ArkGeo Board Meeting Minutes January 11, 2008

Minutes January 11, 2008

Present in person: Wayne Lunsford, Frank Philpott, Pat Vaughn, Beth Daniel
Present by teleconference: Jerry Turner, Rich Swanson
Visitors: Reid Henry (sjclimber), Mike Beavers (AR_Hick)

Before the meeting discussion:
Why should people join ArkGeo?
What can we offer that they can't get elsewhere?

Ideas offered:
To spread geocaching across the state by:
*CITOs or other service activity
*Starting an account on geocaching.com that can put out caches of high quality - possibly in these service activity spots - that could be later adopted by cachers in those parts of the state
*Puzzle cache that uses clues from ArkGeo web site for the coordinates
*Discussion held about how caches will no longer be approved more than 50 miles from home coordinates
*Seed caches could be a possible idea on the ArkGeo account or caches around the state with supplies for new caches inside an ammo box (supply depot)
*How many state parks don't have caches?
*Maybe this could be a responsibility of the Community Relations Committee? Jerry (committee liaison) will ask the committee to get a plan together for this and to think about a pamphlet that we can pass to potential city officials, park officials, etc. about geocaching

Meeting officially called to order at 6:30 pm with the above attendees

I. Treasurer's report
* We currently have $2343.96 in our account. There have been no deposits, no checks, only withdrawals have been the monthly service charge.
*All necessary official documentation will be faxed to the bank next week to switch our account to non profit status.
*PayPal has been notified that we would like a donation button to add to our website. They have not yet responded.

II. Website issues/questions
1. Membership downloads will be made available soon.
2. Inactive accounts are being deleted.
3. Registration status being readily available to members when they log onto the site is being discussed between Wayne and Bert.

III. Committee reports
All committee members will be listed on the website so that any ArkGeo member can bring ideas, questions, or concerns directly to the appropriate committee. Each committee liaison from the Board needs to send a list of their members' ArkGeo and real names as quickly as possible please.

Election committee:
Mike Beavers reported to the Board that they have selected four potential candidates from committee nominations. The committee is meeting with each potential nominee to determine if they are willing and able to serve.

Community relations:
Please think over above mentioned ideas for holding events or service activities in sparsely cache-populated areas of the state and a plan, a presentation, or packet of informational material to promote geocaching

Events Committee:
Annual membership meeting is planned for the weekend of May 31/June 1 at Lake Catherine State Park. We have reserved the picnic area next to the pavilion and have permission for camping in this area at $3 per person per night. Saturday activities to include the annual membership meeting called for in the by-laws, evening activities of hot dog/marshmallow/etc. roasting/cache stories by the campfire/etc. etc. Sunday activity will be a CITO Event for the park. The cost of the pavilion is $80 per night and their calendar is filling up quickly. Cabins are available for those who aren't overly into camping. We could possibly tie some fund raising into this.
Motion was made, seconded, and approved to provide a budget of $250 for this event. If more funds are necessary, the committee is encouraged to come back to the board with that request.

Fund Raising Committee:
Liaison was unable to attend due to a family emergency.

New Business:
*Frank will sign up for an ArkGeo account with gc.com. He will also email Chuck Walla about this.

*Teleconference phone for meetings:
Due to the travel burden for board members to be able to meet together, it was discussed whether it would be wise to purchase a teleconference phone. It is very difficult to hear anyone attending by phone and for them to hear those physically at the meetings.
A motion was made, seconded, and approved to purchase a teleconference phone with budget not to exceed $250.

*Web site expenses:
Due to the GROWING traffic on our website (!) and this very necessary ongoing/regular expense which has thus far been generously provided by Bert Drake, the Board discussed the feasibility of ArkGeo finding our own dedicated web space.
Motion was made, seconded, and approved to authorize the web hosting expense for the club.
THANK YOU, BERT, FOR BEING SO GENEROUS AND PATIENT WITH US AS WE'VE GROWN!

*Election 2008:
The terms of Max, Wayne, and Gunnar will be expiring this July. Timeline for elections is as follows:
February - The Executive Board will appoint the new Executive Committee (officers), determining how many Board positions will be open.
March 1 - Board recommended slate presented for open positions and nominations from the general membership begins
April 1 - Nominations close and list of nominees sent to voting members
May 1 - Election begins
June 1 - Elections close and winners announced
July 1 - Newly elected Board members take office

Next Board meeting - appointment of new Executive Committee - officers will be held by teleconference (short meeting) on February 7th at 6:30 pm

Next face to face Board meeting - April 25th in Conway at 6 pm