Oregon Poetry Association Board Minutes
August 15, 2018, via SKYPE
(members participating: Lisa, Lynn, Diane, Charles, Erik, Bruce, Stella, Shirley)
President’s Report:
*Tiel & Amy(Katy?) are experiencing list-serve problems with contest. Tiel, Katy, and Dale meeting in Portland August 25; Tiel, Shirley, and Charles meeting in Eugene August 26. Troubleshooting, training, involved.
*Verseweavers has been mailed and is being delivered, #21 & #22. Lisa will write the post office in Portland that our name change from OSPA to OPA should have no bearing upon our non-profit standing with the Post Office.
*Lynn & Shirley in October will begin working on necessary forms for incorporation.
*Lisa indicated the need for a Cascadia co-chair to replace Tiel; Lisa will continue as co-chair. Tiel will proofread for another issue.
*Board elections: Are there any prospects for board members? Alan Contreras will be asked about being a member-at-large.
*Lisa will invite contest winners to read at the September conference, drawn from Verseweavers #21 & #22 and the Spring 2018 contest.
Treasurer’s Report:
*Lynn reported that some bequest money might be invested; Rivermark Credit Union returns 2% interest on 6mo CDs, perhaps for account holders only.
*There’s no record of paying postage for Verseweavers at Admail. Lynn will check with Eleanor Berry, who may have donated the postage.
*Adult contests show 10 submissions and a low $36 in fees. All channels will be used to promulgate contests, early-bird registrations, and conference program: e-mail, newsletter, FaceBook.
*Lynn continues to apply for grant money for Cascadia.
*Lynn will send the link for logging volunteer hours, the hour totals helpful in grant applications.
Membership Report:
*Diane has logged $2000 in conference registration, $36 in contest fees.
*To date membership fees are at $4802, above last year’s $4161at this date, with $337 in donations.
*Charles reported current members at 288, 10% above last year at this time.
*Diane plans a membership table for the conference offering free bookmarks and selling Versweavers and $10book bags.
Motion Passed: Diane is authorized to order 100 bags for $390, to sell for $10 each.
Motion passed: To purchase a new banner, ca. $70.
Motion passed: To sell past Verseweavers for $10 and the current issue for $15.
* While working within limitations, Charles explained that changes had been made to our Submittable page: a non-member can become a member at the same time as entering contests and thus receive the member discount. If the new fee categories are accepted at the General Membership meeting, Charles can simplify even more. Shirley will bring up at the Aug 26 meeting with Tiel and Charles her questions about the contest link to Submittable.
*Charles will print simple membership forms for the conference.
*The new membership form will be worked on after the conference, possibly with new fees.
Newsletter:
*Bruce will use e-mail and the newsletter to promulgate both contests and conference.
*For the newsletter, Bruce needs your item by the 25th of the month.
OPCC Report:
*Poets, Amy Miller and Andrew Gonzalez, are selected to be part of the Knight Library reading, September 28. Joy and Erik will introduce them
Joy and Erik will write copy for use by The Register-Guard and Eugene Weekly, previewing the activities at Knight Library and the OPA Conference.
Conference Planning:
*Shirley reported that 26 early registrations could help pay for the $1178 payment soon due to the Valley River Inn.
*Shirley, working on conferences and events, has arranged room use to save money on AV set up and, while unhappy about coffee prices, Shirley said we could bring in a celebratory cake as long as we ordered coffee service on Saturday night. Lisa will help Shirley to determine the amount of coffee needed for the conference.
*All program materials are being gathered, and Shirley will send them to Dale to design the program, which includes the keynote’s bio and sponsors. The program will be printed in Springfield/Eugene.
*Lanyard nametags will not only be legible, but helpful in identifying who has registered for program after the public keynote.
*Shirley, Erik, Charles, Bruce, and Lynn will work at the book table. Books must be logged in, and prices shown on a front-cover sticker. The room will be locked during most of the sessions.
*Oregon Humanities has sent photos of Stafford and Woody, and Erik will see to their being printed and framed like the set of previous Laureates.
*For the annual report, Lisa requested that individual Board members send her (and Cc Lynn) by August 31 brief summaries of their areas of activity: Lisa (overview), finances (Lynn), membership (Diane & Charles), Cascadia (Lisa), newsletter (Bruce), OPC (Joy & Erik), Design/on-line work (Dale). Lynn will develop a PowerPoint to guide the presentation at the membership meeting. The key is brevity.
Next Board Meeting by SKYPE:
Wednesday, September, 12, 1-4pm.