Please note - these are the DECEMBER meeting notes - A copy of Bob's notes
from the January meeting are forthcoming. The status of several issues has
obviously changed since December, but this should reflect how things stood
back then.
I apologize again for the delay,
Rick
Greater
Seattle
Aquarium
Society Board Meeting Minutes: December 18, 2003
(at the home of Paul Winchester's home)
Board Members
Present
Bob Holmes
Rick Rose
Sandu Simion
Susan Welenofsky
Paul Winchester
Absent
(None)
Membership Observers
June Olberding
Preliminary Business
* (None)
Executive Committee Reports
* The Minutes of the previous Board meeting (November 20, 2003) were
accepted and approved.
* The Treasurer's Report:
1) Current Bank Balance: $3398.99
2) Cash Box: ??.00
3) No Outstanding Bills
4) Susan will buy a receipt book for cash transactions.
Meeting & Program Schedule
Month Topic / Activity
Fish-o-the-Month
SEP 9th Introduce yourself and your fish, solicit ideas, Nominations
($30 Dave-Dwarf/Pygmy Coreys)
OCT 21st Dave Sanford - Intro/Spawning of Killifish, Elections
(Dave & Bob)
NOV 11th Matt Kaufman - Slides of Various 2000 Activities
(Algae-eating Shrimp)
DEC 9th Christmas Party
(None)
JAN 13th
(Sandy Gibson - $20-40)
FEB 10th Plant Auction
(None)
MAR 9th Yohan Fernando (Bay view Room)
(__________________)
APR 13th General Auction
(None)
MAY 11th Tom Waltzek (loaches)
(__________________)
JUN 8th
(__________________)
(2004-2005 Club-Year)
SEP 14th
OCT 12th
NOV 9th
DEC 14th Christmas Party
JAN 11th
FEB 8th Plant Auction
MAR 8th
APR 12th General Auction
MAY 10th
JUN 14th
(*) Tentative, Special Dates
Bob will notify Kelly that we have chosen to keep our regular March meeting
date and will accept the Bay view Room - we will need a screen.
Special Dates (in Red)
List of possible speakers:
* Pam Chin
* Steve Lunblad (African Cichlids) FOTM: Tanganyikan Cichlids
* ____________ (Livebearers, Bob will contact possible speakers
proposed by Frank Tomko.)
* Steev Ward (Freshwater Fish Diseases from a Practical Standpoint)
FOTM: Any nice tetra, barb, catfish, otocinclus
* Wayne Liebel - Cichlids, or History of the Aquarium Hobby
* Paul Louiselle
* Bob will ask Erik to explain how Manufacturer-Sponsored Speakers
work
* Bob will contact GPAS to see if they want to share
* Bob will contact Van Couver to see if they want to share
* Mel O'Meare (sp?) - Large Central American Cichlids (Dave) FOTM:
New World cichlids - NO CONVICTS, Blue Rams would be good.
* South American cichlids (broad selection. could be subdivided into
dwarf,pike etc.)
* Anabantoids (again, subdivide into bettas, gouramis etc.) -Catfish
(Lee Finley?)
* Asian fish (loaches, barbs, rasboras etc.)
* Gold Fish
* Lee Findley - Catfish
* Steve MacDonald - Discus (Paul/Susan will contact - possibly for
January) FOTM: Corey Cats, Tetras
* Yohan Fernando - Wild Bettas
* David Spector - Show Bettas (possibly for January)
* Tom Waltzek - Loaches (requested by Don Rudee)
* Lucanus (www.belowwater.com) - Sandu will get contact info to Bob
Meeting Ideas:
o Field trip to African NW (South Park Industrial Area - weekend
activity) (Sam is willing to set up - let him know when ready)
o Videos from Erik's library
o Double-feature Night with popcorn, etc..
* National Geographic video - Jewels of Tanganyika - tape ordered and
on the way
* Collecting on the Rio Negro
o Home Video Night (10 minute presentation by various members)
o Rain Forest Aquarium Presentation by Sandu
o Erik and Kathy's collection trip in the Amazon [Dwarf cichlids,
Corey cats, tetras]
o Florida Aqua Farms Presentation
o Anthony Calfo - from Pennsylvania - Saltwater (friend of Sandu)
o Advanced Killifish Presentation - Dave Sanford/Kate Breimayer
Next Meeting: January 13, 2004
The January General Meeting topic has not yet been determined. Bob will
attempt to schedule the following speakers, in order,
1. Steve MacDonald
2. Steve Lunblad
3. Mel O'Meare
4. Steve Ward
Our fall-back plan, if none of the speakers are available, will be
Double-feature Movie Night - Susan would get the popcorn and goldfish
crackers and June would get the drinks.
Old Business
* Recap of December General Membership Meeting - Christmas Party
* 23 members signed in, several members didn't bother signing in since
there was no door-prize, plus visitors for a total of 39 in attendance.
* Hosted by our new, Holiday Party Chairperson, Cheryl Winchester
o Holiday Potluck
o Aquarium-related Gift Exchange ($15 limit)
o Fish-O (organized by Erik Olson)
o Prizes!
o Decorations
o Holiday Music
* (email feedback...)
o Wanted to say thanks to Cheryl for the great party and of course to
others who helped. June
o I fully agree! It was my first time at a Christmas party (despite
many years in the club), and I look forward to next years. Thanks to
everyone. - Mark (Pearlscott)
o We all had a great time as well. We had just joined last June, and
didn't make it to the Summer picnic. But glad we came last night! - Trish
(Pierce)
o Nice job doing the party Cheryl. The ham was great! So was the rest
of the food. - Susan W.
o Thanks to all of you who worked to put on the GSAS Holiday Party!!!
All of your efforts worked to make this a fantastic time I thought. Special
thanks to Cheryl and the Board for all your efforts behind the scenes to
pull this all together. Me and my Family had a great time!! - Clay Hess
* June Olberding (from the membership) requested that the kid's
coloring contest winning entries be displayed on the table near the
entrance. Rick will do this. (Outstanding)
* Susan is considering the BAP Committee Chair. She will research the
BAP requirements on the GSAS website and present a proposal for restarting
this program. - Tabled until the January 2004 meeting.
* Paul, in considering the General Auction Committee Chair, wanted to
check with Erik first; Erik said "Go for it!" Paul was unanimously approved
to chair the General Auction. Rick will get the Job Description / Checklist
to Paul.
* Rick will ask Tori to be the Hospitality Backup when June is gone in
March, etc.
* Jeff Stewart - Library donations... Bob sent a thank you card and
June will publish in the newsletter.
* Message Board? - Tabled from the November 2003 meeting pending
solicited input from Erik.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com] On
Behalf Of Erik Olson
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 1:49 PM
To: GSAS Board
Subject: Re: GSAS Message Board?
Oh boy. We've got someone in the AGA who is proposing to do this as well.
Good and bad week to ask me; I'm quite familiar with the concept now, but
sick of talking about it. :)
Some people really like the whole "forum" thing. In fact, some folks visit
dozens of these every day.
Personally, I don't get it, but I'm what they call a "throwback", and that's
just me. I don't really like having to "remember" to go visit a website to
read stuff about GSAS every day, week, whatever; I much prefer the whole
e-mail delivery approach. The guy who's proposing this for the AGA says
there's a way to set up "notifications" in the form of e-mail messages that
tell you to go to the forum, so maybe that's a moot point. Or maybe it's
more complicated.
I will also relay the issues we're discussing on the AGA board:
First the liability - If there is a lot of traffic on these, and people use
the web to read them, then ANYONE can casually come by and read them, and
that includes our friends like Petswarehouse.com who may opt to sue the
society based on a post. Note that we have this problem already with the
"gsas-member" list, but it's somewhat protected because its web interface
isn't really made for casual viewing on a daily basis.
Second, commitment - OK, so how long has Holly been in GSAS? Will she, much
like June's "co-newsletter-editor", set it up and then bail? Lots of people
come in with some really cool idea and then never have the steam to follow
through. What would be the worst case here? A partially running forum with
nobody to turn it off, I suppose. (c.f. Kitsap Aquarium Society's website,
which as far as I know is still running).
Third, commitment - Yeah, mention it twice. Most forums need moderators,
administrators, etc. Maybe Holly is volunteering to do it herself, but most
likely it will require the assistance and buy-in from other people. You
should spell out who these other people will be!
Technical aspects? - There are sites that do nothing but run these bulletin
boards. It should be easy for her to set it up, and it would be a simple
link from the GSAS site to the forum site. There can even be a subdomain
like forums.gsas.org that point to the host (which could save us a few bucks
on domain registrations). In my younger days, I would volunteer to actually
set up the program, but this definitely would have to be done elsewhere.
Anyway, that's my take.
- Erik
On Sun, 7 Dec 2003, Rick Rose wrote:
> Hi Erik,
>
> At last month's board meeting, the board discussed the concept of a
"message
> board" as suggested by Holly Jackson in her email (to all the members!)
> below. There was both enthusiasm and reluctance expressed. We ultimately
> decided to ask for your analysis and estimation of the idea of her setting
> up a message board on behalf of GSAS.
>
> Any pro's, con's, and opinions would be appreciated as the item was tabled
> for further discussion at this month's board meeting.
>
> Thanks,
> Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gsas-member@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-member@thekrib.com]
> On Behalf Of Holly Jackson
> Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 5:59 PM
> To: gsas-member@thekrib.com
> Subject: Hello everybody!
>
> ...
>
> I am also wondering if any of you would be interested in a message board
to
> use to communicate with GSAS members. I was thinking it would be a very
> easy and organized way to keep track of messages, do searches for specific
> topics, share photos, etc. If that interests some of you let me know. I
> have a website with quality hosting and it would be very easy for me to
set
> up a message board for GSAS. The format is actually the same as the one
> that PSAS uses if you want to take a look. http://www.thepsas.org/
>
> Holly ~
After discussing Erik's input, it was moved and seconded that GSAS would NOT
do a message board at this time. There were four votes supporting the
motion and one abstention.
Rick will notify Holly of the Board's decision.
New Business
* Newsletter Update
1) January Newsletter Status - June Olberding
2) Sandu - Rain Forest Contest
3) Thank You to Jeff Stewart
4) Bob - From the President - RELOCATION IDEAS
5) June is "desperate for content!" - She will put together her article
on Water Changes.
6) June will solicit Fish Food Recipes
7) October 2004 will be June's last newsletter.
8) New Article Contest - Fish Yarns - Unusual Stories and Experiences
with your Fish - Deadline April 30, 2004.
9) As a result of dropping most of the Exchange addresses, we are now
printing and mailing 84 newsletters vs. 105
10) The "show of hands" of those interested in receiving an electronic
version of the newsletter was positive at the last meeting. June will
continue to investigate on a low priority basis.
11) Cathryn has not responded to two emails from June regarding her
position as Assistant Editor and June's upcoming absence. The Board voted
unanimously to remove Cathryn as Assistant Editor and solicit a new
volunteer at the next meeting.
12) In June's absence, Rick will send out a reminder letter/postcard in
late February for March and again in late March for April.
* New Members since last meeting - Susan
* (None)
* Rent Increase
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com] On
Behalf Of Bob and Judy Holmes
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 5:18 PM
To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
Subject: Bad news
A few minutes ago I got a phone call from Kelly Barth at the Seattle
Aquarium. Beginning in January our rent for the auditorium is being
increased from $100 per month to $205 per month! Here's how it breaks down:
- We have been paying a flat fee of $100 / month for the past year
(approximately). The new monthly rate works like this...there is a $40 flat
fee for use of the auditorium. In addition, there is a $25/hr. fee for the
Attendant, plus a flat $10/month fee for storing the cabinet. This all adds
up to $205.00 for a Three (3) hour meeting, which equals $68.33/per hour for
our once a month meeting.
Thoughts/Comments please...Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com] On
Behalf Of Bob and Judy Holmes
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 7:40 AM
To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
Subject: Bad news
I think it's worth a try to talk to Kelly again today even though she told
me that "her hands are tied" yesterday. She seemed seriously upset over
this. I'll call her later and plead our case. Maybe we can at least get
them to delay the increase for a couple of months. They didn't give us much
notice.
My feeling is that it's time for us to look for a new home - something in
the Seattle Metro area that's comparable in size to the aquarium facility,
with decent parking, security and hopefully long term stability, at a
reasonable cost. I know other clubs meet in VFW halls, church basements etc.
so I think there are places out there, we"ll just have to find one. I like
the yacht club idea myself.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com] On
Behalf Of Bob and Judy Holmes
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 9:45 PM
To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
Subject: Good news / bad news
The good news: I talked to Kelly at the aquarium today. She was able to get
us a three month extension on our current rate so we have Jan, Feb and March
at $100 / mo. This gives us some much needed time to find a new home should
we decide to do that. There is one glitch in March; they have booked
another event in the auditorium for March 9, our scheduled meeting night
(which kinda sucks, really. They booked something for that night without
waiting for any decision from us and probably before informing us of the
rate change, and AFTER I sent them our proposed meeting schedule last
month). We can have the Bayview room on the ninth or the auditorium on the
second, a week early. Or maybe we'll be outa there by then.
Kelly is on our side and is going to bat for us as much as she can. She
really seems like a nice lady.She was really distraught over having to give
me the bad news yesterday.
The bad news: It's still gonna hit the fan in April.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com] On
Behalf Of Erik Olson
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 11:29 PM
To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
Subject: Re: Good news / bad news
If it comes to that, it might be wise to still stick with the aquarium for
the one extra month of April, just because it's the auction and there are
some people who just show up for the auction every year and that's all.
- Erik
After discussing the rent increase, the Board decided that Bob would write a
letter to the Seattle Aquarium in an attempt to negotiate a smaller
increase. He also would solicit ideas from the membership for alternate
meeting locations.
Rick will create a GSAS Letterhead. Bob will write the text of the letter,
publish it on the Board Email list for review and comments, and then Rick
will produce the letter on the letterhead using the final approved text and
mail it.
Announcements for the next General Meeting
* June - We need a new Assistant Newsletter Editor
* Bob - New Article Contest: Fish Yarns - Unusual Stories and
Experiences with your Fish - Deadline April 30, 2004
* Bob - Need Ideas for alternate meeting location
Low-Priority and On-going Issues
(The following issues which may or may not have been addressed above will
continue to be listed here until they are completely resolved.)
* Official Bylaws - Rick
1. Dave has obtained a copy of GPAS bylaws and passed them on to Rick
2. Erik has obtained a copy of AKA bylaws and passed them on to Rick
3. Erik found a copy of the GSAS bylaws, scanned them, and gave them to
Rick
4. Rick has produced an editable text file from the scanned images - a
copy given to each board member and one to June Olberding.
* Promotional Materials for GSAS - Rick
* Poster Boards (for Fish Stores) and GSAS fliers are still
outstanding.
* Business cards will be produced for all board members plus the
Newsletter Editor. All new board members and June agreed to have their
phone numbers and email addresses included on their card. Paul would like
his cell phone number (206-383-2910) used rather than his home phone.
* GSAS Fliers
* Standard GSAS Thank You cards
* T-Shirts and Caps with GSAS logo
* Historian Project(s) - Rick
* History of Philanthropy Projects
* Probe the minds of Clay, Dave, Bob, and Erik
* Look for old article (on the 30-years CD), written by Laurie Hess,
about the "Providence Tank"
* Committee Chair - "Job Descriptions" - Rick has no progress to
report.
* Discussion on a future Philanthropy Project - Clay
* Clay has asked Diane Elliot how Rich (a lawyer) would advise us to
proceed with regard to Liability Insurance - Waiting for an Answer.
* Meeting Activities for younger kids - Dave, Bob, and Rick (Tori
Craig)
1. Dave - coloring book update - gave a folder full of artwork to Rick.
2. Rick - pages for the coloring book that promote GSAS
3. Rick - Aquarium-related word searches, puzzles, mazes
* Sandu - a presentation to introduce his idea for an "Aquascaping
Award Program." Brief discussion highlights from last month's meeting are
as follows: - Moved to "Low Priority" items at Sandu's request. Sandu will
prepare a short "blurb" for the January Newsletter.
o Submissions/entries would be pictures
o Entrants should have the option of being/providing their-own
photographer or requesting that a "club photographer" (one person, to be
determined) take the pictures. This would alleviate the potential problem
of "blaming" a non-winning entry on "which photographer was assigned to take
their picture."
o The contest could accept entries during the entire club-year,
culminating in a slide presentation at the June meeting, at which time the
membership would judge the entries and vote for the winner(s).
o Sandu will asked if there is enough interest in this idea at the
last general meeting.
* The "show of hands" of those interested in receiving an electronic
version of the newsletter was positive at the December 2003 meeting. June
will continue to investigate on a low priority basis.
Next Board Meeting Location
The location of the next meeting will be at June Olberding's home. The date
will be Thursday, January 22, 2004, starting promptly at 7:30pm.
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