Mentor of ARISIA

Date, Time and Place: This General Meeting of the Membership was called to order at 7:45 PM on Wednesday, 01 November 2000 at the 1^st floor Lunch Room of MIT Building W92.

In Attendance: Drea Brandford, Tom Coveney, Traciy Fogarty, Ben Levy, Patrick McCormack, Craig McDonough, Elka Tovah Menkes, Skip Morris, Tom Murphy, Brendan Quinn, Paul Selkirk, Nicholas Shectman, Rachel Silber, and Derek Lichter (guest).

• Proxies

Noel Rosenberg to Brendan Quinn

Rachel Silverman to Drea Brandford

• Minutes of the Previous Meeting

There were no corrections to the Minutes of Previous Meetings.

• President's Report (Brendan Quinn)

The president would like to appoint the following committees, subject to the approval of the membership:

Long Range Planning: Brendan Quinn (Chair); Cris Shuldiner

Hotel Search: Cris Shuldiner (Chair), Skip Morris, Buzz Harris, Brendan Quinn

Grant Committee: Nicholas Shectman (chair as per bylaws), Cris Shuldiner

Budget Committee: Skip Morris (Chair)

Gaming Convention Exploratory Committee: Buzz Harris (Chair)

Also, we still very much need volunteers for the Technical Equipment Committee.

• EBoard Report (Brendan Quinn)

No Report.

• Vice President's Report (Nicholas Shectman)

No Report.

• Grant Committee (Nicholas Shectman)

MassFen was awarded the first portion of their grant, and it was sent; HRSFA has solicited a grant for the Membership's approval (ed. note: Printed later in MENTOR).

• Treasurer's Report (Skip Morris)

No Report.

• Budget Committee Report (Skip Morris)

No Report

• Clerk's Report (Tom Murphy)

The Clerk ran through his usual spiel about signing in; that reports and motions should be submitted in writing or suffer the possibility of transcription errors; that major items of new business be presented to the EBoard for consideration before presentation to the Membership; and that dues for joining the Corporation were $20 at this meeting and $18 thereafter.

I also brought up the issue of formalizing the ARISIA Mail Policy. The EBoard authorized and purchased a flatbed copier for copying mail, so I think we ought to actually copy the mail. The idea is to route mail correctly; to make sure that mail meant for multiple persons gets to all persons involved, and to keep accurate records of inbound mail for the Corporation. to that end, I suggest the following for ARISIA Corporate Policy:

MOVED, to set as Corporate Policy:

1. Only the Clerk shall remove mail from the Corporate MailBox.
2. All mail of substance shall be copied (junk mail, such as solicitations, excepted) and distributed as follows (noting that exceptions may apply and that mail distribution not be limited to the following):

1. All mail clearly marked for multiple individuals within ARISIA shall be copied enough to give each addressee a copy, with an additional copy to the Clerk's Files;
2. All inbound Corporate Correspondence of a general nature have a copy to the President, with the Clerk retaining the original for the files;
3. All inbound financials (bank statements, bills, invoices, checks to the Corporation, receipts, etc) have a copy to the Clerk's Files, with the Treasurer retaining the original;
4. Any legal correspondence (beyond normal and common daily business) have copies to the EBoard, copy to the Clerk's Files, and original to the Corporate Attorney;
5. Any mail to a specific Corporate Appointed Officer or Committee be copied to the Clerk's Files, with the original going to the appropriate Appointed Officer or Committee;
6. Convention Correspondence be copied as deemed appropriate by the Con Chair or by ARISIA Tradition (for example, Registration keeps originals and copies to Convention Treasurer; original correspondence regarding registration of and fees collected for Dealer's Room/Row or Art Show be kept by the appropriate Department Head, with a copy to the Convention Treasurer; Original Complaints/Praise to the appropriate person, copy to the Con Chair; etc.)

1. Mail, including copies thereof, shall be delivered in one of the following ways, to be determined by each individual recipient (provided the recipient registers such preference with the Clerk):

1. Physically delivering the mail or copy to the recipient (for example, at a meeting);
2. Physically re-sending the correspondence in a new cover;
3. Faxing a copy to the recipient;
4. The placement of the mail or copy thereof in the appropriate and marked mail (box/slot/shelf/area/whathaveyou) in what passes for the ARISIA Corporate Office and Storage Facility (provided ARISIA maintains a Corporate Office)

• Convention Chair '00 (Paul Selkirk)

The con is over, well and truly and finally over. I would like to thank everyone who worked on the con, and, at this time, I would especially like to thank Nicholas Shectman for all his work after the con to close out the books.

MOVED to close the books of Arisia '00 and turn any remaining business over to the Corporation.

• Convention Treasurer '00 (Nicholas Shectman)

Submitted is the Final Financials Report for Arisia '00 (ed. note: Printed later in MENTOR).

• Convention Chair '01 (Elka Tovah Menkes)

We have a budget; there have been changes to it since we printed it. We are negotiating with the Hotel regarding the interpretation of the Contract regarding the award of Compensatory Room-Nights. This may result in an amendment to our Contract.

Discussion on the Budget ensued. The various lines of the Published Budget that were changed from the published version were not submitted in writing and the Clerk could not keep up with note taking for all of it. The Budget as printed in this issue of MENTOR is the final approved budget for Arisia '01, after ALL debate and changes.

MOVED to increase the Contingency Line Item to $2500.

MOVED to cut $3385 from Total Convention Expenses where such cuts are at the discretion of the Convention Chair.

MOVED to refer the Convention Budget back to the Convention Committee.

MOVED to DROP the Internet Room from the Convention Budget.

MOVED to SLASH $500 from the Contingency Fund.

MOVED to remove the Property Insurance line item from the Arisia '01 Convention Budget.

MOVED to cut $1385 from the Arisia '01 Convention Budget at the discretion of the Convention Chair.

MOVED to CALL THE QUESTION

Secret Ballot Vote was requested by a Member.

• Convention Treasurer '01 (Woody Bernardi)

Not Present / No Report.

• Arisia '02 (Noel Rosenberg)

No report.

• Corporate Inventory Control (Carsten Turner)

The Clerk's notes indicate a number of motions were to be presented by the representative of CIC, but he can not find the text of these motions. However, the Membership agreed that these motions were all "business as usual" and the actions described can be performed by CIC with the prior approval of the EBoard on a case-by-case basis.

• Corporate Systems Administrator (Cris Shuldiner)

Not Present / No Report.

• Long Range Planning Committee

(Brendan Quinn, Chair)

I've appointed myself Chair of this Committee, and I'm in the process of otherwise populating this committee. We hope to present a report at the Annual Meeting.

• Corporate Sales (Nicholas Shectman)

No Report.

• Survey Committee (Ben Levy)

No Report.

• Records Task Force

This committee has been dissolved by the President of the Corporation.

• Old Business

Buzz Harris will chair the Exploratory Gaming Convention.

No action can be taken on the Corporate Budget, as it has not yet been republished as is required by the reworking ordered by the Membership at the last General meeting.

• New Business

Rachel Silverman, by proxy, submits the following Motion:

MOVED to sell off what technical equipment is not being used, to buy more of what we will actually use, and set yearly rental policy; specifically:

1. Sell all of the video gear purchased from the Minnesota Mafia, except for one or two of the small monitors which are useful);
2. Sell the lighting boards and dimmer packs purchased from the Minnesota Mafia as complete sets. Plan to rent these, with any filler lights, at every convention;
3. Sell or donate (to MIT G&S, for example) the intercom equipment purchased from the Minnesota Mafia;
4. Purchase for each of the performance spaces: an audio compressor, an amplifier, speakers, and mixing boards from a used equipment store such as Daddy's Junky Music.

MOVED to set as Arisia Corporate Policy, that Treasury Staff shall not send any amount of cash through the mail.

MOVED that anyone being put on the Hotel Master Bill but not being comped (that is, everyone but the GoHs) will provide a credit card number, expiry, and authorization to the Treasurer at the time they agree to be put on the Hotel Master Bill.

MOVED that ARISIA not accept Purchase Orders.

MOVED TO ADJOURN

MOVED to continue spending money at last year's budgeted levels, exclusive of Convention Budget, until we pass a new one.

Over the objection of at least one member who had new business to present, and was pointedly passed over, the meeting ADJOURNED at 10:53 PM.

• Announcements

Were skipped by the adjournment of the Meeting.

The EBoard has heard that Art feared missing was returned to the Artist. Merv will follow up with correspondence to ensure it arrived OK.

The questions raised about the ease of spending money on behalf of the Corporation and the lack of ability to track it were deferred to the next EBoard meeting.

The Motion about Mail Policy was visited at length. The EBoard talked about the word "Committee" and argued "Staff" vs. "Staph." The EBoard has no resolution at this time.

The Corporate Budget was discussed. A number of changes were discussed; the Corporate Treasurer was directed to add Income and Convention Line Items. The EBoard discussed publishing a summary budget from time to time.

Regarding the motion tabled to the EBoard regarding the disposition of the Technical Equipment, the President plans to report out that he has deferred this motion to the Technical Committee for a Cost/Benefit analysis of Renting vs. Owning and Maintaining.

The Corporate Clerk was directed to send mail to the Arisia '00 Art Show Department Head and the Arisia '00 Con Chair to get a list of artists promised free space at the Arisia '01 Art Show.

The issue of unpaid Registration Fees from Arisia '00 that are from an unpaid Purchase Order will be handled

by the Corporate Treasurer now that the books are closed. The Arisia '00 Convention Treasurer shall present a copy of the Bill submitted on that Purchase Order to the Corporate Treasurer.

The EBoard is looking into hiring a CPA to perform an internal audit of the Corporation to determine where we may improve our financial bookkeeping.

The Corporate Treasurer will handle renewing our Tax-Exempt Status in accordance with the ByLaws.

The next EBoard meeting was scheduled for 7:00 PM on Thursday, 07 December 2000.

The Corporate Meeting time was postponed to 7:30 PM on Sunday, 10 December 2000 to allow interested Arisians to attend the memorial service for Robert Sacks.

Merv wanted to discuss some issues with the Corporate Membership, but time ran out at the last meeting. Please read on to see the text of his ideas regarding the ARISIA Databases.

Two motions were submitted at the conclusion of the last Corporate Meeting:

"Given the significant costs involved, MOVED to set as Corporate Policy that the ConChair must get Corporate Approval before inviting a Guest of Honor from outside the United States."

and

"Given that no significant progress has been made towards having ARISIA's Books audited; MOVED that the EBoard attempt to identify and contact all persons who donated money to the Audit Fund. The EBoard shall then explain that, since Arisia does not seem likely to make use of their gifts any time soon, the Corporation would like to return their gift; if the donor wants it back."

The EBoard is considering all three of these motions.

The EBoard has announced the rescheduling of the 10 December 2000 General Meeting to 6:00 PM Saturday, 30 December 2000 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Towers and Castle, in the Whitehill Room (subject to change at the availability of the Hotel).

On August 18, a Big Name Fan passed. Robert was a fixture at Arisia, as at many other conventions, not only as a fan, but as a program participant, a gopher, and of course a gripe-session regular. Always outgoing (and often exasperating), he went out of his way both to make new fen welcome, and to challenge established ideas about fandom. He was always willing to pitch in, and over the years many Arisians found themselves working beside this wild-eyed man in his three-piece suit and ubiquitous bow tie. I didn't know him outside of fandom, but I have many enjoyable memories of watching Robert's eyes light up as he settled in to a long debate about some abstract point of fannish philosophy. Whether it was the need to separate the NASFIC from the WorldCon, parliamentary procedure, or (the always hoped for) New York WorldCon, Robert was always passionate and often stubborn (a very fannish combination). Arisia will miss him.

Subscription to Mentor of ARISIA is included with Corporate Membership to ARISIA, Incorporated. Membership runs from September 1st to August 31st and costs $24.00. Dues are pro-rated on a monthly basis for members joining during the year.

Sunday, 17 December 2000

Time and Place TBD

Saturday, 30 December 2000

Whitehill Room, The Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Towers and Castle; room subject to change

Friday through Sunday, 12-14 January 2001

Featuring Lois McMaster Bujold, Wojtek Siudmak, and Wombat, AKA - jan howard finder.

Sunday, 14 January 2001, Time TBA

Small Tent, Arisia ’01

Friday through Sunday, 16-18 February 2001

Sheraton Framingham, Framingham MA

Friday through Sunday, 23-25 March 2001

The Rye Town Hilton, Rye Brook NY

Friday through Sunday, 30 March – 01 April 2001

SUNY – Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Friday through Sunday, 25-28 May 2001

Baltimore Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore MD

Applicant name: Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association (HRSFA for short)

Address: 4 University Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138

Co-Chairs: Bryn Neuenschwander and Kevin Gold

Project Contact: Tse Wei Lim (Treasurer)

Mailing Address: 245 Lowell Mail Centre, Cambridge, MA 02138

Daytime (and nighttime) Telephone: 617-493-2887

HRSFA officers have often been asked, "What does HRSFA do?" They often reply "everything," but the word "everything" tells people nothing about anything. The Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association is devoted entirely to the enjoyment of science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and sundry related cool stuff. Basically, HRSFA will do anything up to everything even remotely related to science fiction and fantasy.

Our current mission is to further this mission by organizing a science fiction convention at Harvard for the first time.

Income in academic year 1998-1999: $1114

Expenditure in academic year 1998-1999: $992

Project: Vericon

Date: January 26-28, 2001

Location: Harvard University

Sponsored by: The Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association

Will Kick: Ass

Vericon is the realization of one of HRSFA’s most cherished goals – to sponsor a convention on our campus. We are a group with many and varied interests, and this convention will reflect that. We game, so there will be gaming. We read and write science fiction and fantasy, so there will be authors speaking and holding workshops. We watch anime and cool movies, so there will be viewing rooms.

But Vericon will not just be a gaming con, or a sci-fi con, or an anime con. Our ultimate aim for this convention is to make it a State of the Industry Convention, catering to the many college sci-fi groups around. We will have game designers from Avalon Hill, Hasbro and Del Rey around to talk about what the work is really like, and how to break into the industry. We will have authors talking about how to write and not starve.

And, of course, we will have fun ™ & ©.

Participation:

Aside from our 17 confirmed speakers, Vericon will be staffed entirely by HRSFA members and their friends, roommates, and indentured servants, numbering approximately 20-25, with a core organizing staff of 14.

We hope to attract an attendance of about 120, with a student:non-student ratio of 7:3.

_____________________________________

Tse Wei Lim, Treasurer, HRSFA and Vericon

Harvard Undergraduate Council - $400

Student pre-reg $10, $15 at the door. Pre-reg groups of 5 get one extra admit free

Expect 80 pre-reg - $800

Expect 10 at the door - $150

Non-student pre-reg $15, $25 at the door.

Expect 20 pre-reg - $300

Expect 10 at the door - $250

The Arisia Grant will largely be used to cover the cost of bringing in our speakers, as well as the cost of using Harvard’s physical facilities, i.e. the fixed costs we will have to pay in order to organize a convention worth attending, no matter what attendance might be.

Travel from out of state for Guest of Honour- $350

(1 return ticket from Seattle, WA, plus taxi fare to and from Logan)

Housing & food for Guest of Honour - $175

Food for other Guests - $240

(16 guests at $15 each)

Harvard Security - $280

(For 1 building for 2 nights)

Audio-Visual Equipment for Screening Rooms - $500

(Equipment and space rented from Harvard AV services)

Screening Rights - $400

(To be arranged through Harvard)

Publicity – $250

Props – $150

(for LARPs, Live-Action games, workshops, etc.)

Miscellaneous – $200

Income:

Estimated Corporate Membership Income: $ 750.00

Convention Equipment Rental: 6500.00

Convention Budgeted Profit: 4065.00

Total Estimated Income: $11415.00

Expenses and other outlays:

Corporate Operational Expenses:

Admin Expenses: ($ 300.00)

Treasury/Checks/Supplies: (200.00)

Treasury/Bank Fees (300.00)

CIC/Storage: (4200.00)

CIC/Supplies/Fixtures: (250.00)

Mentor: (150.00)

Legal: (300.00)

Food/Meetings&WorkCrew: (250.00)

Mailbox Services: (275.00)

PO Account Fees: (200.00)

PO Database Return Fees: (400.00)

Total Operating Expenses: ($ 6675.00)

Corporate Capital Equipment:

CIC/Dollys/Crates/Moving: ($ 2000.00)

Art Show Equipment: (500.00)

Tech Equipment: (2000.00)

Total: ($ 4500.00)

Grant Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Audit Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Snow Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Total Expenses and outlays: ($11175.00)

Net Income (loss): $ 240.00

INCOME

Ad Income 240.00 1,500.00 -1,260.00

Art Show:

Commissions 194.10 225.00 -30.90

Mailing Fees 344.58 275.00 69.58

Panels and Tables 2,075.00 1,500.00 575.00

Print Shop Fees 318.00 0.00 318.00

TOTAL Art Show 2,931.68 2,000.00 931.68

Babysitting 350.00 500.00 -150.00

Dealers:

Rooms 1,740.00 1,800.00 -60.00

Tables 2,640.00 2,400.00 240.00

Dealers-Other 0.00 0.00 0.00

TOTAL Dealers 4,380.00 4,200.00 180.00

Donations 44.81 0.00 44.81

Interest 25.69 0.00 25.69

Registration:

At-Con Reg:

$05 50.00 0.00 50.00

$15 390.00 300.00 90.00

$20 220.00 180.00 40.00

$25 6,950.00 5,500.00 1,450.00

$35 2,730.00 2,555.00 175.00

$40 15,760.00 14,440.00 1,320.00

TOTAL At-Con Reg 26,100.00 22,975.00 3,125.00

Prereg:

$08 1,200.00 1,200.00 0.00

$25 4,650.00 4,650.00 0.00

$30 14,460.00 14,910.00 -450.00

$40 2,480.00 1,760.00 720.00

Prereg-Other 762.00 300.00 462.00

TOTAL Prereg 23,552.00 22,820.00 732.00

TOTAL Registration 49,652.00 45,795.00 3,857.00

TOTAL INCOME 57,624.18 53,995.00 3,629.18

EXPENSES

Con Chair:

Admin 85.11 100.00 14.89

ConCom News 0.00 100.00 100.00

GoH Liaison:

Admin 194.41 125.00 -69.41

Food 334.34 700.00 365.66

Travel 496.51 600.00 103.49

TOTAL GoH Liaison 1,025.26 1,425.00 399.74

Hotel Liaison:

Admin 0.00 100.00 100.00

Corkage Waiver 0.00 500.00 500.00

Electricity 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00

Hotel Rooms -3,069.33 700.00 3,769.33

Security 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00

Tips 465.00 750.00 285.00

Video Hookup 0.00 300.00 300.00

TOTAL Hotel Liaison -2,604.33 4,350.00 6,954.33

Treasury:

Admin -29.46 100.00 129.46

Bank Charge:

Credit Card Fees 651.47 700.00 48.53

Bank Charge-Other 95.84 150.00 54.16

TOTAL Bank Charge 747.31 850.00 102.69

Errors 30.95 0.00 -30.95

Insurance:

Deductible 539.00 0.00 -539.00

Insurance-Other 1,895.20 1,400.00 -495.20

TOTAL Insurance 2,434.20 1,400.00 -1,034.20

TOTAL Treasury 3,183.00 2,350.00 -833.00

TOTAL Con Chair 1,689.04 8,325.00 6,635.96

Events:

Admin 77.54 100.00 22.46

Anime Theatre 60.00 300.00 240.00

ArisiaTV:

Admin 0.00 50.00 50.00

Incidentals 0.00 100.00 100.00

Videotape 179.00 450.00 271.00

TOTAL ArisiaTV 179.00 600.00 421.00

Art Show:

Admin 92.80 100.00 7.20

Artist Reception 1,119.30 1,200.00 80.70

Damage 173.00 0.00 -173.00

Errors 3.00 50.00 47.00

Forms 276.90 300.00 23.10

Logistics 0.00 50.00 50.00

Mailings 433.34 300.00 -133.34

Shipping 166.88 125.00 -41.88

TOTAL Art Show 2,265.22 2,125.00 -140.22

ASCAP-BMI Fees 0.00 200.00 200.00

Big Event 1 - Echo's Children 464.30 700.00 235.70

Dealers Room 119.72 250.00 130.28

Filking 195.86 300.00 104.14

Films 1,917.23 1,500.00 -417.23

Gaming 0.00 300.00 300.00

Masquerade 72.66 300.00 227.34

Meet the Pros 1,144.60 500.00 -644.60

Period Dance 637.20 650.00 12.80

Photography 0.00 225.00 225.00

Small Event 1 - Fanzine Lounge 582.50 500.00 -82.50

Small Event 2 - Art Contest 253.93 300.00 46.07

Small Event 3 - Late Night Dance 299.00 300.00 1.00

Small Event 4 - Fan GoH Event 282.51 300.00 17.49

Technical:

Admin 100.00 100.00 0.00

Clearcom 125.00 250.00 125.00

Lighting 548.60 600.00 51.40

Sound 700.00 500.00 -200.00

TOTAL Technical 1,473.60 1,450.00 -23.60

Video Theatre:

Equipment 264.45 100.00 -164.45

License Fees 300.00 600.00 300.00

TOTAL Video Theatre 564.45 700.00 135.55

TOTAL Events 10,589.32 11,600.00 1,010.68

Marketing:

Ad Sales 153.21 200.00 46.79

Admin 151.84 300.00 148.16

Advertising 535.00 2,000.00 1,465.00

Press 0.00 50.00 50.00

Promotional Parties 196.15 200.00 3.85

Publications:

Admin 194.32 100.00 -94.32

At-con Newsletter 499.81 450.00 -49.81

Flyers 87.60 400.00 312.40

Mass Mailer:

Postage 400.62 425.00 24.38

Printing 852.00 850.00 -2.00

TOTAL Mass Mailer 1,252.62 1,275.00 22.38

Pocket Program 1,854.60 1,775.00 -79.60

Prereg Packet:

Postage 307.56 350.00 42.44

Printing 134.88 150.00 15.12

TOTAL Prereg Packet 442.44 500.00 57.56

Program Book 4,249.14 3,800.00 -449.14

Program Updates 378.00 0.00 -378.00

Restaurant Guide 415.58 0.00 -415.58

TOTAL Publications 9,374.11 8,300.00 -1,074.11

TOTAL Marketing 10,410.31 11,050.00 639.69

Operations:

Admin 0.00 100.00 100.00

Communications 921.97 700.00 -221.97

Gopher Hole:

Admin 0.00 50.00 50.00

Earned Comps 1,400.00 1,200.00 -200.00

Ribbons 248.55 350.00 101.45

T-Shirts 1,363.00 950.00 -413.00

TOTAL Gopher Hole 3,011.55 2,550.00 -461.55

Logistics 905.68 1,250.00 344.32

Ops Desk 91.14 200.00 108.86

Security 119.04 200.00 80.96

Sign Shop 0.00 50.00 50.00

Telephones 1,092.50 500.00 -592.50

TOTAL Operations 6,141.88 5,550.00 -591.88

Programming:

Admin 200.19 500.00 299.81

Fast Track 467.76 600.00 132.24

Guest Liaison 0.00 100.00 100.00

Kaffeeklatches 311.94 0.00 -311.94

Mailings 1,962.47 2,000.00 37.53

Packets 108.36 300.00 191.64

Phone 188.19 200.00 11.81

Program AV 130.30 150.00 19.70

Program Ops 0.00 250.00 250.00

TOTAL Programming 3,369.21 4,100.00 730.79

Services:

Admin 92.27 100.00 7.73

Babysitting:

Admin 59.73 50.00 -9.73

Pagers 47.70 100.00 52.30

Payroll 0.00 75.00 75.00

Salaries 529.51 900.00 370.49

Snacks 0.00 100.00 100.00

Taxes 40.51 75.00 34.49

TOTAL Babysitting 677.45 1,300.00 622.55

Con Suite 2,079.21 2,000.00 -79.21

Green Room 523.03 800.00 276.97

Information Desk 8.99 50.00 41.01

Internet Room 406.59 300.00 -106.59

Party Czar 0.00 200.00 200.00

Registration:

Acknowledgment Postcards 98.91 150.00 51.09

Admin 11.57 50.00 38.43

Badge Holders 281.57 350.00 68.43

Badge Stock 111.43 200.00 88.57

Forms 129.60 125.00 -4.60

TOTAL Registration 633.08 875.00 241.92

Staff Den 956.77 1,300.00 343.23

TOTAL Services 5,377.39 6,925.00 1,547.61

TOTAL EXPENSES 37,577.15 47,550.00 9,972.85

TOTAL INCOME - EXPENSES 20,047.03 6,445.00 13,602.03

(Editor's Note: The budget as submitted for publication included Line Items for Property Insurance and Internet Room -- whereas the Membership voted not to set these line items to zero, but to "drop," or remove them, I have exercised my prerogative as the Editor of Mentor to remove these Line Items in the text of the Budget as printed. Any problems with that? -- you know where to find me.)

As we all know, ARISIA is currently disorganized with regard to how it keeps its databases. There is no one single source of information, which leads to multiple copies of various degrees of "current" floating about. None of the databases are documented. Many of the various databases are "personal" copies of data, maintained by individuals long-standing in their respective Corporate and Convention positions, and thereby not under ARISIA’s control.

I propose to change this.

I will be redesigning the Corporate and Convention databases; ACCESS will be the tool I use for this development, and the resulting .mdb file will be accessible from ACCESS, Visual BASIC, Visual C++ or other applications developed with this database in mind, and any application that can pass an SQL statement to the Microsoft JET Database Engine. I will document these databases, their structures, code, modules, etc. It is my intent to include support for Dealers, Art Show, Programming, and other Corporate and Convention Concerns as I am made aware of them / such support is requested.

What I would like to do in addition is make this database available to authorized members of the Corporation and the Convention from a single web site. I can write web pages that will secure the information against outside attempts to view the data; I can write web pages that will access the database in a read/write fashion.

There are many advantages to having the ARISIA Combined database available on-line.

First, the distributed client nature of the Web will allow data entry to occur by many individuals both at the same time and at various different times. It will not be necessary to gather 6-8 people in the same place at the same time to crank through data entry in one evening. Portions of the work can be given to data entry volunteers, and these volunteers can perform the work at their own pace, at their own schedules, from the comfort of home (or work). Being web-based, these volunteers will not need to have any particular software package (such as ACCESS) or hardware platform (PC, Mac, *inx boxes will all work equally well) to function to their full ability of the database.

Second, the information can be made available to authorized persons in real-time. All that is needed is a Web Connection, which is becoming increasingly viable as time progresses. Queries can be written ad-hoc with documentation to be provided by me; common queries can be prewritten and available at the click of a button. Data sets, such as names and addresses, can be delivered in a fashion suitable for printing mailing labels, Convention Badges, etc.

Third, once the system is up and running, it will pass the Corporate Directive regarding computerized automation for such activities as Convention Registration. While this is not the intended purpose of the database, it is easy to see how it can be successfully and efficiently used in an at-con situation. Any machine capable of running a web browser, and equipped with a $15.00 Network Adapter Card can be successfully set up and run on perhaps 30 minutes notice.

I intend to mount the database on a Windows 2000 Server platform for the following reasons:

1. I know how Windows works: I work with Internet Information Server (Microsoft’s Web Server); I program in VBScript, available in Windows; I can program Active Server Pages to deal with database transactions. I do NOT know how to use ORACLE, or LOTUS Notes, or any *inx platforms . . . yet.
1. The JET Database Engine (which eagerly works with the ACCESS .mdb file format) is included with Windows 2000 Server and Internet Information Server at no additional cost. This is important to consider when SQL Server costs approximately $1000 to license.

The choice of the ACCESS .mdb file format and the use of the JET Database engine are not negotiable for the following reasons:

1. I know how to use these tools, and I’m the one doing the work;
1. These tools are suitable for this job of this scale and will deliver performance as specified;
2. SQL Server costs $1000 to license; JET will come with the Windows 2000 Server;
3. Should far-future changes need to be made to the structure of the database and I am unavailable to do the work, the JET Database Engine has a fully functional set of SQL Data Definition Language instructions;
4. Should future conditions warrant, upgrading the database format and engine to SQL Server is a straightforward process.

To these ends, I request the following:

• That the Corporation create the position of Corporate Database Administrator, making this position a peer of the Corporate Systems Administrator, and appointing me to this position;

• That the Corporation formalize the currently Ad Hoc Database Committee (this committee currently consists of myself, Cris Shuldiner, Paul Selkirk, Rachel Silber, and Traciy Fogarty; I would like to add Ben Levy, and other interested persons as needed), and that this committee be directed to formulate and deliver the specifications for the ARISIA Databases.

• That the Corporation allocate up to $1750.00 to the purchase of a Windows 2000 Server, with the following understandings and caveats:

1. That the Server be purchased only when the database is developed out of the Beta and into the Deployment stage,
1. That the Server will be co-located with the existing Arisia.org server,
2. That access to the server will be via console or via Virtual Private Network connection only,
3. That the Database Administrator will work cooperatively with the Systems Administrator regarding the deployment and administration of the Server,
4. That the choice of database engine will be Microsoft JET, subject to review;

• That the Corporation take the steps necessary to obtain at least one additional routable IP address, that this server may be accessed from the Internet;

• That the Corporation direct the Corporate Systems Administrator to work cooperatively with the Corporate Database Administrator with regard to administering the Server (especially with regard to IP addressing schemes for Virtual Private Networking).

Through this cooperation and volunteer work, ARISIA can enjoy the satisfaction of building and maintaining a tool that will benefit not a single convention year, but the Corporation as a whole indefinitely.

Thank you for your time and attention.

In Service,

Tom Murphy