by Meg Gerstner, Secretary
PRESENT: Aileen Abernathy, Scott Aster, Everett Beuerman, Jean Beuerman, Steve Beuerman, Mark Blair, Bob Cooley, Nick Corsano, Evan Custer, Harold DeMoss, Meg Gerstner, Stacy Goss, Marsha Jacobs, Rosemary Johnson, Nancy Lindeman, George Minarik, Tony Pinkham, Syd Reader, Mark Rice, James Scarborough, Joe Scarborough.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Scott Aster
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm at the Hartley Conference Room of Mitchell Building, Stanford University. The minutes of the June 15, 1999 board meeting were approved.
2. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - Scott Aster
Scott started the meeting by indicating that a big push was on for the US Champs, for which we expect a large turnout. The largest previous meet had 404 entrants at Presidio in 1995; this meet may exceed that. Many of the events scheduled for October still need volunteers. A modified format for mentoring is in process. Scott then recognized James Scarborough, the BAOC representative on the US Team. James thanked the board for its support of his training and the team, saying that he had used the money to support his training in Sweden. He encouraged the club to continue this type of support, especially money for training juniors in Europe, which he said he thought was more important than money which would allow travel to a meet. In response to questions, James suggested that the club fund someone's training plan, and said that we have many contacts with clubs in Europe who could help with such a plan.
3. TREASURER'S REPORT - George Minarik
The current bank balance is $33,074.83, the largest ever, due in part to the fact that bills for the US Champs have not yet been paid. Record attendance and the fee increase have produced income far higher than projected, while expenses are holding the line. In accordance with the by- laws, a Budget Committee, made up of the Treasurer, the Mapping Director, the President, and any interested volunteers (Evan) was formed to determine next year's budget, which will be published in the November bulletin.
4. US CHAMPS UPDATE - Evan Custer
Evan said that plans for the meet were in good shape and went through a detailed rundown concerning each aspect, including the number of entrants (391 with more expected), the vetting (done), map printing (to be started after the board meeting), dinner (sold out), hotel (sold out), event center, packet stuffing, awards, model event, parking, remote starts, start rules, finishes, and crew chiefs.
5. MAPPING DIRECTOR'S REPORT - Bob Cooley
Part of the southeast corner of Briones has been mapped by Christian Frøyd and will be used in the October meet. Some progress has been made at Morgan Territory by Magnus Wallenborg. George Kirkov is working on the Northstar map for next year. The drawing of Burton Creek is not quite finished. A basemap of Skyline Open Space has been ordered. Scott and Tony volunteered to help improve the Presidio map. Tamarancho is almost all checked and should be finished next year. It may be suitable for a one-day A-meet. Evan said that he had been contacted by Camp Concord, in the Sierra, which wants to establish a permanent course on Forest Service Property. Bob will look at it. There was some discussion that we should consider up-grading local maps before producing another Tahoe-area map.
6. EVENT COORDINATORS' REPORT - Harold DeMoss
Harold said that next year's schedule is slowly being planned, but that he and Penny will be talking to people at the US Champs to get commitments.
7. SIERRA 2000 UPDATE - Evan Custer
There will be A-meets on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Although course setters have been identified, no meet directors have been set. Other events include bike-O on Thursday, trail-O on Friday, vampire-O, and sessions on electronic punching, junior training, skills training, and others. Lodging will be available at Northstar, with full payment due by May 25th to get the discount.
8. EQUIPMENT - Mark Blair
130 new controls with a blue stripe have been received. Fifty will be used with the competition stands, and the other 80 will be distributed among the equipment kits. At the US Champs, both competition stands and controls on stakes will be used on the courses. A discussion was held concerning electronic punching. Points raised included the current good financial condition of the club, the changes in technology for the systems, and the proposal to "test-drive" one or more systems at the Convention next summer. A committee consisting of Mark (chairman), Joe, Evan, Bob, and Mark Rice, with James as an associate member, was formed to review the current state of the art and make a recommendation at the December board meeting. Marsha suggested that any lost and found items from previous meets be brought to the US Champs in case they belonged to out-of-town competitors.
9. NEW BUSINESS - Scott Aster
The board passed a motion to present a plaque to Margaret and Andrew Gregory, who, along with Joe, were the directors of the first BAOC event. They will be present at the US Champs. The location of the 2001 A-meet was tentatively set for Morgan Territory in the fall. Scott will investigate further, Rosemary will check with the rangers, and they will report back in December. A discussion was held concerning the status of bike-O, which is now an official IOF discipline and was provided at China Camp. Although there were only 4 participants, they enjoyed it. Points raised included the fact that most parks don't let bikes on trails, we don't want to jeopardize our relationship with the rangers and hikers in many of the parks we use, and that bike-O attracts many new people to the sport. The conclusion was that we would leave offering bike-O to the discretion of the meet director, but would not encourage it at this point. Jean mentioned that the committee for the December Service Award was made up of the past winners. She asked to members to nominate candidates.
10. DIRECTORS' REPORTS
There were no reports or nothing to report for Event Quality (Ian Tidswell), Social (Leslie Minarik), Training (Steve Gregg), and USOF Liasion (Gary Kraght).
Juniors (Nick Corsano): Nick reported that activities for juniors will be held during a YMCA day camp and at a Girl Scout workshop. He would like to recruit resources, particularly to work with school groups. Nick will try to get a group photo taken of the juniors who attend the US Champs.
Website (Aileen Abernathy): Abby is in the process of redesigning and organizing the files for the website. She plans to set up a section on training tips and articles.
Outreach (Robert Lewis): Robert was not present, but Scott requested that if club members have contacts from outside, they should be sent to Robert (although requests concerning juniors should be sent to Nick).
Membership (Steve Beuerman): 563 people constitute 283 memberships and 412 USOF memberships.
Publicity (Nancy Lindeman): Nancy passed around several articles from the Marin Independent Journal, the Contra Costa Times, and the Montclairan concerning orienteering. A flyer for the recreational courses at Spooner Lake was discussed. Tony asked whether we should renew our ad in the Schedule; a decision is needed by later November, before the next board meeting. Stacy indicated that new participants at the Golden Gate meet had learned about orienteering from REI talks, the Schedule, the Adventure booklet, and the webpage.
Bulletin (Stacy Goss): Send articles by October 21st for the next bulletin.
Technical (Joe Scarborough): Joe raised the issue of control cards for courses with more than the "standard" number of controls.
Permits (Rosemary Johnson): Rosemary has obtained all necessary permits for meets through Calero. Feedback from the ranger at Big Basin was positive, after the ranger's initial reluctance to approve an event in the summer. In connection with this, Tony raised a question about informal practice sessions at parks where there are potential issues: do we know our limits? Marsha thanked Rosemary for performing this job on behalf of meet directors.
Registration (Ev and Jean Beuerman): Contrary to some reports, compasses are not really disappearing. Two more Gookinaid jugs have been purchased for use at meets.
11. OTHER - Scott Aster
Scott reported that Thorsten Graeve has resigned his position as South Bay summer training session coordinator. Interested candidates are asked to contact Scott. Nick commented that there have been an influx of yellow competitors, which provides an opportunity for training. Harold suggested that the yellow course be upgraded in difficulty to make it closer to an orange than a white. Scott suggested that Ian review this idea and submit guidelines (maybe on the web) for meet directors.
12. NEXT BOD MEETING - Scott Aster
The next board meeting will be Monday, December 6th, or Tuesday, December 7th, at the Alta Bates Imaging Center, depending on availability of the room. The meeting adjourned at 9:51 pm.