Potomac Division Board Meeting Minutes

September 22, 2012

 

The Potomac Division Board of Directors meeting was called to order by Marshall Abrams at 12 PM, September 22 at Marshall’s home.  Members present were Marshall Abrams, Bill Day, Clint Hyde, Tom Brodrick, and Andrew Dodge.  A quorum was present and an agenda approved.

 MER C & P 2013 Convention, October 10-13, 2013

            Room Usage:

            The board reviewed the room usage at the hotel and made preliminary decisions which spaces would be set aside for the module layouts, modeling contest area, and clinic rooms.  The Remington Rooms I and II would be open for the various module groups, Remington III for the larger clinics.  The White Elephant, auction, and door prize display areas would be in one room, and the contest models would be displayed in the Warhol Room because of its center doors.  The hands-on clinics would be held in the Whistler Room in order to keep the active modeling work as isolated as possible.  Security issues were reviewed, and it appeared that the hotel systems would be adequate.  The question of projectors and screens were discussed and would be reviewed to ensure everything is in order prior to the convention.

            Convention Advertising:

            Marty McGuirk and Bill Day will promote the Rockville convention at the upcoming convention in Suffolk, VA, with Bill manning a desk with literature and fliers while Marty will give a Power Point presentation.  The board reviewed in great depth the methods of getting the message out to the modeling community concerning the programs that will be available during the October 2013 convention.  Color fliers and business cards will be printed and distributed, a monthly newsletter reviewing different aspects of the convention will be presented, three page notices will be placed in the “Local,” other divisions will be contacted, and the board will work to have notices placed in the calendar of events in various modeling publications.  Marty and Bill will also work to place photos and story lines about the various layouts that will be open during the convention. 

            Budget:

            The board reviewed the budget in some detail and made several decisions concerning the projected cost of signage, postage, door prizes, and security.  The board adopted the proposal of eliminating the registration fees for spouses and children in an effort to promote the hobby to other family members.  $200 was approved as the budget for postage, and a final agreement was made on the name badge issue.

 Marshall announced that he will produce a budget as soon as Bill obtains printing estimates and circulate the budget for an email ballot by the Local Convention Committee (LCC).  There is not enough lead time to produce a registration form at this time, but he plans to have one finalized by January.

            Other General Convention Topics:

            Because of cost and the simplicity of today’s technology, the board agreed that all communications for the convention will be done via email.  P.J. Mattson, MER VP with cognizance over conventions contacted Marshall to meet at Suffolk.  Marshall will not be at Suffolk, so Bill will meet with PJ.  Clint and Bill are both going to communicate with PJ before Suffolk. P. J. is also the registrar; Bill will inform him that we will be printing one-page flyers and business cards for insertion in the registration envelopes.  We do not have sufficient information to generate a registration form at this time.

             The Door Prize program is an MER responsibility, but the LCC typically solicits the prizes. The LCC is seeking someone to perform this function. Clint and Marshall will contact possible persons.

 Potomac Division’s Website:

            The board reviewed the proposal of having a calendar of upcoming division programs be placed on the website in order to help members set time aside for division events.  Tom Brodrick volunteered to assemble the information for the calendar. It was agreed that the calendar would be made accessible directly from the home page. Subsequent discussion has identified Google Calendar as supporting plain text and download capabilities, both of which are desirable.  We are looking for someone who uses Google Calendar to help implementation. Other issues of the website were discussed, but since concrete suggestions were not put forward, additional actions were not recommended.  One of the suggestions included having a counter on the web in order to see what most interested the members.  Marshall informed the board that a counter would cause the division to incur a cost for such a service, and the Board decided not to change its policy keeping a cost-free website.

             The board was informed that Mike White wished to resign his position as webmaster.  Marshall is looking for a volunteer to assume Mike’s job.

 White Flag Extras and the Seminar Programs:

            Bill Day and Andrew Dodge discussed these programs and if they should be reorganized in order to achieve better attendance.  Since the seminar program is so new, the board decided that the two leaders should work together to improve interest and broaden the base of presentations. 

 Next Board Meeting: 

Marty had previously volunteered to host the next meeting.  Dates were identified, which Marshall will work out with Marty. 

 Board Member’s Reports

Paymaster:  Mike reported:

Assets of $3718.34 at the beginning of the period. 

Checks not posted amount to $4.

Balance to date is $3722.34.

Computer Clerk/Webmaster:  Mike reported: 

He wished to resign his duties and for the board to find a new clerk.

Layout Tours:  Brian reported:  

There were no layout tours in August.

The September layout tour was at John Glaab's house.

There is no layout tour planned for October.

November 10 layout tour at Dan Vandermaus' layout in Ellicott City, MD.

December 8 layout tour at Paul Dolkos' layout in Alexandria, VA.

January 5, 2013, layout tour at Howard Zane’s layout in Columbia, MD.

White Flag Extras:  Bill reported:

On Saturday, November 17, 2012, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm clinics will be held at George Mason Library, 7701 Little River Turnpike, Arlington, Virginia 22003-5975 (703/256-3800)  Reserve with Bill Day, billday22@verizon.net, 703/406-4112 or Walk In

Clinicians and Topics are: 

John Drye, “Weathering”

Marty McGuirk, “Modeling the October Scene: Trees”

On Sunday, January 20, 2013, at 10:00 am and 2 pm clinics on Easy Animation will be held at 101 Sinegar Place, Potomac Falls, Virginia 20165.  Reserve with Bill Day, billday22@verizon.net or 703/406-4112

White Flag Seminar:  Andrew reported:

On Saturday, October 6, 2012, at 10 am he will hold a program on preparing a live steam engine for operations,  16260 Batchellors Forest Road, Olney, MD, 301-774-7753 or orocity@hotmail.com

 

            Clerk:  Andrew reported no new issues.

            Andrew reported that his layout open house on Saturday, July 7th drew approximately 50 people.

 

            AP Program:  Brian reported that there were no updates at this time.