Sons in Retirement
Branch 146 Walnut Creek Area
Devoted to the promotion of Independence and the Dignity of Retirement
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Sons in RetirementBranch 146 Walnut Creek AreaDevoted to the promotion of Independence and the Dignity of Retirement |
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Minutes of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting
October 14, 2010
CALL TO ORDER
Big Sir Dennis Hallett, called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. He welcomed the 15 visitors including Committee Chairmen (see Attendance Roster attached).
BEC ROLE CALL/QUORUM
Secretary Jim Burk announced that a quorum was achieved with 11 of the 12 members of the BEC present. Chuck Eichten, Director, was excused (see Attendance Roster attached).
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Secretary Burk indicated that the minutes from the September 9, 2010 meeting had been distributed electronically to all members of the 2010 BEC. He asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes. Being none the minutes were approved as written.
BIG SIR’S REPORT
Dennis Hallett recognized Bob Schroeder for having the bridge/walkway which extends over Treat Blvd. in Pleasant Hill named after him, and Dennis congratulated him for that honor.
He also offered on behalf of everyone in the Branch condolences to Rich Ahlf on the passing of his wife, Shirley.
Dennis announced that we had found volunteers for two of our open chair positions. Ron Binder will become the Golf Committee Chair replacing Ron Plachy who resigned. Bob Mehus will become the Luncheon Attendance Chair replacing Bob Lyman who resigned. Dennis thanked both of the former chairs for their excellent service to the Branch. That leaves only the Webmaster position still open for replacement.
Dennis then moved to his planned agenda items under the Big Sir’s Report
(1) Project: Branch Administrative Cost Reduction through Improved Efficiency (Jim Burk)
Implementation Plan Update and Information Piece
Next Dennis called on Secretary Jim Burk to facilitate the discussion on the Implementation Plan and the Information Piece that has been developed by our Implementation Committee (see attachments: Implementation Plan and Information Piece). These write-ups relate to both the Distribution of the SIR CALL Newsletter and the Member Directory projects which were approved in concept at our September meeting. The implementation plan and the information piece were sent out in advance of the meeting for review by the BEC and other selected recipients.
First, Jim expressed his appreciation to the Implementation Team (Terry Marchione, Steve Sprague, Jeff Baily, Rich Ahlf, Ron de Golia, Dick Woodman, and Bill Cammerer) for their outstanding work on this dual project. Both group and individual meetings and discussions have taken place, as well as numerous telephone calls. The team has gone over these two subjects in a very thorough manner. Jim reminded the BEC that following their approval of the concepts at the BEC Meeting on September 9, the implementation team has spent the last 30+ days working on the Implementation Plan, to include the Information Piece that would go out to our members announcing the changes to take place assuming approval today by the BEC.
Jim spoke to some of the questions he had received from those who received the materials in advance. The first related to the Member Directory and the member was asking how the information contained therein would get updated. Jim responded that, as is the case today, when there is a change in the information contained in the Member Directory, the affected member is responsible for letting the Membership Chair (Steve Sprague) know of the change and he in turn would take responsibility for updating the information. In addition, anyone learning of a change in status or contact information for a member also should apprise the Membership Chair accordingly.
Jim further referenced that the “password protection” issue continues to be under study as we speak and that we are talking to several resources or vendors who might assist us with that effort. If for whatever reason password protection is not feasible (e.g., complexity, economics, etc., the team has looked at so called “Plan B” possibilities that would still enable privacy protection).
He also mentioned that at the conclusion of the discussion today, Jim will pass around a clip board to the BEC and other members present in which he is seeking 24 volunteers to become a “buddy” for those members who do not have access to a computer. These volunteers would become the source for the “non-computer” members to receive their newsletter by printing one out on their home computer and handing it off to the “non-computer” member. Jim has written a letter to the non-computer people outlining the “buddy” system and the matching system approach that will be put into place to provide each of them with their “buddy.” He will follow-up the letter with a call to these individuals to determine what activities they participate in, and that factor as well as finding someone who lives in close proximity to them will be the two key match possibilities. He envisions that the “buddy” arrangement undoubtedly would cease to exist over some period of time as virtually all members eventually would have computers. However, he offered that the “buddy” system is very important to our overall plan in that it alone will save the Branch $500 per year as that would be the cost of otherwise copying and mailing a newsletter to these members without computer capability. A question was raised as to whether a non-computer member could subscribe to the newsletter and the answer is “Yes.”
Jim recommended that, assuming our approval today, we should not say anything to our members at the luncheon today. His thinking for such a position is that it is critical to each member’s complete understanding of the reasons for this change to have the benefit of all the background that went into the decision. This will best be accomplished by a member reading the entire Information Piece that is to be sent to our members announcing the changes.
Another comment was that in the earlier conceptual written material Jim had referenced the possibility that in the second half of 2011 we might be able to refrain from asking for a voluntary contribution from our members. That idea is still possible but we do not want to prematurely announce such a position until we have checked with our Treasurer to ensure that we will have enough money in the coffers to cover our expected expenses in the second half of 2011. The time-line recommended for this checkpoint with our Treasurer would come in the early 2nd quarter. Sound conservative fiscal management dictates such an approach.
Jim next made the following motion so as to get the matter on the table, have it seconded, and then proceed to open the floor for questions, comments, and a full discussion before the actual vote.
Motion: “I move that the Branch Executive Committee approve the Implementation Plan, as written, with respect to SIR CALL Distribution and the Member Directory, and that the BEC charge the Implementation Team with the responsibility of beginning to put the Implementation Plan into effect starting with the release of the Information Piece to our members tomorrow, October 15, 2010. The Implementation Team will periodically keep the BEC informed of their progress, to include any recommended changes that become necessary.”
The motion was seconded by Director Bob Lyman. The floor was then opened to questions.
Q: Can we send an e-mail to the members indicating the newsletter is available?
A: The Implementation Plan as written suggests that we send advance notice to our members for the first two months (December and January) and then cease advance notice in February.
There was strong support for continuing to send the advance notice of newsletter availability for the indefinite future.
Q: The question was raised as to whether we can send the newsletter as an attachment to the e-mail indicating that the newsletter is now available?
A: We could do that, however, the Implementation Team has determined that they believe it better to not do that. The reason being that attachments are sometimes problematic in that depending upon the software programs each user has on his computer, they may or may not be able to open the attachment. Secondly, our volunteers on the website team have put a lot of work into the website to improve it and we want to have people go to the website so as to become familiar with the variety of information that resides there.
After further discussion, it was recommended that we continue to send an e-mail each month, as we have been doing which announces that the new issue of the SIR CALL is now on the website, and provide the recipient with a link to the Branch website. It was felt this would be smoother and more efficient in the long run.
Terry Marchione then expressed his concern that we have only one (1) e-mail list that exists and it is maintained by one person, Jeff Baily. If he is away then the e-mail does not get sent. The follow up question was raised as to whether it could be shared. Jeff indicated that it can be shared and that anyone who wishes to assist with e-mail distribution can have a list so that we can have an “alternative e-mail sender.” He has simply taken this task on for the Branch, but others can be involved as well.
The question was raised as to whether there is a restriction on how many e-mails we can send at one time. Jeff answered that he does not really know the answer to that question, but he is today sending approximately 230 at a time and has not met with any restrictions.
The point was again emphasized that we need to address the fact that we have only one person with the capability of sending mass e-mails. Jim suggested that in the future we should secure additional people in the mechanics of setting up a Branch e-mail data base and train them in sending e-mails as well so that we have “back-up” personnel coverage. Thus, it was agreed that we should both continue to send the e-mail notices to the members for the indefinite future and revisit that approach periodically. In addition, we should look at succession planning and make sure that we have more than one person who is capable of sending mass e-mails to the members.
Pete Gates added his personal emphasis and preference that we continue to send the reminder notices until such time as we determine they are no longer needed. In addition,
he expressed his strong feeling about the importance of our level of readership and has some concern about whether our movement to electronic distribution will negatively impact readership. He asked the question about whether we can count the number of hits on the website. Jeff answered that “Yes” we can. It was pointed out that even with today’s hard copy mailing approach we do not know if people are in fact reading the newsletter. Pete acknowledged that while that was true, he would like to know so that we can then determine what it means if the “hits” are low or high. He simply wants to be able to follow up on the statistics and do further study.
The question was further raised as to whether we could get the number of hits on the website in general or on a specific piece of the website such as the newsletter. Jeff answered that you can get a count on the number of hits per page, so a hit on the newsletter page would be counted.
Q: How do we intend to inform new members of the two options of receiving the newsletter (i.e., electronic or subscription)?
A: It is suggested we inform them verbally at the time of their new member briefing/orientation, as well as place a written information piece in their new member packet.
Q: In addition to sending out an e-mail on approximately November 15 of the current year to those “subscribing” to the newsletter and seeking their indication as to whether they wish to subscribe again in the following year, could we put a similar note in the newsletter that would explain that anyone can subscribe to the newsletter?
A: There are two segments to this question. First, “Yes” we can put a piece in the newsletter reminding the subscribers that it is time to “renew” for the coming year, and on that same occasion we will inform them of any change in the “subscription” price. Second, Jim would prefer not to encourage subscriptions from those who have previously been getting their newsletter off the website at no charge to themselves or the Branch.
Q: As it relates to the Member Directory, is January 2011 a realistic date by which to produce the electronically distributed directory?
A: The Implementation Team feels that it is doable. We are currently working on what we call Plan A or password protection, as well as Plan B which contemplates sending out the Member Directory as an attachment to an e-mail message each month. The worst case scenario is to go with Plan C which would continue the one time a year “hard copy” pamphlet approach we use today. We would like to accomplish at least “Plan B” so as to save the $335 per year currently set aside in our budget to produce the Member Directory in “hard copy” format.
Further discussion centered on the format of the existing Member Directory and Terry indicated that the directory currently was formatted for the pamphlet (5 ½ x 8 ½ inches). It would need to be reformatted for an 8 ½ x 11 inch document which would potentially allow for two columns and thus save on the number of pages.
Jim, at this point, emphasized that this discussion reinforces the point that there is still much work ahead for the implementation team to accomplish to bring these new ideas to fruition. We need to continue to work our implementation plan which in effect starts this afternoon. Jim has drafted the “information piece” message to go to all members with computer capability that he will provide Jeff for his distribution via e-mail. He has also drafted a letter to the non-computer people with additional information regarding the “buddy” system and that along with the regular information piece and those will be mailed tomorrow. The Implementation Team is ready to launch but there is more work to be done.
Dennis asked that the Implementation Team set a date by which we would need to make a decision as to how we will proceed for 2011 (i.e., a “drop dead” date). The first thought was to set November 15, and then it was changed to November 11 to coincide with our next BEC meeting. At that time a status will be provided and decision reached as to which plan we will implement.
Steve expressed concern about sending the Member Directory via e-mail because he does not currently know how to update it. He stated that he does not want a person to have to download the document. Jim indicated that they would not need to download it per se, but could simply look at it. On the other hand, they could download it and save it to a file and then when the following month’s update arrives they can save it to the same file thus replacing the previous month’s issue.
Q: If we decide to go with the Password approach, will the password be generic or will it be applicable to the individual?
A: Not able to answer that question now, as that is still under study. There are variations that could be accomplished. The individual password is much more complicated and we do not currently have anyone in the Branch capable of making that happen. A single password is much easier and solves 99% of the concern over privacy.
Q: Will we inform the members how to print the newsletter only in Black & White?
A: Yes. That instruction piece has already been written and will be provided to our members.
Q: Will we also inform the members how to print out a single or multiple pages rather than the entire newsletter?
A: Yes.
Q: Can we make a separate copy of the Ladies Day Luncheon application form for December and provide to our members?
A: Yes, Rich could make a copy of the application form and provide to Jeff and he could send out as an e-mail.
It became clear during the course of the discussion there was a consensus of thinking that the motion needed to be amended relative to the need to continue to send out an e-mail notice for the indefinite future to our members having computer capability that would announce the availability of the new issue of the newsletter and there would be a hyper link that would allow direct access to the Branch website. That “friendly” amendment was accepted by Jim and thus the motion would be changed from “I move that the Branch Executive Committee approve the Implementation Plan, as written . . . “, to as amended. Bob Lyman seconded the amended motion.
At this point, the vote was called for on the amended motion and it was unanimously approved.
Before moving on to the next subject, Director Vince Rettew referenced a copy of a note he had read from former Big Sir Don Nunn to Jim Burk in which he commended the work of the committee and the recommendations made. Vince wanted to reflect a similar expression of appreciation on behalf of the BEC and to have it reflected in the minutes of the meeting.
(2) Shortened Annual Survey (Jack Calloway)
Dennis asked Jack if the Survey recently drafted was still going to be sent out to the members. Jack indicated that he would like to have the survey completed at the November luncheon during a specific time set aside to do so as the participation of as many members as possible is important. Further, it was recommended that Dennis read aloud each of the 10 questions and allow time for the members to complete their answers to the questions posed. Accordingly, pencils will be placed on the tables at the November luncheon.
LITTLE SIR’S REPORT (see attached report)
Little Sir Pete Gates indicated our speaker for October will be Dr. Charlie Bamforth, Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis. Charlie is known to some as the “Doctor of Beer” and has been involved in beer for over 30 years. The title of his talk is “Beer-the Best PROOF that God Love us.”
For November we will focus on Veterans with a three part program. First, the Invocation will be broadened to honor all vets, those who gave their lives and those still missing in action.
The Song Sir will perform a selection of numbers including a medley of the Armed Services theme songs.
Sir Lyn Freeman will give a presentation about “Korea . . . Sixty years Later” based partially upon his recent trip there.
In December we will have the Ygnacio Valley High School Madrigal Singers perform. We, to this point, have not addressed the honorarium that we would provide. Last year we paid a professional group $350, and the year before a similar youth group $300. Dennis indicated that around $300 would seem to be appropriate.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Secretary Jim Burk had nothing further to report.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Ron de Golia had previously distributed both the “Treasurer’s Report – September 2010” and the September 2010 “Branch 146 Form 28 “Monthly Cash Report” to the BEC via e-mail (see attached reports). His report shows that the Branch had $4,860.00 in receipts for the month and expenditures of $5,501.59, or a Net Loss of $641.59. The end of month balance for September, however, is $10,458.98.
Luncheon Unexcused Absences
Ron noted that we had collected to date $24 from 6 members for a total of $144.
2010/2011 Voluntary Annual Donation
Treasurer de Golia indicated that the status of the Voluntary Annual Donations received as of 9/30/10 shows 234 members contributing or 93.98%. That leaves 15 members in the non-contributing column. Ron referenced that personal contact with those not yet contributing continues to produce the best results. Pete Gates indicated that he will continue to place emphasis on these contributions in 2011 and hopes to improve even further on the results. He also mentioned that he will have discussion with the State to determine if the “voluntary” emphasis is still the correct and approved concept. [Note: Following the luncheon there was an increase in donations received and the results now show 241 members contributing or 96.40%.]
Treasurer Coverage in November
Ron, who will be travelling, is giving the Branch checkbook to Joe Fuchs and he may be contacted if there are expenses or reimbursements that need to be paid.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership – Chair Steve Sprague’s report for October 14 (see attached report) seeks BEC approval of membership for Vern Bendsen sponsored by George Knies; Edward Marlovits sponsored by Steve Sprague; and Gary McGrath sponsored by George Knies.
[Note: Inadvertently, the vote was not asked for during the meeting but a follow-up e-mail request for approval resulted in unanimous approval for membership.]
In addition, Joe Deas has resigned from our inactive roster and the number is therefore reduced to six members. After the above changes, our total active membership count will increase by three to 254 members, which includes our six HLMs.
Form 27 –Monthly Branch Membership Report – Steve’s report for October shows we will gain 3 members. On a year-to-date basis, the report shows that we have brought in 22 members, but unfortunately have lost 23. The luncheon attendance last month was 70% which is our goal for each month (see attached report).
Dennis highlighted the fact that the 254 members to date compares with 255 at the end of December, 2010. We have fallen behind our objectives for guests and new members so we need to work hard for the last two luncheon meetings (October and November) to bring in as many guests as possible.
Recruitment and Retention – Chair Jack Calloway stated that unfortunately he is aware of some other resignations that may be coming in the next two months before the end of the year. He mentioned that he is reminded that we need to agree on what the cutoff date is for the end of the year reports. Is it November because that is the last regular meeting of the year in which to induct new members, or is it the end of the calendar year as members may resign through 12/31? Dennis will revisit the minutes from last year when this point previously was discussed and determine the answer to that question.
The Sponsor honor roll program with corresponding honorariums is in place. We are doing well with our program goal fulfillment, but not meeting all of the quantitative goals. Most branches are doing well, while at least one is struggling. One branch is growing to the point that they may need to split their branch.
Activities Coordinator – Chair Steve Dawkins reported that he will personally chair the Ladies Day luncheon in December.
Attendance/Luncheon – Chair Bob Lyman reported an estimated count for the luncheon would be 189. He reported that out of 251 members, 70 were excused; and there would be three (3) inductees; four (4) guests and visitors; and one (1) speaker (see attached report). He has guaranteed 172 to Boundary Oak.
Bob pointed out that he has reviewed the list of members missing more than 5 meetings and we have a number of people with whom we need to follow up. Dennis will pursue this matter further with Bob and determine an appropriate course of action.
The question was raised as to what the cost will be for the Ladies Day luncheon this year. Last year the cost was $30 which was designed to cover the additional expense of entertainment and table decorations. Dennis suggested that we plan to add a minimum of $2 to the luncheon price and that we will take a formal vote at the November BEC meeting when the Chairs have more details available.
Travel – Chair Bob Spellman had nothing to report. However, Dennis Hallett sought approval for the Monterey Mashers golf event which he will chair in Monterey on March 27 thru March 30, 2011. The estimated cost per person is $580 (see attached Form 53).
MSP
Dinner/Dance – Chair Vince Rettew reported that the Dinner-Dance on October 6, 2010 was very successful and that 86 people attended. The restaurant did a very nice job and we were afforded very economical prices on individual drinks and bottles of wine. All in all it was a very good event. Pete announced that Vince has very graciously agreed to chair the dances again in 2011. We will attempt to find an assistant for Vince in 2011 and hopefully that person will chair the event in 2012.
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Dennis referenced that Dave Obera is away celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary, the actual date of which will be on our November luncheon meeting and he plans to recognize this milestone on that occasion..
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by Big Sir Hallett at 10:56 a.m. The next meeting of the BEC is scheduled for November 11, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. in the Lakeview Room at the Clubhouse at Boundary Oak.
Jim Burk, Secretary
Attachments:
(7) Branch Travel Form 53
-Monterey Mashers golf outing March 27 to 30, 2011 (Dennis Hallett)