Yankee Board Minutes - Dec 17th

Location: Lasell College, Gym, Room 101

Start time: 6:30

End time: 7:45

(Followed by draft)



Attendees: Jonah Mytro, Lynn Kerr, Jay Flynn, Samantha Lampert, Jeff Sinnamon, Mark Archibald, Daniel Chen (late – not present at votes before budget in notes below)

Absent: Jeffry Powell, Chuck Blake

Guests: Mark Robarts, Judy Katalina, Darcy Duke, Dave Castanon (late), Tom Olson, Bruce-RVC, new Salem State TD



Approval of Past Minutes

* Completed via email vote and posted minutes online
* Mark Archibald motions to approve
o Jonah Seconds
o For: Jeffry, Sam, Lynn, Daniel, Jeff S, Mark
o That’s a majority!



Reports

* NERVA Report
o Set up for online credit card payment next year
+ Dave Castanon suggests that we should discuss fees for next year ($1.30 a member per credit card)
+ Money comes through us, so we are not losing control over it
o Suggests we may want to increase paper membership fees for next year
* Treasurer Report – Jay Flynn, “On budget so far”
* Registrar Report
o Judy still needs a list of everyone who joins at each tourney (remind at draft later tonight)
o 1,250 full members, about 150 behind last year (excluding the Pierce)
* Ratings Report
o Men
+ Art Palmer and Dave Rind stepped down as committee members
+ Jeff Sinnamon and Jeffry Powell have joined
+ Looking for more
+ Have been sending out updates every two weeks
* Web Editor Report
o Working on online scramble registration page
+ Sam recommends Tom Sweeney checks in with MIT women’s club as to how they do theirs
o Available to make additions for weather updates, etc. to online team registration pages
* “Newsletter” Report
o 48% open rate on December’s newsletter
* GRC Report
o Scrambles
+ Last Coed did not run (not enough men signed up)
+ Men’s filled, women’s 8 teams
+ Last minute (Friday night) sign ups have continued to be an issue
# 10-12 new people
+ Daniel would like to take over as the scramble co-ordinator
+ Jan 12 scramble is cancelled
# We’ll have 3 in the next session
o Team organizers
+ Rita Cook will help organize women’s teams via Stray Cats
+ Lynn will follow up with her to see how its going
* Bylaws Committee Report - None
* Rick Pierce Award Committee
o Brian Kangas and Julie Robarts won
o Announcement was posted on bavp



Old Business

* Set 2008 Board Meeting Schedule
o 7:30 at Lasell
+ Jan 28
+ Mar 3
+ Apr 7
+ Meet in May if needed
* Assign a new tournament coordinator
o Jonah will look outside the board
* Championships
o Jonah working with Chet on gyms and dates
o Ratings Freeze Date Change?
+ Was March 15 last year
# Jeff S, Jay suggest leave where it is
# Discussion ends
* Stipend Adjustments
o Newsletter Stipend
o Blog Stipend
o Sam motions to separate the fee in two for the two separate positions
+ Jay Seconds
+ For: Unanimous
# Motion Passes
o Jay Motions to increase the stipend according to Jonah’s budget proposal and split that in half for each of the positions
+ Mark Archibald seconds
# For: Jay, Jonah, Mark, Jeff S, Sam
# Abstain: Lynn
* Motion Passes
* Vote on “OPEN” money and Hayson Group participation
o NERVA is on board with splitting the fee
+ Hayson Group will send contract to NERVA (Dave) and Jonah
+ Hayson Group will write the bid
+ NERVA and Yankee will split the $5,000 cost
o Jay Flynn motions to approve the money for the bid
+ Sam seconds
# For: Unanimous
* Vote on AVP money
o Jay says our budget is looking tight
o Jeff S motions to cut the $10,000 AVP expenses from the budget
+ Jay seconds
# For: Unanimous
* Motion Passes
* 2007-2008 final Budget Review and vote
o Jay suggests we table the discussion of Nationals gifts until we see where we are fiscally later in the year
o Jonah mentions we lose money on scrambles
+ Jeff Sinnamon thinks we run too many
# Yankee has decreased the number of scrambles to 3 for this next session
+ Jonah motions to approve the proposed budget without AVP or Nationals Gifts included
# Jeff S seconds
* For: Unanimous
o Motion Passes
* Planning Calendar for Board
o See handout; will be posted online
* Draft Rules/Policies review
o Handling of “special tournaments”, eg. Rick Pierce
+ “Special Tournaments” are currently Rick Pierce, Bean Pot, Baby Emily, Brenda Freese
+ Sam motions that any site running a Yankee approved special tournament does not lose it’s first round draft pick
# Mark seconds
* For: Sam, Daniel Jonah, Mark
o No: Jay, Jeff S
o Abstain: Lynn
+ Motion passes: rule will be changed
o Drafting one date rule
+ Suggested by Darcy that groups with one date could have their one date already on the calendar so people are aware of date/size/level – just so people are aware and not as an actual draft date
* Rick Pierce Tournament
o TD met the deadline that Jonah gave him regarding announcing accepted teams
+ Start times were not given out until late Friday night
o Tournament has existed for 35 years
* TD Cancellation issues per this past weekend’s snowstorm
o Members suggested there should be a cancellation guideline/policy in the TD handbook
o TDs should be calling captains or offering means of communication to captains/teams when a tourney is cancelled.
+ TDs should include their inclement weather policy with their contact information
# Jonah will email TDs regarding this issue and suggest that they have a clearly stated policy or procedure along with their contact information on the Yankee website



Pushed to next meeting:

o Proposal to raise offline membership fees for next year
+ Only simple memberships are online renewals
o Start planning ahead for online payment next year
o Per new calendar
+ Decide on Picnic
+ Decide on Nationals gifts
+ Reminder to order championships and MVP prizes
+ Review nationals mappings