February 2009

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Minutes from Special Board Meeting on February 12, 2009

Attendees

Bonnie Strittmatter, Jay Chu, Ron Wimer, Mary Cooperman, Jeremy Howard, Chris Gannon, Adrienne Williams, David Blansfield, Andrea Boissevain, Chuck Katter, Elizabeth Galle, Kathy Santarella.

60th Anniversary Party

The Board discussed the upcoming Anniversary Party and agreed to allocate $700 as a deposit for the auditorium at the Westport Women’s Club. Chuck and Ron have begun investigating caterers. The Board decided that current Seniors would be invited. The older Srs. can attend the event and the younger ones can help out (i.e. coat check). The budget is based on 100 people attending and the Board agreed to limit the budget to $7000 (not including Bob and Bill’s travel expenses.) Ron will look into getting donations and creating sponsorship levels, and Chuck and Jeanne will come up with a couple different scenarios (i.e. using Stews instead of a caterer) that might bring down the cost.

WRAT Recognition Night

Jeanne got a quote from Stews of $17.99 per person (based on 450 people.) She was confident she could get that price reduced for the youngest children (10/unders). She will have final quotes and a proposal by the next meeting. At that time the board will decide the price structure (probably a float fee).

Board Structure

  • Meet Coordinator: The Board debated whether we should create a new Meet Coordinator Board position and decided to include this position for the upcoming year. The Nominating Committee will actively seek a candidate for this job. This person will be a liaison between the board, the coaches and the specific meet managers. He or she will make sure budgets are adhered to, volunteers are in place and the meet runs smoothly. Ideally the Meet Coordinator and all the meet managers can work as a group, bouncing ideas off one another, getting help when needed etc. This should make for more effective meets.
  • Concession Chair: The Concession Chair will not be a board position but will be expected to take a more proactive role—buying food, helping with set-up, and taking care of the finances. There will also be a concession manager for each meet to man the tables, monitor the volunteers, etc. Ideally the Nominating Committee will be able to assign these positions early.
  • AG Reps: The Board agreed to keep the number of AG reps as is but to redefine the role of the reps for next year. One additional responsibility would be to have them act as new parent liaisons.
  • Fundraising Chair: The Board agreed to create a Fundraising Chair Board position. This person will help generate new fundraising ideas and can also oversee the citrus sale, goodie bags, the pancake breakfast and grocery coupons. He or she will be given a budget and must be fiscally responsible.
  • Photo Chair and Expo Chair: These will not be Board positions

Other Ideas

Jeremy presented a list of Board and yearly positions and made several recommendations. These included moving from a point system to an hourly system. He also thought that the coaches should assume the Pet-Wrat and USA Swimming responsibilities. Because this is such a big topic, the Board agreed to table this discussion until the next meeting when it could be considered more thoroughly.

P&E Meeting

The P&E Meeting is set for February 23rd. We are going to take a “focus group” approach to brainstorm various issues, i.e. volunteerism, communication, fundraising, etc. The Board can email any ideas to Chuck prior to the meeting.

The next Board meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 4.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Cooperman
Secretary