PRESENT: Scott Aster, Everett Beuerman, Jean Beuerman, Steve Beuerman, Mark Blair, Bob Cooley, Evan Custer, Harold DeMoss, Meg Gerstner, Steve Gregg, Vladimir Gusiatnikov, Rosemary Johnson, Jeff Lanam, Nancy Lindeman, George Minarik, Joe Scarborough.
The meeting was called to order at 6:58 pm at the Alta Bates Imaging Center in Oakland.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Scott Aster
The minutes of the March 5, 2001, board meeting were approved.
2. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - Scott Aster
Scott raised the possibility of eliminating the 3-hour time limit as long as we have a course closure time. Issues to be considered are fairness (longer time to complete the course v. starting earlier), the standards at IOF events (no time limits), the possibility that beginners may do courses beyond their abilities, and the issues for event workers. A motion was passed that at club B meets and lower, the 3-hour time limit could be removed but that the course closing time would remain, and that a sign would be placed at the start clearly indicating the course closing time.
The club will be receiving a royalty payment of $200 from McGraw-Hill publishing company for its use of our Spring Lake map in a textbook. An additional $200 will be paid for each reprint of the book.
The ranger at Bon Tempe has indicated that he would agree to allow us to increase the number of people at events at that site, by having 20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon. This will need approval by the Water District board.
3. TREASURER'S REPORT - George Minarik
George passed out copies of the current financial statement. One point he highlighted was that the club administration costs had nearly reached the yearly budgeted amount. This is due to payment of the club's USOF fees. Event income is behind last year, but so are expenses, primarily due to fewer meets. Nothing else is out of the ordinary. $18,000 has been moved to a Wells Fargo money market account, which allows unlimited withdrawals with one day liquidity. The current interest in the money market account (just over 4%) is substantially higher than that paid in our savings account (less than 1%).
4. MAPPING REPORT - Bob Cooley
A new mapper is arriving from Croatia on June 5 to work on Morgan Territory. (He will be housed as a local extended-stay motel due to the difficulty of finding alternative housing.) Morgan Territory recently bought some land which make the western part of the park more accessible. In August, Bob hopes to have two mappers from Ukraine available to work on Fallen Leaf Lake and then Almaden Quicksilver, followed by Briones and Salt Point. Mark Blair hopes to make an OCAD conversion program available by April 2002. The conversion to OCAD of part of the Joaquin Miller map has been received; field work remains. Bob said he would like to have the entire maps of Indian Valley and Sunol digitized before remapping. Money has been allocated in the budget for Tamarancho, Bon Tempe (but we will wait until the Water District board approves increased used, discussed above), and Calero (where we could add the new areas, although Bob is not sure when we will get access). Jeff Lanam will be working on mapping Vasona Park in Los Gatos.
5. EVENT COORDINATORS' REPORT - Harold DeMoss
Harold reported that the July 15 event at Spring Lake has been cancelled. A meet director (David Meredith) and course setter (George Minarik) have been found for the September 9 event. A course setter is still needed for Joe Grant (November 11). Mike Springer will be both meet director and course setter at Golden Gate Park. Syd Reader will be doing the December meet at Stanford on behalf of the Stanford Orienteering Club. Van Boughner will be doing a Golden Goat at Wilder Ranch on July 29.
Harold and Penny will be adopting a new procedure for the 2002 schedule. There will be a list of preferred dates and venues. When a course setter, meet director, and permit have all been acquired, that event will move to the official Schedule.
There was a discussion of the possible conflict in December between the Bon Tempe meet and the A-meet in Los Angeles. It was decided that no change should be made to our schedule, as the Bon Tempe meet has a restriction on the number of entrants and would not likely be affected by the A-meet.
6. 2001 A-MEET "O in the Oaks" - Scott Aster
The 2001 A-Meet will be held at Morgan Territory, and will include a World Ranking Event (WRE) on Sunday. Scott Donald, an IOF controller for the WRE, visited in May to look at the site. He commented on the steepness of the site and the state of readiness of the map (which is still in preparation). Adequate parking has been found; permits have been acquired; staffing has been determined for many of the tasks, but Scott still needs volunteers for a variety of tasks (recreational results, clothing pickup, signs, dinner hosts, child care, first air, tee shirt design). Course setting is being done by George and Hannu Haarma (who will do the WRE courses). The red and blue WRE courses will also be used by non-WRE competitors. Using Active.com to register is being encouraged.
Other topics included a brief discussion of whether there would be special medals for the WRE winners (unknown), and whether there should be case prizes (unlikely) or special prizes for kids (unknown). A sponsor might be willing to donate prizes, and anyone interested in seeking such a sponsor should contact Scott.
7. FUTURE A-MEETS - Scott Aster
The 2002 A-meet will be at Almaden Quicksilver in San Jose. Evan reported that he may have located a meet director and a course setter. As soon as this is set, he will send in the request to USOF for sanctioning. We will not seek any championships for this meet. Bob reported that the terrain is similar to Calero with more poison oak. About one-third is too steep, so we will use the remaining two-thirds.
The 2003 A-meet will be at Fallen Leaf Lake in the Sierras, preferably the second week of September. We will be submitting a bid for the US Champs. The proposed housing will be at Camp Concord, which has cabins and food service. Evan will put down a $500 deposit for the camp, and will submit a request to USOF, listing himself as meet director.
There was a brief discussion of a suggestion by Dennis Wildfogel that the club hold a "barebones" A-meet, which would feature good courses, such as those at Burton Creek during June, but not require all of the normal A-meet trappings (e.g. no dinner, no awards, no tee shirts). Evan said that he would be willing to do such a barebones A-meet at Burton Creek next summer.
8. DIRECTORS' REPORTS
There were no reports for Technical (Joe Scarborough), Website (Abby Wolfe), USOF (Gary Kraght), or Permits (Rosemary Johnson).
E-Punch Cadre (Robert Lewis): In Robert's absence, Mark reported that the system is working pretty well. One control failed at Indian Valley; it unclear why. The software allowed deletion of the failed unit so the race results were still valid. A suggestion was made that early runners be given a spare unit so that they could replace a possible failed unit before most of the competitors are on the course. It would be helpful if there were a short documentation describing the working and idiosyncrasies of the e-punch software; Robert is working on this. The Velcro strips on the bottom of the units hide the status light; they will be redesigned. Registration would like a list of people and their e-punch card numbers.
Juniors (Nick Corsano): In Nick's absence, Scott reported that this year's junior training grant has been awarded to Anneliese Steuben, who also has been named to the US team for the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC). We would like to encourage more applications for the junior training grant. There was a brief discussion of the possibility of, instead of awarding the junior training grant to one or more individuals, some of it could be used to fund a junior training camp.
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.
Membership (Steve Beuerman): Steve reported that for the first time in quite a while, membership is up slightly as of the last bulletin.
Training (Steve Gregg): Steve reported that the Wednesday training sessions were going well, and one is scheduled nearly every week until the end of July.
Registration (Jean and Ev Beuerman): Ev and Jean propose that we have e-punch stubs on colored card stock (maybe corresponding to course colors) to be turned in at the start and used to determine who is still out on a course.
Publicity (Nancy Lindeman): Nancy reported that there were not as many newspaper features concerning National Orienteering Day as last year, but there still was a good turnout. The board agreed that we want to encourage everyone (including less experienced orienteers) to come to the A-meet and that the WRE may be a "hook". Nancy asked whether it was necessary to restrict advertising for meets held Marin County, particularly anything held on Open Space land. Rosemary said she did not recall any restrictions from the permit. (It was noted that our Indian Valley event is held at Indian Valley College, not Marin Open Space land.)
Bulletin (Jeff Lanam): The next deadline is June 18th. Jeff will be glad to send a copy of the bulletin to all first-time orienteers with their results if he receives their names/addresses from their registration forms. Meet directors should pass them along to Jeff. He is trying to improve the quality of the pictures, and seeks training tips from any interested volunteer.
9. NEW/OTHER BUSINESS - Scott Aster
The board agreed that the Bay-O-Net could be moved to Yahoo Groups, as suggested by Wyatt Riley. It was suggested that a date be selected (and publicized) for the transfer.
The Mt. Diablo Historical Society is having an event on July 21st to celebrate their 100th anniversary, and has asked BAOC to demonstrate how to use a compass (and possibly have a map and small course). It was suggested that we could use this event to publicize the Morgan Territory and Golden Gate Park meets. (Golden Gate is scheduled for the next day.)
George raised the possibility of continuing our practice of having the club donate money to the US team and/or US team members for use in connection with the World Orienteering Championships (WOC). At the March meeting a motion passed to award Anneliese Steuben $500 for her JWOC expenses. Vladimir Gusiatnikov reported that funds given to the team support entry fees, accommodations, and travel, as all members must pay their own way. A motion to match our 1999 contribution ($700 to club- and US-team-member James Scarborough and $500 to the US Team) passed. Any individual contributions can be sent to the team members or the team.
Steve Beuerman reported that on-line registration has not been very well used for normal events. It was decided to keep it alive for a while to see if interest increases, especially for the A-meet.
10. NEXT MEETING - Scott Aster
The next board meeting will be Wednesday, September 5, 2001, at Stanford University at 7:00 pm. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.