Minutes from National Convention Business Meeting

These minutes reflect the discussion during the IPMS 2023 National Convention Executive Board/Membership Business meeting held on Saturday, August 4, 2023 in San Marcos, Texas.

PowerPoint presentation slides for the meeting are posted as well.

Minutes

• DL called the meeting to order at 9:06AM, CDT.
• Members of the Executive Board and IPMS/USA Staff were introduced.
• DL encouraged attendees to please ask questions and provide feedback to the Board.

President’s Report and Discussions

• • Develop an on-line (Zoom) chapter for remotely located IPMS/USA members who don’t have access to a chapter.
  • Work with NCSC in developing more tools to help chapters host nationals.
  • Work on improving the value of membership in IPMS/USA.  We want to add initiatives to help you become a better modeler.
  • Expand participation in the organization by our membership.
  • Work with NCC to set up exploratory committees to examine judging criteria, protocols & training.
  • Improve communication and transparency within the organization.
  • Work with a director and committee on developing social media conduits for our organization.

1st Vice President’s Report and Discussions

• • Reviewer Corp is in good shape, but we can always use more reviewers.  One group that could use some help is our Posting Team.  They are the ones who post the finished reviews on our website.  If interested, please see me.
  • I would like to give a special thanks to Dick Montgomery who has finally decided to retire from the Corps.  Dick has held pretty much every position in the team and while this will be a well-deserved rest, we will miss him.
  • We keep adding new companies and continue to receive a lot of awesome items from our regular contributors.  Please check out the reviews on the site and support the companies who support us. 
  • We posted 485 reviews in 2022 and as of 7/24/23 we have posted 273, year to date.
  • Brett Scholten #52075 asked if individual members might be able to write reviews for items that don’t get sent into the Corps via manufacturers.  Phil indicated that was acceptable.

2nd Vice President’s Report and Discussions

Work to Date

• • Supported IPMS Mad City Modelers in finding a new venue for the 2024 National Convention.  We made the best decision for the membership that we could.
  • Assisted IPMS Tidewater (Hampton, VA) and Polk Area Model Society (Lakeland, FL) in developing bids for the 2025 National Convention.
  • Continuously supporting National Convention inquiries (feel free to reach out!).

What’s Next

• • Support IPMS Mad City Modelers for the 2024 convention; the team is hard at work already, and it will be an unforgettable experience.
  • Build out the NCSC with new members based on the committee charter and ensure local clubs have the resources they need to bid, plan, and execute a national convention.  Next meeting of the NCSC will happen within the next 30 days.
  • Publish a 2023 post-show survey to collect attendee data and build a repository to support continuous improvement.

Treasurer’s Report and Discussions

• • 2023 is going well financially. As of the end of June our balance sheet was almost exactly the same as last year. (Without the need to pay a large and early deposit for the 2024 convention venue we would be about $31,000 ahead of last year.) Convention revenues are higher than last year so far.
  • Our membership and convention registration system continues to perform well.
  • We continue to see higher renewal rates and more convention pre-registrations as a result of the myipmsusa.org (Wild Apricot) system.
  • We switched out credit card processing system from PayPal to Affinipay in April. This saves us thousands a year in transaction fees. We still have PayPal available for those who prefer to use it and for onsite transactions at the convention.
  • We are beginning to make use of our email capabilities to learn more about member preferences and needs. We will be sending our surveys on a fairly regular basis on many topics, and reporting back on what we learn. We will also be using our member and event data to better understand how convention location impacts attendance.  We would like to hear from you, the members on what information you’d like to be surveyed on.
  • Bill Strandberg #999 asked about the financial statements for the year.  They will be posted with the minutes to this meeting.  They are also posted in the Journal at the end of the fiscal year.

Director of Local Chapter’s Report and Discussions

Regional Coordinators

New

• • Region 1, Northeast - Mark Norman, Hopewell Junction, NY.
  • Region 4, Great Lakes - Allyson Kebschull, Hammond, IN.

Vacancies

• • Region 8, Southern California - John Figueroa interim.
  • Region 11, Florida - Vacant, John Figueroa Interim (selection process in progress).

Local Chapters

• • We currently have 215 Chapters.

Gains

• • Shenandoah Valley Modelers (Stephens City, VA) – Region 2
  • Appalachian Scale Modelers' Association (Johnson City, TN) -Region 3
  • The Sultans of Sprue (Hammond, IN) – Region 4
  • IPMS Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico) – Region 6
  • 101 Wonders (Port Hueneme, CA) – Region 8
  • Northern Utah Scale Modelers (Clearfield, UT) – Region 10
  • Lafayette Scale Modelers (Fayetteville, NC) – Region 12
  • The Bunker Club (Clyde, PA) – Region 13 (Virtual Chapter)
  • Ad Astra Modeling Club (Topeka, KS) – Region 14

Losses

• • Curitiba Brazil – Region 13

Document Development and Status

• • Regional Coordinator Job Description, complete. Posted to IPMS/USA website.
  • Chapter Contact Job Description, complete. Posted to IPMS/USA website.
  • IPMS/USA Annual Achievement Awards Update, complete. Posted to IPMS/USA website.
  • IPMS/USA Event Insurance Guidelines Update, complete. Posted to IPMS/USA website.

IPMS/USA Member Survey Series

• • IPMS/USA is trying to better meet the needs of our members and prospective members. This is the first of a series of surveys we will use to gather information on members' views on different aspects of IPMS/USA.
  • First survey in the series, IPMS/USA National Convention, sent to all IPMS/USA Members on July 23, 2023.
  • Other surveys will be sent out on aa approximately regular schedule.
  • Surveys will be designed to be completed by Members in five minutes or less.

Publications Director/Historian’s Reports and Discussion (DL subbed for Ro Annis)

IPMS/USA Journal

• • Improved communication and coordination with Eboard.
  • Working to deliver the magazine on schedule.
  • Plans to expand the magazine's production team.
  • Looking into putting the Journal online in a digital format.
  • Members are contributing more articles than before.
  • Adding more editorials, chapter, and member specific content.

Historian

• • Helping members with archive requests.
  • We now have a complete archive which is approximately 50% digitized.
  • Tim Campbell #50604 asked about efforts to reach out to modelers for inspiring articles, and tightening up the publication schedules so that advertisements for local shows come out ahead of the show.  DL emphasized that the staff is working hard to stay on schedule, and that an online edition would certainly help that effort.
  • MO pointed out that RO has greatly increased advertising from major industry manufacturers over previous years.
  • DK reminded the attendees that the Journal is a volunteer effort. If the quality of the Journal is not what you want, and you have a talent for writing articles, please consider doing so and contact the Journal staff. Also encourage your friends with those talents to do the same.
  • Bill Strandberg #999 asked if it could be considered to present an award for the best article along with the Regional Awards to promote membership input. The board will discuss that with the staff.
  • Randall Cox #8068 asked if there are any issues missing from those being digitized for historical storage.  DK indicated that Ro has 100% of the historical issues needed for that effort.
  • Tim Campbell #50604 asked if it might be a good idea to get an intern to help with the Journal staff.  We will direct that question to the Journal staff.

Recruitment/Retention Secretary’s Report

• • DK asked how many present voted in the IPMS/USA E-Board elections and the Constitutional amendment referendum.  Several raised their hands in response. DK asked that if you haven’t voted, top please do so, and to encourage other members to vote as well, so we can meet the minimum number of votes required for a valid response.
  • The Society continues to grow. When DK came on in 2018, the membership was at about 3,600 and declining.  Today we are over 5,000 members, which we haven’t see for at least 10 years.
  • Many folks returned to modeling during the pandemic.
  • We are reaching out to growing segments of the modeling community such as Gundam, Anime and Warhammer.  Those are growing parts of modeling. It is important to the Society to reach out and bring in those younger modelers to our ranks.
  • Social media is becoming more and more the way modelers reach out and communicate.  We fully support having a social media manager to coordinate that outrach.
  • Finally, ask a friend who isn’t a member of IPMS to consider joining.  The best way to add to our membership is person-to-person, particularly at local club meetings.
  • DK thanked JB for his efforts as 2nd VP to reach out and bring new members to IPMS/USA, and MO for his excellent job as the Treasurer.

Secretary’s Report and Discussion

• • Continue to support the E-Board in moving forward with our initiatives for 2023-2025.
  • Encourage feedback from the membership to improve the IPMS/USA experience for all.  Send to ipmssec@ipmsusa.org.
  • Continue to reach out to under-represented genres of the modeling community with a welcoming message.
  • Coordinate with the other branches of IPMS worldwide to ensure a consistent welcoming message and membership experience to the scale modeling community.
  • Work with the DLC to strengthen the RC structure within the Society to promote consistency of the IPMS/USA initiatives and messaging, and support Regional and Local events.

Office Manager’s Report and Discussion

• • Address Changes- still receiving Journals back from the post office unable to forward.  Please verify your address when renewing and notify me (manager@ipmsusa.org) prior to your move or go to your online profile in Wild Apricot and update your address as soon as you have it.
  • Renewals – please be sure to renew prior to exp date to avoid missing any Journal issues.
  • Journal copy replacement or to purchase issues going back to Jan/Feb 2016 email me directly: manager@ipmsusa.org
  • Coming soon to the online store, the ability to purchase IPMS/USA Name Badges and back issues of the Journal (as far back as Jan/Feb 2016)
  • Thank you for your Membership, it is greatly appreciated. Without “u” there is no “us”.
  • John Jenkins #4857 asked if we can go back before 2016 to get older issues. Keeping older issues in storage is cost prohibitive, so we are in the process of digitizing all Journal copies for future access by the membership.  Reach out to Ro Annis for older copies.

Questions and Additional Discussion

• • Ethan Idenmill #47123 asked about increasing outreach to science fiction modelers and possibly revamping the contest categories to make it more friendly to this growing sector, such as breaking off Real Space from Science Fiction.  DL responded that the NCC would be having their open meeting at 1:00, and to please bring it up to them.
  • Dana Mathes #43781 thanked the E-Board for their leadership in the direction they’re taking the Society, and for accepting his discussion paper regarding Judging practices and considering it in our goals for this year.
  • Bill Strandberg #999 asked that all of the Journal editions being digitized maintained for view by members only.
  • Jim Clark #33452 asked about the National Organization taking a larger portion of the revenue generated by the National Convention. DL and others replied that is being discussed.  As the Board and the NCSC become more and more involved in the short- and long-term planning for the Nats, so that local groups don’t have to start from scratch every year, it may be prudent to discuss an equitable split with those groups moving forward.  DK reminded the group that the current split was developed when the local group took a financial risk along with the national organization.  That is no longer true as the local host groups have no financial risk anymore, due to the national organization taking that on 100%.  JB added that we are trying to make it easier for diverse groups (as opposed to a single chapter) to host the show, and how to make the distribution of revenue within them more equitable.
  • John Jenkins #4857 asked if there is a meeting of the RCs at the convention. JF replied that there is.
  • DL indicated that the Board meeting minutes are published for all to see.  All of the Board member’s email addresses are published on the website and in the Journal, and that we welcome your comments and feedback.
  • Dave Mason #44492 asked if a promotional package could be put together beyond the trifold brochure.  DK indicated that he will make additional materials (Journals, applications, etc.) for any local show that contacts him to do so.

DL dismissed the meeting at 10:54 AM.

The next quarterly meeting of the IPMS/USA Executive Board will be held via Zoom on October 8 at 6 PM, CDT.  The membership is encouraged to provide input or feedback at ipmssec@ipmsusa.org.

Submitted by Rob Booth - Secretary-IPMS/USA

10/01/2023