Mentor of ARISIA

Be It Known The Following:

WHEREAS, it has been asserted that Proper Notice on a Vote of the Corporate Budget for Fiscal Year ’01 was not given in time for the 25 February 2001 Meeting, where the Membership Amended the Budget published in the November Issue of MENTOR OF ARISIA and then voted to Approve this Amended Budget; NOTICE IS GIVEN of a Vote to approve a Corporate Budget, as set forth in the ByLaws of ARISIA, Incorporated, Section 2.4, subsection (h). This Vote will Ratify or Rescind the Vote taken by the General Membership at the 25 February 2001 Meeting that approved the Budget. A copy of the budget, as amended, appears at the end of this issue of MENTOR OF ARISIA.

The EBoard met as scheduled at 8:20 PM in the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Towers and Castle.

The Business before the EBoard is to approve last-minute changes to the Arisia ’01 Convention Budget and to render an opinion with regard to the Vericon Grant.

The EBoard has no objections to the Grant or the Recommendation of the Grant Committee – the EBoard sends this to the Membership for approval.

The Convention Committee has discovered places where it should have allocated money, but didn’t. The ConCom therefore asks for two new line items under Banquet, "LARP Dance" and "Gopher Hole," to be funded at $417 and $132 each. The EBoard approves this request.

The Convention Committee requests an additional $700 for the combined Meet The Pros / Art Show Reception. The EBoard approves this request.

Date, Time and Place: This General Meeting of the Membership was called to order at 4:35 PM on Sunday, 25 February 2001 in Room 168 of MIT Building 66 in Cambridge, MA.

In Attendance: Christopher Amshey, Drea Brandford, Traciy Fogarty, Colette Fozard, Brendan Hertel, Lisa Hertel, Claudia Mastroianni, Michelle McGuire, Skip Morris, Tom Murphy, Brendan Quinn, Paul Selkirk, Nicholas Shectman, Rachel Silber, Rachel Silverman, Carsten Turner, and Guest Linda Nee.

• Proxies

Cris Shuldiner to Traciy Fogarty, Ben Levy to Tom Murphy, Noel Rosenberg to Brendan Quinn, Jude Shabry to Brendan Quinn, and Walter Kahn to Drea Brandford.

• Minutes of the Previous Meeting

No corrections to the Minutes of Previous Meetings were made.

• President's Report (Brendan Quinn)

I’ve got the final list to populate the committees.

By means of a voice vote, the Membership does not contest the appointments.

• EBoard Report (Brendan Quinn)

The EBoard met and talked about a lot of things.

Several motions regarding setting a policy for handling Mail have been submitted. We are reporting them all out to the Membership with no specific recommendation.

We discussed controlling spending, and methods of insuring reporting of the use of ARISIA’s pre-deposited funds.

We discussed Storage Options: We can stay where we are for 3 or 4 times current cost, we can try to stay where we are and convince the landlords to cut us a break on rent in return for a tax break, we can find new warehouse space, we can find self-storage space. The EBoard believes that warehouse space is ideal for the next 1 or 2 years, as that will allow us work-space for various Tech and CIC projects.

Regarding a motion submitted to the EBoard regarding requiring Membership approval for Convention Guests who reside outside of the country, the EBoard reports negatively.

Regarding a motion submitted to the EBoard requiring the EBoard to return individual donations made to the Audit Fund, the EBoard reports that this motion is impossible to execute as written.

The Treasurer is researching whether or not our Sales Tax Exemption has expired, and needs renewal.

The EBoard returns a favorable recommendation on the proposed Grant to the Vassar NonHuman Student Organization.

The EBoard has authorized payment on a claim to Arisia ‘01’s "self-insurance." In addition, the EBoard charges the LRPC with developing coherent policy for continued self-insurance.

The Building that houses Storage has new keys. We have two, and will make more Real Soon Now, and distribute them.

The EBoard presents a motion regarding Loans:

MOVED to amend Corporate Policy, finance section:

Loans may be made to other nonprofit organizations with the approval of the EBoard or the Membership. No interest will be charged.

• Vice President's Report (Nicholas Shectman)

Vericon was fun. I spoke with someone from Vassar College’s NSO about NonCon. Guess What . . . .

• Grant Committee (Nicholas Shectman)

The NonCon Grant proposal was not published in time to consider, so the Chair opens a Committee of the Whole to discuss.

• Treasurer's Report (Skip Morris)

The Budget Committee has previously returned a budget, which was printed in the November Mentor. We present it in three portions:

MOVED to approve the Operational Expense Budget, as printed in the November MENTOR.

MOVED to approve the capital Equipment Budget, as printed in the November MENTOR.

MOVED to approve the Corporate Income Budget, as printed in the November MENTOR.

• 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 $14 at this meeting and $12 thereafter.

• Convention Chair '01 (Rachel Silverman for Elka Tovah Menkes)

Elka reports that she has been getting positive feedback; the staff did a good job.

• Convention Treasurer '01 (Woody Bernardi)

Not Present / No Report.

• Convention Chair '02 (Noel Rosenberg)

Not Present / No Report, but Colette is willing to throw the Arisia ’02 party at LunaCon. Paul is taking care of Flyers. There will be meetings Soon.

• Gaming Convention Exploratory Committee

(Buzz Harris)

Not Present / No Report.

• Corporate Inventory Control (Carsten Turner)

Not much. It’s cold out there, and cold in there, too.

• Corporate Systems Administrator (Cris Shuldiner)

Not Present / No Report.

• Long Range Planning Committee

(Brendan Quinn, Chair)

No Report.

• Corporate Sales (Nicholas Shectman)

The 2^nd run on T-Shirts, made for orders we took At-Con, was completed and ready to mail.

• Survey Committee (Ben Levy)

Not Present / No Report.

• Old Business

Regarding the motion regarding Membership Approval for Out-Of-Country Guests of Honor to the ARISIA Convention (MENTOR OF ARISIA, Vol 13 Issue 102, page 4): Discussion ensued.

Motion FAILS.

Regarding the motion regarding the return of donations to the Audit Fund (MENTOR OF ARISIA, Vol 13 Issue 102, page 4): Discussion ensued.

Regarding the Motion to not accept Purchase Orders:

Discussion ensued. It was pointed out that professional Advertisements submitted for our Souvenir book are usually on the basis of a Purchase Order.

Regarding the Motion to remove the existing business of the Long Range Planning Committee (to grant all Convention Chairpersons ("Conchairs") the official task of Troublemaking at all future ARISIA Conventions) from their table.

Regarding the Proposal for re-working the Databases, the Chair ruled that it was a motion, with the following sections: a) to create a Corporate Database Administrator; b) to appoint Tom Murphy as the CDBA; c) to create a Database Committee, d) to appoint Traciy Fogarty, Ben Levy, Tom Murphy, Paul Selkirk, Cris Shuldiner, and Rachel Silber to this committee; e) to allocate $1750 to purchase a Server; and f) to cause certain Technical Efforts to be executed (to wit, obtaining a routable IP address for the aforementioned Server).

In consideration of section a) of the motion:

Motion FAILS

Section b) of the motion is declared moot.

In consideration of section c) of the motion:

Motion CARRIES. The Committee is charged with exploring the needs of the Corporation with regards to its databases.

In consideration of section d) of the motion:

Motion CARRIES. The President appoints Rachel Silber as the Chair of the Committee.

In consideration of section e) of the motion:

Motion FAILS.

In consideration of section f) of the motion:

Motion FAILS.

Regarding the motion regarding setting Corporate Mail Policy:

• The originator of the Business was unprepared for this business to be conducted at this meeting, and did not have the text of his revised motion to present.

• A second alternative was a motion to "allow the EBoard to set mail policy each year, at the first EBoard meeting after the Annual Meeting, with the decision being reported to the General Membership at the next regularly scheduled meeting thereof."

• A third motion regarding mail was submitted: "Incoming mail should be check (sic) weekly, and then routed tot he appropriate officer and/or committee member(s). A log will be kept of incoming mail. Mail that should be routed to multiple officers or committee members should (within reason) be photocopied and individual copies sent to each destination. The corporate clerk will keep a copy of all business letters and other similar correspondence. The corporate treasurer will review and keep a copy of all financial statements and bills. The appropriate treasurer will maintain a copy of all checks received along with supporting documentation. A central mail distribution point shall be maintained that is reasonably accessible to the corporate and committee members. Incoming mail shall be considered delivered once placed there and notification of arrived mail is sent via email, voice or other method to all concerned persons. The EBoard may make exceptions to this policy as needed."

The first motion was considered WITHDRAWN. The second motion FAILS. The third motion CARRIES.

MOVED to direct the Treasurer or the EBoard to cause an audit to occur within next 3 months or money will be returned to best of its ability and move into grant fund any unclaimed funds.

Motion CARRIES.

MOVED to set the following as dates for Meetings of the General Membership: Sunday, 18 March 01; Tuesday, 17 April 01; Sunday, 20 May 01; Wednesday 13 June 01; Times and Places all To Be Announced.

Motion CARRIES.

• Announcements

No Announcements

Meeting ADJOURNED at 7:33 PM.

These motions were submitted by EMail and will need to be seconded at the meeting at which they are brought forth as New Business.

1. Moved that ALL keys handed out for Arisia storage be numbered on at least one side of the key with the following number scheme: Set Number.Key Number. For example: 1.1 would be set 1, key 1; 8.4 would be set 8, key 4
2. Moved that the EBoard be required to maintain an actual sign out sheet for key sets so that we know who has keys and how many sets are out.
3. Moved that the EBoard be required to take a $10 deposit per key set when handing out key sets to cover cost of replacing the key set if it is lost or never returned.
4. MOVED that, The motion regarding the audit fund from the February meeting be known hereafter as the Audit Plan, AND, That the Audit Plan be amended, replacing, 'audit within 3 months' with 'have an audit by a qualified party firmly scheduled or begun within 3 months.'

The March Meeting will be held at the home of Lisa Hertel, concurrent with the NESFA "other" meeting, starting at 2:00 PM on Sunday, 18 March 2001. Directions follow.

To the Hertels:

Take I-93 or I-495 to Rte 133 East. Take a left at the first light after the Ramada Rolling Green Hotel (about 1 block east of I-93). #93 is a gray and yellow house on the right after the third right. If you take the commuter rail, call us from the station: 978-474-0105.

Please do not bring food to the Hertel household – they keep Kosher, and will be providing plenty. Also, there are cats in residence, please medicate accordingly.

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.

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

Income:

Estimated Corporate Membership Income: $ 750.00

Convention Equipment Rental: 6500.00

Convention Budgeted Profit: 4065.00

Interest 1000.00

Total Estimated Income: $12315.00

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: ($ 3000.00)

Art Show Equipment: (500.00)

Tech Equipment: (2000.00)

Total: ($ 5500.00)

Grant Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Audit Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Snow Fund Transfers: (0.00)

Total Expenses and outlays: ($12175.00)

Net Income (loss): $ 240.00