December Board Planning Session Minutes 12/15/2005

Attendees: Paul Prentiss, Mike Malec, Al Permut, Bob Bush, Mark Riley, Tom Finley, Bill Leuchten, Paul Prentiss, Dave Clark, Roger Svendsen, John Frontczak, Mike Fellows.

Note: Paul Prentiss sent a detailed agenda prior to the meeting and this was used as the basis for discussion over the course of the evening.  The italic discussion is the attempt of this Secretary to capture the essence of what was discussed and decided upon during the meeting.  We began the meeting by quickly discussing each agenda item to determine if any discussion was really needed.  Two of the items were agreed upon immediately. 

1.  Timing of all Special Events will be decided in a planning session - 6 months or more in advance.
           
Pros:

  1. It wouldn't seem overly difficult to pick out the dates for three or four fishing trips the Chapter sponsors each year, BFC Boulder Canyon park cleanup dates, and so on.
  2. We already have a calendar of events but we don't bother using it
  3. I would do quality not quantity and planning ahead is always better. I'm only aware of one trip last year.

Cons:

  1. In the February 2005 edition of the newsletter, we had an article with the dates of every project throughout 2005.  The comment from some members that they didn't know about project dates means that they are not reading the newsletter, or at least not every article in every issue. I would also point out that the date for the Statewide stream cleanup was changed at least 3 times that I know of by CTU from the February newsletter publishing until the event. The date published in Feb. was actually wrong.

Discussion: All agreed with the knowledge that some events can be added during the year with an exception to the 6 month rule, but those should be minimized. Vote: Moved by Dave, 2nd Bill  Passed - Unanimous

2.  Chapter Awards - September rather than June

Pros:

  1. This was a travesty in 2005 - almost no news stories, no pictures, no written designation of what the award stands for, limited attendance and no interest.
  2. We ought to consider something other than a plaque - we may not even have a write up on what these awards are suppose to represent.
  3. What about combining #s 1 and 3 into appreciation events or some other sort of recognition. And do it on an ad hoc basis, so we're not forced to have an ill attended event. Announce the awards in the newsletter.

Cons:

  1. Cons: designating/scheduling ahead of time forces us to have awards. Don't these awards go to the same 10-20 people? Maybe get rid of the explicit awards and give volunteer awards and the reason.

Comment: I'm not aware of the history of these 5 awards but these should not be awarded if for some reason the criteria of the award have not been met. Just awarding it because we have to is not a good reason. Maybe we won't have a conservationist of the year for '06 and we need to be OK with that. Awards should not be given if there is not a clear reason.

Discussion: Vote: Dave moved, Bob 2nd Passed  - Unanimous

3.  Is the BFC emphasis in the right place?  Education has played a prominent role in chapter activities in recent years. Should this area above all others deserve the most support financially and otherwise.

How To:

  1. Again, from a personal viewpoint, this is the area that least interests me.
  2. In general: I think BFC should be about 4 things in respective order of priority: conservation; education (not just education of our members on fly tying, but education for the purpose of supporting long term conservation); community connection (general community, not just the BFC community); fun. Any of our activities should tie back to those four things. Should we have a discussion on those 4 things? Too painful?
  3. Education as a prominent role in chapter: I assume this means education of the chapter members; what about kids?; the community as a whole? Education on conservation?
  4. Local conservation of our home waters would be my preference for chapter emphasis (I think that's mostly what we do now)
  5. The chapter should be part of a greater good to our community. That's what makes me want to be involved.

Comment: Education: Does this just mean getting younger folks fly fishing? I question this objective as a main focus.
Discussion:  Comments focused on item 2. Above, which was authored by Mark Riley. We are currently a social fishing club for the most part. Tom - members don’t communicate what they want in BFC. 700 of the 800 members are really silent members and we don’t know what would get them to be active. Bob said the Cutthroat chapter has the same participation we do, with 1500 members.  They are just as frustrated as we are. Paul - the current active members probably are not active due to their interest in conservation… They are probably more interested in the social aspects. Al - perhaps a 10 or 15 minute item in each meeting focused on conservation, and the balance of the program focused on fishing related topics could be a successful plan. Bob said he and Paul joined the Board to increase attendance in meetings. It was agreed that our primary mission is conservation. Our ability to fund this work may by key. We may not ever be able to staff the projects we initiate. Paul moved we adopt these objectives in the order stated as the mission of the club.  Some discussion took place to clarify “education” ..  it is not how to tie flies, it is youth education and conservation education. Dave - expansion …. Community education, community  outreach, and promote the love of fishing. It was agreed that our focus in the future will be on:

4.  Initiate an Annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet in combination with a special program

Pros:

  1. The banquet can be as simple as a designated board member taking one or more members out to dinner and giving them a certificate.
  2. These folks need to be recognized meaning pictures and a story in Reel News.
  3. What about combining #s 1 and 3 into appreciation events or some other sort of recognition. And do it on an ad hoc basis, so we're not forced to have an ill attended event. Announce the awards in the newsletter.
  4. Taking them out to dinner or giving them a gift would be appropriate. I don't know what kind of numbers we're talking.

Cons:

  1. This is a bit of chicken versus the egg.  Do we recognize the small number of volunteers we currently have?  If we wait until we have more volunteers, how do we get more volunteers? In 2005, every project got a write up in the newsletter with volunteer names and some articles had photos. I did not get photos at every event.

Discussion: Paul - Collegiate Peaks chapter has a banquet for volunteers and it is a very sought after event by the members. It was suggested we pay for "winners" to have their fee paid to the CTU auction. The Board selects those that should be recognized. The annual recognition event is TBD.  Mike Malec moved and Bob 2nd. Unanimous. We will have a recognition event of a type and a time TBD. 

5.  Replace or limit print editions of the newsletter. Following appropriate notification Reel News to be released as an electronic newsletter - email & available online.

Pros:

  1. A multi-color electronic version of Reel News that is delivered directly (via email), readable on line, or down loadable to any PC or Mac using basic browser software would cost the chapter less than $15.00 per month or $180 per year vs. $9,000 per year.
  2. Creating and integrating the content into an electronic version would be twice as fast as a printed version.
  3. The production labor would be less than half of what it is today.
  4. We can create live links to supplemental materials this would include getting feedback on issues.
  5. Developing electronic meeting alerts will no longer be necessary since this material will already be available for distribution - will save the chapter $100 per year.
  6. Tracking exactly how many newsletters are opened and which articles viewed read is available.
  7. It encourages the membership to keep their email addresses current.
  8. We can send Reel News out in a more timely fashion without fear of delivery problems.
  9. I get other online newsletters and I read them.
  10. Having listed these cons I (point 2 below) don't necessarily agree with all of them and I think we should move forward with this suggestion. The savings are significant and it's so much easier to implement. I'd rather use the money we raise on conservation, education, community outreach, etc. Another suggestion: should the newsletter be monthly? Is that where we want people's time being spent? Maybe every other month? Maybe 8 times/yr and off for the summer like American Angler.
  11. Perhaps the biggest single value for me is that eliminating hardcopy completely removes the space issue - the newsletter can be as long or as short as we wish to make it.

Cons:

  1. I think this will alienate many members.  If my real estate office is any indication of the technology skills of the older generation, many newsletters will go completely unread due to the lack of tech skills or desire. We currently have very few valid email addresses versus the total membership count.
  2. Fewer people will read it; email often equals junk mail and we won't be effectively getting our message out; might further disconnect people from the chapter (although apparently, that would be hard to do).

Comment: I would like to see us have a tag line that gives a snapshot of what we are about. i.e., "BFC, Dedicated to.....?
The table of contents such as:

Discussion: Paul - we have about 400 email addresses (about ½ of our mailing list). The newsletter costs approx. $900/month to mail and we publish it 10 months per year. Al proposed we first go to bi-monthly newsletters - hard copy, and bimonthly soft copy for the first year. Others thought we need to convert to electronic distribution completely and do it right. Bill (at Front Range Anglers) gets 50% readership of the Front Range newsletter on the first day of distribution and 60% readership after one week. The feeling is that the vast majority of our members have PC’s. Bill said 87% of his customers obtain info electronically. Question: If some of our members stop reading the newsletter, what is the impact on the chapter? Answer: Probably not a major impact. Paul Bob - One upside - no future space problem…. We can publish all the information we obtain. Formatting becomes far easier and color is free. We will gain $9000/Yr. for other work… Bill moved we adopt an electronic newsletter and suspend the hard copy. The money saved is to be spent recognizing the two primary focal points of the chapter i.e. conservation and conservation focused education…. Mike 2nd. Bob alerted us that the March newsletter is the auction edition. Discussed either a 3 or 4 month transition. It was agreed that 3 months was good…January, February, and March, 2006. Al …. Friendly amendment. A system will be implemented to track readership of the newsletter and reported to the board twice per year. Mike will compile the statistics and make the report. Vote: Passed - Unanimous

6. The Board will identify one (and only one) overriding project or activity that it is willing to pursue in any given year.

Pros:

  1. One project (conservation, educational, or ?) that the membership and the entire board is committed to would be far better than an assortment of projects that one or two people may be interested in. We end up with such projects because one or two individuals are willing to take on the load. These aren’t Chapter projects, they're individual projects.
  2. When you collect money or products for the BFC what do you tell the donor the funds will be used for? Wouldn’t it be nice to say for every dollar collected 20% goes to operations and 80% goes to the following projects?
  3. Let’s just see if we can get one project to work properly. This activity could appear every month in Reel News with a simple accounting of dollars and manpower.
  4. I think we could certainly having a single umbrella project with multiple activities underneath it; but I think I need to hear some examples of what we mean by "projects" in order to express a more informed decision.
  5. Yes, one or 2 larger worthwhile projects per year that everybody is behind.

Cons:

  1. Nothing seems to get done in this club unless there is a strong advocate for the activity. Without that strong advocate, it won’t matter whether we have one project/activity or twelve. Without feedback fro the general membership, how will we know what one project/event will be supported? I would hate to see us put all of our time and energy into one thing and then have no one show up.
  2. Could reduce participation because people like having their own thing to do.

Discussion: Paul explained we would have one clearly defined primary project. Others are possible, but this single project would be reported on and tracked carefully. John suggested it be called our “flagship project” The project needs a formal Project Manager. Tasks like stream clean-ups will be on-going activities …. Not “the flagship project”. Mike reminded the group that our previously stated focus was Middle Boulder Creek. There will be a focus on the creek through town. Dave moved that we focus on one major conservation flagship project with a project manager/advocate for 2006. Mark 2nd. Unanimous. The specific project definition will be a focus of a near term Board meeting.

7. Re-thinking the 22 Club - perhaps the activity (Flagship Project) above can be used as the focal point for the donation.

Pros:

  1. Why not turn this club into underwriting a specific activity - create a grant that local schools could apply for or ?
  2. I can't think of any cons to this. I think we should do this. We need to advertise its existence and what the funds are going to. Maybe even do a fund drive or mailing for it just like TU does and it's expand the income contribution for this.
  3. I think we should emphasize the 22 club more. The people who pay extra to the chapter should be the ones we particularly focus on and be accountable to in regards to how we spend the $ and our activities.
  4. If we do a mailing, it should be similar to CTU asking for money for a project. Did you see Pat Dorsey’s?

Cons:
Discussion: Paul - Should we ask for $$ with a stated purpose. Tom suggested the “Hooked on a Cure” effort at St. Judes in Tenn. would be a candidate. A general discussion of the 22 Club history took place. It was very successful the first year, but not as successful in 2005 due to a late start and the fact that we disconnected it from the auction. Motion by Tom: BFC will re-target the funds from the 22 club for a specific effort and continue the effort. 2nd - Dave Unanimous

8. Looking beyond the Annual Auction for chapter funding. How about a retreat - 2 days a unique facility for a maximum of 20 people at $600 a head or?
.
Pros:

  1. What would happen if the annual auction only raised $5000?
  2. We do not take advantage of fund raising activities that present themselves at every monthly meeting, on the web site, etc. At the very least we ought to be doing something about this.

Cons:

  1. I think this is a great idea, except that it is adding another level of work that needs to be accomplished. Who will be the advocate for this event? Will we end up making more money or just splitting the total amount we receive into multiple chunks?
  2. If we aren't confident of the other fund raising activities or they are not as successful our programs, etc would have to be reduced; might be perceived as small potatoes, so why bother; seems like this is a big project in and of itself -- would this be "the" project? I need to better understand the retreat idea to express any opinion on it.

Comment: Could a survey be taken to identify what members are passionate about and if they would be interested in a $600 per head affair? Or should we just try and squeeze $20 out of many.

Discussion: The thought is to do something in the future, not necessarily in 2006. Bill mentioned another approach to have several smaller events. General conclusion - we need to be looking for opportunities, but nothing formal was proposed. We will work to mitigate our risks of the auction such as announcing a “bad weather” back-up date.

9. To what extent should the NFFC play into BFC plans - this project will probably be the number one fund raiser for CTU in 2006. June 1, 2, 3, & 4th, 2006.

Pros:

  1. I wish other BFC projects had half the enthusiasm and commitment that this activity generates. The chapter should use every opportunity to promote this program - doing so puts dollars directly into CTU’s conservation agenda.

Cons:

  1. I personally dislike the idea of fly fishing tournaments, as they don’t reflect my personal view of what fly fishing is about. I am not against the NFFC, but don’t know how big a role it should play in the BFC plans. If the general membership likes and supports the idea great, but we should probably find that out first before we throw the chapter behind the event.
  2. What would be our intent in getting involved and how does it mesh with our mission? What value add could we provide beyond what CTU is doing; "one" project?; I agree we should be involved since it's going to be in our own backyard -- we just need to work out how and what value add to the event and our chapter it would bring.

Discussion: Every chapter in the state is participating. It may be an extremely large fund raiser for CTU. Should BFC do something to be recognized / awareness. There was concern that we should not promote competition in the sport of fly fishing. General agreement was reached that we would not focus on competition, but would attempt to promote our chapter during the event. Bob and Paul will look for an opportunity.

10.  A potential change in Committee Chairs:

Programs
Clinics & Instruction
Fund Raising
Conservation & Advocacy
Finance (should be Treasurer, an executive position)
Membership
Media

There will be no Project Chair. All Projects and Events will flow from these seven chairs and approved by the Board. Each project must have a Director. If no one is willing to accept this responsibility, the project or activity will be shelved. Outstanding Director positions could include: Auction, BFC Fishing Trips, Web Maint. & Development, Youth Education.

Pros:

  1. It seems as though most members want a project chair but nobody wants to occupy the position - so we should keep it but not fill it?
  2. If the current Chairs don’t fit change them - all we need is to formulate a resolution and present it to the membership

“The bylaws of this chapter may be added to, amended, or repealed in whole or in part by a majority vote of its members in good standing at any regular or special meeting. Provided, however, that written notice of the intention to add to, amend, or repeal the bylaws, in whole or in part, be given each member of record at least thirty (30) days preceding such meeting of the members.”

Cons:

Discussion: The descriptions of these Chair positions are either not matched to current chapter positions or are undefined. One option is to remove all but the four executive positions. We do need job descriptions for the positions called out in the By-Laws. Each holder of a current chair position shall write a description of their position for circulation and finalization by the Board.
Motion by Mark to remove the non-executive positions from the By-Laws. - John 2nd. Mike will draft all the necessary changes to the By-Laws and circulate to the Board. Changes are to the audit committee, moving the election of Board members from November to October of each year, and official positions. Vote: Passed - Unanimous It is assumed that those holding executive positions on the board will begin writing their job descriptions soon.

11. The chapter and the Board of Directors need to be more approachable, more friendly and less of an insider's group, especially at general meetings.

Discussion: Many possibilities were discussed. Board members spending time with new people at meetings was agreed upon as a good approach. Going fishing with the new individuals was also a good thought. No formal plan was adopted. Board members should focus on this concern at all BFC functions.

12. Our projects and events should be easier to participate in and not terribly costly.

How To:

  1. 2005 projects were not costly to participate in. I think this is a good goal, but not sure that lack of project participation can be traced to ease or cost of participating.
  2. The Cutthroat Chapter does fishing days with chapter "experts". Could we do something like that?

Discussion: It was agreed that 2005 events were not expensive. The publication of events and dates well in advance would help in this area …. to get better participation. No formal action was defined.

Additional items not discussed:

  1. Might chapter meetings be better attended if they were held less frequently?
  2. Joint activities with other chapters? Particularly around fund raising and conservation?

Additional Note:
The general meeting will be on 1/11/06 due to the National Championship football game on the 1st Wed.

Motion to adjourn at 8:45. By Dave, 2nd by Mark. Passed unanimously

Respectfully Submitted:

Roger Svendsen

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