Board Minutes January 9, 2019

Oregon Poetry Association Board Minutes of January 9, 2019                              

Present:  Lynn, Allan, Jennifer, Shirley, Diane, Erik, Charles, Stella, Bruce, Dale.

Minutes: Minutes were approved with addition of notice for this Skype meeting, January 9, 2019.

Treasurer Report: No changes impacting the 2019 budget accepted last month. Discussion of using Submittable buttons to solicit donations beyond dues. Shirley will examine the new membership forms for provisions for donations. Carol Ann Ellis of Forest Grove has donated $250. Lynn thinks the Non-Profit Association of Oregon (NAO) might provide tips on improving bookkeeping. NFSPS membership check sent.

Committee Reports:

            Membership: Like that of Willamette Writers, OPA’s Submittable includes a box to click for guidelines for membership dues and deadlines.

            Charles expected the 200 postcards to be in the mail by February 15 reminding current and some past members to renew. Application for a non-profit mailing rate is in progress.

            Haste needed in posting the new membership form. Dale has the form in design stage; it will be reviewed by Diane and Shirley and sent to the Board.

            Shirley sent copies of Strophes to seven members without e-mail.

            Outreach: Diane has a contact in Hood River to help set up an OPA sponsored reading and membership drive. Both Diane and Stella are attending events in Vancouver, as part of Greater Portland, to make contacts and distribute bookmarks. They are not going forward with a library reading that would have required a $135 fee.

            Jennifer has contact with Jay Schroder of Central Medford High. He organizes the student programs in the Youth Arts Institute, which will feature poet Richard Blanco this summer. Discussion followed about OPA providing scholarship support and inquiring if Blanco would be available to keynote the fall conference. Jennifer will report back next month.

            Erik has gotten favorable responses from Sandy Mason, Newport, and Nancy Knowles and Amelia Ettinger, La Grande, to e-mails about collaboration. Erik will report back next month.

            The emissary “job description” was accepted, changing “encouraging cooperation” to “encouraging collaboration.” This description is meant to clarify the efforts of OPA members representing the Board in outreach efforts.

Newsletter: Bruce will include in an article for Strophes dates and deadlines for

the Fall Conference and the Fall Adult Poetry Contest.

Facebook Group: Discussion about limiting access to OPA members or being open to all; the latter is preferred as long the administrator drops anyone not abiding by the rules.

Spring Adult Poetry Contest: Amy Miller, Contest Chair, is selecting and confirming judges, then promoting the contest through a variety of websites. We will support this effort through the newsletter and Facebook. Deadline for entrants: March 1.

Since this is Amy’s last year as contest chair, Shirley will survey the volunteer list for a possible successor. Dale can coach the next chair about what she needs to work on Verseweavers.

Student Contest: Judging is underway, supervised by Lisa. Some submissions were not obtainable because of the lock box expiration. Diane will forward them to Lisa. The lockbox fee is now automatic. The student awards ceremony is April 20 at Willamalane Activity Center, Springfield.

Conference: Shirley has signed a contract with the Salem Convention Center, and Lynn will forward a $1895 check for rooms (half off as a non-profit!). Discussion about a keynote, preferably a woman. Shirley wants Board member suggestions with some links to websites, etc, ASAP. The review of applications for conference sessions might not require the entire Board and involve Pdf materials sent before any meeting. A variety of other conference items included having good name tags, a new book room form, preparation for registration with Diane making a list of registrants, considering a one-day rate of $40.

Old Business:

OPA Award: Jennifer presented the proposal for the OPA Award, which was approved by the Board with one member opposed. Jennifer and Erik will move ahead with the nomination form, postings of the award, and forming a committee of the Board to review nominations.

Volunteer Hours: Since tallying volunteer hours can be useful in some grant applications, Board members are asked to keep a record of their hours and send them at convenient intervals to Erik.

New Board Members: While only three will be needed to fill open seats, we can consider friends, conference presenters, and conference attendees. Special needs include treasurer/bookkeeper and web mastery.

Non-Profit Association of Oregon: There’s some difficulty contacting this organization. Shirley will e-mail them.

New Business:

            Bookmarks: More bookmarks are needed, whether in a printing of 500 or 1000, depending on cost savings.

            OPA Manual: Shirley proposes the Board develop a manual explaining our specific tasks for succeeding Boards: “How the job is done.” There are some descriptions on the OPA website under Reference Documents, but these are not the day-to-day doings and time-savers for a manual. Shirley would like Board members to send her contributions by the April meeting.

            New Adult Contest Chair: See above “Spring Poetry Contests.”

            [email protected]: Who is using this? Shirley will check in on this.

            Muller Donation: This donation can be used for any program or event for students/young poets.

            Virginia Corrie-Cozart Fund: A $500 amount left from the Bandon retreat weekend will be transferred from general to protected fund.

Next Meeting: Our next Board meeting by SKYPE, Monday, February 11, 5:30.

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