Current Board Meeting Minutes

DULLES SHRM BOARD MEETING MINUTES
ARTEL, Inc.
January 8, 2007

Board Members Present:
Teresa Buchholz, Vice President, Sponsors
Judy Carter, Vice President, Programs
Maggie Chan, Past-President
Sarah Cower, President Elect
Andy Drescher, Assistant Registration Coordinator
Joseph Gregory, Assistant Vice President, Membership
Denise Henderson, Communications Director
Evelyn Kaiser, Diversity/Workforce Education Director
Cindy Loison, Director, Discussion Group
Amy Lourenco, Registration Coordinator
Jamey McNamara, Secretary
Craig Petry, Legislative Liaison
Mary Saily, President
Tina Strasheim, Treasurer

Board Members Absent:
Ben Kane, SHRM Foundation Representative
Nidhi Kanungo, Student Chapter Liaison & Scholarship Coordinator
Lynn Padgett, Vice President, Membership
Chas Sumser, Certification Representative

Agenda:
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. 

Secretary:
The November 2006 Board Meeting minutes were approved.

The December 2006 Transition Board Meeting minutes were approved with one correction, i.e., Maggie Chan did not attend the 2006 SHRM Leadership Conference.

Treasurer:
Sarah Cower provided an update on 2006 year-end budget numbers.  Maggie Chan inquired as to whether the December 2006 payment from SHRM was included.  Sarah Cower reported that the payment was not received; Joseph Gregory explained that Lynn Padgett is investigating the matter with Lisa Gardner at SHRM, and that the payment will probably be made up in the next payment.
Tina Strasheim presented the Treasurer's report dated January 8, 2007.  Our checkbook balance (12/28/06 bank statement and pending transactions) as of January 8th is $8,834.10. In addition, we have $31,717.54 in a separate cash management account.

We then discussed the budget for 2007.  Several budget items were discussed in detail, including membership projections (275), the amount of expenses projected for newsletter reproduction and website maintenance, the Chapter’s projected contributions to the SHRM Foundation, and new hotel charges for a room for new member orientation (amount to be determined).  Tina Strasheim will revise the budget to reflect lower projected expenses for speaker gifts, due to leftover gifts purchased in 2006.
Tina Strasheim presented the Treasurer’s goals for 2007: 

• Maintain the Chapter’s financial health;
• Maintain financial records; and
• Take advantage of opportunities when available.

Membership:
Joseph Gregory presented Membership’s goals for 2007:

• Increase membership retention by 10 percent (to 65 percent);
• Achieve overall membership growth of 10 percent;
• Create and implement an “Ambassador Program” for new members or first-time meeting attendees; and
• Continue to focus on metrics and data analysis.  This includes continuing to track different membership data and conducting surveys regarding member engagement.

Amy Lourenco inquired about the retention rate data used in Joseph Gregory’s statistics and projections.  Joseph Gregory explained that he used historical data that is incomplete and thus he estimated the retention rate of 55-60 percent.  He anticipates that 2007 data analysis and comparisons will be more useful since the 2006 data he and Lynn Padgett compiled will serve as a baseline. 
We then discussed several topics related to Membership’s 2007 plans, including the Board’s thoughts on potentially increasing the Chapter’s size by 10 percent; making more meaningful the member expertise data gathered in the registration process; and the timing for implementing the new Ambassador program.  Joseph Gregory explained that Nidhi Kanungo would like to be involved in this project and she is out of the country.  In the interest of getting started, Judy volunteered to shepherd a new member at the January Chapter meeting.  It was agreed that we would revisit the Ambassador Program at the March 2007 Board Meeting.
Joseph Gregory was asked to provide the Board with an update on membership and retention data at the February 2007 Board Meeting.

Registration:
Amy Lourenco first outlined our arrangements with the Sheraton Hotel in Reston, the new site for the Chapter’s monthly meetings.  We will use one room for networking time -- to be set up cocktail style with a cash bar (for dinners) and sponsor table -- and a banquet-size room for dinners/breakfasts.  In the hallway will be a six foot table for registration.
Amy Lourenco then reported on the increased use of online registration for Chapter Meetings in 2006 and provided the following statistics from last year: 

• 98 percent of attendees registered online, in advance
• 55 percent prepaid using a credit card; and
• 98 percent of “no shows” paid for the meetings they missed.

Amy Lourenco also mentioned that Kimberly Esch, the 2006 Registration Coordinator, implemented the use of professional, pre-printed nametags, which she will continue using in 2007.
For 2007, Amy Lourenco’s goals are to:

• Add the Dulles SHRM logo to the nametags;
• Increase the percentage of prepaid meeting attendees who use the credit card payment option.  The strategy for achieving this goal is to place more emphasis on use of the website and Mailer Mailer messages to encourage prepayment.

Diversity/Workforce Education:
Evelyn Kaiser presented her goals for 2007:

• Match Dulles SHRM members with community organizations;
• Support the best practices of the agreement between SHRM and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) by creating a Chapter “Circle of Champions” program.  The program would link Dulles SHRM members and local organizations to promote the employment of people with disabilities with internship and unpaid work experience opportunities.  Evelyn Kaiser’s specific goal is to initially involve 3-4 members and 3-4 organizations.  Work on this initiative will begin in March.
• Increase the amount of Diversity and Workforce-related content on the Dulles SHRM site, including contact information of community presenters as well as information on area higher education and disability organizations.  Work on this initiative will begin in August.

Mary Saily noted that the SHRM Chapter Achievement Program (CAP) is placing more emphasis on Diversity activities this year.  She also supported Evelyn Kaiser’s plan to spread out work on the major goals throughout the year since they are very ambitious.

Webmaster:
Denise Henderson reported that the new website consultant is very responsive and has been completing small projects very quickly.  Cindy Loison asked whether we should clear out old registration lists and data.  Denise Henderson explained that she can delete the information, but she has not yet done so since she is not sure what historical data people may want to use in the future.  Denise Henderson suggested that the data should be saved by two individuals in the event that it is removed from the database.  Maggie Chan stated that she believed the older data will be needed for analysis purposes.

Peer Mentoring:
Chas Sumser requested through Mary Saily that the Board reconsider sponsoring the participation of Dulles SHRM members in a peer mentoring program with NOVA SHRM.  At the November 2006 Board Meeting, Chas presented the issue to the Board and explained that Mary Kitson (who coordinates the NOVA SHRM program) had invited us to have our members to participate.  Mary Kitsap also requested that we pay $200 per participant to cover the cost of food provided at meetings, room rental fees, and other program infrastructure costs.  At that time, the Board felt it needed more information on (1) what we would be paying for and (2) the benefit to the Chapter before voting on monetary support.
We briefly reviewed the history and structure of the NOVA SHRM peer mentoring program, and then discussed some of the pros and cons of the Chapter financially supporting this initiative.  One concern raised was the fact that the Chapter does not currently pay for members to obtain their SHRM certifications, and paying for peer mentoring could be viewed as inconsistent with that policy.  On the other hand, since NOVA SHRM covers the cost of its members’ participation, it would potentially be difficult to explain to our members why we were not doing the same.  It also was pointed out that joining up with NOVA SHRM would be a cost-effective way to leverage an existing, highly-successful mentoring program rather than starting our own from scratch. 
Denise Henderson moved and Judy Carter seconded that the Chapter sponsor eight members’ participation in the program, with the members paying the $200 upfront and the Chapter reimbursing them when they successfully complete the program.  After further discussion regarding the potential negative implications of not simply paying for our members to participate, Teresa Buchholz offered an amendment to the motion that Dulles SHRM would pay for five members to participate (without the reimbursement requirement), and the Board would revisit the number of participants at a later time if interest is strong.  The motion, as amended, passed by a vote of 8-4, with one Board Member abstaining.

Miscellaneous:

• Mary Saily reminded Board Members to rejoin the Chapter;
• The Chapter’s 20th Anniversary celebration will be held at the January 17th dinner meeting.  Past presidents will attend, and there will be balloons and other special decorations;
• Andy noted that he cannot attend the Virginia conference on January 26.  Craig Petry stated that he will be able to attend for the Chapter.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:05 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jamey McNamara
Secretary