by Meg Gerstner, Secretary
PRESENT: Scott Aster, Everett Beuerman, Jean Beuerman, Steve Beuerman, Mark Blair, Bob Cooley, Nick Corsano, Evan Custer, Harold DeMoss, Meg Gerstner, Stacy Goss, Steve Gregg, Rosemary Johnson, Nancy Lindeman, George Minarik, James Scarborough, Joe Scarborough, Dan Stoll-Hadayia, Ian Tidswell.
Service Award: Just prior to the start of the meeting, Ev Beuerman presented the 1999 Service Award to Evan Custer.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm at the Alta Bates Imaging Center. Scott requested that voting privileges be officially extended to the permit director (Rosemary Johnson) and the national event coordinator (Evan Custer). The motion was passed.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Scott Aster
The minutes of the September 14, 1999 board meeting were approved.
2. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - Scott Aster
Scott reported that a recent solicitation to put our Website "first in line" for $20/month had been rejected. Other issues/requests concerning the Website should be forwarded to our webmaster, Aileen Abernathy. The US Champs were a resounding success, and meet director Evan Custer was thanked.
3. TREASURER'S REPORT - George Minarik
As previously reported, this has been a very good year financially, with the US Champs netting nearly $11,000. The income has been greater than $50,000 so far, higher than any previous year. Issues to be discussed in connection with the 2000 budget are increasing permit fees, electronic punching, mapping, and a junior training grant. A vote to approve the budget was delayed until the end of the meeting in order to accommodate changes resulting from other votes during the evening. George reported that the increase in fees has not affected meet attendance. Ian asked whether our marketing dollars (the majority of which go to "The Schedule") were being appropriately spent: it seems our most common sources of new participants are the Website and outreach programs.
4. EVENT COORDINATORS' REPORT - Harold DeMoss
Harold said that next year's schedule is basically planned up to the Sierra 2000 O'Fest, although Stanford and Spring Lake still need a meet director or course setter. The Orinda meet, scheduled for June 17th or 18th, has been canceled because of a conflict with the LAOC Mt. Pinos event. May 6th has been designated National Orienteering Day (NOD), and Harold reported that he and Penny, who plan to direct the Indian Valley meet that weekend, would be willing to hold it on Saturday as part of NOD. Ian suggested that it might be useful to have a number of smaller meets, with white/yellow/orange courses, at different locations around the Bay, and then follow it with a normal Sunday meet to attract interested newcomers. (Discussion later in the meeting resolved that a committee composed of Nancy, Scott, Ian, and possibly Tony Pinkham would meet to discuss the feasibility of this approach.)
5. NEW BUSINESS - Scott Aster
Electronic Punch System Subcommittee Report (Mark Blair): At the last board meeting, a committee consisting of Mark (chairman), Joe, Evan, Bob, Mark Rice, and James Scarborough was formed to review the current state of the art of electronic punching (EP) and make a recommendation at the December board meeting. Mark reported that the committee had met and produced a voluminous report. He gave an overview of the technology, its advantages (including instant results and splits, training applications, no need for punch checking, precision timing, ability to set a convoluted course in a small area) and disadvantages (including cost, possible system failures, learning curve, possible increased workload), and the present commercial systems (SportIdent and Emit).
The committee's recommendation was that the board:
The board passed an amended motion, authorizing BAOC to purchase the basic system in its entirety without cost-sharing with SO and committing to providing an EP system at the Sierra 2000. The remaining items of the recommendation (i.e., demonstration events, EP cadre, rental rates, zero impact) were adopted in this amended motion. A motion to provide lodging expenses for a SportIdent representative to assist during the Sierra 2000 was withdrawn and may be reconsidered at the March board meeting.
Training Scholarship for Juniors: At the last meeting the board discussed funding some type of grant for juniors in order to foster training. The pros: This grant would allow a junior to experience the best training and might promote the growth of orienteering in the US. The cons: Only one person would be helped each year, and it would not cover all costs. An initial motion that the board allocate $1,000 to defer the expenses of one junior to travel for elite competition generated discussion, including the possibility that the grant be awarded to more than one person. The board passed a motion that a committee composed of Nick Corsano, Steve Gregg, and Scott Aster make a report with guidelines for the grant and a recommended motion on this topic and that the board would then vote by e-mail on that motion.
Prize money: It has been proposed that cash prizes for the top three finishers in the M21 and F21 categories be given at the Burton Creek A-meet. Such awards may help the sport be taken more seriously and generate publicity. A motion to award $150 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place was passed.
Aid to GCO: A motion was passed to give GCO $500 in thanks for their efforts running the starts at the US Champs. A second motion was passed establishing that if GCO holds an event using a BAOC map, BAOC will receive one half of the profits (i.e., the revenues minus the costs) from the event. During discussion concerning this second motion, Evan indicated that GCO was in agreement with this proposal, that we would retain "veto rights" over the use of the map - for example, if we planned to hold an A-meet on the terrain within a year of the proposed GCO use.
National Orienteering Day: As indicated above, a committee was formed to investigate the possibility of holding multiple events around the Bay the weekend of May 6th.
Fundraising options: Dox Doxiadis had proposed that we transfer maps onto bandannas and sell them. Bob said that it is possible to buy special paper to print maps and then iron them onto cloth. Scott will look into this further.
6. MAPPING DIRECTOR'S REPORT - Bob Cooley
George Kirkov is working on the maps for Burton Creek, Tamarancho, and Northstar. During the summer he will be working on Morgan Territory and Briones. A base map (about 3 km) of Skyline Open Space has been received. Evan discussed the situation at Fallen Leaf in the Sierras. There are some issues concerning the timing of applying for a permit and the ordering of the base map, although the photographs have been ordered from the Forest Service. Evan will contact the wildlife biologist to determine if there are any reasons why he would not approve a permit for an event. Evan will also contact Camp Concord to see if they would be willing to pay for a quick map of their camp. Scott has been contacted by the agent of a Finnish orienteer who might be available to do some mapping for BAOC.
7. SIERRA 2000 UPDATE - Evan Custer
Evan briefly discussed his projected attendance for this event: 150 at a Spooner Lake B-meet (the weekend before the A-meet); 250 at the Sawmill Creek A-meet on Wednesday; about 300 at the Burton Creek A-meet on Saturday, and Sunday; and 250 at the convention. These projections would result in revenues of about $31,000.
8. DIRECTORS' REPORTS
There were either no reports or nothing additional to report for Equipment (Mark Blair), Event Quality (Ian Tidswell), Registration (Jean and Ev Beuerman), Bulletin (Stacy Goss), USOF Report (Gary Kraght), Outreach (Robert Lewis), and Website (Aileen Abernathy).
Membership (Steve Beuerman): Membership remains stable, with about 325 members, 75 of which expire at the end of December.
Training (Steve Gregg): Steve will have a training event on Saturday, December 18th.
Juniors (Nick Corsano): The BAOC juniors won the trophy at the US Champs. The trophy will rotate among the juniors who won first place in their events.
Publicity (Nancy Lindeman): Nancy will try to get publicity concerning National Orienteering Day into local parenting magazines.
Technical (Joe Scarborough): No technical issues were discussed, although Joe indicated that he would like board approval to acquire the basic unit from SportIdent on behalf of BAOC and said that he plans to carry the cards required for the system (at a rental rate of $2/day or $1.50/day for multiday meets with preregistration, and a purchase price of $24). The Board passed a specific motion confirming these rental rates. Evan will work with Joe to purchase the system. When electronic punches are used, no manual punches will be present at those control locations.
Permits (Rosemary Johnson): Rosemary has consulted with the East Bay Regional Park District and the ranger at Morgan Territory concerning a possible permit for an A-meet. They have indicated that they would give general approval, but need to know how we would deal with parking for the participants.
9. OFFICER NOMINATING COMMITTEE - Scott Aster
An committee composed of the club president, treasurer, secretary, and event coordinator will propose a slate of candidates for the next meeting. Any interested club members are invited to contact Scott.
10. NEXT MEETING - Scott Aster
The next board meeting will be Monday, March 6th, at Stanford University.
11. BUDGET APPROVAL - George Minarik
The motion to approve the proposed 2000 budget, with appropriate changes made to accommodate the purchase of the electronic punching equipment, was passed.