is complete, and it sounds like things
are going smoothly.  I agree with Dorothy that we probably want to handle
sales items separately from memberships.  We don't want to burn you out, Jack!

TAG:

Neil, I got my new issue a couple of days ago.  Nice issue!

Neil mentions that he could use help with TAG.  This is an area where I
think I could be very useful, and one where I'd have more fun too.  So if
you guys can come up with a new SC chair...<g>

In theory, I agree with you, Neil, that we want to hand pick reliable
staff.  But let's face it, we don't have enough people to do the things
we're trying to accomplish right now.  Maybe it _is_ time for an open
request for help on the APD.  At least we can _try_ to find some new,
enthusiastic faces.  I suspect that as time goes on, if we can get
Merrill's committee off the ground, people will start to work their way up
through regional groups, but in the mean time, we've _got_ to come up with
some more people to spread the work load.  

Why not offer out the one time task of the 1997 index on the APD and see if
someone steps forward?  It's a relatively simple, limited time task.  If
the ball gets dropped, it's not disastrous in any way.  If some one _does_
step forward and does a good job, they might very well be some one you can
have help you with the magazine in other ways.

Communications:

Boy, Erik, am I glad you've joined the management team!  I can't believe
how much you've accomplished in this short period of time.  Keep up the
good work!

As far as Steve Szabo's web circle is concerned, I defer to your better
judgement.  Steve is a great promoter of the organized hobby, but I can
certainly understand your point as well.  IMO, the chairman of the
committee impacted by decisions such as this should have the final say in
such matters.

Education:

I know you and I have talked, Paul, off and on during the last few weeks,
but do we have a formal committee report from you?

Are you and Olga continuing correspondence on the survey, or are you
waiting for me?  If so, I'm sorry.  I've been absolutely swamped.  I
thought things would slow down a little when the school tanks were off line
for the summer, but "kid stuff" has more than filled the gap, along with
several writing assignments that could not be put on hold.  I'm feeling a
little guilty that I'm doing this tonight instead of "working". (or better
yet, sleeping!<g>)

The photos I sent you were a gift from Gary Lange.  We can use them for the
AGA in any way we see fit, whether it is in the magazine, speaker programs,
etc.  I _don't_ think we could use them for plant labels, as they are the
out takes from Gary's shoot for the Gilberg's catalog and labels. (these
labels have been popping up in the Petsmarts around here now that Jirmack
is no longer supplying them)

Again, I'd _love_ to work more on this committee, but until I lose my
chairman's hat, my involvement is going to have to be limited.

Is the research committee on hold at this time?

Anything else I'm missing?

Regional Co-ordinator:

Merrill, don't get frustrated that your committee is slow to get going.  I
think it will take time to work out the details, but in the end, could be
the answer to many of our manpower problems.  I think that asking for
delegates both on the APD and in TAG would be fine.  What do the rest of
you think?  

Jack, is there any way that your computer can sort the mailing list to show
demographics? Give us an idea where our members are concentrated?  These
would be the areas we'd want to target first for regional delegates.  

It's nice to see that we have a few people coming forward just based on
TAG.  I think (hope) more will follow.

We talked about highlighting one committee of the new organizational
structure for each TAG.  Do you think you could do something on your
committee for the next issue?  I think it might help drum up support.

NY/Penn Council:

It seems that everyone is in agreement that we should have a presence
there.  We will have to depend on Bob and Dorothy to co-ordinate things, as
they are involved with that group.  If they can get meeting space/time for
an AGA meeting, whether business or round table, I think it would be well
received.  I did have a request (which I forwarded to Dorothy) that, if
possible, we avoid conflicts with RSG time, since many people are
interested in both Rainbows and planted tanks.

Dorothy, what are the exact dates?  I don't know if I'll be able to make
it, but if I could find someone else to drive up with and room with, I
_might_ be able to manage it.

E-mail Directory:

Jack, it sounds like you have already got a good start on this.  What if we
also ask all those who are APD and AGA members to shoot you a note so that
you can integrate that group as well.  Would that innundate you?

Volunteer Co-ordinator:

I think this is an excellent idea, and perhaps a position that needs to be
added to the MC.  What do you all think?  Does anyone have any ideas for a
specific person?  This might be another good "starter" position, where some
one with the right attitude could do a _lot_ of good, but if they were
ineffective, we wouldn't be any worse off than we are currently.

Web Site:

So far, I've heard all positive input on helping Erik defray some of his
web site costs.  Does anyone have any specific recommendations?  Erik, do you?

Tropica Catalogs:

Last suggestions I heard were that we offer these to our members for $15.
Is there any further discussion?

Pins:

I think I heard $7 for these?  Any discussion? (I want one, Dorothy<g>)

If I've missed anything in this recap, or if any of you have anything
further to add, please let me know within the next few days.  Otherwise,
I'll try to put together specific motions and a call for votes at the end
of the week. (unless someone else would like to do it ;-)

Karen