Current Board Meeting Minutes

DULLES SHRM BOARD MEETING MINUTES
ARTEL, Inc.
June 11 , 2007

Board Members Present:
Teresa Buchholz; Judy Carter; Sarah Cower; Andy Drescher; Joseph Gregory; Denise Henderson; Cindy Loison; Jamey McNamara; Marlene Mouanga;
Lynn Padgett; Craig Petry; Mary Saily; Tina Strasheim (via phone); Chas Sumser.

Board Members Absent:
Maggie Chan; Amy Lourenco; Evelyn Kaiser; Nidhi Kanungo

Agenda:
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. 

Secretary:
Denise moved and Craig seconded a motion to approve the May 7, 2007 Board Meeting minutes.

Treasurer:
The Board reviewed the Treasurer’s report dated June 11, 2007.  Our checkbook balance as of June 10th is $10,633.10.  In addition, we have $32,336.46 in a separate cash management account. Tina reported that there are no pending transactions for the checking account at this time. However, she noted that we have not yet paid the Sheraton for the May Chapter Meeting since we have not yet received their bill. 

Membership:
Lynn reported that the 2007 Dulles SHRM membership directory was distributed about two weeks ago.  She also reported that the next new membership orientation will be held in September in conjunction with the Chapter Meeting.

Lynn and Joseph are contacting members who have not attended at least one event this year.  Additionally, they recently contacted Veronica Blankenship of NOVA SHRM to inquire about the Chapter’s membership composition.  This year, NOVA SHRM has 630 members, 70 percent of whom are repeat members and 30 percent of whom are new members.  Dulles SHRM’s membership is composed of 60 percent repeat members and 30 percent new members, which suggests to Joseph and Lynn that we are “trending similarly” to NOVA SHRM.

Joseph reported that we added 5-7 new members in the past month, including two employees of Booz Allen who were formerly members of NOVA SHRM.

Communications Update:
Denise is adding new content to the Chapter’s website, including information on new member orientation, Diversity, and Foundations.  She is also adding a link to a page on the Workforce Readiness initiative.  Finally, Denise and our website consultant are adding functionality that will allow members to personally update their membership information through the website.

Denise alerted the Board that the deadline for submissions for the July newsletter is July 12th. 

Legislative Update:
Craig reported that six people participated in the Chapter’s annual trip to Capitol Hill.  The group had meetings with staff of the local Congressional delegation, and lobbied on proposed legislation including the Immigration Reform Act.  Judy inquired whether it makes a difference when we schedule the trip (i.e., spring vs. fall) since we meet with staff and not the Members.  Craig explained that in the spring legislation is still in play, so his perspective is that there is more opportunity to influence it in the spring rather than after Labor Day. 

Judy mentioned that there has been discussion in the past of joining with the Leesburg SHRM Chapter for the visit to Capitol Hill.  Craig feels that the small group from Dulles SHRM was well received and that it worked well.  He thinks that combining efforts with another Chapter might be a good idea if we have smaller numbers.  For example, Craig said that we might want to coordinate with another Chapter for the visit to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond, which he is trying to plan for this fall.
 
Registration Practices:
Andy reported statistics for the May Chapter Meeting:

• 65 percent registered online. 
• Forty-four people pre-paid and 25 paid at the door. 
• There were two walk-ins and three no-shows.

Andy concluded that guaranteeing with the Sheraton for five percent less than the RSVP number worked well again.

Networking at Monthly Chapter Meetings:
The Board discussed various aspects of networking at the monthly Chapter Meetings.  Some of the comments were:

• Teresa:  the large tables are so big that she feels like people end up screaming at one another. 
• Andy:  vendors like to have the chance to get their name out to the entire group, so it might be a good idea to “mix it up” (i.e., vary between individual introductions to the entire group and networking at individual tables). 
• Mary:  in the past, when Cindy was President, there used to be networking at the table level around a particular topic.
• Denise:   some of the people at her table at a recent event said that they like the “around the room” introductions since it allows them to hear about job announcements as well as the names of companies where people work.

The Board then discussed ideas for improving networking activities.  Some of those ideas included:

• Asking new members or meeting attendees to try to collect business cards from other attendees;
• Asking “ambassadors” (i.e., established members) to stand up and introduce new people.
• Inviting new attendees to identify themselves by raising their hands.

The Board agreed to try having ambassadors introduce new people, and also assign specific discussion topics at the tables.

Sponsorships:
Teresa reported that she has been talking with people about annual sponsorships for 2008.  She has advised prospective sponsors that the price may go up next year (from the current price of $1,200).  We currently have a limit of one annual sponsor and the Board discussed whether to either increase that number, and/or increase the price to $1,500.  Teresa said that she is going to continue using the current marketing materials while trying to fill up the slots for Jan-March 2008.  The materials state the annual sponsorship price is $1,200; the Board agreed to revisit the price issue in September or October. 

In terms of marketing, Teresa asked whether she should target Dulles SHRM-related companies, or target everyone she knows.  The consensus was that the board is open to all companies but they should be HR-related. 

Programs:
Judy reported that she has four confirmed Chapter Meeting programs planned for 2008.  The topics covered so far are employment law; new leader integration; succession planning; and employee engagement and alignment.  She is also planning a panel on telework, which Craig will organize.  Mary recommended that the panel be limited to three people.  Other guidance consisted of targeting the first half of 2008 (except for January) and doing either a breakfast  or dinner meeting.  Judy reported that one potential panelist charges a fee to participate; Mary advised that we could not pay a fee for the person to participate on a panel, but we could perhaps ask her to speak at another event.  Mary also suggested that the value of a panel format is to ask people who work for local companies to participate and discuss what their companies are doing.

Workforce Readiness Event:
This item was not discussed due to Evelyn’s absence.

Updates on 2007 Board Goals:
Mary reported that people are on track toward meeting their goals for the year.  We will revisit the topic at the August, September, and October Board Meetings.

2008 Board Planning:
Mary advised the Board that it is not too early to start planning for next year.  The Chapter’s Bylaws state that the President, Past President, and the President-Elect compose the Nominating Committee.  The committee needs to meet in July to begin planning.  Since the Board will discuss this topic again at its August meeting, Mary asked everyone to think about his/her position and whether we have the right help in place.

We discussed ways in which we could highlight the different Board roles for the members.  Cindy suggested that at upcoming Chapter Meetings, a few Board members could briefly describe their duties.  A tentative list of assignments was developed. 

Wage Access Survey:
Dulles SHRM has been invited to sponsor the Wage Access Survey.  It was noted that other SHRM Chapters have sponsored this survey.  Lynn pointed out that the survey competes with the local Wachovia survey in which Nancy Streeter is heavily involved.  After further discussion, Mary advised that we should write back and cordially decline the invitation.

Announcements:

• Mary reminded everyone that there is no July Board Meeting.
• The next Virginia State Meeting will be on July 27th.  Craig and Andy will attend the meeting.
• Mary asked for an update on the status of Board position descriptions.  Discussion revealed that some have been updated while others have not.  Mary asked that each of us send Denise a note letting her know whether our position description is fine or needs revision.  Judy advised Teresa that there may not be a position description for the Sponsors position.  Judy will send Teresa a copy of the old Programs PD so Teresa can pull out the Sponsorship information to create a new PD for that role.
• Mary reported that she has received from SHRM National the Chapter’s Superior Merit Award banner and certificate for 2006.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,

Jamey McNamara
Secretary