Ongoing discussion about our electronic shopping cart. Webmaster Eric Aitala is test-driving new shopping cart software to see if it will suit our needs. Eric: working on playing with new software to see how it works. So far, no conclusions. Eric will continue testing and will give the board an update next month.
The Director of Foreign Liaison and Journal Executive Editor / Advertising Director positions need to be filled after recent resignations. An invitation for applicants will be printed in the next Journal along with job descriptions for both.
New Business
Tony Ivone, Regional Coordinator for Region 11 (Florida) has resigned. DLC Larry Randel will be interviewing two candidates for the job and will give his...
Ongoing discussion about improvements to our online shopping cart.
New Business
We will begin the process of finding a replacement for John Ratzenberger as Director of Foreign Liaison as soon as possible. John is stepping down and we'll need to replace him in this position. We plan to start the search with an announcement in the Journal. Interested parties can find the job description in the bylaws posted online.
A motion was made by Bruce Briggs to accept the 2014 convention report from IPMS Tidewater and to cut them a check for their half of the profits. Jim Pearsall seconded the motion and the executive board voted 9-0 to approve the report and cut them a check as soon as possible.
Membership pin design is done. Need to wait until January 1, 2017 so we can get an accurate number of each that we will need so I can then go to supplier to place the order.
Have established the time line for the election/vote on amendment.
I’m working with the Journal editor to format the amendment info for publication since it is so extensive.
David Morrissette, 1st VP
Posted 100 reviews in October; yearly total is 814. Should finish close to last year’s total.
New Supplier include Miniart directly & Tiger Model, Squadron has dried up as a source of Hobbyboss kits...
Marketing team head Don Schmitz explained his team's new membership survey and what's planned for the data. The survey will attempt to get a better picture of our membership. Schmitz said Bruce Newsome is working on the survey and has tried to keep the survey short and useful. They hope to have an online version of the survey ready in the next month or so. They will send President Ron Bell a copy of the final survey questions for board input and the board will put it on the website or distribute it directly to the membership via Survey Monkey or Google forms. The next step will be for the committee to polish the survey and give Ron B. a copy for mass distribution.
Discussion continued on the possibility of including IPMS/USA membership info in...
Looking into automatic membership renewals via credit card.
Nationals presence at Modelpalooza.
The board voted to pay our CMS consultant an additional $250 bonus and will see if he is willing to serve on an hourly basis as needed for tech support.
Ron has okayed increasing our website hosting plan as suggested by Webmaster Eric.
Officer/Staff Reports
Ron Bell, President
I continued work on the membership recognition project. I've...
The IPMS/USA August meeting was held at the National Convention site prior to the State of the Society/Business meeting. More than 70 members were in attendance. Some items brought up during that meeting are included in this update.
Treasurer Mike Oberholtzer will look into the possibility of membership auto-renewal for credit card renewals. Will also look into the possibility of giving a better rate for those who do. Mike would support the concept only if a secure third-party would manage and protect member credit card info. It would also have to be an "opt in" choice with the member needing to actively request auto-renewal before it would go into effect.
Second VP Mike Van Schoonhoven asked and received the go-ahead to purchase a...
The board discussed the format of the upcoming annual business meeting at the Columbia Convention and various tasks were handed out for inclusion in the final presentation. A new format was agreed upon where the President will begin the meeting with a state of the society briefing followed by individual board members giving reports for their respective departments.
A Motion made by Pres. Bell for the IPMS/USA to be a corporate sponsor for the 2017 World Model Expo in Chicago. Seconded by Treasurer Oberholtzer. Voting was five affirmative votes (Bell, Morrissette, Oberholtzer, Pearsall and Tennant), enough to pass the motion. This is a prestigious, internationally-known model show and our $500 sponsorship will support...
The board completed answering member questions for a Region 11 club newsletter (and our Journal). Questions and board answers will be printed in the club's newsletter, the Journal and on our website.
John Shimek has officially turned over IPMS/USA treasurer records to our new Treasurer, Mike Oberholtzer, on June 6, 2016.
Mike Oberholtzer made a motion to upgrade our QuickBooks license to an online version which would improve access for board members needing it as well as providing a secure cloud storage for our financial data. DLC Noack seconded motion and it passed 7-0.
Reports of missing pages in latest Journal: Office Manager Marie Van Schoonhoven is working closely with the printer to make sure replacement copies are sent out to members who contact her. At present, a very small percentage of the membership (less than ten) has received defective copies. .
Officer/Staff Reports
Ron Bell, President
The current C&BL does not specify any minimum number of meetings nor a meeting schedule for the E-board. With the advent of electronic almost instantaneous communication, the members of the E-board are now able to interact on a daily basis, handling the routine business of the society without a formal meeting. However, it is still a good idea for the group to get...
