Tellico Village Computer Users Club
October 14, 2008
Board Meeting
Meeting called to order by Jim Peterson at 3:05 P.M.
Board Members Present: Jim Peterson, Bob Mugge, Dick
Schmeling, Jan Schneck, Warren Sanders, Vince Alline and Karen Brown
Absent: Dean Miller and Joyce Knouse
Also in attendance: Frank Fritchman, Dennis Malcolm and
Bob Foster
Warren Sanders motioned to approve the minutes of the
September 9, 2008 Board Meeting; Vince Alline seconded. Board approved.
There
were no minutes taken at the October 7 General Meeting as the Secretary was
unable to attend.
OFFICER REPORTS
President, Jim Peterson
·
Announced that the slate of officers was presented to the Board at
a special Board Meeting just prior to the October 7 General Meeting. The Board
approved the nominees.
Vice President, Bob Mugge – No
report.
Secretary, Jan Schneck – No
report.
Treasurer, Dick Schmeling
·
Distributed the Treasurer’s Report for the month of September.
The Club received $30 in dues, and $0.35 of bank interest. There were no
expenses during the month. The Pass-Through Account took in $1,765 and expended
$792.08 for supplies, for a net inflow of $972.92 during the month. For the
year, the Pass-Through Account has received a total of $6,092.38 and used a
total of $4,245.13, leaving a balance of $1,847.25 in that account. The
Treasury’s ending bank balance for the month was $4,531.61 of which $1,847.25 is
designated for the Pass-Through Account.
·
Schmeling commented that on October 6, he sent out the Operating
Budget for 2009. So far he has heard of no changes.
·
Sanders asked if his TAP Committee should be estimating something
for the Pass-Through Account. Schmeling responded that any funds that come in
for that purpose are available to be used as needed, so there is no need to
budget for that Account. In that regard, added Schmeling, on receipt of a bill,
and with the approval of Sanders or Alline, he simply issues a check for the
expense, as long as it does not exceed the balance available. If the expense
were to go over the balance, of course, it would require Board approval.
Past President, Warren Sanders
·
Commented that the slate of officers presented to the Board last
week include Sharon Addison for President, Bob Foster and Dennis Malcolm for
Directors at Large. The Board had previously approved the slate of candidates,
followed by presentation of the slate to the General Meeting. Due to
circumstances beyond the Nominating Committee’s control, we do not have a Vice
Presidential candidate. Sanders volunteered to serve as Vice President for 3
months giving Addison about 6 months to find someone else of her own choosing.
The Board would like to get someone who would be willing to step up as President
the following year. Voting will occur at the November General Meeting.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership Committee
·
Bob Kutschera reported that the General Meeting drew 37 attendees,
including 3 guests.
·
There were 3 new memberships and 24 renewals plus 13 additional
members. $420 was delivered to Frank Fritchman who will deliver funds to the
Treasurer at the Board of Director’s meeting as Kutschera will not be there.
One party paid for both 2008 and 2009.
·
There were, once again, an inordinate number of e-mail bounce
backs, many of which were previously corrected by Ethel. We are bewildered as
to how they continue to bounce back, but will follow this issue until it is
resolved.
·
The Newsletter article asking for members to send Kutschera the
renewal dues is working very well. The sign-up desk was not under the typical
pressure we had experienced in the past when processing dues and new
memberships.
Program Committee
·
Bob Foster said that he had thanked Lou Miller again for his
presentation at the General Meeting. He was both funny and interesting.
·
Foster contacted Smart Computing and found that we have 6
free subscriptions left. He suggests we give away 3 subscriptions in November
and 3 in December. Our contact at Smart Computing is Jaime Link whose
e-mail address is
jaime-link@smartcomputing.com. Foster also has 2 surge protectors to give
away. One of those will be given away in each of the next 2 months also.
·
For November we have to have a pretty short meeting because it
will be on election night. In addition to the voting, we will possibly have a
discussion on Direct TV, Dish Network and Charter Cable.
·
Karen Brown reminded Bob that she needs a 20-day lead time to get
the Program information on Channel 3. That’s a 7-day advance notice plus 10
days to run the notice.
·
Foster checked the wireless at the Yacht Club and it was not
working. It has to be re-initialized.
·
Schmeling plans to give his Annual Report to the Board in January,
after the audit, and then present it to the February General Meeting.
Technology Access Program
Committee
·
Sanders announced that we have now given away 164 systems to
families having an aggregate of more than 300 children.
·
We have an opportunity for a new venture into community outreach.
All high school seniors have to do a major project. Calvin Johnson wants to
build a computer from scratch. He needs a mentor for that. Frank Fritchman
will ask for one in the next Newsletter.
·
Vince Alline mentioned that we have new certification as a
Microsoft Refurbisher which allows us to purchase software at a substantial
discount for the organization (not for members). The license comes with a lot
of strings and paperwork. Peterson said we also can get very good deals through
Tech Soup, an on-line shop for tax-exempt organizations.
·
Sanders said we were last told we could stay in the work house
until the end of December. The Community Church, in order to get the loan
needed, has to have $1 million on hand. Their funds are now at $509,000. There
will be a meeting in January to decide whether or not to proceed. Sanders will
continue talking to the Board of Trustees.
·
Sanders devised a letter with an attached pledge sheet and asked
the Board to try to get friends and neighbors to donate for the TAP Program.
·
Karen Brown motioned that the Club itself pledge $50 per month to
the TAP Program. Jan Schneck seconded. Board approved.
First Level Support Committee
·
Dennis Malcolm said he had only a couple of calls last month.
·
Peterson mentioned several anti-spam programs that work well:
Spam Buster, Spyware Blaster and Zone Alarm.
Computer Education Committee
·
Bob Mugge reminded the Board that he has been very busy with the
United Way. He soon will plan the Open House Workshop for people to ask
questions and get familiar with the room, equipment, etc.
Special Interest Groups Committee
·
In Don Stieghan’s absence, Peterson merely mentioned that he is in
the Photography SIG and that SIG has had no expenses.
OLD BUSINESS
Candidates – Communication, First
Level Support and Program Committees have no chairs for next year at this time.
Sanders stated that Sharon Addison is fully aware of this situation. He has
also asked Bob Foster and Dennis Malcolm to delay their resignation as chairs
for 2-3 months allowing some time to fill these slots. Foster said he will ask
his Program Committee if one of them will take over as Chairperson.
Operations Manual – Karen Brown
reminded everybody to look over the Operations Manual so she can finish it up.
The Computer Education Committee, in particular, has no entry at all.
General Meeting – The November
meeting is a must because of the required election of Board members. Since it
falls on the National Election night, we need to publicize that (1) we need a
quorum for the vote which means 10% of memberships or at least 25 people and (2)
we will certainly keep the meeting as brief as possible.
Scanner – Peterson said the
scanner is now in the hands of Howard Jones and Victor de Groote. They will
determine by the end of this year whether to fix it or not.
Commemorative Plaque – Sanders
motioned to authorize Jan Schneck to acquire a plaque at a reasonable cost using
Karen Brown’s wording as forwarded in her e-mail dated 9/10/2008. Mugge
seconded. Board approved.
ACTION ITEMS – REMINDERS:
Karen Brown to contact Trahan
with copies of Sanders’ solicitation letter to get something in his
paper as soon as possible.
Bob Mugge to determine when to
hold the Open House/Workshop and to prepare an announcement for the next General
Meeting.
Jim Peterson to find out how
much a new scanner will cost and report back to the Board.
Karen Brown to ask Patty
Robichaud if we can put up a plaque in the classroom. If approved, Jan Schneck
is to purchase such a plaque at a reasonable price.
All Board members to further
edit and/or approve the Operations Manual with any comments or suggestions to
Karen Brown by October 25.
MEETING ADJOURNED 4:45 P.M.
NEXT GENERAL MEETING NOVEMBER 4,
2008 @ 7:00 P.M. AT YACHT CLUB
NEXT BOARD MEETING NOVEMBER 11,
2008 @ 3:00 P.M. AT CHOTA REC CENTER
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