IPMS LogoInternational Plastic Modelers' Society / USA

IPMS LogoInternational Plastic Modelers' Society / USA

IPMS LogoIPMS/USA

IPMS LogoIPMS/USA

Officers Present
  • Ron Bell (President)
  • David Morrissette (1st VP)
  • Mike Van Schoonhoven (2nd VP)
  • Dennis Tennant (Secretary)
  • Mike Oberholtzer (Treasurer)
  • John Noack (DLC)
  • Jim Pearsall (Historian/Publication Director)
  • Marie Van Schoonhoven (Office Manager) *
  • Eric Aitala (Webmaster) *

* = Non-voting staff or Guest

Minutes

Action Items

  • None

Officer/Staff Reports

Ron Bell, President

  • Voting is now under way. Ballots are due by Sept. 1. We need to have an ample supply of ballots and a ballot box at Omaha. I will also make some signs telling people they can vote at the convention to post around the venue. We will also bring a supply to the banquet and have the ballot box available there as well.
  • There is no candidate for 2nd VP, so the new E-board will take over down one man. Please put on your thinking caps for possible candidates for appointment as this will be one of the first orders of business in Nov. when the new board takes office.
  • We need to put together our annual business meeting presentation, Last year worked well, so since it's not broken, we won't fix it. Get your annual reports/info to the Secretary so he can put together the presentation
  • We are working on a financial report for the Journal. This has not been done for a while and is required.

David Morrissette, 1st VP

  • Reviews are going well and we have added MiniArt from Ukraine.
  • Through the end of May, 425 reviews were posted. We're about 60 reviews ahead of last year.
  • Late reviews are high and I am in the process of chasing these reviews down.

Mike Van Schoonhoven, 2nd Vice President

  • Nothing to Report.

Mike Oberholtzer, Treasurer

  • I have finished work on the financial reports, including the 2017 convention. I have the 2016 Federal Taxes ready to file.
  • Highlights
    • 2017 Convention: through the end of May the convention has $74,000 in income, about half of that from vendor table sales. Registrations are about $13,000, meaning we have about 280 registered attendees as of the end of May. Expenses through May are about $5,700.
  • IPMS/USA Financial Position - See PDF
    • The year to date comparative statement of activity shows that for the first five months of the year we are about $23,000 ahead of last year in total revenues. This can be attributed primarily to the 2017 convention running about $22,000 ahead of the 2016 convention in revenues at this point in the year. Other contributing factors are the increase in Journal advertising revenue of $9,300 due to improved collection practices, but this is offset by a reduction in membership dues of $5,200 and other smaller items.
    • Expenses are down $38,900 YTD over last year. Primarily this is due to overall convention expenses (2015,2016 and 2017) being down $23,900, Journal expenses down $4,700, and the elimination of the Make n' Take program, saving $9,100.
    • Overall net income is $63,000 higher than last year through the first five months of the year. This is a good indication that we are on solid financial footing, but we need to remember that there are many variables that can change the picture throughout the year. The biggest is timing; some expenses may be paid later this year than last, such as the cost of a specific issue of the Journal. While we can see that so far the 2017 convention is running ahead of the 2016 convention on revenues, it may also have larger expenses later in the year, erasing the early advantage. So time will tell, but at least so far this year we are in good shape financially.
  • Other items
    • I am repurposing the 2016 Convention account to be the 2018 Convention account. This saves some headaches with the bank and is easy to do. I have moved $1,000 of IPMS/USA funds to the convention account to keep it open until we see revenue come in. After that happens I will be able to move the $1,000 back and transfer funds to cover the advance we made for the convention to secure the Phoenix Convention Center ($6,264.50 back in September 2016).

Dennis Tennant, Secretary

  • I have been in contact with the new foreign liaison officer for the IPMS/UK. His name is Roland Turner and he is the point of contact for any club wishing to have a display table at the Scale Model World 2017 in Telford in November. I have his contact info for anyone interested.
  • The board Dropbox account has been renewed for another year. We are making good use of this cloud account.

John Noack, DLC

  • Nothing to report.

Jim Pearsal, Historian/Publication Dir.

  • Nothing to report.

Marie Van Schoonhoven, National Office Manager

  • We had 42 new members join in April and 35 in May.
  • Pre-registration for the convention ended June 15. Registration is now $50.
  • I will be working on the renewal paperwork for our Trademark.

Eric Aitala, Webmaster

  • The Online voting is up and running…with 214 votes at the moment.
  • Looking at what updates need to be made, I'm going to update the software that runs the Reviews site during Nationals. This will require putting the site in maintenance mode which will restrict access to just me. This may take a couple days to do - I've tested most of the process, but there are no guarantees. The current site will be fully backed up in case I have to undo the update.
  • I don't expect any major changes that will affect the web reviews team, but there may be minor changes, bugs, etc. I'll also need to change the theme - it will match the home page, the calendar, etc. - it'll also have minor issues to hammer out once it goes live.
  • I also think that enabling commenting on the Reviews might be a good idea. I can moderate them so no spam or abuse gets through.

Submitted by Dennis Tennant, Secretary