Montgomery County Road Runners Club

Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting

Meeting of December 8, 2005

Called to order:  7:15 pm

Present: Jean Arthur (President), Craig Roodenburg (Vice-President), Gary Resnick (Secretary), Susan Gagnon (Member-at-Large), Cathy Blessing (Member-at-Large),  Dave Haaga (Member-at-Large), Janet Newburgh (Member-at-Large), Christina Kichula (Treasurer), Sethiya Renwick (Member-at-Large)

Invited Guest: Kimberly Price

Minutes Prepared By: Gary Resnick, Secretary

1. Review Agenda

a) No new items

2. Review MCRRC Calendar

a) Dec. 11: Jingle Bell Jog & Budget Meeting

b) Jan. 1: New year’s Resolution 5k 

3. Business involving Invited Guest

a) Kimberly Price reported on the Darcars Young Run

b) Received a lot of positive feedback from parents, no post-race negative comments

c) There was a drop in participation down to 2500 fro 2800 Kimberly thinks it was due to the name change and also did not do as much advertising due to having to wait for name change to be finalized

d) 2500 is still a good turnout and above average over the years, according to Kimberly

e) Bottom Line: race did not make as much with new title sponsor, had large expense items due to name change, profit of $4300, $2000 going to the club, rest goes into working account, but also lost one radio so the profit was reduced by $500, thus profit was $3800

f) Race date for 2006: October 22

g) Whole Foods will be a bigger sponsor next year

h) There was a problem with late registration, a parent who complained about not being allowed in to race after registration date, problem is that there are different races for various distances (e.g., half-mile for the younger children, one mile for the older children) requiring a large coordination effort, not easy to do race day registration

i) There is an idea about allowing late and/or race day registration with charging a late registration fee

j) Board agreed that it is worth exploring whether to have a late registration, probably at packet pickup but not on race day, and to charge a relatively steep late registration penalty to discourage late entrants

4. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

a) Motion to accept minutes, Dave moved, Janet seconded, passed unanimously

5. Treasurer's Report

a) As a result of Christina’s absence, prior Treasurer’s Reports were not voted on, they are now being voted on

i) Motion: Move we accept August Treasurer's report, Jean moved, Craig seconded

ii) Motion: Move to accept September Treasurer's report, Dave moved, Janet seconded

iii) Motion: Move to accept October Treasurer's report, Cathy moved, Susan seconded

b) The current month’s Treasurer’s Report was submitted December 20, 2005.

c) MCRRC Account Detail (November, 2005):

i) The total cash in MCRRC accounts, as of November 30 (not including Marathon in the Parks, Pike’s Peek, and HYR accounts) was the following:

· Checking                      $57,016.46       

· Savings                         $30,086.55

· Savings – Clubhouse        $5,818.34

· Legg Mason                  $21,568.18

· TOTAL Bank Accounts                        $114,489.53

d) Other Assets (CDs)                                $20,000.00

i) Marathon in the Parks Bank Accounts (as of August 30, 2005):

· Checking                      $13,376.88

· Savings                           $2,869.28

· TOTAL Bank Accounts                          $16,246.16

ii) Pikes Peek Bank Accounts (as of November 8, 2005)

· Checking                      $1,465.06

· Savings                         $2,015.76

· TOTAL Bank Accounts                             $3,480.82

iii) HYR Bank Account (as of August 30, 2005)

· Checking                      $8,250.24

· TOTAL Bank Accounts                                   $8,250.24

e) November Financial Information:

i) The November financial statements indicate a net income of $19,603.85.  Treasurer was on vacation for most of this month, so few checks were written.  In addition, funds were not properly directed to the correct club account from some of our RMS races through Signmeup.  These funds are being returned in December.  Significant income was received from:

· Twilighter                     $5,915.99

· Membership dues          $4,390.50

· MCM Room                 $3,093.60

· RMS                            $3,012.00

· Club race program         $2,467.94

· Rockville 10K               $2,181.00

· Stride Clinic                  $1,927.23

ii) Significant expenses included:

· FTM expenses              $1,952.91

· Equipment                     $1,700.00

· Postage                                    $1,066.50

f) Budget Items:

i) Stride Clinic income: Sign-me-up sent a check.

ii) We have a large amount of money in our savings account and checking account.  We should consider moving additional funds into higher interest accounts (e.g., purchase additional CDs).  I have additional information from Legg Mason that I will share with the board for discussion at the next meeting. 

g) Old Financial Action Items:

i) Determine appropriate budgets for low-key races. – In-process

6. Unfinished Business

a) Review Action Items from November Board meeting:

i) Financial  (0508-7a): Christina will prepare a spreadsheet of expenditures for club low key races – in process

ii) Safety issues/Run Aware Campaign (0509-8c): Gary will talk with Richard Stukey about PR strategy – in process

iii) Safety issues/Run Aware Campaign (0509-8c): Susan handed out a spreadsheet showing various options, she purchased 3,000 2" round stickers to hand out at races, etc., still waiting for a quote on the bumper stickers but could be $500 for 3000

· Suggestion was to wait and see how this first batch of stickers are received, then perhaps order other stickers

· suggestion also to add these stickers to the new member packets

iv) Course Marshall Handouts for Motorists at Races (0510-6d): Cathy presented a revised handout

· Discussion arose concerning making the handouts as cards, easy to handout, there was general agreement about this

· Another question was whether to make each handout specific to each race, for the low key races, there was general agreement to keep the cards generic for the low key races

· The larger races will have specific information about the race, such as name of race, length, duration and number of participants

· Question about which are the major races to make handouts race-specific, Pike's Peek, Rockville 10K, Twilighter

v) 2006 Budget (0511-7a): Jean made final changes and the budget is ready for the annual club meeting Dec. 11

b) Follow up on most improved runner of the year award (0502-9a): Dave talked about the new award approved last spring by the Board, to be discussed at the ROY December meeting

i) problem was that the ROY committee declined to take over this award, there was a feeling on the committee that it had enough to do, according to Dave

ii) Question was how would this award be administered?

iii) Suggestion: the Board invite head coaches of the group training programs to form a committee, follow the criteria, and nominate some runners

iv) ACTION ITEM: Craig will talk with the coaches and report back on their willingness to form a committee for this award

c) Website Redesign (0507-7b): Sethiya will look at the pages and identify the number of key pages, and then she will ask Pam for another estimate, with the idea of reducing the cost – In process

7. New Business

a) 2006 race calendar

i) Calendar is not yet finalized (e.g, race directors) and so the publication deadline has been moved (no information on the specific deadline was given).

ii) Craig pointed out that there are a number of races close together in October

iii) There was also a question about the Board's role in setting the race calendar

iv) For this year the calendar was developed by the Race Coordinator (George Tarrico)

v) It was noted that we do not have a club road race from Aug 1 to Sept 24, only cross-country races

vi) Motion: Gary moves that we approve the race calendar presented on Dec. 8, Craig seconded, 5 in favor, 4 abstentions, passed

vii) The Board requests that, for next year, the Race Coordinator present a draft of the next year race schedule at the November Board meeting

b) Shirts for Giuseppe’s Pizza

i) Discussion about which shirts to give to the staff of Guiseppe's Pizza, we need 6 shirts

ii) The idea of the shirts arose because the Board wishes to thank the Guiseppe's staff for hosting the club after the track workouts.  The Board approved the donation of shirts (motion by acclamation).

c) Publications

i) Jean discussed the uneven schedule for the Rundown, they do not seem to come out on a regular schedule, problem is that there are many ads and announcements that are time-related

ii) Problem is not with the contributors (we have enough) but that they never submit material on deadline, so then the deadline gets pushed back rather than holding to the original deadline and omitting late material

iii) There was considerable discussion around potential solutions as the Board felt strongly that the Rundown should be produced on schedule

iv) Suggestion: change the schedule to Feb-April- June etc because it fits advertiser schedules better, but problem is with the need to announce the race calendar and awards party as soon as possible (January issue)

v) One idea for the next issue is to use the Intervals to advertise the race calendar and awards party and to remove the budget that was originally in the next Intervals issue (it is old news now)

vi) There was also discussion about finding someone to work exclusively on the Intervals

vii) The Board reiterated that the Rundown is an important club function and commended Christina Caravoulias’s hard work and dedication over the years

viii) Action Item: Jean will talk to Christina Caravoulias about finding someone to help with the Intervals.

d) Mailing list to sponsors

i) Jean brought to the Board’s attention that she had received an email from a member who received a commercial ad from an advertiser who obtained her address from the Pike's Peek runner’s list.  Jean had conveyed to the member that the club does not sell its mailing list to commercial, non-running entities.

ii) Upon further review it would appear that Pike’s Peek sold its mailing list to a commercial non-running entity, despite club policy that we do not sell our mailing list to commercial enterprises

iii) the Board reiterated that the club policy is only to sell the mailing list to running related events, such as races

e) RRCA Award Nominations

i) Jean handed out criteria and asked Board members to nominate people for RRCA awards

ii) Action Item: Dave will work on a club nominee for RRCA Master's Runner of the Year, Craig will present a nominee for Rod Steele Memorial Award, Jean will work on a nominee for Children's Developmental Award

f) Nominating Committee

i) Need to nominate John Sissala as chair of the nominating committee

ii) Motion: jean moved and Dave seconded that we nominate John Sissala as chair of the nominating committee, passed, unanimous

iii) Jean presented the committee members selected by the chair

iv) According to club policy, the Board does not vote on the members of the committee, only on the Chair

g) National Marathon

i) Jean received an email from Keith Dowling asking for MCRRC’s support of the new National Marathon in a number of ways: email to club members, and a link on the club website.

ii) Unfortunately the club has a policy against promoting non-club races on these media

iii) Also, the race is taking place at the same time of the Piece of Cake race and board election

iv) Action Item: Jean will reply that we are willing to hand out brochures at club events but that due to club policy we cannot do what he asked, and that the club has its own even at the same date which will limit providing additional support

h) Volunteer gift: Jean wanted to get the Board's opinion about a sport towel as the volunteer gift

i) Board approved this as a volunteer gift

8. Announcements

a) Post-Meeting Item: Gary announced that we have a new coach for the Stride Clinic, Gwen Anderson

9. Closure

a) Action Items

i) Financial  (0508-7a): Christina will prepare a spreadsheet of expenditures for club low key races – in process

ii) Safety issues/Run Aware Campaign (0509-8c): Gary will talk with Richard Stukey about PR strategy – in process

· Most improved runner of the year award (0502-9a): Craig will talk with the coaches and report back on their willingness to form a committee for this award

iii) Website Redesign (0507-7b): Sethiya will look at the pages and identify the number of key pages, and then she will ask Pam for another estimate, with the idea of reducing the cost – In process

iv) Publications: Jean will talk to Christina Caravoulias about finding someone to help with the Intervals

v) RRCA Award Nominations: Dave will work on a club nominee for RRCA Master's Runner of the Year, Craig will present a nominee for Rod Steele Memorial Award, Jean will work on a nominee for Children's Developmental Award

vi) National Marathon: Jean will send a reply to Keith Dowling that we are willing to hand out brochures at club events but that due to club policy we cannot do what he asked, and that the club has its own even at the same date which will limit providing additional support

b) Motions Passed (including motions by acclamation)

i) 2006 race calendar: The Board approves the 2006 race calendar presented on Dec. 8

ii) Nominating Committee: The Board approved the nomination of John Sissala as chair of the 2006 Board Nominating Committee

c) Review Plans for January Meeting

i) Next meeting is January 5, 2006 at 6:30 pm, at 100 Maryland Ave, 5th Floor conference room.

ii) Jean offered to bring food

10. Meeting Adjourned: 9:30 pm

  Gary Resnick Secretary, Montgomery County Road Runners Club