Board Minutes April 24, 2018

OREGON POETRY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING by SKYPE 4/24/2018

participants: Lisa, Shirley, Lynn, Stella, Joy, Charles, Erik, Bruce and Diane

 

President’s Report: The last two issues of Verseweavers are ready for distribution. Eleanor edited the 2016 issue and Dale edited the 2017. We have the opportunity to mail both issues together. Distribution goes to OPA membership and winners of contests. Back copies will be placed in the Oregon Poetry Collection.

 

We have a new webmaster for OPA. Tiel will assist Dale as she transitions into this position. In the future Dale will do maintenance. Tiel will post content. Stella will involve herself in soliciting more volunteers

to help with social media projects.

 

Spring contest winners will be announced soon. The student contest award ceremony is Saturday, April 28. Lisa will bring monetary awards. Eugene/Springfield members will pick up commercial food and drinks and work to make the day memorable for the students and their families.

 

OPA’s request for proposals for conference workshops goes out regularly. A request will also go out on Constant Contact. We will review proposals at the June retreat and discuss other topics. Names for possible conference keynote speakers were circulated. A list will be drawn up at the May meeting.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Conference expenses will tighten the budget at the end of August, but the early bird registration deadline should help mitigate the problem. Whether to use Constant Contact or Mail Chimp was discussed. The board needs exact cost information.

 

The Knight Library/Oregon Poetry Collection/OPA undergraduate poetry contest funds are in hand. A check will be sent from OPA to the University Foundation in late June.

 

The treasurer is in contact with an attorney handling a bequest to OPA. Few details are available and the process is slow.

 

Membership: Diane and Charles have increased membership to approximately 258-60 members. New memberships are coming from personal contacts OPA is making. Stella will handle the PO box key and deposits during May and June while Diane is gone. Cascadia contest winners and their teachers have been offered one year of free OPA membership. Each membership, including complimentary, must have a paper trail. Using the OPA bookmarks has helped attract new members, as have local readings open only to OPA poets.

 

Newsletter: A suggestion was made to archive the online newsletters. Motion made and passed to use a six-month-lag-time before posting newsletters to archives on the OPA website. Newsletters are initially available only to members. April 25 is the deadline for the May newsletter. Reports from units should be sent to Bruce.

 

NFSPS: The National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ president has stepped down due to health problems. The VP will complete his term. No OPA board members plan to attend the NFSPS conference in Colorado.

 

Regional: On March 24 the Grants Pass regional OPA poetry workshop drew 24 people. This was the first of four workshops at Josephine Community Library. A closed Facebook group for sharing a poem-a-day for Poetry Month resulted. The Rogue Valley OPA group is putting on a May 12 mini-conference at the Medford Library. Erik and Charles hosted an OPA by-invitation-only workshop at Tsunami Books in Eugene on Saturday April 22. The two-hour workshop included 8 poets. Leaders also shared information about local poetry reading opportunities. The Eugene Burnin’ Down the Barnes reading series featured Joy and Shirley reading and Charles as host. The series also strives to feature young and alternative voices.

 

Oregon Poetry Collection: The OPC/Knight Library/OPA undergraduate poetry contest award will go to winners at a Friday night reception held at the Knight Library in conjunction with the OPA fall conference. The University will cater the event and Joy and Erik will arrange for a mix of other readers in addition to the undergraduate winners. OPA must provide two volunteers for the panel of judges. Lisa and Joy volunteered.

 

Conference Planning: A save-the-date notice will be placed in the OPA newsletter and other sites.

Because of registration forms, Submittable is difficult to use for conference registration. Winners of the OPA adult contest will be invited to read their poems at the conference. Contact will be made with various businesses for monetary sponsorship. These will be acknowledged in the conference brochure. Erik offered to lead a public poetry walk in downtown Eugene to view Ken Kesey’s statue, LTD bus station poetry locations etc. This would occur after the conference closes on Sunday.

 

Fundraising: Issues arise with use of Submittable for simultaneously submitting both membership fees and contest entry fees. Better information will be provided on the buttons for Submittable. This may also assist with encouraging more contributions. OPA will utilize a fundraising letter prior to the conference and fall contest. The OPA President will need to present to the membership at the fall conference any proposal to increase membership dues. The board must study the necessity of increasing OPA dues. Should OPA discontinue the senior membership? A review of this issue will take place at the June retreat.

 

Next Meeting: The next board meeting by SKYPE will be held May 15, Tuesday 1-4 PM.

 

 

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