Minutes of the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) Board Meeting of March 9, 2021

Minutes of the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) Board Meeting of March 9, 2021

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm via Zoom.

Present: Jennifer Rood (President, Historian), Sue Fagalde Lick (Vice-President), Dan Liberthson
(Secretary), Rana Tahir (Treasurer), Susan Morse (Assistant Secretary, Fall Adult Poetry Contest Chair), Lorna Rose Hahn (Membership Co-Chair, Outreach Chair)

Not Present: Dave Mehler (Membership Co-chair), Dale Champlin (Newsletter and Verseweavers
Editor), Rayn Roberts (At-Large)

I. Jennifer called the meeting to order at 7:10.
II. Approval of Minutes
A motion by Sue to accept the February 23, 2021 board meeting minutes was seconded by Rana and approved unanimously by voice vote.
III. Officer Reports
A) President’s Report (Jennifer Rood)

1. Jennifer queried Lisa Story, who is redesigning the website, at to the progress of the new design. The website is functional.
2. Jennifer noted that the next National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) newsletter, Strophes, will be out in April, and that someone might want to submit an article on the craft of poetry. She asked for volunteers to take over writing the quarterly update of OPA activities for Strophes.
3. The NFSPS poetry contests are in progress, but as yet there has been no response from them as to why they have not paid last year’s Manningham award money.
4. As discussed last meeting, Jennifer plans an Oregon Poet Laureate display for National Poetry Month at the Grants Pass High School.
5. Readings: It was decided last meeting to hold Verseweavers readings in March, Pandemic 2020 Anthology readings in April, and workshops in May. After discussion, the readings were scheduled as noted under Old Business (section V).
6. Workshops: Rana and Lorna will reach out to poetry communities to see who is available to offer a 1-hour Zoom workshop for a $100 honorarium (amount suggested by Jennifer). OPA will advertise, organize, and host. Suggested cost is $10 (paid through Wild Apricot) for members, and possibly more for nonmembers (to be discussed).

B) Vice-President (Sue Lick)

No report

C) Secretary (Dan)

No report

D) Treasurer’s Report (Rana Tahir)

1. Past/Completed Business: A Zoom license has been purchased. A Treasurer email was created: [email protected]. An OPA Amazon account was created.

2. Ongoing Business: Past treasurer files and data are being consolidated into one master sheet. A new OPA Treasurer’s handbook is being written and compiled. The Wild Apricot free trial is underway. The first year’s bill has been paid. The site is not functional yet but will be soon. Some renewal dates on Wild Apricot are not working. Importing corrected data should solve this problem. We will manually update for members who pay by check. The membership renewal date has been pushed from March 15 to April 1 to permit timely dissemination of information about how to renew with Wild Apricot. Dave will continue to send out postcard reminders.

3. Current Budget:

 

Current Total Funds: $39,179.99

IV. Committee Reports

A) Membership (Dave Mehler)

No report

B) Contests (Susan Morse)

Enrollment for the Verseweavers contests totals 36, which is very low (last year we had 130 entries at this time), so postponing the deadline was discussed. Susan will contact the judges to make sure they can accommodate an extension. Susan moved to postpone the deadline to March 31 if the judges are OK with that. Dan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

C) Verseweavers, Pandemic 2020 Anthology, Newsletter (Dale Champlin)

No report

D) Social media (Lorna Rose Hahn)

OPA has 959 followers on Facebook and 25 on Twitter. Facebook is better for getting traffic to events. Any event notices should be sent to Lorna.

V. Old Business

A. The Verseweavers readings were scheduled for March 23 and 25 from 7 to 8:30 pm. Rana proposed 15 readers for each session with open-mic sessions limited to one poem per reader. Jennifer will host the readings and Sue and Rana will co-host and help with chat and logistics. Dale and Lorna will take care of advertising in the newsletter, on the website, and via social media. Jennifer and Sue will contact OPA members about reading at these events.

B. Dates for the April Pandemic 2020 Anthology readings were discussed, with an eye to avoiding conflicts with Easter Week, the Salem Poetry Project Zoom reading on April 8 (at which a 30-minute reading time for Pandemic 2020 Anthology featured readers is reserved, plus open mic), and a Head for the Hills reading on March 30. Jennifer and Susan will contact Salem area OPA members about reading on April 8, and all anthology contributors about participating in the scheduled Pandemic 2020 Anthology readings. The readings will be entitled “Pandemic Favorites” and will be organized by region. Each poet will read one poem. Dale and Lorna will do promotion via the newsletter, social media, and the OPA website.

Tuesday, April 13, Lorna co-hosting
Thursday, April 15, Sue co-hosting
Tuesday, April 20, Rana co-hosting
Thursday, April 22, Rana co-hosting
Thursday, April 29, Rana co-hosting

C. May workshops: Susan proposed doing a workshop for older people not comfortable with Zoom or Submittable, perhaps called “Digital 101.” Sue or Rana might present, as they are technically savvy. The focus would be how to use Zoom, and it could be advertised in the newsletter. After discussion, it was decided that this concept would be more effective at a live meeting in the Fall. Rana said we have budgeted enough funds to pay the May workshop presenters the $100 honorarium, suggested by Jennifer. Presenters could be members or special guests. The workshops (dates to be determined) would be 1 hour long and cost $10 for OPA members and possibly more for nonmembers (Wild Apricot would be used to determine membership status). Lorna offered to reach out to Washington State members.

VI. New Business

None

VII. Announcements

The next board meeting will be April 6, at 7 pm.

VIII. Adjournment.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 pm.

Minutes recorded and prepared by Dan Liberthson, Secretary

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