CGS Board
Meeting Friday, May 2, 2008
Members Present:
The meeting was called to
order at 9:15.
Approval of Agenda: Dan Walsh moved to approve, Irene Naesse seconded it
Annual Conference:
Discussion of events for
Saturday, May 3: Preparation of rooms, computers, vendors, etc.
2009 Annual Conference: Jennifer
Helzer and Robert Voeks: Conference with
be in Santa Ynez the first weekend of May, 2009.
2010 Conference: Robert Voeks
proposed to host it at Cal State Fullerton
Election Results: Dick Eigenheer and Craig Davis:
Problems with elections
(online vs mailed in ballots) - further discussion in the future will be needed
to solve problems
A big thank you to all of the
outgoing board members Irene Naesse, Lisa Fischer, Dick Eigenheer, Robin Lyons
New board members announced
officially at the banquet on Saturday: Secretary: Sally Otton, Treasurer: Dan
Walsh, Other board members: Joy Adams, Peggy Hauselt, Jason Pittman, Maureen
Smith, Nicki Young
Board duties:
Jennifer Helzer
Treasurer’s Report: Dan Walsh
The treasurer’s report is
incredibly difficult during the annual meeting given that our biggest expenses
will not be incurred until the close of the meeting itself.
Current CGS operating balance
is approximately $30,000. The bulk of this is from conference
receipts/registrations up to April 29, 2008. Though a large sum, it is
important to note that the expenses at the 2007 Conference were over $20,000
and this does not separate out funds designated by registrants to be for
scholarships.
Totaling less than $500 at
this time, the vendor receipts are only a small part of these calculations and
vary greatly from year to year. This amount will increase by the time the
conference is over.
CGS holds two interest
bearing CDs, one solely representing funds for the Geosystems Award at $9,300
and the other representing the other awards plus and additional approximately
$5k of CGS general funds for a total of $32,000. With recent drops in interest
rates, the yield on these accounts has dropped and no longer covers the total
amount given in scholarships.
Dan Walsh anticipates that
after the conference the scholarship funds will experience a slight slip in
total value (awards exceed interest and donations) and no substantial change in
total general funds for the CGS itself (there could be a slight increase or
decrease).
Jennifer Helzer would like to
see a spreadsheet to show costs over time (from year to year)
Membership Report: Jennifer Helzer for John Aubert
As of April 1, 2008
membership stands at 329 (approx. 105 below Apr 1st average for
05-08)
Pre-registration for
Email sent by
Previous mailings costing
hundreds of dollars have netted more renewals (exact cost unknown).
If USPS is used for future
mailings to lapsed members, it should be more targeted (e.g. mail sent to
students lapsed 2+ years probably won’t net much)
Three ideas for reaching out
to lapsed members:
1. Send simple postcards
requesting renewal and/or announcing next meeting (much cheaper and easier to
send than envelopes and can be produced in-house)
2. Email
3. Offer an easier way to
renew (i.e. online)
October 8 may be a time to
review membership fees, or at least review life membership
Discussion/suggestions on how
to obtain more members: Robin Lyons suggested offering extra credit for
students who go to the conference
Discussion on the monitoring
of people entering the conference- distribution of food: Make sure there is
someone monitoring at the entrance
Robert Voeks suggested
setting a rate for the entire conference (i.e. 1 price for everything)
It was stated that an anonymous
donor paid for student presenters to go to the banquet.
Vendor Report:
Jim Wanket
Three have sent checks for
$525.
Four others committed but no
checks delivered.
USC committed on an ad but have
not paid for it- Jim Wanket will send them a bill
Discussion about non-profit
venders $75 (1/2 price rate)
Future policy: Board decision
needs to be made to allow host institution to sell items. Policy needs to be
clarified.
CG Editor’s Report: Jennifer Helzer for D. Freidel
Suggestions to encourage
people to send good papers.
Bulletin Editor’s Report: Jennifer Helzer for C. LoVetere
The bulletin looks
great! No further discussion.
Website Report:
Steve Graves
Number of visits: Clearly a
spike about a month before conference
Need to follow who is looking
at it, from where, how long are they looking at it, how many times they look at
it, etc.
Set up a google alert
Lisa Fischer suggested: Link
to jobs in geography
Steve Graves: Checked out
options to do a fully on-line registration- He can set it up with a pay pal
account
October Board Meeting
Will be at Mike Murphy’s
house
Some things to be discussed:
Student presenters not
registered for conference. What to do
about it.
Student award issues
Insurance
Meeting was adjourned at
10:25 pm