January 2021 Board Notes

Date:

01/12/2021

Attendance:

Board Attended: Tristan Anderson, Ashley Rahn, David Vetrovec, Hotura Vo, John Itzin, Christina Kramer
Board Absent: Anthony Laberge, Kim Hofer
Observers: Troy Macdonald

Notes:

Meeting called to order 18:30

Agenda

  1. Recap off cycle board actions and votes

    • N/A

  2. Planned Discussions from scheduled visiting parties/ATC Partners

    • N/A

  3. Equipment Rental Requests

    • N/A

  4. Open Session (First 30 minutes)

    • With the cancellation of the convention is there any plans for funding the organization as a whole, whether through individual (crowd-funded?) or larger donations? 

      1. Anime Detour hasn’t officially stated about cancelling yet, though we know the information has spread. It would really help out programming if we kept it private within staff until it is announced. 

      2. The budget discussion we are having next month will help with this

      3. Every once in a while staff will feel like they weren’t brought in on it until the tail end of things. Going forward we may have to delay sharing information further as staff have been sharing sensitive information that was not intended to be shared. 

      4. Planning on trying to have a public announcement tomorrow. Please wait until the social media posts go up. 

    • Bylaw question: Regarding serving on the board and then have to take a gap term (2 year break) before being able to run again, Hotura believes we should remove the gap, and allow people to run regardless of time served. 

      1. Historically we added that in to make it seem like we aren’t trying to keep people from getting on the board. A break was decided to help make it easier for fresh blood to get in. 

      2. Looks like we need to look into rewriting this section for clarity in the bylaws for quorum percentage. 

      3. Partial term limits used to be in the bylaws, but it was not seen during the overhaul, so it might have gotten removed at some point?

      4. Hotura and Dave will work together on a proposal for removing the term limits. 

Coordinator Updates

  • Communities
  • Communications

  • SOS

  • Finance

    • Christina F worked with United to get a refund on one flight, the guests got future flight vouchers so there wil lbe no refunds for those

    • The Wells fargo merchant billed the annual compliance fee and the monthly fee, but will be closed out after that

    • Some Artist Alley refund checks were cashed in the last month (were written back in March/April)

    • Draft of Annual Form 990 - Board Members please review

  • Charities

    • Who does Dave contact with legal questions. Dave can email Charlie the questions but Tristan would appreciate being copied on the emails

    • Not planning on any charitable distribution this spring

    • Will work on drafting an email for communication this spring, please let the board know who they get sent to, and what the letter is. 

  • Anime Detour

    • Announced cancellation to staff, hoping to get an announcement out on social media channels tomorrow, followed by the website at Drews convenience.

    • Had a meeting with the Hyatt, finally heard back, they will waive the cancellation fee this year.  

      • Also did work on increasing contract length with this hotel. Will present board with contract so we can all look over it before it gets signs. 

    • We had not opened registration, so will just be dealing with the 2600 roll overs from last year

      • The default will be rollover, but anyone who asks for a refund will get one.

    • Had not opened an artist alley or exhibit all  so do not have to deal with refunds for that. 

    • Planning on financial discussion next month. 

    • Beginning to work with tech and other departments to plan digital event for this year. 

Updates on current Board projects

  1. Discussion: Board candidate qualifications.

    • Wanting to set qualifications for what we are looking for board members

      1. Right now just have to be in good standing an send a statement

        1. Many statements have not necessarily addressed the position that is actually being run for

      2. This is a big responsibility, and feels it should require a bit more of a procedure. 

        1. We should come up with a procedure and present it to the membership.

        2. Being someone’s friend is not a good qualification to be a candidate

        3. If they are not willing to interview or asking questions then they would not make a good candidate

        4. Each candidate should present a 5-10 minute video explaining why they want to be on the board, they should have a q & a

    • We have a situation/we have a procedure, don't want to gate keep the next groups

    •  With going digital, we just need to clarify more of what we are looking for. In the past we kind of did everything in person and it was much easier to know about the board candidates, but now with it being online we just need more information. 

    • Expectations are good. Mandating requirements from a board to a future candidate seems in bad form. Giving them a chance to give information I think is good. Requiring it though I feel is bad. But if they don't do it, then "Refused/didn't give statement/speech/etc" I feel is it's own bullet.

    • Do we want stronger requirements for department heads then we do for board members?

      1. This is an elected position, so the electorate would decide, vs an interview process for a department head. 

    •  There are not any legal ramifications as long as we do not prevent someone from running. People can choose to not answer questions etc. 

    • Discussion about getting feedback from the entire membership, vs staff, vs voting members and the logistics there of.  

Open Board Projects/Future Meeting discussions (sorted by due date):

Meeting Month <Caretaker(s)> - Example Project

  • February <Kim> - Deep dive into the financial situation 

  • March <John/Tristan> - Recording Board Meetings

  • March <Board> - Running for Candidacy/Annual Meeting Discussion

Meeting adjourned 20:00