OPA BOARD MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2016
CONFERENCE EVALUATIONS: The conference format and setting were well received.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Conference attendance, receipts and expenses increased. The cost of hotel coffee was high. AV costs were unusually high because of the computer audio portion, which was priced separately and was used by just one workshop. About one-quarter of the conference budget comes from our general fund. OPA received over $500 in donations.
2017 CONFERENCE DATE: The board’s first choice is October 13, 14 and 15th. October 6, 7, and 8th will be second choice. We will use the University Hotel in Portland again. A motion was made and Shirley was named 2017 conference coordinator.
ADULT CONTEST: The adult contest has closed. We have dropped the reading of winning poems at the conference. OPA is a year behind with Verseweavers. 2014 contest winners were recognized by posting their poems during poetry month, 2015, on the web page. Neither 2015 nor 2016 winners have received any recognition. The board voted for a double issue of the next Verseweavers to include 2015 and 2016 winners.
STUDENT CONTEST GRANT: No progress has been made. The treasurer plans to submit applications to (Collins and Kinsman) who have previously funded the student contest. OPA will push the awards ceremony to a date later than April 2017.
BOARD POLICIES: The new OPA members read the policies and found no problems.
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS: The board discussed life memberships. Dick made a motion to award Linda Varsell-Smith a life membership. Motion passed. Lisa volunteered to write a draft of guidelines for awarding life memberships.
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSPARENCY: As a non-profit OPA minutes are public documents and should be accessible to membership. A motion was passed to begin publishing minutes on the OPA website once they are approved by the board. The President will submit approved minutes to the web page.
OPPORTUNITES FOR OPA BOARD MEMBERS OR NON BOARD MEMBERS: The board decided to leave the topic of volunteer coordinator for future discussion. OPA tithes and delivers a state report to NFSPS. There is a new NFSPS presenter data base. Lynn volunteered to be the NFSPS liaison for OPA. Joy volunteered to attend Oregon Poetry Collection Steering Committee meetings held in Eugene as an OPA representative.
OREGON CONVERSATION PROJECT TOPIC continued for future discussion.
NEXT MEETING OF OPA BOARD IS SET FOR DECEMBER 11, 1-4 PM. Meeting adjourned.