Re: MC Meeting

["Merrill Cohen" <amc2@ix.netcom.com>]

Hi Karen,

Jonathan would be good if he has the time.  Shall I ask or will you (more
official coming from you)?  His "e-mail" address is: 

        Kirschner, Jonathan
        E-mail Address
         jkirshner@sprintmail.com

> 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)

 I don't know where you find all the time to do what you are doing!
> 
> 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!

We need to have new printed membership applications for my committee to
hand out.  What happened to the new paper that was supposed to come?  I ran
some temporarily from the disc that you sent to me; but the professional
ones look so much better, of course.  And, I think that we can afford
printed ones with the treasury that appears to be "healthy".
> 
> TAG:
> 
> Neil, I got my new issue a couple of days ago.  Nice issue!

Neil:  You just have to keep on this!  It would be awful if you stopped! 
You do a great job!!!!!! Ask for help on the APD is my suggestion!!
> 
> 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>

We don't need a new SC chairman!  Just hang in there, too.  Hard workers
are difficult to find!  (Particularly at the salary that is paid! <VBG>)
> 
> 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.

I agree 100%!  In the meantime, Curtis Smith has graciously offerred his
services on my committee as per forwarded "e-mail" to all.
> 
<snip>
> 
> 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? 

> 
> 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.

I hope to attend!  The dates are September 18th through the 20th.
> 
> 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?

We should pay for this -- is my vote!
> 
> 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 ;-)

Art advised that we should wait for incorporation befoe selling things, but
I think that we would be forgiven as this is really a "not for profit"
organization.  It will take so long to incorporate and we are really
talking about small sums of money!

Merrill