Region VI Board of
Directors Meeting Minutes
National
Association for Interpretation
October
2-3, 2006
Present:
Jay
Schneider, Treasurer
Neil
Laura
Motley, Awards Chair
Amy
Stephens, Scholarship Chair
Pam
Tooley, Newsletter Editor
Absent:
Dana
Hoisington, Secretary
Dave
John
Miller,
Tara
Tucker,
Lisa
Cole, Newsletter Editor
(Minutes
recorded by Deputy Director
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The
Board
members in attendance were:
For an
icebreaker and orientation, board members wrote two little known facts about
themselves and the board tried to identify the owner of each fact. Next the group was challenged to put the
individual words in the goal of NAI in the correct order.
Agenda
items for the two day meeting were as follows:
Board Terms
It was
voted by the membership in
Amy Stevens
moved that we elect the Director and Treasurer in even years and the Deputy and
Secretary in odd years. Pam Tooley seconded.
This would
mean the current Director and Treasurer will serve 2006-2009, the current
Deputy and Secretary will serve 2006-2008.
It has also been decided by the national board that officers at the
regional level may serve 3 two-year terms.
The motion
passed.
NIW 2007 –
RIW 2008 –
When – End
of February or first part of March.
Chairs are Neil
Garrison and Laura Motley. Amy Stephens has also been active on the committee
and they have volunteers from state parks, the Tulsa Zoo, and
Future Sites of the RIW (regional
interpreters workshop)
2009 – LA
2010 – MO
2011 – AR
Awards 2007
It needed
to be decided how we would award them without a 2007 RIW.
Options
presented included:
Due to the
smaller regional attendance and lack of time at an NIW the board decided to go
with a second ceremony at the 2008 RIW in
Board
members were reminded and encouraged to nominate at least one person for an
award. There was no limit set on how
many nominations you can submit. The
awards committee position from
The group
broke for lunch and a hike along the Lover’s Leap Trail, led by Park
Interpreter Brad Holleman.
Strategic Planning
After lunch
the board gathered again for some work on the region’s strategic plan (see
attached for final working draft):
We began by
brainstorming our beliefs of NAI:
We believe
NAI is….
-
diverse
agencies/people
-
a
network with mentors
-
a
sense of belonging
-
sharing
passion
-
a
clearinghouse for information
-
communication
-
professional
development
-
leadership
skills
Next we
listed the services that Region VI provides that accomplish those beliefs:
-
Regional
workshops
-
VIsions – writing and networking
-
Awards
– pat on back
-
Scholarships,
grants
-
Networking
– people, contacts
-
Website
-
Email
listserv
-
Committees
and officer opportunities
-
Camaraderie
-
University
member contacts
-
Representation
on the national board
-
State
representation in the larger organization
-
Financial
aid to workshops
We then
created a list of ideas on how we could improve or expand these services to
better meet the goals of NAI:
- increase communication – web, online newsletter
- more “movers and shakers” – just ask them, button hole
them
- formal mentor program
- use VIsions (special
issue) to show benefits of membership
- need regional promotional tool--door to door, handout,
testimonial
- member photo, bios, agency affiliation
- site guide with skills available
- state presence – Interp members list how? Membership
chair?
- welcome letter, state coordinators, site directors
- perks,
discounts/exchanges “mini meets” calendar of events link, annual trips
- agency support
needed – show members value beyond workplace paying
- discontinue
listserv and adopt a Region VI area on national’s web forum
- assistance to
expand participation at national and international levels – scholarships?
- strategically
placed free memberships
- discounted
certification workshop fees (scholarships) – build extra money into the
workshop fee to fund a drawing for a certification registration.
The remainder of the day was spent clustering these ideas
and condensing them into priority areas with specific action plans for each.
See attached for a final working draft.
The board recessed for the day at 6 p.m. with plans to
reconvene the following morning.
The continuation
of this board meeting began at 8 a.m. in the meeting room of Queen Wilhelmina
State Park Lodge. All of the same board
members were present as the day prior.
Financial Report
Board
members discussed the history of our Janus Mutual Fund, with most information
provided by Pam Tooley. It was originally developed as a scholarship endowment. All excess money from scholarship auction was
placed in fund. Interest from Janus fund
was supposed to fund scholarships for members.
Auction money is supposed to be added to Janus Fund.
Treasurer
Jay Schneider presented the budget report. He first noted that our spring 2006
workshop in
Jay further
noted that our income comes from the following areas:
- Janus has earned $3000 interest over the last several
years
- Whispers in the Wind
CDs are still for sale at $10 each
- “Bendies” (leftover gifts from the 2005 workshop) are
still for sale at $5 each
The board
discussed new income ideas:
- “So What” t-shirts similar to Arkansas State Parks
successful design
- logo ball caps
- There was some discussion about whether we should choose
an interpretive resource type item or just a logoed
promotional item
- state gift baskets for raffle at NIW booth – coordinated
by state coordinators.
Jay
presented a report of income and expenses over the last few years and committed
to compile a line item budget recommendation for the region soon.
Pam moved
and Amy seconded that we take the regional booth to both to NIW in
The motion
passed.
Scholarships
Chair Amy
Stephens reported that in 2007, due to the lack of a regional workshop and us
hosting the national workshop instead, we will award one graduate and one undergraduate
academic scholarship. This was voted on by the membership at the 2006 business
meeting in
Timeline:
Advertise –
now through professors and winter VIsions
Deadline –
Early Spring
Notify –
Mid Spring
Winners
will receive $700 check by mail immediately and other money only if they travel
to
Misc business
Pioneer Exhibit:
The region
needs to check with Development Director Julie Buderus in the national office
to see if we have paid for our section of the new “Pioneers” exhibit yet. Installment options are available; we just
need to set it up.
Next meeting:
Our next
meeting will be held via conference call this spring, with the absence of our
usual workshop site meeting. Date will be set by consensus within a few months.
The
following meeting will be held in person in fall 2007 in Oklahoma Cit. Specific
date to be set later.
Don moved
we adjourn, Jay seconded, meeting was adjourned at 11 a.m.