Minutes: 1999 BAOC Annual General Meeting

Stanford University
April 18, 1999

by Meg Gerstner, secretary

The annual meeting was called to order by Evan Custer about 12:30 p.m. More than 15 members (a quorum) were present.

Annual Report for 1998 - Evan Custer

Evan reported that 1998 had been a successful year, with approximately 50 different orienteering events. There were about 3000 entries (an increase of about 20%), with 4400 participants (an increase of about 12.5%). The club has 304 members, an increase of 11% over last year. Of the club's 34 maps, 28 meet IOF standards, with several new maps recently completed or in progress. Six workshops covering such topics as intermediate skills and event direction were conducted, and through outreach, we interacted with over 20 groups. Revenues for the year were about $36,000 ($4,000 more than budgeted), with expenses about $31,400 ($8,000 less than budgeted). Our very successful A-meet netted $5,000. During the year, a new fee schedule was adopted, as well as guidelines for course lengths/times.

Among Evan's goals was to attract more people to the sport, while keeping those we have. Therefore, the advertising budget was increased. We have attracted new participants from the Website, as well as from our segment on "Bay Area Backroads". Plans for the future include the U.S. Champs to be held at Spooner Lake in September, and the 3-day Sierra 2000 to be held at Northstar next year.

The BAOC 1998 Service Award was given to Joe Scarborough, and the club had several national champions, including Bob Cooley, Rick Oliver, and Gary Carpenter.

During Evan's three-year tenure as president, he had a number of goals. Among them were:

  1. to increase participation in the organization and running of the club, e.g. by increasing the board to 20 members (including a permit director)
  2. to use Bay-O-Net to reach consensus on many issues
  3. to improve maps, by increasing the number and quality of maps and by providing pre-marked maps for events, based on the use of OCAD
  4. to maintain a strong financial base to provide more money for mapping;
  5. to increase the attendance at meets and the number of club members
  6. to increase the number of events
  7. to hold a national event or A-meet each year and to encourage club members to attend out-of-town meets
  8. to increase educational efforts (e.g. workshops)
  9. to strengthen the junior program (a goal that has met with limited success)

Mapping Plans for 1999 - Bob Cooley

Bob reported that the Northstar and Tamarancho maps will be field-checked this summer. Maps in progress or recently completed include Briones and Morgan Territory. The area next to Montebello will be mapped for white/yellow/orange events, and Bob is looking for Peninsula and Marin areas. Royal Gorge has been completed and is used for Ski-O.

Treasurer's Report - George Minarik

George reported that the club is in good financial position, and has had record attendance. The financial statement is published quarterly on Bay-O-Net. As reported above, the 1998 income was about $36,000 (70% from meets, 30% from memberships), with the expenses of about $31,400.

Election of Officers - Evan Custer

Before the election, Dennis Wildfogel voiced the thanks of the club to Evan for his contributions during the past three years. Elected unanimously was the proposed slate of officers:

Remarks from the New President - Scott Aster

Scott thanked Evan for his effective leadership and expressed his plan to continue in the same direction. He hopes to get more people involved and to emphasize mapping, e.g. converting local maps into high-quality, IOF-standard maps.

Questions from the Membership and Visitors

Questions were asked concerning places to buy good orienteering maps (check with Bob Cooley); the number of members in the club (304 memberships, 585 members); and whether club members often traveled to European events (some do). Finally, Evan reported that Wyatt Riley is looking for someone to help with the Website due to an impending move, and he thanked Wyatt for all of his work.

The meeting adjourned at about 12:50 pm.