PRESENT: Scott Aster, Everett Beuerman, Jean Beuerman, Steve Beuerman, Mark Blair, Nick Corsano, Evan Custer, Meg Gerstner, Steve Gregg, Hannu Haarma, Gary Kraght, Jeff Lanam, Nancy Lindeman, Andrew Masalkovas, Vadimas Masalkovas, George Minarik, Joe Scarborough, Kelly Wells, Abby Wolfe
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm at the Alta Bates Imaging Center in Oakland.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Abby Wolfe
A motion was passed to make a correction to the meeting minutes of the March 5, 2002 board meeting as published in the bulletin. A sentence in the director's report for the E-punch Cadre should read: "The next generation software from SportIdent allows a 64 control limit on each stick (compared to 36 controls/30 times today)."
2. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - Abby Wolfe
Abby reported that the ballot for the USOF Pacific Region delegates had been sent out on Bayonet. Please vote. Chuck Spalding will be sending out bulletins to first-time orienteers. He will also be keeping track of how the newcomers heard about orienteering, and will hold onto the registration forms with the liability waivers for one year. George currently keeps track of the number of entries and the number of people on each course for each event. This information will be put on the website and may be useful for determining how many maps to print. The club officers held a meeting on May 29th. Abby and Meg will be putting together a policy manual and it will be available on the website.
3. APPROVAL OF BOARD POSITIONS - Abby Wolfe
Motions to fill vacant board positions were passed. New board members are Scott Aster (Outreach), Andrew Masalkovas (Webmaster), and Olivia Graeve (Social). Unfortunately, Olivia will be moving to Reno shortly, so her board position will again be vacant. A motion to add a new board position, that of E-punch director, was also passed, and Robert Lewis's appointment to that position was approved. The responsibility of the e-punch director is to coordinate and maintain e-punch equipment, use and administer the e-punch function at events, and do training. Joe mentioned that the original thought was that e-punching would have no added responsibility for an event director, as it would be performed by the e-punch cadre. He wondered whether that idea was still correct.
4. TREASURER'S REPORT - George Minarik
George reported that the income looks pretty good on a per-event basis with several events generating over $1000. As a result, it is likely that we will have more than the $46,000 income estimated for the year. There has not been much expense activity as it is early in the year, although most permits have been received. The greatest impact on the expenses is the cost of mapping, including the expense of housing mappers. George reported that Bob plans to have mappers work on Briones, Presidio, Burton Creek, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Salt Point. Andrew will check to see if he can offer housing to one of the visiting mappers. George will authorize an overspend rather than change the budget number for the social director budget. National Orienteering Day (NOD) was a good source of income. Andrew asked why after NOD there were no events. This was due to a schedule change mandated by the park.
5. EVENT COORDINATORS' REPORT - Evan Custer
Evan reported that the Lake Elizabeth event in early July has been canceled. The rest of the year is set, although a meet director and a course setter are needed for Shell Ridge on December 1st, due to Dan Stoll-Hadayia's move to Reno. Scott reported that he will be doing an event at Foothills Park outside Windsor on August 17th, setting white and yellow courses for a Sonoma County Parks event. Already scheduled for 2003 are meets on January 4th at Huddart Park (must stay on trails) and January 26th at Nisene Marks. If the map of Salt Point north of Jenner is completed, Evan will do an A-meet in April 2003.
6. NATIONAL ORIENTEERING DAY FOLLOW-UP - Abby Wolfe
About 280 newcomers attended 2 events during the weekend of National Orienteering Day (NOD). It was not known whether compasses were handed out to the winners of the events. Abby asked whether, given the success of these two events, we should have come & try it events more frequently, e.g. a "newcomers' month". Evan said that other clubs (e.g. DVOA) have a lot of this type of event, and he will try to put some in the schedule. Kelly mentioned that he learned to appreciate the sport again through the eyes/comments of the newcomers. Nancy reported that Ian had supplied snacks at the Joaquin Miller NOD event, which was a good idea. Ev asked whether some of the white and yellow courses could be turned into trail O, to support the increased popularity of trail O and to provide challenges for more experienced orienteers at a come & try it event.
7. BURTON CREEK A-MEET - Evan Custer
All courses are done on paper; vetters are needed. All crew chiefs and permits have been obtained. There are about 125 entries so far. Saturday will feature a 2-stage event with combined times; preliminaries will be held in the morning with finals in the afternoon after staggered starts. An ice cream social will follow the afternoon event in the vicinity of the finish line where awards will be given. The event has been publicized in the local area.
8. 2002 A-MEET - Kelly Wells
Kelly has located crew chiefs for most positions, including construction, pick-up, and social events. Volunteers are needed for starts (and other positions). There will be shuttles to the remote starts. Recreational courses will be available for white/yellow/orange, and Kelly will recruit an assistant meet director for these courses. A flyer to be distributed at the Burton Creek meet and ONA is in progress. The dinner will be held at the San Jose Community Center for $19/person ($10 for ages 5 - 12; free under 5). A free dinner will be offered to the Saturday winners of the M21 and F21 courses if they agree to do course reviews at the dinner.
9. MAPPING REPORT - Evan Custer for Bob Cooley
Two mappers will be arriving to complete Fallen Leaf Lake and other venues. Hannu reported that Fallen Leaf Lake, the site of the 2003 A-meet (including the US Champs and a World Ranking Event--points that should be included on the website) consists of two sections separated by the camp. Mark Blair's "semiautomated" conversion program was first used last weekend at Sunol. Mark estimates that the program allowed conversion to Ocad in about 1/3 the time compared to converting by hand. Bob will be using the program to convert other maps, including Indian Valley and Las Trampas.
10. US TEAM GRANT PROPOSAL - George Minarik
At the March board meeting the possibility of making a grant to members of the US Team and/or the US Team directly was discussed. The objective would be to create a system to assist elite orienteers in training and/or travel to events. George had volunteered to make a proposal, and his initial proposal was to provide a discretionary total of $2000 per year to members of the US Team to be administered by the Training Director, with a maximum of $500 to be given to the US Team fund if not distributed to individual members. The grant recipients would be selected based on criteria established by a committee headed by the Training Director, and would be asked to report what they did with the grant and what was learned. A suggestion that any surplus not awarded from the grant be given to juniors was rejected. A motion to establish an annual elite training budget ($2000 for 2002) to be administered by the Training Director and a committee working with the Training Director in order to give support to US Team members was passed. Anyone interested in participating in the committee should contact Steve Gregg.
11. CASH AWARDS AT A-MEETS - Gary Kraght
Gary reported that while the progress in the US and the club in attracting recreational orienteers has been good, we have not been as successful at the elite/world level, with the US not improving compared to other countries such as Australia and England. He thinks that professionalism drives "serious" sports v. recreational sports, and if there are no cash awards or sponsors, the sport is not taken seriously. Therefore, he would like to make a proposal that beginning in 2003, BAOC provide awards for M21 and F21 at all BAOC A-meets for eligible U.S. citizens as of the day of the event. For a 2-day event, the awards would be $500/250/100 for the first three places; for a 1-day event, the awards would be $250/125/50. This would provide two advantages: (1) support the US team through performance, and (2) get more competitive people involved in the sport, e.g. adventure or road racers. Discussion of the proposal included comments that BAOC is a trendsetting club, that this type of proposal has not been discussed at the USOF board level, that modest training grants have been given by DVOA at a recent event (e.g. $100) and by BAOC at the Sierra 2000 ($150/100/50), that significant amounts need to be given consistently and with publicity in order to be effective, that there may be some conflict between the objective of giving cash awards at "bare bones" events, that we should not have to raise fees in any way to fund such cash awards, and that not all winners of A-meets are US citizens. The following motion was passed by a 12 to 2 vote (with 1 abstention): Beginning with the 2003 US Champs, BAOC will provide cash awards for the F21 and M21 categories at selected A-meets. To be eligible, a participant must be a US citizen or permanent resident (i.e. "US championship eligible") as of the day of the event. For the US Champs and other national championships, the amount for a 2-day event will be $1000/500/250 for first to third place; for other A-meets the amounts will be determined as appropriate.
12. VOLUNTEER INCENTIVES AND APPRECIATION - Abby Wolfe
Various "volunteer incentives" have been discussed in the past to show appreciation for the efforts of club members. Abby reported that meet-based incentives, including free passes or discounts, have been rejected due to logistics and the negative effects on meet income. A suggestion from George was to have an annual free "volunteers-only" meet, e.g. at Bon Tempe. A motion was passed to have a Volunteer Appreciation event at Bon Tempe, free of charge to BAOC members who have volunteered at at least one event during the calendar year preceding the event, retaining the normal first-come/first-served advance registration required for Bon Tempe. Another suggestion was to provide some reimbursement to course setters and meet directors who must travel significant distances for events they are running. This is especially applicable to our Sierra sites. A motion was passed to provide a maximum of $100 for a meet director and a maximum of $200 for a course setter for travel expenses for events more than 125 miles from their home. The reimbursement will apply to each course setter, if more than one, and is an exception to the current policy requiring preapproval of any outlay by a meet director of more than $50. Another issue is the current tax status of the club. BAOC is a 501(c)(7) social and recreational club, not a charitable nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization for which expenses by volunteers related to the club can be deducted. Some other clubs, including CROC, do have 501(c)(3) status. Meg will look into this and any interested club member is asked to volunteer his/her knowledge on this subject.
13. DIRECTORS' REPORTS
There were no reports for Membership (Steve Beuerman), Registration (Jean and Ev Beuerman), Technical (Joe Scarborough), Permits (Rosemary Johnson) or Social (Olivia Graeve).
Equipment (Mark Blair): Mark reported that three new Motorola radios that are compatible with Evan's radios have been purchased and used at Sunol.
E-Punch Cadre (Robert Lewis): In Robert's absence, Jeff reported that he had purchased 128 Mb of memory for the laptops.
Juniors (Nick Corsano): Nick reported that there have been no applicants for the Junior Training Grant.
Event Quality (Ian Tidswell): In Ian's absence Abby reported that Ian will be approaching event directors to assist in vetting, armchair course review, etc.
Equipment (Mark Blair): All three equipment kits are badly scrambled and Mark will try to get them straightened out. Requests for equipment include new clocks (such as the self-setting radio clock purchased by Bob Cooley for $25 at Fry's), and a table for the E-punch workers. Mark asked that people notify him or one of the regional equipment directors in advance if they want to borrow equipment for a special event. The possibility of buying a second laptop for e-punching was raised. There is money in the budget for this and it is helpful if two people are working.
Training (Steve Gregg): Steve reported that the Wednesday training sessions are not yet on-going. However, Rex Winterbottom plans to hold a training event at McLaren Park the Saturday before the Burton Creek event.
Publicity (Nancy Lindeman): Nancy had nothing to report, but Scott said that a feature on orienteering, featuring George, Judy Koehler, and him (among others) at Annadel had been seen several times on Marin public access television. [George had brought the tape and we viewed it after the meeting.]
Bulletin (Jeff Lanam): The cost of mailing the bulletin is increasing to 60 cents. As reported above, Chuck Spalding will be taking on the responsibility for sending our bulletins to first-timers, so all meet directors should forward their registration forms to Chuck. For the last six meets, 180 bulletins were sent out to newcomers, so it may be necessary to increase the print run. It was suggested that a note be put on the outside of the bulletin to indicate that it is complimentary.
Website (Andrew Masalkovas): Andrew is working on a redesign of the website.
Outreach (Scott Aster): Scott reported that Girl Scouts and corporate groups have contacted him. Requests for assistance include an event at Foothills Park in Sonoma County, and a home schooling activity mid-week in July in Santa Rosa. Abby will be presenting a seminar at REI in Fremont on June 20th.
USOF (Gary Kraght): Gary reported that by 2004, the team trials for the US team will be held separately from the US champs. This will be elevate the status and importance of the team trials and will allow orienteers over 35 the opportunity to compete in both the open/elite class at the trials and in their own age class at the US champs.
14. NEXT MEETING - Abby Wolfe
The next board meeting will be Monday, September 9, 2002, at Stanford University at 7:00 pm. One of the topics to be discussed at the next meeting is voting by e-mail for issues before the board. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 pm.