Board Minutes March 18, 2019

Oregon Poetry Association Board Minutes of March 18, 2019        

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

Minutes: Minutes of February 11 approved.

Treasurer’s Report: The report as submitted is accepted and corrected to show the total for anticipated income in March-April as $974.64. Lynn has sent “Thank you” letters to donors. One OPA member trying to contribute and receive a match from her employer has raised a question about our current non-profit filing.

Membership: Charles reports membership at 261, slightly higher than this time last year. Some members who have paid current dues have received more than one dues notice. Apparently there is overlap with lists of those with dues to pay. For the next membership chair, Charles intends to clean up the member list, removing names of people who have received renewal notices in 2016 and 2017 and have not paid dues.

Outreach:

            Hood River: Diane with help from Leah Stenson and The Columbia Center for the Arts is organizing a full day of activities, including writing, film, and invitations to join OPA, with bookmarks and book bags. The date is not currently set. Diane is also investigating a program called Writing around the Gorge.

            La Grande: Amelia Ettinger has begun a reading series at the Art Center East. The Board voted to send the program $200, as budgeted for one of three outreach areas, and Erik will stay in touch to see how the program attracts youth and others not usually involved as presenters and auditors.

            Klamath Falls: Jennifer has heard from Emily Strauss that the local library will host on April 7 a spoken word event involving six local poets. Jennifer will try to attend.

            Eugene/Springfield: Shirley has been going to local readings to meet people and represent OPA.

Newsletter: Bruce summarized his work: Portland’s dominating the newsletter reflects the fact of Portland’s huge poetry activity. AWP in March has too many spin-off readings to include in the newsletter. The 25th of each month does not draw many results, though Springfield, Salem, and Silverton have provided news regularly. Bruce wants more news or inquiries sent his way, so he can direct that material to the newsletter, Board members, and Board committees. Bruce plans to write an article for the OPA website about how to start a local poetry group, with reference to Facebook. The newsletter includes a piece about Strophes.

OPA Facebook Group: Dale reports not much traffic here, though there is a 60% of newsletters opened.

Conference: Shirley has been in contact with Eleanor Berry about a two-day workshop on the same dates as the OPA Conference. The workshop scheduling may be changed. Shirley has Eleanor’s list of Salem cultural sites, a basis for a walking tour to fit the conference scheduling. Marc Janssen’s Salem Poetry Project and The Peregrine Writers are possible helpers for the September conference. Diane suggested having half-sheet fliers about the conference for use at spring and summer events. Dale said she can design it once she receives the flier content.

            Shirley will send materials she has about possible keynoters to Board members to start the selection process. Suggestions for the keynoter are still welcome.

            In order to save time, Shirley prefers not to have a Board meeting or retreat to evaluate the conference proposals, but will make the proposals available by e-mail with an evaluation sheet.

Verseweavers: On Submittable the Verseweavers price will be $15, reflecting $12 for purchase and $3 for shipping. That price is for 2016, 2017, 2018. Copies of earlier issues can be given away as promotions. We should be archiving two copies of each issue.

Recruiting Board Members: With Alan not interested in a Board position and Erik exiting before his term is over, there are four openings to fill, as there were in Portland in 2016. Erik suggested every Board member becoming active in recruiting, using lists of Conference keynoters and presenters and the most recent volunteer lists, as one starting place. Also, people active in writing groups might wish to serve.

            Volunteer note: Danielle Strickland will be trained by Tiel to prepare Cascadia.

OPA Banta Award: Jennifer will see that the call for nominations and the nomination forms are widely distributed. A Selection Committee will present the Board with at least five ranked finalists. Jennifer will head the committee of two other OPA members recruited by Erik.

Oregon Poetry Collection Committee: Erik’s memo of March 13 meeting has been received. The committee debriefed the Knight Award contest and reading and discussed increasing use of the collection. The cataloguing may be up-to-date by year’s end.

Student Contest: The Awards Ceremony is April 20th at Willamalane Senior Center, with 100 expected. The event needs volunteers to obtain refreshments, bring cash awards, set-up, and staff a membership table. Lisa Baldwin is ready to continue in her contest managing role for 2020.

            On April 20, Jennifer’s 9-12 school will be well represented, with five winners and the school principal driving the bus from Grants Pass. Newspaper articles, office postings, and readings to the school board have been part of Jennifer’s students’ involvement with poetry

New Adult Contest Chair: Our Board member Stella will succeed Amy Miller as Contest Chair. OPA member Susan Morse has volunteered to help.

Review of Board Policies: Shirley asks Board members to review policies and suggest updates.

Board Retreat: A vision meeting, earlier than last year and not in conflict with NFSPS gathering in Santa Fe, June 23-26. Other June weekend days? Shirley wants to hear from Board members. The site will be Shirley’s home in Springfield.

Tabled: Fall Contest form and theme. Reponses to Tiel’s note about units.

Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, April 10. 5:30 by Skype

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top