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Board Meeting
Richland, WA
September 27, 2009

In attendance: Cheryl Landes, Nancy Gerth , Sheila Ryan and Maria Sosnowski (board members), Ann Yager and Debra Spidal (officers-elect) and Scott Smiley and Sherry Smith (members)
The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m.

1. Minutes
The minutes from the Fall 2008 meeting were already approved via email.

2. Previous Action Items
There was no discussion of the action items.

3. Reports
Secretary – Maria Sosnowski read the board actions taken since the last board meeting. She also provided a summary of feedback on this meeting. Results were as follows:
      • People were positive about the community center for meetings, with the exception of several comments that it was too cold. It received 8 scores of 5, 4 scores of 4, and 1 score of 3.
      • Cataloguing Rules by Debra Spidal received 6 scores of 5, six scores of 4, and 2 scores of 3.
     • What Kind of Kohlrabi are You by Scott Smiley received 4 scores of 5, 7 scores of 4, and 2 scores of 3.
     • Indexing Problems by Sherry Smith received 9 scores of 5 and 5 scores of 4.

Future topics people indicated that they would like to see were marketing (2), editing, efficiency, and more indexing problems.

Treasurer – Scott Smiley (former treasurer) reminded the board of the need to have an annual report as well as the year-to-date provided at this meeting. Sheila Ryan indicated that her year-to-date report was contained in the financial report included in the meeting packets, and that she would also be preparing an annual report covering the calendar year.

Committee Reports and Volunteers- see far below

Volunteer Recognition 2009 

4. Future Meeting Formats
We discussed the fact that we had agreed to have an informal meeting in the spring and a formal meeting in the fall, and what that would look like. Sherry proposed that we put together a spreadsheet on each meeting for the last few years to gather better data. That could include the location, the speakers, the ratings, the revenue raised, and the costs broken down by speakers/food/rental/etc. Sheila Ryan volunteered to do this as she has most of that data in the treasurer’s information.

We discussed other chapters and what they charge for meetings and what their costs are. It’s hard to compare costs, Cheryl pointed out, because some chapters have free locations they use.

Sherry made a suggestion to do simultaneous “virtual” meetings which would entail small groups of indexers in areas where they are clustered all meeting on the same day and having a general structure that all would use. For example, index the same material ahead of time and compare notes on how different indexers handled it. This would reduce travel as people could meet up with other indexers locally in 5-10 locations throughout the region, it wouldn’t involve a big time commitment in terms of planning beyond coming up with a concept, and one local person in each area could arrange a location.

Cheryl pointed out that it is hard to get volunteers in some areas. Seattle in particular is so spread out. Nancy also saw an issue where people live more remotely and there are only one or two other indexers in the area. She really values the face time of chapter meetings.

Part of the meeting is the face time, the networking, and the social piece. There would be less of that with the informal setup. We might, Sherry pointed out, get more participation because people would not have to travel. It might be a way to increase membership by getting people who don’t ordinarily go to meetings to participate, and perhaps become more willing to attend meetings. Tied in with an informal meeting is having a stronger, longer formal meeting, we agreed. They should be longer, have more national speakers to increase their draw, and more programming time.

Webinars are also something that could be explored. ASI is planning to do some, and we could learn from their experience or use their materials.

Ann volunteered to set up the first informal meeting this spring, as it was her idea to try it. The board agreed to try this approach to the informal meetings for spring. All four members voted yes to try this approach and put Ann in charge.

Cheryl reported that she had two speakers in mind for spring. Both of them were available in Seattle on the same day. Ed Marshall is a technical writer who speaks on the social networking site LinkedIn. He can talk about using that for marketing. As he would be in Seattle anyway all we would have to pay is his hotel. Jeff Barlow lives in Seattle and can discuss pricing issues, negotiating rates with clients, and his principles can apply to any field. Ann knows Raymond from Los Angeles who does webinars and a blog on social networking. He also works with authors, so he may have some interesting things to say to indexers.

Cheryl pointed out that planning farther ahead works better. It’s easier to work on a program a year ahead than a few months. She will contact these potential speakers to check on their availability for the fall 2010 meeting (or even 2011).

The board voted unanimously to have the formal meetings in a central location, which would be the Water Resource Center in Vancouver. We hope that by putting them in a central location, it would make it easier for everyone to attend by lowering travel time. This will start with the fall 2010 meeting.

5. Communication
Maria pointed out that Jane mentioned the admin loop wasn’t used much this year. It was pointed out that Carolyn had warned the board about putting “board business” such as financial or legal issues out for general discussion when they were things the board should be voting on and discussing privately. Sheila said that there should be more give and take between the board and the membership – that we are invisible to the members and we should both elicit their feedback and provide more information.

Sherry suggested having the secretary post a summary of the board meeting to the list after each meeting. Maria will do so and also add this to the list of secretary duties. We talked about taking turns having an officer post something to the list each month. We wondered if that was something that Martha Osgood could send out a reminder about to the loop each month. Sherry agreed to follow up on the monthly reports idea. Perhaps Martha could send an email out each month on a rotating basis just letting people know it is their turn to post something.

6. Nominations
It was suggested that we need more discussion about nominations. One person shouldn’t be in charge, and in fact for the last couple of years it has been a discussion among the board members about potential candidates. It was felt that this was something that could be discussed on the loop as then we could get feedback from committee heads about people they are working with who might be a good fit for a position.

7. Board Membership
The board discussed the fact that there is no discussion in the bylaws about what to do when a board member simply stops participating and fails to fulfill their duties.

Sherry said she could investigate the bylaws to have a procedure set up when an officer just doesn’t fulfill their responsibilities. We need a procedure in place for this. She will see if the ASI bylaws address this topic.

8. Donation to Ice Age Institute
Sheila moved to make a donation to the Institute as a thank you for doing the tour for our membership. The board voted unanimously to give an honorarium of $100 to them, along with a note that Nancy or Sheila will write.

Action items
      • Maria will post a summary of the meeting to the list.
      • Sherry will follow up on having monthly reports to the membership.
      • Sheila and Nancy will take care of the donation to the Institute.
      • Ann will plan a topic/format for the spring informal meeting.
      • Sheila will prepare a spreadsheet of past meetings so we can get data on what works.
      • Cheryl will find out about speaker availability for fall 2010.
      • Sherry will look into updating the bylaws to address board members who fail to participate.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Maria Sosnowski, Secretary

Minutes APPROVED by vote on October 6, 2009

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Sept 2009

Archives Committee (Elspeth Pope). No report.

Community Relations/Marketing Committee(Jane Henderson). No report.

Logo Committee (Stephen Hopkins). The Logo Committee has agreed on a set of final designs for the PNW logo. A few pending technical questions regarding adaptability to the website have been resolved by Martha Osgood, and we will soon present the designs to the board and the members for approval. Submitted by Stephen Hopkins, Martha Osgood, and Cher Paul.

Program Committee (Cheryl Landes) At the fall 2008 board meeting, the PNW/ASI officers voted unanimously to reinstate the Program Committee to help the Vice President plan our meetings. Cheryl volunteered to chair the committee. 
    The Program Committee will provide continuity in meeting planning from term to term. We will track session topics from meeting evaluations; assist the Vice President in finding speakers and inviting them to give presentations at our meetings; and help with arrangements for meeting rooms, catering, restaurants for networking dinners, and hotel accommodations for indexers traveling to our meetings.
    We are looking for a speaker who can give a workshop on Web indexing for a future meeting. We invited Heather Hedden, but she declined. We also asked Jan Wright, but she does not feel she has the appropriate level of experience to conduct this type of workshop. If you can recommend anyone, please contact any member of our committee.
    We are also looking for more volunteers for the Program Committee. Please contact us if you’re interested. Thanks!
   Respectfully submitted,
   Cheryl Landes, clandes407@aol.com
   Joyce Brusin, hele76@earthlink.net
   Tracy Wilson-Burns, twilsonburns@comcast.net

Newsletter Committee (open position – please contact Sherry Smith if interested). No report.

Nominations Committee. No report.

Pro Bono Committee (Sherry Smith) Eight years ago, the PNW Pro Bono Program began providing indexes for non-profit organizations. We developed an operation that matches qualified beginning indexers with non-profit-organizations that need indexes for books, manuals, or other publications. An experienced indexer serves as a mentor and reviewer during the project.
   The Pro Bono Program was developed with multiple purposes in mind. We wanted to raise the profile of quality indexing, make the PNW Chapter a more visible organization, provide opportunities for beginning indexers to acquire a professional identity, and offer specific routes for seasoned professionals to pass along their expertise.
   Screening guidelines were developed for the indexers and the organizations to ensure quality and fairness. Indexer applicants must be ASI members, document professionally recognized training, provide a copy of their marketing plan, submit a sample index, and agree to contribute return service. The non-profit organization must submit an application that describes the potential project and discusses the lack of funding.
   The experienced indexer has had two roles: “mentor” and reviewer. As a mentor, she or he answers questions and offers suggestions to the beginning indexer during the project. As a reviewer, the experienced indexer checks the final version of the index and approves it before it is submitted to the client. These tasks have required a small amount of time because the beginning indexers were thoroughly screened before acceptance into the Program.
   Two years ago, we expanded the Program to include a partnership with the Rocky Mountain Chapter. Our goal was to increase the number of potential indexers and projects. Several indexers from Colorado have participated in the Program.
   Currently, the committee is currently involved with four indexing projects: the ongoing PNW newsletter, the ongoing minutes from the PNW board meetings, a book project for the Chicago Youth Centers, and the West Plains Gazette, a historical magazine.
    The next steps for the Program include the following:
       --finding an additional reviewer and additional indexers for the PNW minutes project
       --finishing up the Gazette indexing with the current volunteers
       --completing the Chicago book project with the current volunteers
       --continuing with the indexing of the PNW minutes
       --finding additional screeners of indexer and organization applicants
       --brainstorming ideas for additional future projects
       --planning for the administrative management of the Program as it grows
   Additional volunteers are welcome and essential for the long-term success of the Program. To participate as a beginning or experienced indexer, contact Sherry at today’s meeting or at indexer@sherrysmithindexing.com

Volunteer Recognition Committee (Sherry Smith)
   This committee was formed to consistently recognize and thank all volunteers for their efforts on behalf of the PNW chapter. We have developed three types of recognition. At every chapter meeting, we distribute special PNW bookmarks to everyone who has assisted with the program planning and logistics. After each meeting, we write thank you notes to the speakers and officers. During the year, we keep track of all volunteer work on the various committees so that we can distribute a small thank-you gift at our fall meeting.
   Current committee members include Cynthia Landeen, Andrea Avni, Joyce Brusin, Susan Miller, Maria Sosnowski, and Sherry Smith.  Additional committee members are always needed to write thank you notes, help keep track of volunteers, and to brainstorm appreciation ideas. Contact Sherry, indexer@sherrysmithindexing.com if you wish to work on this committee.

Volunteer service with the Pacific Northwest Chapter 2009.
If you know of someone who has been omitted from the list, please let me know so they receive a proper thank-you at today’s meeting.

     Andrea Avni worked on the Volunteer Recognition Committee by writing thank you notes to speakers and officers

Web Committee (Martha Osgood). The website has changed hosting companies from DreamHost to UUism.net. DreamHost's service would irregularly reject all comcast-based
addresses; other than that (which they would not fix), they were very responsive. With the new service, the cost of the web and email list service went down by half and the new company is also very responsive. We use the same domain and addresses, and the changeover was relatively smooth.  We have 237 folks on the Indexing-PNW listserv, and a listserv for the Board and committee heads.
   The website itself has many pages that are static, and some that get updated regularly. The two- page Directory (indexer and subject categories) accepts new indexers (who are members of ASI) at any time, and requests renewals annually. We will soon be uploading the chapter logo and thus the design will be changing somewhat, but the structure first set up by Kari Kells, our first webmaster, was so good that it remains in the background.
  There are some jobs available for volunteers: We need to restructure the Volunteer pages. If someone already has a version of DreamWeaver, it would be good to have a backup in case I trot off to Mexico all of a sudden. I'd be pleased to train you. And others.  We always appreciate corrections and repairs to the website. Review the site at http://www.pnwasi.org
  It is a pleasure to serve the chapter and indexers in this way.
       Martha Osgood, Back Words Indexing indexer@backwordsindexing.com