Aeros Booster Club Board Members Meeting - Revised
Monday, January 13, 2003
SRO - Northwest Mall; 7:00p.m. - 10:10p.m.
Board Members In Attendance: John Shaw, Al Whitney, Erika Kusjanovic, Julie Coulter, Ken Mire, Helen Brown, Ivan Kusjanovic, Melanie Ogren, John Peper, Stephanie Hayes, Carol Shaw, Fred Trask, Karen Wiley, Michelle Worley.
I. Motions
1. John Shaw made a motion to suspend the Legal Advisor Committee Chair since Anita was not able to fulfill the position. The motion was second by Melanie Ogren. The following items were discussed.
a. Will this committee chair be reinstated? Yes, once the position can be filled.
b. Has the booster club filed a tax return? No, but the booster club should be filing returns.
c. Is the booster club a non-profit organization? No. There have been attempts to do this, but the process has not been completed.
d. Does the club want to pursue establishing a non-profit status now regardless of cost? John Shaw is consulting his tax advisor. Board members would like to explore all possible alternatives.
e. Should the booster club operate under the Aeros Charities umbrella? The club would be subject to the by-laws of the Aeros Charities. This avenue is not recommended.
f. John Shaw suggested discussing the status under current business.
Motion to suspend the Legal Advisor Committee Chair was unanimously passed.
2. John Shaw made a motion to appoint Vicki Johnson as Community Relations Chair, Fred Trask as Membership Chair, and Patricia Gunning as Adult Social Activities Chair. (Wendy Westfaul could not fulfill the Adult Social Activities Chair position.) The motion was second by various board members. No discussion was had. The motion passed unanimously.
II. Officer/Committee Updates
1. Adult Social Activities – John Shaw stated that Patricia Gunning’s first event as chair is bowling at Dynamic Lanes on Saturday, January 25, 2003.
2. Community Relations – John Shaw stated that Vicki Johnson’s first event was the Christmas gift drive for Sheltering Arms that was completed in December 2002.
3. Secretary – Erika Kusjanovic asked if any corrections needed to be made to the minutes for the November 18, 2002, meeting. No corrections were stated. Al Whitney made a motion to accept the minutes. Stephanie Hayes seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
4. Banquet – Carol Shaw stated that 22 items had been donated, and 10 more commitments had been received. Some of the donated items are: a 2 night stay at the Marriott Riverwalk; 2 passes to Fiesta Texas; movie passes; James Avery bracelet; Golf items; 10 passes for paintball; dinner for 2 on Lake Conroe; signed hockey stick from Brendan Yarema and Rob Valicevic. James Domengeaux’s wife donated a box of hockey items. Carol is currently negotiating with a country club to get 8 rounds of golf, with carts, in exchange for an Aeros jersey signed by the entire team. Al Whitney stated that he had a contact that wanted to donate an Aeros flag. Carol will be making follow up calls to request other donations. Repulica will not donate the wine this year. Carol Shaw will call other local distributors for wine donations.
5. Board Member (John Peper) –
a. John stated that 20 people showed up to the first "Hockey In Depth" session. Most in attendance were booster club members. Dave Barr did a great job. Dave spoke to the crowd for a little over two hours. Al Whitney said he is trying to locate Matt Perrell (a referee) to speak at a future "Hockey In Depth" session.
b. John stated that the holiday cards for the team and front office staff did make it to the office on time.
6. Membership – Fred Trask made all the badges that were requested. Fred will check the membership list to see if any members have not received a badge. Fred will collect all applications at each home game and meeting. Badges for collected applications will be available at the next home game or meeting.
7. Board Member (Melanie Ogren) –
a. Barbara Pride needs different members to work the table at the home games because those members that do it often are getting burned out. Melanie proposed that board members work a shift to alleviate this problem. Ivan Kusjanovic had the table sign up sheets, and board members signed up for shifts. John Shaw said he could email open table shifts to all members. Barbara will need to provide John with those open shifts.
b. Melanie stated that last year the by-laws were distributed with the badges and pucks. She asked if there was a breakdown in this procedure this year. Julie stated that some members received them with their badges and pucks. Other members received their badges and pucks, and were referred to the web site for a copy of the by-laws. Copies are available at the booster club table.
c. Melanie stated that some items needed to be updated on the web site. The membership list is from last year. The by-laws are from 2000. Updating the by-laws on the web site needs to be done as soon as possible.
8. Treasurer –
a. Julie Coulter stated that, through January’s general meeting, expenses totaled $695.08. Expenses included scrapbook items, Christmas stocking supplies, Print Stop, and a $300.00 donation to the fund for Mark Major’s son. At the January general meeting, two family memberships were purchased, $150 was raised from the raffle, and $12 was raised from the sale of pucks and cases. Banquet sales so far has totaled $3190.00 (two tables sold at $750.00 each, 27 member tickets sold at $60.00 each, 1 non-member ticket sold for $70.00). Banquet tickets are being sold by the booster club and by Kids Unlimited. The current account balance is $8,629.12.
b. Julie will continue to give a detailed treasurer’s report at general meetings. Instead of providing financial reports on the web site, booster club members should be directed to Julie for a copy of the financial reports.
c. John Shaw asked Julie how much has been spent on the scrapbook to date. Approximately $150.00.
9. Newsletter - Karen Wiley said the January newsletter will be available on Saturday, January 17, 2003. John Shaw submitted two interviews. Erika Kusjanovic will submit a re-cap of the last general meeting. Fred Trask will submit a list of new members so they can be welcomed to the club. Ken Mire will submit pictures. Vicki Johnson submitted an article regarding the Sheltering Arms Christmas event. Melanie Ogren will submit an ad for the bowling event. Stephanie Hayes submitted an article on her trip to San Antonio. Karen Wiley submitted an article on her trip to Atlanta. Karen needs help gathering members’ birthdays for an announcement in the newsletter. Karen also needs help gathering “Where are they (former Aeros) now” information. Fred suggested the web site hockeydatabase.com for that information.
10. Board Member (Helen Brown) – Helen stated that the March 8, 2003, "Feed the Team" is canceled. Matt Shaw telephoned and said that day will be an optional practice since they will be playing 4 games in 5 days. Helen asked that this cancellation be placed on the web site. Helen proposed that either the club does not sponsor any more "Feed the Team" events this season, or the club can sponsor one with short notice during the playoffs. Board members expressed an interest in doing a Feed the Team with short notice. Board members stated that, between emails and a “telephone tree”, this is feasible.
11. Sergeant at Arms – Michelle Worley stated that, at the last general meeting, she was able to get email addresses from current members that were not receiving the email announcements.
12. Scrapbook –
a. Stephanie Hayes stated that the Christmas stockings were done for the December 26, 2002, road game. Five to six members delivered them to the bus. The coaches and team appreciated the items.
b. Stephanie stated that the scrapbook was in progress, with some pages already done. Any donated pictures would be appreciated. The scrapbook will be at the booster club table soon. Stephanie proposed a signature page be added to the scrapbook so that players’ signatures could be identified since most are not legible.
13. President – John Shaw stated that 44 tickets had been sold for the banquet. Five awards will be handed out at the banquet. Those awards are: Tailgunners’ (voted on by booster club members only), Sportsmanship (voted on by booster club members only), Player of the Year (voted on by general public), Points leader (determined by statistics on the cutoff date to have the awards produced), James Domengeaux (voted on by board members only). Al Whitney suggested that the award descriptions be defined in greater detail this year. Melanie Ogren volunteered to script the dialogue for the James Domengeaux Award. John stated that each general meeting guest speaker will receive a plaque. Karen Wiley will provide John Shaw with a list of guests. John Peper suggested that Dave Barr be given a plaque also. The board agreed that Dave Barr should receive a thank you gift now and acknowledged verbally at the banquet.
III. New Business
1. John Shaw proposed to the board that in order to receive reimbursements for purchased supplies, board approval must be received prior to the purchase, not after the fact. Board members were in agreement with this policy.
2. John Shaw proposed to the board all correspondence, distributed on behalf of the Houston Aeros Booster Club, must be approved by the board, prior to distribution. Board members were in agreement with this policy.
3. Communication –
a. Many board members stated that improving communication is an issue that needs to be addressed. Some questions that board members have been asked: What else do we do? What do we do with the money? Where is my badge?
b. Some board members have been asked if a general meeting without guests can be scheduled so that internal booster club issues can be discussed.
c. Some board members expressed that board meeting minutes should be made available to general members. The by-laws state that the president must give a report of board meetings at the next general members meeting. The board agreed that Erika Kusjanovic will distribute the board meeting minutes, via email, to the board. Two or three days will be given to make any changes to the minutes. After this deadline, Patrick Humphrey will attach them to the web site.
d. Erika Kusjanovic proposed that a suggestion box be available at the booster club table, on the web site, and at all general meetings. Ivan Kusjanovic will make a suggestion box for the table by the next home game. Board members asked that all board members be linked to the web site suggestion box. John Shaw appointed Carol Shaw to type suggestions received at the table and distribute that list to all board members.
e. Fred Trask suggested that committee chairs contact members that checked on the application that they wanted to help that committee. Fred will provide committee chairs with members’ names and phone numbers.
4. A membership directory was proposed so members could contact each other. Inclusion in the directory should be optional. This may open the club up to liability issues. Melanie Ogren made a motion to table this discussion until the status, and direction, of the club is established. After that, the board can weigh advantages and disadvantages of publishing a directory. John Peper seconded the motion. No discussion. Motion passed unanimously.
5. Status of Houston Aeros Booster Club -
a. Status of the club needs to be discussed and decided. Possible statuses to consider: club, non-profit corporation, corporation.
b. Board members with experience in non-profit corporations gave some insight to the requirements of being a non-profit status. Some requirements include filing simplified tax returns, producing financial reports, creating detailed by-laws (ex. – stating how often meetings will be held), and creating and following a budget. Many booster clubs operate under a non-profit status for the liability issues.
c. Julie Coulter stated that the current booster club by-laws states that the club is a non-profit organization, and that the Treasurer will file all state and local taxes on behalf of the club. Many board members expressed that, for these reasons, this issue is a top priority.
d. Ivan Kusjanovic asked if the booster club is an independent identity or if it is part of the Houston Aeros organization. Although the booster club is independent, the booster club is dependent upon the Aeros assistance. Melanie Ogren said that the by-laws states that, if the Houston Aeros move out of the city, the booster club will dissolve and the money in the bank account would go to a charity that benefits from the Aeros Charities.
e. Board members agreed that a presentation stating the advantages and disadvantages for each status should be presented to the board. John Shaw appointed himself, Julie Coulter, Ivan Kusjanovic, and Melanie Ogren to research these statuses and prepare a presentation for the board. That presentation will take place one month from now.
6. Next board member meeting will be February 12, 2003. Next general member meeting is possibly February 14, 2003.
IV. John Shaw made a motion to adjourn. All in attendance seconded the motion, and voted unanimously to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 10:10pm.
V. Addendum to Minutes
1. John Shaw made a motion, via email, to send Patrick Humphrey a $50.00 gift certificate from a major supermarket instead of flowers. Hospitalized booster club members are usually sent a plant or flowers. Product, tax, and delivery averages $50.00. The motion was seconded by email. The motion passed with eleven votes in favor.
2. John Shaw made a motion, via email, to appoint Melanie Ogren By-law Committee Chair. Melanie may choose her own committee members. The motion was seconded by email. The motion passed with ten votes in favor, and one abstained vote.