August 2013 Board Notes

Date:

08/12/2013

Attendance:

Board Attended: Lauren, Kim, Damarra, Michael, John, Brian, Andy
Board Absent: Rin
Observers: Gifford, Heather, Jayson Stob, Kale Ganann, Dave Vetrovec, Jo Thomsen, Sari Hagen, Kevin Ehrler, Brian Jonas, Charles Piehl

Notes:

open discussion [Heather]

â–º ATC ad in Fusion program?
$100/full page (vs. $50/half page), as before
deadline is end of September
vote passes with no objections; Damarra will edit ad text (to be sent by Sari) to reflect more of community fund


open discussion: revised Facilities Agreement between GPS and ATC [Charles]

separate clauses for main and matching grants
previous month's notes appear to be incorrect; main grants should be $18K/$14K/$10K
add clause in section 2 about deadline for matching grant to be paid out [Kim]
deadline is based on calendar year [Charles]
pending discussed changes, board is comfortable with Agreement


open discussion [Kale]

â–º would ATC like a free plug in Marley Was Dead radio ad (30-60 seconds)?
vote passes with no objections


Social Outreach Services [Heather]

question: will all ATC Events be required to be all-ages, or can there be 18+ gatherings based on location and/or content?
conditional upon event in question [Brian]
there are already 18+ panels at Detour [Lauren]
use good judgment; don't want to tie ATC to negative connotations of hentai, for example [John]
reiterate alcohol policy as it can't be supplied, or provided by members, but individuals can consume it [Lauren]

open picnics and NYE party to allow ATC Staff and volunteers
question: rebrand as ATC picnic? [John]
will retain Detour brand, for now [Heather]

three new members on SOS staff
~25 people at the successful first Kotatsu
place for Go Club in Eden Prairie recommended as a future location [John]
next one will probably start earlier, at 6:30 pm
opened account on Meetup.com, will try before deciding whether to put on budget


financials [Kim]

current account over $141K; >$15K in community fund
wrote check to Dave Chamberlain out of ATC account
will write check to GPS once revised Agreement is approved; prefer matching grant to be paid at the end of the calendar year
Detour registration currently over 580
scholarships will be paid out next fiscal year
received Pepsi refund


interview for next Detour chair [Jayson; his paraphrased answers in italics]

Plans and goals for Detour? [Mike]
build on established fundraising with improved communication, structure
can go into specifics for each department

How can you improve communication? [Lauren]
would have more one-on-ones with department heads

How would you fit this with your other obligations, time-wise? [John]
will try to get a regular 40-hours/week job

What would be the role of division heads? [Andy]
will push people to talk to division heads first

Do you have an opinion on what Gifford does wrong? [Dave]
Gifford is a bit too kind at times and lets things fall behind

Any ideas on how to deal with members as demographics start to climb into early 20s? [Brian]
examine marketing efforts
maintain family-friendliness
work with Security

Will you try to influence the programming, according to the changing demographics and fandoms involved? [Mike]
would not go for a drastic change, but may cater to select groups occasionally

How to deal with communication problems across different divisions? [John, Sari]
having meetings exclusively with department heads on a regular basis may lead to people feeling left out, but it's a future consideration on an occasional basis

Strengths and weaknesses, as far as dealing with the public? [Brian]
strength: calm in the face of stress
weakness: can get emotional at times

Haven't noticed leadership activity as a division head; how can you apply to convention as a whole? [Damarra]
using example of Ops, Gifford wanted to talk to Ops directly, bypassing division head
will make Detour sole working convention

How will you counter objection of perceived favoritism in promoting staff? [Lauren]
getting other people's opinions before making personnel decisions for a given department
will step up professionalism in meetings

How will you avoid a repeat of the Anton is Awesome/Megan is Magnificent badge issues? [Heather, Damarra]
apologized to people who expressed discomfort personally
will be more aware of how other people may feel about it

How do you feel about raising cap and/or prices? [Brian]
raising prices may not have much of an effect, b/c people will just register earlier
raising cap will raise concerns of losing the intimate feeling of Detour, and whether staff can handle increased capacity

Is the Detour chair something you really want? [John]
yes

Why did you accept offer to be considered for Detour chair? [Gifford]
because I feel ready for it

vote over e-mail, so Rin can have opportunity to voice opinions [Lauren]
would like decision made in two weeks [Gifford]


new attendance cap for Detour [Lauren]

question: remove Sponsors from cap limit? [Mike]
may lead to perceptions of money-gouging [Lauren, Heather]

will not count Staff against cap, but will still push staff to register before deadline to avoid latecomers who claim to be staff just to get a badge [Lauren, Gifford]
enforce department heads' estimate of staff sizes [Lauren]
should have estimates within two months [Heather]

would not raise cap beyond a few hundred, for same concerns Jayson addressed earlier [Damarra]
do not want hotel to feel as full as it was for CONvergence [Heather]
staff is not quite ready to handle a significant increase [Mike]

suggestion: a hybrid of small raises to cap and rates [Jayson]
would support attendance cap of 5,500, before counting staff [John]

vehement opposition to increasing cap significantly for 2014 [Gifford]
any cap increase would have to be at least two years in advance
working with Room Parties to limit alcohol-serving room parties; Room Parties and Security are not quite ready to handle attendance increase
to generate additional revenue, use reserve monies to start new convention?

need to consider possibility of burned-out staff leaving due to cap increase [Brian]
need to consider increased convention costs due to cap increase [Jo]

prefer to determine cap at first meeting of incoming board [Mike]
tabling discussion, but will ask Ops to include feedback question on how attendees feel about the size of Detour [Lauren]

â–º keep 2014 cap at 5,000 excluding staff
vote passes with no objections


new rates for Detour [Lauren]

question: have rates tied to filled percentage of cap? [Brian J.]
creates logistical problem [Lauren]

ramp-up rates are antiquidated for Detour, and it discourages younger attendees; prefers flat fee, while keeping at-the-door rates [Lauren]

would consider reducing amounts given to charity, rather than punishing attendees with increased rates [Heather]

supports $50 flat fee, but would not support discount for early registration [John]
early registration was intended to provide front-end funds, which is not a concern for Detour anymore [Sari]

keep discount for school groups to stay in line with ATC's mission [Lauren, Sari]

â–º 2015 rates of $50 flat fee/$100 at-the-door/$5 discount per person in qualified school groups
vote passes with no objections


old business

ATC banner is finished [Heather]
ATC Board announcements at next Detour staff meeting [Damarra]
no progress on inventories for separate departments [Gifford]
some discussion about anime equivalent of the Hugos [John, Mike]
will include 2011 amendment into bylaws [John, Andy]
weekend gaming event being in development [John]
rough draft of pamphlet coming along [Damarra]
have discussed with Shannon Townsend about ATC office sign [Lauren]


new business

update info about movies
would prefer posting to the front page directly, b/c posting to Facebook first bypasses front page [John]
confirm permission to use poster images to promote movie event on website [Sari]

for a given item voted on by e-mail, unofficial policy for proposer to contact non-voters by phone with decision within 24 hours after quorum has been reached
would also confirm e-mail vote results at the following Board meeting [John]

â–º specific details of contract negotiations will be redacted from notes before they're posted on website [John]
vote passes with no objections

want to investigate costs of ATC apparel, with no dates, with the intention of selling all of them [John]