Board Minutes February 17, 2018

Oregon Poetry Association Board Meeting: February 17, 2018 12-3 PM Via SKYPE

 

Members participating: Lisa, Joy, Lynn, Bruce, Diane, Shirley, Stella, Charles, Erik (Dale absent, but sent material via Diane)

 

COMMUNICATIONS: The board president asked board members to route to her any communication prior to that information being sent to more than just board members, and that we strive to be error-free and accurate in all our written communications.

 

Adult contest entry reminders and member renewal emails are going out to members. Separate Gmail addresses have been created for conference business.             ([email protected]) and membership business             ([email protected].

The newsletter will in future be sent (via Constant Contact) from [email protected].

Board secretary and treasurer will keep a record of the Gmail account passwords. Discussion of this to be done by email. Board documents/policies are listed on the OPA website. These do not include job descriptions for board positions.

 

FINANCES: Verseweavers 2016 edition is being finished by Eleanor Berry and will be distributed by June 2018. Total coast for production and distribution of 2016 VW will be kept to $1000. Eleanor wants proofreading assistance and assistance with mail label printing. She will use the least expensive printing option. The new editor is Dale Champlin. Dale is currently working on the 2017 VW which will be distributed by September 1, 2018. Starting with the 2019 issue OPA’s distribution numbers will be reviewed.

 

The OPA treasurer will send out a financial overview prior to each board meeting. The treasurer is preparing a budget proposal for the board. OPA is tight on operational funds. The OPA treasurer reports she is in contact with attorneys regarding the bequest of a former member.

 

Adult Spring Contest has few entries. Communication has gone out by email and media sites to bring in more entries. Board members will encourage their contacts to submit.

 

The OPA treasurer needs a volunteer to review financial records to achieve best practice.

 

VOLUNTEER TRAINING: Three board members attended the Center for Nonprofit Stewardship conference and reported on what they learned, including the importance of a clear brand and the need to flex practices to reach other generations, the use of a quasi-endowment for large donations, and ways to enhance social media effectiveness in reaching potential members (example: hashtags)

 

MEMBERSHIP: Forty new or renewing memberships have come in since January 1, 2018 via Submittable. Ten by snail mail. Postcards are expensive to print and mail to remind members. Mailing numbers are around 350-380 names. Memberships expire on March 1, 2018. Discussion followed of cost and value of using postcards. For the present OPA will use email for renewal reminders. To date, one email on January 15, 2018 has gone out for renewal. Another email will go out on February 19. The list will be continually updated. In May a new 2018 OPA membership list with some redacted information will be sent to members. Stella will be collecting OPA snail mail while Diane is away on vacation in late spring.

 

BOOKMARKS: A board member volunteered to underwrite the costs of printing OPA bookmarks. Dale, although absent, had topics to consider for the bookmarks. A motion to approve the new OPA logo was made and passed. Discussion followed about utilizing both OPA information and snippets of poetry. The front side of the new bookmarks is in color and the reverse side is black and white. Including board members poetry was debated and a motion was passed to instead use other well-known poets. One member in dissent.

 

NEWSLETTER: February 25 is the newsletter deadline for this month. An article has been written about the North Bend “Coos” Poets Reading held on February 10. The editor will carry shorter articles in the newsletter and use a link to OPA website for longer articles. Topics to be included in upcoming newsletters include logo change, conference “save-the-date,” conference call for proposals (though that may be sent as separate Constant Contact emails) and the student contest award ceremony invitation. News about municipal poetry exhibits will be included in future editions.

 

CONFERENCE PLANS: A paragraph about the call for workshop proposals will be in the March newsletter. The call is on a March 15, April 15 and May 15 email schedule. Deadline is June 1.

 

STUDENT CONTEST: The winning poems will be sent this week to the Manningham contest and have already been sent to Tiel for production of 2018 Cascadia. The awards ceremony is set for April 28 at the Willamalane Bob Keefer Center in Springfield from 1-3 PM. RSVPs will help project numbers for catering. OPA targeted high schools this year. OPA doubled submissions. All corners of the state had submissions.

 

OPA Spring Workshop in Eugene: April 21, 2-4 PM at Tsunami Bookstore. The workshop will target new and varied voices and precede the third Saturday reading by featured and open mic poets. The local unit also is working for classroom outreach in schools.

OPA Workshops in Southern Oregon: The Rogue Valley OPA unit is planning a one-day “mini-conference” on May 12 at the Medford Library main branch. OPA members from the Applegate Poets Association will offer poetry writing workshops on March 24, June 23, September 22, and December 22, all to be held at the Josephine Community Library in Grants Pass.

OREGON POETRY COLLECTION: Two OPA board members will attend a February 21, 2018 meeting with University of Oregon library staff for current information on this important collection.

FUNDRAISING EFFORTS: The board discussed including sponsor ads in the conference program or in Verseweavers. The board president asked all board members to brainstorm fundraising ideas for OPA and to share these ideas during the March SKYPE meeting.

 

NEXT BOARD MEETING: Thursday, March 15 from 1-4 PM BY SKYPE.

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