CACTUS AND SUCCULENT SOCIETY OF SAN JOSE
Nov 16, 2013 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes


Attending: Bill Kurtz, Roger Lane, Kathi Cambiano, Joel Parker, Sonia Dyer, Loyd Monaco, Alex Morgan, Jaan Lepson, Peter Beiersdorfer

Called to order at 11AM.

New Business:
Discussion as how to get more membership participation: Plenty of people show up at the holiday function and nothing else. Plenty of people show up at the show on Friday night just to shop. Could we have something on the new member sign up asking what skills they could contribute or if they would be willing to serve on a committee? We could do something at the holiday function to get people to sign up for standing committees, so they get used to participating throughout the year. Refreshment committee needs to handle both the meetings and the show. All the committees need to be made clear what their duties are, and that if they can't make it they need to have a backup. We need to not wait until the meeting before the show to try signing up volunteers. We used to have a welcoming packet that we gave to new members including a roster, and if we had someone followup verbally we might be able to sign some new people up to be on committees.

Debrief of Show & Sale:
Roger – Did we talk up the sale in the 2 meetings prior to the show? We used to. There was a lack of member participation at the show. Is there a participation-requirement in the show for smalltime vendors? There didn't use to be, but per Peter it is now encouraged, but not required. Lack of boxes – some of the large vendors went out looking for boxes. Surprise that there were so few members even attending the show, much less participating. In general the sale and show itself went well.

Kathi – We should have the entry forms for people available before the show. Someone suggested keeping a supply of the forms at the previous show for hand out to vendors for use at the next show.

Peter - Surprise that there were no boxes. We had the usual number of vendors. They all know there is a penalty for non-participation. Plant Hotel needs to be organized – tags, signs.

Loyd – postpone discussion of plant hotel to next board meeting. We agree that the Plant Hotel sign needs to be bigger than 8 x 11.

New member forms tend to get lost. The current problem with paying for membership at the cash register is that it charges people tax. The software that should allow this to be overridden, but there's a bug. Peter prefers that people pay with a $20 bill at the Show area. Loyd suggests we have a bar code just for membership for people paying by credit card.

Peter – The imminent lack of lunch was a problem until Alex stepped in. Wes can't do the BBQ anymore, but has offered the use of his equipment to Loyd. We should let the membership know ahead of time that there will be a picnic on Sat and Sun, and that all club members are invited, not just those working the show & sale.

Kathi – encourage people to bring their own boxes on the postcard. Peter suggests using a “we're going green” approach.

SF club limits early shopping on Friday to those who actually volunteer.

Jaan – Few members showing up much less helping with staging, etc. Didn't put out a signup sheet this time. Needs more help setting up for the spring show as it's more complicated. Could use some help counting all the little dots at the fall shows. Generally the show had plenty of room and went well.

Alex – We need for the show and sale a broom and dustpan, and a swiffer to clean up spills.

Bill – We have Peterson all signed up for the first weekend in April.

Jaan – Can we have the potting demo out front – cuts down on door security and strong cross breezes. Kathy has a concern about lack of sun and no rain coverage out front.

Kathi – membership box contains envelopes that are intended to contain dues. She plans to clarify this in the instructions.

Peter – SF has a woman who keeps track of who volunteered and controls the giving out of show bucks. We need to have someone in charge of tracking shift changes.

Loyd – Gingris is a good guy, but difficult to get in touch with and doesn't show up at the board meeting before the shows. Questions come up during the show that have to be addressed and he isn't there or can't be reached. His duties - signage, ribbons for judges show, table cloths, signup sheets for the categories, distribute show bucks. All more critical for the spring show.

We should be able to run thru Roger's checklist in the board meeting or two before each show.

Roger – Reviewed the draft for the action item list he sent out. Various suggestions were made. Roger will send out an update.

Loyd – Re the 75/25 split, Roger will do some analysis to determine feasibility, and we'll discuss at a future board meeting. We can also consider increasing show-bucks to $20 for 4 hrs. We need to consider making charitable contributions such as to UC-Santa Cruz Arboretum.

We decided to adopt Peter's suggestion that dues be lowered to $15 (rather than $20) for an individual and $20 (rather than $25) for families. M/S/P. Effective Dec 1st. Sonia will send Sandy a heads up, and also Rich Kroll.

Adjourned at 2 PM.