Montgomery County Road Runners Club
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
Meeting of June 28, 2005
Called to order: 7:10 pm
Present: Jean Arthur, Christina Kichula, Cathy Blessing, Sethiya Renwick, Dave Haaga, Gary Resnick
Minutes Prepared By: Gary Resnick, Secretary
1. Review Agenda
a)
Nothing to review
2. Review MCRRC Calendar
a)
Twilighter July
16
b)
Midsummer Night's
Mile July 8
c)
Riley's Rumble
July 24
d)
August 2 is the Take
Back the Night race – Jodi needs a “day of” race director
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting
a)
Motion to accept
minutes, Dave moved, Cathy seconded, unanimous
4. Dick
Butler gift
a)
Lyman
Jordan recommended on the mcboard listserv that,
since Dick played a key role early in the club's history and he is moving out
of the area, the club should give a gift to Dick to thank him for his
contribution
b)
The
Board agreed to give a gift to the Butlers, from the Sunshine Fund
c)
Post-Meeting:
Updated information reveals that Dick is not exactly moving out of the area and
that he will still be a member of the club; revised suggestion is to consider a
potential nomination for a club award of some kind instead of giving him a
gift, there was informal agreement among Board members for this course of
action, when polled via email.
5. Treasurer's Report
a)
MCRRC Account Detail: The total cash in MCRRC accounts, as of June 30
(not including Marathon in the Parks, Pike’s Peek, and HYR accounts) was the
following:
i)
Checking
$13,498.56
ii)
Savings
$29,222.93
iii)
Savings – Clubhouse $5,803.76
iv)
Legg Mason $26,306.64
v)
TOTAL Bank Accounts
$74,831.89
b)
Other Assets (CDs)
$15,000.00
c)
Marathon in the Parks Bank Accounts (as of May 1, 2005):
i)
Checking
$13,166.38
ii)
Savings
$2,862.13
iii)
TOTAL Bank Accounts
$16,028.51
d)
Pikes Peek Bank Accounts (as of
July 4, 2005):
i)
Checking
$33,191.45
ii)
Savings
$2,050.32
iii)
TOTAL Bank Accounts
$35,241.77
e)
HYR Bank Account (as of January 4, 2005):
i)
Checking
$7,747.69
ii)
TOTAL Bank Accounts
$7,747.69
f)
June Financial Information:
i)
The June
financial statements indicate a net loss of $6,576.04.
ii)
Significant
income was received from:
·
Membership dues
$4,179.00
·
FTM
$2,785.00
·
RMS
$1,780.00
iii)
Significant
expenses included:
·
Rundown
$5,509.32
·
Volunteer picnic
$2,408.62
·
New equipment
(computers) $1,897.80
·
KOTR
$1,766.00
·
WDF (Run for
Roses) $1,565.87
g)
Budget Items:
i)
Stride Clinic
income: Sign-me-up should be sending a check; Gary sent report to Christina
indicating revenue of about $960.
ii)
We are now
significantly over budget for new equipment.
After paying for the new sound system (check mailed 7/1) and the new
computers, we have spent $4,275.11 on new equipment. We should carefully consider new purchases
for the remainder of the year.
h)
Old Financial Action Items:
i)
Prepare for end
of year reconciliation and upcoming tax filings. – completed
ii)
Transfer $10,000
plus cone money into Legg Mason account. – In-process, Legg Mason has not yet
credited our account
i)
New Financial Action Items:
i)
Discuss fees
assessed by Sign-Me-Up Sports with Phil Quinn.
j)
Motion to accept
Treasurer's Report: David moved, Cathy seconded
6. Unfinished Business - Review Action Items from May, 2005 board meeting
a)
Big Brothers Big
Sisters proposal for Riley’s Rumble (0504-5a)
i)
Cathy has not
heard back, we will close this action.
b)
“Ask the Board”
(0504-2a)
i)
Email address is
established, Susan working on the announcement for the Rundown, Janet working on
an announcement for her web column
c)
Partner Matching
System (0503-9b)
i)
Janet working
with Pat Taylor on implementing the system
d)
Safety
Notification System (0501-9c)
i)
Action Item: Jean
will talk with some of the retired national park police contacts - in process
e)
Revisit x-c
series and CS volunteer requirement (0504-4j)
i)
April Board
meeting discussed a proposal to add a volunteer component but no decision was
made
ii)
Jean has heard
pro's and con's; most people who are in the series also volunteer, but it is
difficult for the scoring system
iii)
Gary pointed out
that Bill will have more trouble scoring with a volunteer component
iv)
Another argument
against the proposed volunteer component to these race series is that it would
be important to keep some awards as being based on "pure" running,
since most other awards (e.g., runner of the year) requires a volunteer
component
v)
Motion: The Board
will add a volunteer component to the XC and Championship Series, Dave moved,
there was no second therefore the motion "dies" on the floor; the
Board agreed there should not be a volunteer component to these race series
f)
Chi Running Group
(0504-4c)
i)
Christina talked
about the two-day running clinic, it is a new method/program for running faster
with less work, and seems to help runners become smoother and to run
injury-free
ii)
Christina said
that Betty Smith wants to develop a support group to discuss chi-running
principles and help each other train using these principles
iii)
Although there
may be concern that this group may be seen as promoting an outside commercial
endeavor, and this is not the point of what Betty wants to do, but since Betty
did not give the Board anything definitive, it is not entirely clear what she
wants to do
iv)
Action: Jean will
talk to Betty about presenting a plan to the Board
g)
Involving more
young adult runners in MCRRC (0506-7a)
i)
Action Item: Jean
will ask Mary to do a query on the number of members in their 20s and will
check on an email from a young adult as possible champion - in process
h)
Club Database
Management (0506-7e)
i)
Action Item: Jean
will look into the costs (it seemed high), there are actually four businesses
doing this kind of work, the business is relatively new - in process
7. New Business
a)
Including runner
ID tag order forms in new member packets
i)
New Members get a
packet of materials, suggestion was to add an order form for New Members to buy
ID tags
ii)
Even though this
does come close to the notion of supporting a commercial enterprise, it is an
important safety concern
iii)
At Pike's Peak
there was an issue about whether the tags were free or a discount at the flyer
given to volunteers
iv)
The company that
makes these tags is RoadID.com, question is whether we can get discounts for
club members
v)
Motion: The Board
allows the inclusion of RoadID application forms in the new member packets,
Jean moved, Dave seconds, unanimous
vi)
Action: Gary will
contact RoadID.com regarding discounts for club members (GR will also contact
John Sissala about his contact in the company)
b)
Making donation
to club more prominent on the website
i)
Dave wondered if
there was an easier way to promote donations to the club
ii)
Pam (and Sethiya)
was working on a re-design of the web site and this would be a prominent
feature, but the problem is that the web site has no ability to take credit
card fees (other than through the SignmeUp.Com site, which will take a portion
of the amount, it's not a lot of money that SignmeUp.Com charges)
iii)
Dave noted that
it is hard to donate money to the club, except on the membership application
iv)
Dave also said
that donations don't always seem to show up on the Rundown
v)
Board agreed not
to use SignmeUp.Com for donations but rather to make a donation form available
through the web site and to be displayed more clearly
vi)
Action Item:
Sethiya will look to see whether the current membership renewal form can be
more prominently displayed
c)
Request for
donations – RRCA Road Scholars:
i)
This is RRCA's
program for giving aspiring American runners a stipend to support their
training;
ii)
RRCA is asking
the club to make a contribution to the program
iii)
Jean noted that we
have given money before, but that the money was raised for this purpose, it did
not come from the club, last time we gave $700 which was raised
iv)
Most of the money
for the Road Scholar program is raised through separate contributions rather
than through RRCA dues
v)
Question raised
about the club's role in supporting local runners rather than national runners
vi)
Motion: The Board
approves the club giving $250 to the RRCA Road Scholars program, Cathy moved,
jean seconded, unanimous
d)
Request for
Donations - Michelle McGleish
i)
Jean received a
letter from Michelle, who will be representing the USA in the World Duathlon
Championships
ii)
Last time
Michelle asked, we did not have any money left in the budget, but we did give
her money the year before for a similar request
iii)
Motion: The Board
approves giving $300 to Michelle McGleish to attend the World Duathlon
Championships in Australia and that she be asked to write an article in the
Rundown, Dave moved, Gary seconded, unanimous
e)
Report on Kids on
the Run
i)
Jean handed out a
copy of an email from Andy Steinfeld about this year's race
ii)
Key points: $320
was raised for the Dolores Swoyer Scholarship Fund to
assist disadvantaged children to attend summer camp in Gaithersburg
f)
Board
Communications
i)
Question rose
about when Board gets involved in determining the appropriate use of club
communications (MCRUN, email).
ii)
Club policy is
that we do not allow non-running advertisements on MCRUN or non-club races
iii)
The member forum
was setup specifically to allow members to post advertisements that are not
otherwise considered appropriate for MCRUN
iv)
Problem was in
one member telling members about a special deal to signup for a race, where
this member did not have a stake in the race, yet was told this was not
appropriate for MCRUN; however, Board felt this was not fully justified for
sanction since the club member did not have any personal stake
v)
We have had a
number of incidents over the past several months and so the Board should
clarify the club's policy
vi)
The Board
suggested that Mary send out the policy on MCRUN as necessary, when reminders
are needed
g)
Mailing Lists
i)
Question of where
the club sells its mailing list; DrinkMore wants our mailing list but the club policy
is to sell the mailing list only to races or other non-profit concerns, but not
to commercial enterprises
ii)
Question is
whether we reconfirm the policy or change it. The Board agreed there was no
good reason to change the policy
iii)
Since Drink More
has done a lot for the club, the Board discussed strategies for assisting Drink
More (e.g., flyers in packets, flyers at club races) and that the Board agreed
to give them a free ad in the Rundown, but that we will stick to the policy
h)
Membership
Renewal using SignmeUp.Com
i)
There is some
concern that the fees for membership renewals on the SignMeUp
site may have increased and that the club is getting $4.50 less per family
membership
ii)
Question is
whether to ask club members to pick up the fee rather than for the club to
absorb the fee, the argument being that club members who do not want to pay the
fee can send a check to the club or bring the check to a race
iii)
However, most
membership renewals come to the club via the mail rather than through SignmeUp.com
Sports
iv)
Action Item:
Sethiya will investigate the fee structure and determine whether or not there
was an increase
8. Announcements
a)
Volunteer Picnic
i)
Board agreed the
picnic went well, we had approximately 150 volunteers in attendance
ii)
Everyone seemed
to have a good time, next year we need more drinks, but we had lots of food
b)
Jodi needs a
day-of-race director for Take Back the Night race August 2
9. Closure
a)
Review Action
Items
i)
Safety
Notification System: Jean will get information from various police
jurisdictions on crime reports - in process
ii)
Involving more
young adult runners in MCRRC: Jean will ask Mary to do a query on the number of
members in their 20s and will check on an email from a young adult as possible
champion
iii)
Club Database
Management: Jean will look into the costs (it seemed high), there are actually
four businesses doing this kind of work, the business is relatively new
iv)
Membership
Renewal: Sethiya will look to see whether current membership renewal form can
be more prominently displayed on the membership page of the web site
v)
Chi-Running: Jean
will talk to Betty Smith about presenting her chi-running plan to the Board
vi)
Membership Dues:
Sethiya will place a note on the membership renewal page on the web site
regarding the change in fees
vii)
Including runner
ID tag order forms in new member packets: Gary will contact RoadID.com
regarding discounts for club members (GR will also contact John Sissala about
his contact in the company)
b)
Motions Passed
i)
The Board allows
the inclusion of RoadID application forms in the new member packets, Jean
moved, Dave seconds, unanimous
ii)
The Board
approves giving $300 to Michelle to attend the World Duathlon Championships in
Australia and that she be asked to write an article in the Rundown, Dave moved,
Gary seconded, unanimous
iii)
Board approves
giving $250 to RRCA for the Road Scholar program
c)
Review Plans for
Next Meeting
i)
Next meeting is
August 4, 2005, 6:30 pm, at 100 Maryland Ave, 5th Floor conference room.
ii)
Cathy is bringing
food
10. Meeting Adjourned: 10:10 pm
Gary Resnick Secretary, Montgomery County Road Runners Club