2008 May

Board Notes - May 2008

Compiled by Ruthanne Bessman from minutes by Rachel Langley. These notes cover some of the highlights of the OrigamiUSA Board meeting of May 8, 2008.

Board Retreat: The Board retreat will take place on May 31-June 1. This is an in-person meeting that the full Board has held several times in the past at irregular intervals in order to address strategic plans in greater depth than can be done in the monthly Board meeting/phone calls. This retreat will run all day Saturday and Sunday. Tony has secured a facilitator who worked with OUSA in the same capacity several years ago.

Treasury Report: The audit of the 2007 financials is in the process of being scheduled with our accounting firm and preliminary documents have been submitted to the firm.

Election: Nominations have closed. Ballots will be mailed at the end of May. The local slate is full, i.e., there are equal numbers of candidates as positions. There is one position open for the remote candidates. In accordance with the bylaws, the Board will appoint a member to fill the open spot after the election.

Membership: As of the May Board meeting there are 1641 members. Last month was 1,636 members, and the previous year was 1,580 members.

Membership Policy: The On-line survey has closed. Data is being compiled and provided to the Board in advance of the Board Retreat. 650 surveys were received (both on-line and hard copy) -- 30% of the membership responded to survey.

Convention: Convention work is in full swing. Wendy reported on many threads of activity:

  • Convention mailing went out on Friday, May 9th
  • Web registration goes live on May 12th
  • Nick Robinson cancelled due to illness. Max Hulme is the replacement. The website will be updated to reflect this new information. Jan will provide picture and bio information.
  • FIT housing deposit check was mailed on Tuesday, May 6th.
  • Jan met with Mary to confirm the main hall spaces & classrooms at FIT for convention. SR rooms yet to be confirmed.
  • Special plans for the 50 years of Origami in America celebration include the teaching of Lillian’s first lesson. The Convention committee will be asking members with membership numbers under 500 to do the teaching for this with an emphasis on teaching techniques of our founders.
  • Looking for a good Saturday evening event/activity for convention.
  • The novelty folding event will be one of the old classics also in honor of the “50 years.”
  • An envelope opener that says “50 years of Origami in America” will be added to the survival kits.
  • Dinner pricing has risen from $40.00 to $45.00
  • Kmart sheet packages are ordered and they will be delivered. Price on the sheet bundle has been raised from $40.00 to $45.00
  • Artist Trading Card Event will happen at 6pm on the Sunday of convention. The location is NOT being advertised ahead of time since you can only attend if you have signed up in advance.
  • Nathan Zeichner has done the preliminary convention logo/tshirt design for convention. The front of the T-shirt has a small image of the sailboat logo with curved text surrounding it that says “50 Years of Origami in America”. The back of the shirt will have Brian Chan’s Attack of the Kraken and the words “Look how far we have come”.
  • T-shirt will be red to honor Lillian (as anyone who ever visited her could not have missed, red was her favorite color).

Volunteer Pin: Text for pin card has been printed and a delivery date for the pins to arrive at the office is May 9.

PCOC Committee: Wendy, Vicky, and Robert are closing out some financial questions about PCOC. Wendy has been working with Lisa David from the Vancouver group to synchronize their and our records.

The Paper: Issue #98 is with the designer.

Origami by Children: Winner and non-winner letters have been mailed. Winners received a complete pack of origami postcards and packs of origami paper.

Publications: Marc reported that he and the Publications team are working on the tail end of the Convention Annual. Approximate page length is 200. This is slightly smaller than previous years. Cost should be cheaper because the annual is going electronic, meaning the Rush quote should be lower as a result. Marc will negotiate directly with the vendor. He will also request the e-copy of the previous years of Annuals so that we can keep them in print going forward. This year’s book should be complete in approximately three weeks.

Fund Raising: DVD Fundraising letter (for the Portrait of the Origami Artist) is being reworked. It is too late to organize a mailing for fundraising due to convention preparations – this will happen in September. DVDs will be available at the convention as an onsite fundraiser in the Goldmine area with pre-printed receipts for tax deductible purposes.

On-Line Presence: New website and convention registration goes live on May 12.

Special Folding Fun Sessions: May session went well and had a solid turnout.

Holiday Tree/Annual Gift: The tree committee met and discussed the concept of a museum themed tree.

No one was appointed to take Board Notes for June. A person will be assigned at the beginning of the June meeting.