EI Board Meeting Minutes for November 5, 2007

Board Members Present: Carolynn Bunch, Laura Scholten, Laura McGillicuddy, Polly Kranick, Lezlie Wolff, Jana Steffen,

Marketing/Promotions: Laura will be gathering data on prior membership renewal from 2007 vs. 2008 to see how the rates of renewal compare. Polly will forward the data. Laura also provided information about the merchandise sales from 2007. There is enough inventory in stock to get us through 2008. If new items are added they will probably not be size specific. Laura provided some information about her idea of allowing some educational information to be listed on our website about some of the local horse rescue organizations. Initially, there appear to just a few organizations which might be interested in getting some exposure on the website. Some of the criteria for listing on our website would be 501-3© non-profit and would have to be proposed by a board member. Listing on our website would be voluntary on our part and we could revoke their promotion at any time. After hearing this information from Laura all agreed we will go forward.

Treasurer: Laura has been researching storage units and has found a suitable unit in
Redmond. It will be a 10 x 10 unit and shelving will be added. Tentatively the next board meeting will be held at the specific storage unit to do the set-up and organization.

Membership: Polly reported 170 members have renewed so far. One E-Flash has been sent as a reminder.

Education: Lezlie reported she visited Phoenix Rising Sanctuary a facility in Duvall. Will be gathering some additional information about their rescue program and other potential programs for disadvantaged youth.

Action Items:

1. Polly will gather list of the 170 list of renewing members and randomly select four recipients for the saddle pads contest. She will give this information to Laura S. for actual mailing of the pads.

2. Laura S. will send out some out specific renewal information to non-renewing Business Members. She will coordinate this with Kellie’s effort to solicit ads for the 2008 Omnibus.

3. Peter/Laura S. will be given a list by Polly of non-renewing business members who need to be removed from the EI website.

4. Kellie will make sure this year that any combined checks for business membership and Omnibus will have a journal entry to get the appropriate money to the membership account vs. the dressage account.

5. Laura S. asked that at each board meeting there be a separate agenda item each month to discuss the Flying Changes content for the following month. Assignments of potential articles will be made then. For next month we will add an item requesting volunteers for the March 2008 auction.

6. Laura M. will contact Redhook about the rules regarding alcohol sales at the annual Auction, with the idea that Redhook will handle the no-host bar.

7. Jana will include a reminder in the next Flying Changes for members to ‘reserve’ the March 8, 2008 auction date on their calendars as well as detailing the volunteer positions needing assistance. The following items will also be included: ‘What’s Coming Up’, Michelle will do a report on the Lunging Clinic; a reminder about the Annual Meeting date, a ‘Pull a String’ promotion soliciting one auction donations from each member.
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E.I. Board Meeting Minutes March 5, 2007
Prepared by Shelly Navarre, Secretary

Members Present: Laura Scholten, Lezlie Wolff, Mary Decher, Linda Mackin, Jana Steffen, Heidi Gloudemans, Polly Kranick, Peter Larsen, Carolynn Bunch, Penny Leggott,

Auction: Carolynn is still waiting for more definitive auction financial numbers. Overall it was a great success.

Volunteers: Heidi has prepared a demo version of the Volunteer Squared product for the L’Apperitif.

Membership: Polly reported we have almost 400 members.

Website: A discussion was held regarding some new formats to the event calendars which appear on the website. Peter also discussed some potential changes to the website to enhance download times. Finally, there was a general discussion of proposals to offer Strategic Partnerships and Additional Chapter Services. A final routing for ideas and edits will be made before implementation.

Education: Lezlie visited the location of the Atchinson property near Bridle Trails which is a parcel for possible seminars. Lake Washington Saddle Club is working to restore some of the property for equestrian usage.

Eventing: Penny reported the Spring Eventing clinic will occur on March 17th. The clinic is fully subscribed. The second clinic will be at the end of March with Stueart Pittman.

Promotions: Laura reported she made contact with all the Business Members. She also prepared a list of other potential business members.

Driving: Mary proposed that Linda Mackin replace her as the Driving Director. The motion was seconded by Laura. Approved by a voice vote of all board members present. Laura made a motion to have the Driving Division open their own account at Bank of America and have it be funded with $2,000 out of the General Account. This was seconded by Peter and approved by voice vote of all board members present.

Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
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E.I. Annual Meeting Minutes January 7, 2007

President’s Report: Jana made a welcoming statement and briefly went over some of the board activities for 2006.

Minutes: The minutes from 2006 were read. A motion was made from the floor by Lynne Flaherty to accept the minutes as written. This motion was seconded by Susan Miller and approved by a voice vote.

Treasurer’s Report: Laura gave an overview of the various account balances and income/expenses for the end of 2005 and 2006.

Dues: Wendy Meyers made a motion to keep the dues the same for 2007. This was seconded by Peter Rothschild and approved by a voice vote of all members present.

Bylaws: Peter Rothschild presented details of changes proposed by the by-law revisions. Lynn Flaherty made a motion to approve the revised by-laws as presented. This motion was seconded by Wendy Meyers. The motion was approved by a voice vote.

Dressage Report: Carolyn Cole gave an overview of the activities accomplished in 2006 and plans for 2007. In addition the new Dressage Director, Michelle Knolte, was introduced. Michelle gave details of the USDF Instructors Certification program which will begin in 2007.

Eventing Report: Penny Leggott went over details of the three events put on by the Eventing group in 2006. This included the Steuart Pittman clinic, the Horse Trials and the Event Derby. All were well attended and received very well by the competitors. Penny also went over details of a new Spring Eventing clinic and revealed the Event Derby will be repeated depending on facility availability.

Combined Driving Report: Mary Decher gave her report of the activities within the driving group and stated the group will be meeting shortly for planning for 2007.

Education Report: Wendy Meyers presented details of the Ride and Review clinic conducted in April and the various other scribing and saddle fitting clinics completed. She also gave information regarding a possible symposium in late 2007/2008 with Conrad Schumacher and a new ‘Get A Life’ program being created for young riders.

Promotions Report: Jana gave details of the activities in this area including an increase in our Business Memberships and other initiatives to elevate EI’s recognition.

Webmasters Report: Peter Larsen presented information on updates to the website, the use of E-Flash to broadcast information to members and gave details of new areas for the website in 2007.

Volunteer Report: Heidi Gloudemanns provided details of the new volunteer management program EI will be implementing in 2007. This new program will enhance volunteer experiences and provide greater control over the assignment of volunteer duties.

Elections:

The following positions were open for the Board:

1. Dressage Director- Nominee= Michelle Knolte
2. Eventing Director- Nominee= Penny Leggott
3. Education Director – Nominee= Lezlie Wolff
4. Promotions Director – Nominee from the floor= Laura Scholten
5. Vice President- No nominee came forward

Ballots were distributed to all members present. The members voted and the votes were tallied by the Secretary. The results showed that each nominee was unanimously approved by the membership present.

Guest Speaker:

Jennifer Schrader-Williams gave a presentation about her participation in the Bretina Cup at the USDF facility in Gladstone.

Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

Minutes prepared by Shelly Navarre, Secretary
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