October 12, 2020, Board Minutes

Minutes of the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) Board Meeting of October 12, 2020

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

Present: Bruce Parker (President, Historian), Diane Corson (Membership Co-Chair, Outreach Chair), Jennifer Rood (Vice-President), Carolyn Adams (Treasurer), Dave Mehler (Membership Co-chair), Dale Champlin (Newsletter and Verseweavers Editor), Dan Liberthson (Secretary), Stella Guillory (Adult Contest Chair), Susan Morse (Assistant Secretary, Fall Adult Poetry Contest Chair), and new board members Rana Tahir, Lorna Rose Hahn, and Sue Fagalde Lick

Not Present: Rayn Roberts, new board member

Call to Order

President Bruce Parker called meeting to order at 7:05 pm.

II. Approval of September 14 Minutes

Acceptance of the September 14 Board Meeting minutes was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved.

III. Introductions of New and Retiring Board Members and Discussion of New Member Roles.
Carolyn, Bruce, Stella, and Dale are leaving the Board, so a new Vice President and Treasurer were needed. Rana Tahir, Lorna Rose Hahn, Sue Fagalde Lick, and Rayn Roberts are joining the Board.

Jennifer accepted the nomination for President and was elected to that position unanimously. She also volunteered to be the OPA historian.

Dan Liberthson was nominated for Secretary, accepted, and the nomination was unanimously approved.

Sue Lick was nominated for VP, accepted, and was unanimous approved.

Rana Tahir was nominated Treasurer, accepted, and was unanimously approved.

Carolyn described the Treasurer’s job and discussed the transfer of the position to Rana. Jennifer pointed out that the VP can design his or her own projects. Hers was largely taking care of the Banta award. Jennifer clarified length of service: Rana accepted a 2-year term as Treasurer; all other newly elected officers will have 3-year terms.

Lorna indicated she has experience in social media and could take on that role. One goal would be to increase membership diversity. Responding to Lorna’s query, Dave indicated that the membership database is currently on Google Drive.

Dale proposed sending the newsletter to lapsed members to encourage them to rejoin, and Jennifer suggested taking that up at the next board meeting as an Old Business agenda item. Dave mentioned that OPA membership is now 316 members, with 60 mostly new members joining this Fall. He would like to discuss adjusting the renewal period at a future meeting.

Susan Morse voiced concerns about the use of Submittable for contest entry, as it requires individual contact with every contest entrant. Susan will check into a more efficient way to use Submittable.

Sue Lick volunteered to be liaison to the Oregon Poetry Collection at the University of Oregon Library.

Dale brought up the issue of reviving the Cascadia student contest, which was dropped this year due to the Covid19 situation. She mentioned that Lorna, who has school-aged children, might be a good fit for this role.

IV. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm. The next Board meeting will be on-line on November 10 at 6:30 pm.

Minutes written up from notes by Dan Liberthson, OPA Secretary

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