Feb 20, 2016 – WSOB Meeting Minutes

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OPEN MEETING @ 9:15 AM

SERENITY PRAYER

TRADITION 3 – Read by Morgan T.

CONCEPT 3 – Read by Ira L.

BIRTHDAYS: Randy M. – 23 years.

ROLL CALL & QUORUM DETERMINATION – Quorum is 4.

Present were Scott S. (Chair), Tim A. (Vice Chair), Laurie R. (Treasurer), Linda F. (DOO), Ira L. (WST), Frank P. (WSOT), Chris J. (DAL), Morgan T. (DAL).

Guests: Randy M., Alesia, Allison

CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT(s)-

  1. Report on results of Linda Francisco review conference call and compensation adjustment approval. Review of Linda F. and her compensation and a raise was approved by the Board. Also included in the employee handbook.
  2. Discussed the timing of the slate for WSOT and Treasurer.
  3. Two things to be aware of before next Conference. 1) Some members will be rotating out. 2) We need to prepare a slate for the World Service Office Trustee. Get resume forms from Linda. WSOT is rotating out. Treasurer will be rotating out. Chairman to discuss with Board of Trustees to interview Treasurer candidate. We may need to be filled it on a temporary basis.

APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(s) –1/16/2016 MOTION to approve the minutes from January meeting made by Tim A. Seconded by Frank P. Correction by Laurie. Motion passes unanimously as corrected.

SEVENTH TRADITION

OFFICE DIRECTOR REPORTS

Director of Operations- Linda – written report submitted.

  • Linda – Comments – Wants the board members to take home the idea of the Special Edition Quiet peace. – see report.
  • Questions:
  • Laurie – do we have approval to buy the Special Edition Quiet Peace? (Move the money from Publication fund to general fund). And do we have approval to spend the money? Linda is still working on it. Answer is no.
  • Frank – WSOT – Talked with Laurie earlier regarding minutes. The purchase and the transfer are both in the minutes.
  • Ira L – Thank you for your report Linda. Final version of HFC is to be placed. 4 – 6 weeks delivery time once order is placed. In regards to the German translation – has European Trustee been involved in this discussion? Does she know how many meetings / members in Germany? Experience with same issue with Swedish group. Ira L. is concerned about cost. Linda had previously requested this information. She has written response. Has input on artwork for A Quiet Peace Special Edition.

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  • Motions: Will make a motion in new business. Check request to be handled in new business.

DIRECTOR REPORTS

Chair – written report submitted.

Comments

In addition, wants to commend office staff for the hours spent launching the website Tremendous amount of work in a short time frame. Would not have happened without their efforts.

Questions –

  1. Ira – Thanks Scott for all you’re doing – you have a lot on your plate. Re: scrubbing of CAWSO, Inc. There has never been a motion to approve a change name. No other questions.
  2. Frank – has question on the Starwood account. Do we know how that operates? Scott responds it’s a fuster cluck. Still learning how it is to be useful. Corporate account needs to be set up. Will transfer points from Linda’s account. Points will track by events. Will be most useful by Convention Events. Can be best used for room nights. Still lots of information we don’t know. We will be keeping track in the future with written reports of points and their worth. Picking up the ball and trying to nail down the benefits.
  3. Ira L. – According to Linda’s inquiry with Starwood, this will be a corporate account, with Linda as the primary contact.
  4. Ira L. – Reviewing shredding and review processes – also please consider purchasing a shredder with a volunteer shredding. Chair express that experience shows that the shredders get burned out. Scott believes that wouldn’t be cost effective due to that fact. The other thing to consider is who will be using the shredder. Scotts says rates are very low – $180 / year. We already have three to four boxes of stuff to shred. Not archival stuff. The goal is to transfer all archive stuff to file cabinets instead of boxes. Is cost effective to get rid of extra stuff.
  5. Frank – Trustees discussed if there was a guideline for what is to be shredded? Financial Data over 7 years. Documents related to registrations for convention / conferences. Other odds and ends the Board will look through on a case by case bases. Archival stuff will be saved. All of our financial statements will be saved back to Day 1.

Vice Chair- Tim – report submitted.

Thanks for letting me be of service. No questions.

  • Scott – thanks for managing on line motions.

Treasurer – Laurie R – written report submitted.

Highlights

  • In addition, yesterday she was successful in wiring money to Montreal.
  • Discussion of Bank of America location in Chicago.
  • FYI Montreal has no Bank of America corresponding (affiliate) bank, We’ll have to open a local bank account. Merchant services will also be an issue. (This was an issue for the UK Convention but was handled). Something for the Board to talk about. Scott requests Laurie work with Linda for a time line to contact SCOTIA. Linda to clarify merchant services. Which will also dovetail to next convention. Scott requests clarification on the Operating Account balances.

Secretary – Open

Director at Large – Morgan Written report submitted.

Questions:

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  1. Ira L. – Clarifying which report is Morgan’s. It says he met with Phil H to discuss EFC. What was discussed? Morgan states that he had already reported content of that discussion.
  2. Scott thanks him for going to Denver. He says Concepts work shop was fantastic.

Director at Large – Chris – written report submitted

Questions –

  1. Frank P. – Thanks for specialty chip. Duane feels specialty chip may be a real profit maker for CA. Regional Assembly spoke about it. Chris is still looking into epoxy material. Stocking is cost prohibitive.

Director at Large- waiting for Trustee vote on two candidate- Open

TRUSTEE REPORTS

WSO Trustee – Frank P – written report submitted

Comments

  • Frank P. sent new digital presentation to the Archives – Chicago centric. Trevor has been appointed to be cataloging volunteer. Looks like we’re moving in the right direction. A general presentation will be coming. It will be ready for Celebrate Around the World.
  • Thanks Laurie for financial report. Reminder that Quarterly reports are due.

Questions:

  1. Ira L. – Thank you Frank for your report. Are there any reminders? Frank is WSOT, a very important position as the conduit to Board of Trustees. We need the best person to fill this position.
  2. Laurie L.– at next weeks’ meeting, be sure hotel does not charge us for WiFi. (It’s supposed to be free). Ira reports that has already been handled. It’s actually not identified in the contract. We ought to get it in writing. What is outstanding for Board of Trustees? A Quiet Peace SE approval and DAL Confirmations.
  3. Laurie L.– new slate for Treasurer – is there a requirement to have voted on the conference floor? Scott checks the WS By Laws. Does not appear to need conference floor vote.
  4. Frank – Just heard from Duane – no Board to Board next week. Just Linda.
  5. Ira L.– Quick comment – always exceptions which can be made for requirements to fill position. (In reference to a possible requirement for the Treasurer candidate to have voted on the floor of the conference.)

WS Trustee – Ira L. – written report submitted

Comments

  • He is still not receiving notifications from conference committee. Please notify him of upcoming conference committee meetings. He would like to see minutes. Chair will coordinate with conference chair to get him on the gmail distribution. Will coordinate with Jay. He wants convention reports as they are critically important for this board for review.
  • PSR Assembly was very important quarterly meeting. All of the WSOB members ought to be attending to represent the WSOB.

Questions –

  1. Tim A. – on Regional Caucus – was unsure if we should show up? Don’t want to show favoritism to an individual region. Tim believes this is our area. It will show our loyalty to our region. As board members, we’re required to be within 120 miles of the office. Need to let members know who we are.
  1. Morgan T. – his interpretation is that as a member of the board, he is not a member of the region.

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  1. Frank P- First of all, thanks. He attended as a member and was introduces as WSOT. He is a member of the region. He felt really good about going as he got a better feel of the areas, for the people. Goes as a member of the region.
  2. Laurie – her opinion is that her experience with caucuses is that the WSOB has never been on the agenda. WSOB has no business being there. But for the sole purpose of recruitment, our attendance is acceptable.
  3. Alesia – for past two years, the WSOB has been on the agenda. There has been a space on the agenda.
  4. Chair – all points are well taken. Fact is that there is an obvious potential issue. Resentment? There have been problems with LA-centric tilt to the voting. Point is that attendance for recruitment purposes it is important. One solution is to find out about other caucuses, and get a WSOB report sent to those caucuses as well. Reach out to trustees for other areas.

COMMITTEE REPORTS –

Finance –Laurie –

Comments: No written report.

Conference call tomorrow at 9:00AM. Need to talk about the new web site. Frank may also contribute this part.

Structure & Bylaws –Scott – written report submitted.

Comments:

Conference call tomorrow. Manual to be completed.

Convention – Linda, Ira – nothing to report

Comments:

Conference call tomorrow.

Conference –Linda, Ira – next Sunday call

Comments:

Report submitted. Will be charging for kick off dinner. Referrals were sent to committees. When is next delegate mailing? March. Chris J. Does it include fliers for new coins? Yes. Maybe we can save some money with Starwood’s points, which would allow us to afford a new projector. (No money budgeted). Chair has spec’s for the new projector. (Should be same manufacturer, if possible.) There is a need for two screens.

Unity – open – new logo updated on websites

Literature, Chips & Formats – Chris J. – no written report.

Comments:

Attended conference call – no report. Will prepare a report by next meeting. Seems committee resented that the LCF committee wasn’t involved with special chip.

Hospitals & Institutions – Tim A. – No written report.

Comments:

No report. What about SR14? Need by April 30th. Date it must be here. Date it must be out to delegates.

(120 days prior to conference)

Questions:

  1. Ira L. – refresh his memory on SR14 on H&I – changing language of can.

Public Information – Morgan – written report submitted.

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Comments:

IT –Linda & Scott – New Website. Written report submitted.

Comments:

Refer to report.

Questions:

  1. What are we doing with World Contribution Program? They are notifying each person that we will be setting them up on the new website so that we can continue to receive their donation. We are shredding old credit card data. This will be completed before April 1.
  2. Ira L. – do we have a shredder? (LOL)
  3. Chris J. -. Are formats downloadable from website? Yes, Have the pamphlets been updated? Yes. Plus, revision dates have been included.
  4. WSCIT – had meeting in January. Biggest thing is to update IT workbook. Link to Online service area meetings was removed. Chair read IT guidelines. A fundamental issue that needs to be discussed is: How are we going to handle new technologies? Point was raised by Trustee to restore the link, but add a disclaimer. AA and NA are both dealing with the same issue. Open issue still; will not be presented to the conference.
  5. Linda – If you’re on the new website and see any issue, please email Linda. Need extra eyes on it.

Archives – Frank P. & Linda.

Comments:

Have they decided on the date for new meeting? No.

CAWS CONVENTION REPORTS:

CAWS 2016 – Chicago – If you haven’t already, you’ll need to register for special events. WSOB will pay for basic registration for Board / Trustee members, banquet and breakfast. Everyone makes their own registration – then provide expense report for reimbursement. Check request in new business. Minutes loaded to the Yahoo group. Chair will contact Convention Chair to insure we are reviewing contracts. Laurie is looking into the best banks available. Laurie will set up things with our bank 2 to 3 weeks prior to the convention. She’s coordinating with convention treasurer. Finance committee will also be at the convention to assist, along with 2017 convention treasurer. (Training purposes). Chair: we know of March 6 meeting, but we need date for April committee meeting. Kim is the Convention Chair. 4 months away so all board reviews / approvals needs to be received timely. There will be online voting of all of this during the next few weeks. We will have to keep these motions moving. Question:

  1. Tim A.- what are we doing about fiasco with the banquet tables. Chair has to review. Will likely be a discussion at the conference, if the WS Guidelines are silent, then local committee will determine.

CAWS 2017 – Seattle – WSOB to approve Seattle hotel contract. WSOB to approve Seattle artwork (if ready). There was an addendum to the contract for dates. Addendum was approved. Minutes were made available. Contact list is being updated. We have received a start to the registration form. Please review it. Comments should be posted within 2 weeks (March 7).

CAWS 2018 – Montreal – WSOB to approve Montreal hotel contract (if ready).

Comments:

Have we received copy of the contract? No, it was not posted. Two copies are passed around for board review. Hotel deposit payment has been made. The committee has been responsive.

CAWS 2019 – Sweden – nothing at the moment.

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GUEST REPORTS:

Randy M. – No report.

Alesia F. – No report.

Allison – March 11 – 13 convention www.ca-laughlin2016.com. Can register online.

Chris W.- H&I fundraiser in June in Orange County.

ONLINE BUSINESS-

  1. Confirmation of online vote to approve this artwork for the CAWS 2016 Convention Opportunity Drawing. – MOTION made by Tim A, seconded by Linda. Motion is passed unanimously.
  2. Confirmation of online vote to approve motion that if any new 2016 WSC raffle tickets are to be produced, that they are to be approved by the WSOB first, in order to prevent any conflict with the WSM Statement of Policy regarding our C.A. logo. MOTION made by Linda F., Ira L. seconded. Motion is passed unanimously.
  3. Confirmation of online vote to approve motion to approve the CAWS 2016 Logo with the Red Star. MOTION made by Linda F., seconded by Tim A. Motion passes no opposition.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS-

  1. WSOB Director(s): Trustees response to come. No open positions at this time. Slate for WSOT due shortly. When?
  2. ORG website Current and New (Linda and Scott) has been completed by the office.
  3. European Fulfillment Center -Morgan and Scott – need to contact Suzanne (European Trustee) regarding this. Chair has not contacted Suzanne. This is in light of Morgan’s conversation with European members who were not convinced of the need. We’re getting conflicting reports.
  4. Meditation Book – Status update on the 35th Anniversary Edition ( Ira) Discussed already. How are we structuring the book sales with respect to what we keep, what we hold for conventions, etc,, auctions future release, distribution of the next set of books? Etc. Once the artwork is set the price will be set then as well. Frank P. discusses how much can be received by auctioning at the convention.
  5. e-booklets (Keith – Morgan) nothing happening. Linda – HFC2 will be an ebook once published. Can close this item.
  6. Meeting Formats in a Pocket – Linda- (back in process).
  7. Office Lease (February 2016) – Scott – holding until August 2016
  8. 800 number – – at next meeting we need to assign someone to resolve once and for all. Do we keep the number? Or just refer to the website? First thing is how content will be sent to the newcomer.
  9. Trademark – Ira-Bernie nothing new. Registration has been renewed for trademark. Ira L. – AA lost it’s copyright to the logo, and some thought that would be Armageddon. Is it financially responsible for us to keep these trademarks? Linda believes it is a big deal so that we can keep control of the image. Laurie – worthy of a longer discussion. AA lost copyrights to the book. What are future legal fees for any of these trademark issues? Not known at this time.
  10. Frank P.– do we have a list of trademark / copyright items? Yes. Can we determine possible legal fees? Yes. Who is Trustee for Legal – Duane. Linda will update and post the timeline of trademarks for us to review. We need this list confirmed by Bernie.
  11. New CAWSO Online Registration: Laurie-Marius – Linda reports it is still a bit on hold. Reached out for solution, and now Marius is going to reach out for cost. Online registration spits out data that is not usable. We had had a volunteer to transfer this data to usable reports, but that is not working out. So we’re looking into getting this in the new registration deal. Ira L. – Julian is no longer doing excel spreadsheet? Yes, he’s still on it but there are issues they are still trying to resolve. Marius and Julian are working on it. Ira – am I the only to see a potential disaster if information is not received by the convention committee in a timely manner? Everyone understands. Chair will get more information by next meeting.

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  1. New birthday envelope – Linda (Tabled motion from 11/14/2015) – Tabled due to address issue. Secondary issue are we even getting contributions? Yes. Ira – as we are still using PO Box, is that not a good temporary solution? Logistical problem is location of post office box. Laurie is going once a week now, but she’s passing that on to someone else. Yes, it is a viable solution. Push off for one more meeting. 3 proposals to go over next month. Need decision at next meeting.
  2. CAWSO Dba setup – Scott/Ira – (Tabled motion from 11/14/2015) – waiting for Trustee opinion on whether necessary or not.

NEW BUSINESS –

  1. New position “ Senior Staff – Conference & Convention Coordinator” approval of job description. MOTION made by Laurie to approve job description as submitted. Seconded by Linda. Motion passes with substantial unanimity. Position includes the things Julian is working on.
  2. MOTION to approve application to Bank of America for a credit card in the name of CAWSO, which will be issued to three individuals – Director of Operations, Treasurer and Chairperson with a maximum limit of up to $20,000. Motion made by Laure L.; seconded by Ira L. Individual card limits to be determined by Treasurer and Chairperson but none may be in excess of the overall limit. The credit card account will not contain any personal guarantee. Laurie speaks in favor of the motion. Due to the history we currently have with the bank, this should go through with little trouble at the bank. No further discussion. Motion passes unanimously.
  3. MOTION to approve invoice from Cameron Freeman for website maintenance and new certificate through February 17, 2017. Motion made by Linda, seconded by Laurie. Linda speaks in favor of the motion as Cameron can stay on it, keeping it up and running. Laurie,-clarifying we have approved this expenditure already on a monthly basis, but this is to pay in advance for a whole year. Chris J. – interested in the price. Will this be the same next year? We don’t know. Total fee has already been agreed to. Security certificates are required. Ira – has no problem reimbursing for out of pocket costs. But he has concern for paying in advance for services. He also has a conflict of interest issue. Cameron had been doing it for free; but there is still substantial work to keep this up. Is he a delegate? This agreement must be approved by the Board of Trustees. Chair believes this is not a new agreement. Frank – he is not a delegate, but is on the slate for Trustee. Tim A. – are you asking about whether he is a delegate as to whether he can vote on the conference floor? That is not why Ira asked the question. What is the conflict? He’s wearing two hats, he’s a member, now we’re paying him. Just needs to be vetted. Alesia – problem is he wants to be paid ahead of time seems to be the issue. No further discussion. Motion passes with noted opposition with substantial unanimity. Check is tabled until the Trustees Negotiating Committee can vote. Chair would like the answer by the end of the next Trustee meeting. Frank has question. Did he need the certificate to move forward? No, he already paid it. Second question: if monthly payment, it is below the $500 threshold? But, according to typical processes, the month to month contract for a year is still over the $500 threshold. Frank – loophole is Cameron may not do anything. Laurie states we run that risk with any vendor anyway.
  4. Referrals from 2015 WSC (see file uploaded for details)
    1. From other Committees:
      1. 2015 LCF 2
      2. 2015 LCF 7
      3. 2015 LCF 8
      4. 2015 PI 2
      5. 2015 PI 5
    2. From floor:
      1. 2015 WSOB 1
      2. 2015 WSOB 2
      3. 2015 WSOB 3

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iv. 2015 WSOB 4
v. 2015 WSOB 5
vi. 2015 WSOB 6
vii. 2015 WSOB 7
viii. 2015 WSOB 8 – identical to 9
ix. 2015 WSOB 9 – identical to 8
x. 2015 WSOB 10
xi. 2015 WSOB 11
xii. 2015 WSOB 12
xiii. 2015 WSOB 13
xiv. 2015 WSOB 14

WSOB to review and response. We will begin review at next meeting. In order to get this done before the next conference, the Chair may have to call an additional WSOB meeting if the referrals are not completed.

  1. MOTION to engage Kern as the most qualified bidder, to proof read the German HFC 2 in preparation for print. Motion made by Linda F., seconded by Morgan T. Linda speaks to the motion. She feels that the European section is growing more rapidly and that our primary purpose is to carry the message and that this is a great tool to grow the fellowship. She believes this will be beneficial. Refer to spreadsheet for costs / profit. Chair questions: Qualified bidder

– why was lowest bid not selected? Because the low was too low. We have experience with Kern. Number of books column are one time order? Yes. Ira L.– would love to have our books translated into all languages, but we have to be financially responsible. He cannot support this in good conscience. He also doesn’t have enough feedback from European Trustee that this is needed. He speaks against it. Chair – have we translated a book in the last five years. Yes. Sweden. How many were sold right away? We just sold the last book. Morgan T– speaks in favor of the motion. Don’t see how we grow without this kind of investment. Thinks it would send a bad message to deny the request to print in German. Chris J.– this is based upon $9.95 per book. Maybe increase the cost? Speaks in favor of the motion. Frank -Linda did you discuss the email regarding estimate of sales, which we received from Claudia? Get copy of email on estimates. Chair passes the gavel to Tim A. (Vice Chair). Morgan – Austria and Switzerland may also use this book. Ira – my colleague speaks well to this motion, and I don’t want to appear America-centric. Tom P. took these and most were sold immediately. This may cause books to sit on the shelf. Doesn’t seem prudent. (speaks against the motion). Scott S. – believes an initial order of nearly 100 is prudent. Cost accounting 101 – the fact is that if we only order 250 books. Real expensive. But over the life of the book, you have to project sales. One has to look longer term. Cost of translation is amortized over the life of the book is more reasonable. Sweden example shows that there will be more books published. If we can reasonable project that “x” books will be sold over a decade, then the cost of translation may make more sense. We could do this without breaching our fiduciary responsibility to the fellowship. Short term economic model should not be used to determine this question. Speaks in favor of the motion. Morgan – Speaks strongly in favor. Sweden has been brought up as an example; The book was translated into Swedish, and now they are hosting world convention. Germany is centrally located. Also, given the sensitivity with pockets of UK, a decision to not move forward may result in a backlash in the UK. Alesia – doesn’t want to sound cruel, but we were financially in a hole a while ago, and doesn’t want to return to that hole. Speaks against the motion. Laurie – speaks in favor of the motion. If the profit making is an issue, then she would be in favor of raising the cost. No further discussion. Motion passed with substantial unanimity.

  1. MOTION to raise the price of HFC 2 in all languages from $9.95 to $10.95 was made by Chris J. Frank seconded. No discussion. Motion passes with substantial unanimity.
  2. MOTION was made to accept check request for CAWS 005 in the amount of $3660.00 by Linda. Ira L. seconded. Motion passed with unanimous agreement.
  3. MOTION was made to accept CAWS 2017 artwork contingent upon getting artist waiver by Linda. Seconded by Tim A. Is the trademark within the statement of policy? Morgan – thinks

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there are unfortunate coincidences in that the color is the same as Starbucks; also unfortunate that there is a cup of coffee in the artwork, and that the logo is proportionate in size to the Starbucks logo. He suggests small changes could be made. Linda – first one was gold. Changed to our color (Green). Laurie – agrees with Morgan. A change color would make a world of difference. Frank, what if they removed the coffee cup? Linda– disagrees with that. Not the first time there was an identifier. Morgan – there could be any other changes, too. Maybe just the coffee? Spoonless in Seattle is not an obvious cocaine reference. Tim A. – Chicago shows the skyline. Speaks in favor of the motion. Alesia – big push of coffee sales for 2014 convention. No further discussion. Motion passes with noted opposition and substantial unanimity.

  1. MOTION was made to amend the previous motion which approved CAWS 2017 artwork to allow for use of various background colors by Tim A. Seconded by Linda. No discussion. Motion passes with substantial unanimously.
  2. MOTION was made to purchase a minimum of 500 HFC 2 books in the German Language edition by Laurie. Seconded by Tim A. Morgan T. makes friendly amendment to add “minimum” 500. Accepted. No further discussion. Motion passes with substantial unanimity.
  3. Per Ira L, WST, the World Service Board of Trustees has approved the contract for the Montreal hotel. WSOB Chair will counter sign contract.
  4. MOTION made to allow Linda F to coordinate with paralegal to update our trademark calendar for the purpose of ascertaining future financial obligations by Ira L. Linda seconded. No further discussion. Motion passes unanimously.

EXECUTIVE SESSION – no need today.

NEXT MEETING(s) – Normally would by 3/12/16 – we should move to the 19th of March, 2016. Everyone accepted and new meeting date is March, 19, 2016.

Motion to adjourn by Tim A at 1:55PM Seconded by Frank.

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For all attached reports and documents see: WSOB_2016-02-20_Minutes_Final.pdf

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