Absent Board Members: Karyn Hoffert (proxy held by Steve Criss), Andrew Nisbet III (proxy held by Patty Wells), Linda Pilcher (OSFCI President) (in "work hell" at the moment), John Williamson (OSFCI Treasurer) (preparing a house to be sold).
The meeting started at 2:05PM, presided over by John Lorentz
Patty Wells: Where do the Treasury records live now? John L.: My guess is with the Treasurer, but we need to find out.
John L: The final membership number for Ory29 (from the Regress Report) was 1,296 membership–after adjusting for duplicates and non-attending program comps at Ory27. That puts Ory28 about two dozen more than the previous year.
The one thing we probably didn't do as well with as we should have was that we should have had a larger hotel block. We based the number of rooms on the previous usage at Potlatch and we were very conservative with it. Unfortunately, the scrapbookers' and the cheerleaders' conventions across the street took all the available rooms and we weren't able to expand our block. So we had people scattered around it other nearby hotels.
Aaron Curtis: They are having problems with the hotel. The short version is that they're not being very "service oriented"–ever since the renovation, they're not being very helpful and not forthcoming on a contract for GS 10. So Game Storm may have to find another hotel (once again).
They would like to hold out $4,000 from any surplus to roll over for hotel expenses next year (in case they have to move again), before splitting the remaining surplus with OSFCIThere was some discussion on this–maybe we should wait to discuss it at the next Board meeting (after Game Storm is over) so that we have a chance to discuss it with the OSFCI Treasurer and to consult the language of the contract? (No one had a copy with them at this meeting.)
Patty: There is a perception in the hotel industry that the economy is improving so therefore it's time to start raising the rates and demanding more from their customers. Also the new OryCon hotel sales manager is much tougher on OryCon than the previous one–it may be something similar to that. In any case, it's a good idea to stick some money away as a hotel reserve.
Debbie Cross: Doesn't the contract only require Board approval if the entire budget changes by more than 10%? Aaron N: Whether or not the contract requires the approval from the Board, GS is seeking it nevertheless (The contract states that Board approval is needed if any budget item changes by more than 10%.)
John L: Is there any objection to approving this change? (No.)
Jim Fiscus brought up a discussion on the types of GOHs that should be invited to OryCon, and people discussed various aspects of an Editor GOH for a while. Paul: We're wandering off the topic (i.e. a report to OSFCI on OryCon 29). Jim: There should be an OSFCI policy regarding the Guests of Honor that invited to OryCon; John L: the OSFCI policy has been that the OryCon chair gets to decide who the guests of honor are. (With the exception of cases like this year, where the OSFCI Board invited Robert Charles Wilson since we didn't have an OryCon chair for next year until after this year's OryCon.)
Debbie discussed the idea of having a "Petrey/Clarion Carnival" at OryCon on Friday afternoon (see below). This would be a carnival with booths put on by several different fan groups, with the proceeds going to the Susan Petrey scholarship fund. This might or might not be in place of the usual auction. Instead, Debbie may expand the "prize egg" sale she ran last year, with the addition of some small auction events incorporated into other events such as Opening Ceremonies. Steve: this may be a good way to involve some of the young attendees. He is also trying to add other "Under-21" style programming, and he'd like some ideas on that.
John L: As far the current reg numbers, we have currently have 355 members, compared to 288 this time last year. For dealers, we've sold 5 booths, 2 tables and 2 side tables. Total income so far (not counting bank card fees) have been $8600 in memberships, $720 from dealers, for a total of $9,348.
Jim: What effect will there be from Clarion (east) moving to San Diego? Paul: We'll probably have much more involvement–the people involved with the new incarnation are much more enthusiastic, it'll probably be more like Clarion West.
OSFCI will also be providing some backing for the Petrey Fund's anniversary celebration at OryCon this year–probably pay for the cost of a suite.
With the renovation, the various costs at the Marriott have gone up–but even with the new costs, we aren't paying as much as the final years at the Doubletree Columbia River hotel. But, as Patty said during the Game Storm discussion, the hotel industry feels that the economy is improving and they are raising their rates all around. But at least we've gotten a chance to build up the coffers again to give us leeway to go searching for another hotel–if need be. We'll also be receiving from the hotel something on "how Marriott would like to be marketed" to avoid the problems arising from the photos that were put on the web from a party at last year's OryCon.
It's hard to know how rates may go up, since with the meeting space rate going up may also include some of the subsidiary costs that were previously charged separate.
John L: On the subject of hotels, for any future small OSFCI events, I heartily recommend using the Red Lion Convention Center. They've been very good to work with for both the Smofcon (Dec 2005) and Potlatch (March 2007), and they're at a very central location (good transit, plenty of places to eat nearby).
The next meeting is the Annual Meeting, on May 21st. We'll approach PSU about using their space again.
| Budgeted | Actual | |||
| Hotel | ||||
| Programming Space | $2,750 | $2,750.00 | ||
| Hospitality Rooms | $758 | $711.04 | ||
| Other Miscellaneous | $250 | $140.00 | Tips for staff | |
| Total Hotel | $3,758 | $3,601.04 | ||
| Pre-Con Expenses | ||||
| Mailing Progress Reports | $25 | $58.50 | ||
| Program Book (150 books) | $200 | $183.79 | ||
| Bank Fees | $60 | $70.00 | ||
| PayPal Fees | $200 | $121.79 | ||
| PO Box | $76 | $80.00 | ||
| DBA Fee | $55 | $55.00 | ||
| Reg Expenses | $50 | $52.40 | ||
| Contingency | $50 | |||
| Web Site Fee | $75.00 | |||
| Progress Report Printing | $39.99 | |||
| Publicity | $67.19 | |||
| Programming Expenses | $77.20 | |||
| Total | $1,166 | $696.48 | ||
| Hospitality | $1,500 | $696.48 | ||
| Pass-Along Funds | $1,000 | |||
| OSFCI Fees | $320 | $250.00 | ||
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $7,424 | $4,949.46 | ||
INCOME
| Memberships | Budgeted | Actual | ||
| 10 @ $25 (Committee) | $225 | $250.00 | ||
| 10 @ $25 (Committee) | $225 | $250.00 | ||
| 45 @ $35 | $1,557 | $1,557.50 | ||
| 30 @ $45 | $1,350 | $1,370.00 | ||
| 40 @ $50 | $2,000 | $1,850.00 | ||
| 20 @ $60 (At-The-Door) | $1,200 | $1,523.03 | ||
| Dealers (8 tables @ $30) | $240 | $200.00 | ||
| Writer's Workshop | $150.00 | |||
| Writer's Workshop | $150.00 | |||
| T-Shirts (net) | $170.91 | |||
| Brunches (net) | $114.95 | |||
| Pass-Along Funds | $1,000 | $1,000.00 | ||
| Advertising | $15.00 | |||
| TOTAL INCOME | $7,572 | $8,186.39 | ||
| NET AMOUNT | $3,236.93 | |||
| AFTER PASS-ALONG FUNDS AND EXPECTED OSFCI FEE | $2,186.93 | |||
| Balance (12/31/2005) | $9,025.03 |
| Income | |
| Oregon Community Foundation 2005 | $1,794.00 |
| Auction Income | $2,305.00 |
| Fanthorpe Contest | $19.87 |
| Interest | $9.22 |
| Expenses | |
| Scholarships | $3,200.00 |
| Fellowship | $1,600.00 |
| Balance (12/31/2006) | $8,353.12 |
| OCF Balance (12/31/2006) | $50,475.73 |
The Susan C. Petrey Clarion Fund has been giving scholarships since 1982. Currently we are awarding one full tuition scholarship to each of the two
Clarions. In addition we now give Clarion West an $1800 grant for one of the instructors to be the Petrey Fellow. This makes our total commitment
about $5000 per annum. In recent years, nearly all of our income has come from the Petrey Auction at OryCon which raises between $1500 and $2000.
This means that the balance is taken from payout of the interest on the principal which is held by the Oregon Community Foundation. We have not adding
anything to the principal in 10 years.
Marking the 25th Anniversary of the scholarship, we would like to see 2007 as the year we are again able to add something to the funds held by OCF, helping to ensure that the scholarship will survive into the future. In addition we want to raise awareness of the Petrey Fund, of Susan Petrey herself, and of the wonderful contributions of the Clarion Writers Workshops to the genres of speculative fiction. OryCon/OSFCI can help us meet these goals in several ways. In addition, the focus on the Petrey Fund might help attract more establish authors to OryCon.
Invite as many Scholarship recipients as possible to participate in programming.
Provide us with a Suite on Saturday night to have a gathering of Clarion graduates, instructors, and supporters. We try to get donations to defray the cost of refreshments. Having a few good silent auction items in the room might be an option.
Have a Petrey tribute page in the program book and publicize the Petrey Fund and related events in precon publications..
Offer a program item about all of the OSFCI charities as well as other fannish charities.
Offer a program item about the writers workshop experience with both graduates and instructors sharing their experiences.
Offer a program item about vampires and their ilk with someone on it who can draw Susan's work into the discussion.
Working the Petrey Fund into Opening Ceremonies & costume events, maybe doing something like a pledge break fundraiser or auctioning off a few of the better items. We have trouble getting enough people to attend the auctions with the large number of other things happening simultaneously. Getting a chance to take advantage of the largest audiences at OryCon would be wonderful.
Run with Pirate theme of separating folks from their money. Hijack panels (with knowledge of participants) for a couple of minutes to sell eggs, auction something or just take up a collection.
Use your imagination. One year Linda sold balloons at registration, someone could organize a raffle, put a donation jar in hospitality or use your imagination.
Plan to donate a portion of the OryCon surplus to the Clarion Fund.
As usual provide a space in the dealers' room for either auction display or "egg" sales.
Friday afternoon is generally slow and this would give attendees something fun to do. Andy says using the big ballroom at that time would not be a problem.
The committee could take the Pirate Theme and run with it in this venue. Perhaps call it Pirates Cove or I'm sure that someone could up with something far more clever.
It would require someone to be over all in charge, but would have the advantage of being modular. In other words, individuals or groups could be asked just to design and run one booth. They would be responsible for setting up and tearing down and providing materials and prizes if required.
Getting good publicity on the website and in progress reports might encourage people to arrive in time to go to the event.
Some big name authors might like to participate to help with fundraising.
Paul of course will be busy with our business stuff in the dealers' room. I can not possible organize everything related to Petrey by myself. This would mean bringing some enthusiastic people on board to help organize things.
Some of things that WisCon does are Tarot and Palm readings, hair braiding, decorating postcards, making a memory book, bake sale, etc. I have been brainstorming with myself and came up with a few ideas.
| Committee Members | First Appointed | Term Expires |
|---|---|---|
| James Fiscus, Chairman | October 1996 | Novermber 2008 |
| Page Fuller, Treasurer | October 1996 | Novermber 2008 |
| Karyn Hoffert, OSFCI Rep. | July 2005 | November 2007 |
| Geri Jeter | November 2002 | November 2007 |
| Ruth Sachter | November 2002 | November 2007 |
| Marc Wells | November 2003 | November 2007 |
With the recent donations, we have $1,722.27 in the Award's account, giving us enough to ensure our health for the 2007 Award. We continue fund-raising to ensure the future of the Award.
We received 30 books, a few short of what we usually get.
| Committee Members | First Appointed | Term Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Bryant, Administrator | October 2006 | November 2009 |
| James Fiscus, Chairman | October 1996 | November 2008 |
| Page Fuller | October 1996 | November 2008 |
| Marilyn J. Holt | September 2000 | November 2008 |
| Sara Mueller | October 2003 | November 2007 |
| Alan Rosenthal | January 2006 | November 2009 |
| Sheila Simonson | October 1996 | November 2007 |
| Shawn Wall, Treasurer | November 2005 | November 2007 |