BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 9, 2009 Return to Board Minutes Central

Roll Call: Michelle Canfield • Lisa Pruka • Terri Clingerman • Jo Roach • Ann Shaw • Megan Harrison • Paige O’Donnell • Lisa Weeks • Claudia Frank

Members Absent: None

Call to order: 5:05 pm PST by Lisa Pruka

1. Recording Secretary’s Report: Jo Roach

January 2009 board meeting minutes were approved via electronic vote.

2. Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Terri Clingerman

• AKC Correspondence

  • Signed and faxed the application for the supported entry at the Greenwich CT show on 6/6/09 by the Bay Colony BCC to AKC.

  • BCSA’s nominees for AKC’s Lifetime Achievement Award are due by 5/8/09. There are three categories: Conformation, Performance, and Companion Events.

  • A letter from AKC asking us to let them know how many Crufts cards we need for this year. The BOB, BOS, and Awards of Merit dogs at our National Specialty qualify.

  • The judging panel has been approved for the following event numbers at the 2009 national specialty: 2009507025, 2009507022, 2009507016, 2009507024, 2009507015, 2009507018, 2009507020, 2009507021, 2009507026, 2009507027, 2009507017, 2009507019.

  • The agility trials at the 2009 national (2009507011, 2009507012, 2009507013) are not yet approved because judge Sue Fregien is overdue to attend an agility judging seminar and AKC needs a site map and disaster/emergency plan.

  • The rally trial at the 2009 national (2009507014) is pending until the associated obedience trial is approved and the disaster/emergency plan is provided.

  • The site for the 2009 national specialty herding events is approved.

  • Permission to hold sweeps on 6/6/09 in conjunction with the Greenwich KC is given.

• Other Correspondence

  • Notified Buckeye Border Collie Rescue that their grant request was approved.

  • Answered numerous emails about puppies and where to find breeders. Referred breeder inquiries to our referral section on the website.

  • Received a question about color dilution alopecia in blue BCs. Replied that it’s possible that it could occur.

  • Received a request to review the PAL application for Lea Falck’s “Luna.” The board agreed that the dog appears to be purebred. Contacted AKC and requested that they grant Luna a PAL number.

3. Treasurer’s Report: Ann Shaw

• Sent e-mail to Nancy (Announce & Suggestion Box) and Kathy (Membership) letting them know I'm their Board Liaison.

• Told Kathy that after things calm down for this year's membership renewal, we should be able to implement the ability for members to use PayPal for their membership. I would like to get it set up the first of February.

• Received CD from Wayne with BCSA transactions in MS Money format. Expecting three boxes of records via UPS.

• Ordered Money Market account checks and deposit slips plus checking account stamp. Did not order Money Market stamp because it was so expensive. Will run checks going into the Money Market account through my printer to add deposit advice for now.

• Received clarification from Wayne on the Money Market $3,020 transfer discrepancy. He advised, "The problem exists in a check we wrote in February of 2008 to the Border Collie Health Foundation that was never cashed for start up funds for $3000. The extra $20 was supposed to be the wire transfer fee that they apparently did not charge us."

• Transactions successfully transferred from MS Money to Quicken.

• Received records from Wayne.

• Organized all treasurer records into plastic bins and folders.

4. Interim Business Transacted by E-Mail

4.1. Board Votes
Motion 2009-01 made by Jo Roach to approve the minutes of the January 2009 BCSA Board meeting. Second - Terri Clingerman, In Favor - Unanimous

4.2. New Member Applications
The following new membership applications were approved:

• Debbie Harrison (Grass Lake, MI)
  Sponsor – Julie Oaks

• Marie and Alan Koebke (Van Alstyne, TX)
  Sponsor – Wade Campbell

• Mary Schweitzer (Lincoln, NE)
  Sponsor – Kim Sykes

• Tim and Donna Walker (Celina, TX)
  Sponsor – Wade Campbell

5. Committee Business/Reports:

5.1. Stockdog Focus
Maintain emphasis on the unique working style of the Border Collie. Promote interest in herding amongst dog owners and advertise stockdog usefulness to farmers/ranchers. Continually “raise the bar” on herding excellence, promote best-practice training methods. Discourage genetic drift away from core purpose and history of the breed’s development.

5.1.1. Herding: Claudia Frank
Claudia continues to add articles to the herding section of our website. Claudia is always open to ideas for herding committee projects.

5.2. Public Education
Assist pet owners, budding dog fanciers, new breeders and junior handlers; engage them in the future of the breed.

5.2.1. General Education: Catherine Swain
No report.

5.2.2. Historian: Ronni DeLay
Ronni has volunteered to serve as the historian committee chair. She will be working on compiling the history of BCSA which she expects will take her a few months and she is open to any ideas that we may have for her as well.

5.2.3. Juniors: Caitlin Kane

• The juniors scholarship application is up on the BCSA website. Emily and Jenny Fish have agreed to run the Junior Handling Clinic at the 2009 National. Also, I am working with Molly Wisecarver to set up a "Most Versatile Junior" award at the 2009 National.

• One area that I am really open to thoughts on is how to spread the word and get more junior handlers from all venues involved in the club. With all of these new programs we have available, it would be great to see kids take advantage of them. I tried sending out letters to all Junior Showmanship handlers that the AKC had on record. That did produce any results though. I really think it might have to be a word of mouth by club members. Anytime they see kids with Border Collies at any dog event they should tell them about the BCSA, joining, and the National Specialty.

• The board discussed that an announcement for the juniors scholarship application process should be included in the Dec/Jan and the Feb/Mar Borderlines issues each year. We need to set a reminder on our calendar for this information to be submitted to the Borderlines editor on time to be included in those issues.

5.2.4. Website: Ann Shaw

• Futurity section updated and pages added

• Regular site maintenance and page updates

• 2009 Specialty pages activated

• Breeder Referral page updated

5.3. Fancier Fellowship
Encourage camaraderie and good sportsmanship, sponsor events & competitions, support affiliate clubs, “bridge the gap” between political factions for the best interest of the breed.

5.3.1. Affiliate Clubs: Emily Fish
The affiliate club sent a letter to the new board reviewing its recommended changes regarding Affiliate Club membership.

5.3.2. Agility Trial in April (Pennsylvania): Denise Thomas

• We are currently in our "draw" period and have quite a few entries already. I expect the trial to get about 300 runs a day. I have quite a few ribbons and toys left over from last year so will just order what we need to fill in so the cost should not be too bad. I am in the process of making up a BC basket for the worker raffle; if anyone wants to donate anything for the worker raffle that would be great.

• Denise would like to move this trial back to February in 2010 and would like 3 event numbers again. The board has approved this request.

5.3.3. Agility Trial in June (Michigan): Julie Oakes
The judge is going to be Karen A. Winter (# 18739). We have 6 committee members. I had a note from Joanne, that the show application needs to be filed (this has been done).

5.3.4. Borderlines: Donna Brooks Brisbin
We need to put the publishing deadlines for each issue of BL on our website; Ann will take care of this.

5.3.5. Membership: Kathy Sours

• New member applications have been forwarded to the board.

• Membership numbers dropped drastically this year.

  • 71 members did not rejoin for the 2009 year. Last year (2008), we lost 44 members and the year before (2007), we lost 36. In prior years, I did not receive any reason as to why members did not rejoin, I just did not receive their renewal check and form. However, this year, several members who did not rejoin took the time to contact me with their reasons.

  • With the exception of one person who no longer has BCs and two others who are going through divorces and/or life changes, the other notes state that the primary reason for not rejoining was the increase in membership dues. Most of these members were long time members as well as performance exhibitors. Most comments indicated that they felt they were not receiving $50 worth of benefits from BCSA, that the raise in dues was not an option in this time of economic uncertainty, and that their money was better spent for local performance events at home.

  • I received a suggestion of perhaps introducing a non-voting membership at a lower cost which would include Borderlines or perhaps a subscription to an online version only.

• Megan will put together a survey to ask why members chose not to renew.

5.3.6. National Specialty Steering Committee: Megan Harrison & Julie Bosier
No report.

5.3.7. Specialty – 2009: Lisa Pruka and Paige O'Donnell

• Conformation and obedience are the only venues not approved yet.

• The board discussed asking Claudia to present to the delegates the idea of AKC sending out less redundant letters of approval since so much paper is wasted with these letters.

• Nancie has provided an Excel file with her count of the leftover ribbons. There are lots of leftovers which will help save money.

• No update on the logo from Jeanne.

• Hotel information is posted on our website. Judges are confirmed. Exhibitor hotels are confirmed. Almost ready to post BCU information on website.

• Venue contract is being mailed to Lisa.

• No premium lists will be mailed out. We will put tag lines on Announce to remind members to look on the website for the premium list, etc. We may print the Red Raffle tickets as a page in Borderlines.

5.3.8. Specialty – 2010: Julie Bosier and Megan Harrison
No report.

5.3.9. Specialty – 2011: Emily Fish and April Bruce
No report.

5.3.10. Versatility: Tashia Lund
I am still working on adding the new obedience titles to the worksheets and get them updated. I need to catch up with Dec- Feb. applications. I had someone email me about our Flyball titles so I am working with her to see what she thinks and maybe we can look at changing them again but I still need to work up the proposal for that.

5.4. Breeding Evolution
Breeder & buyer education, guidance, mentoring, registry maintenance, breeding excellence recognition. Broaden influence to more than just members.

5.4.1. Border Recorder: Carol Clark
I would like input from anyone on what they would like to see in a Recorder. I would like to see titles earned listed, pictures if people want them, etc. If anyone has any suggestions, please let Carol know.

5.4.2. Breeding Excellence Recognition Committee: Kim Sykes
No report.

5.4.3. Futurity Committee: April Bruce
Voting for judges for 2009 has started. The board discussed the location plans for future futurities since people need to know where it is going to be held before nominating litters. The board decided that for 2010 and 2011, the futurities will be held at the national specialty. We would prefer that they be held at the national specialty every year. Michelle will contact April to let her know the board’s decision and to have her work on a long range plan for the timing of future futurities.

5.4.4. Judges Education: Linn Klingel

• The board discussed the timing of our national specialty judges education activities and how best to coordinate our JE with the Beardie club’s national specialty judges education that is being held in Minneapolis the same weekend. The board would like to make it easy for judges to attend both judges education events so we will work with the Beardie club to accomplish this goal.

• The board also discussed parent club mentors and whether they should be current BCSA members. We decided that from now on, all parent club approved mentors must maintain their BCSA membership.

5.4.5. Judges Selection Process: Sonja Donaldson
The voting to select judges for the 2010 specialty is done and Sonja should be sending out the results soon.

5.5. Population Management
Approach zero unwanted dogs. Reduce demand, educate buyers on whether the breed is right for them, improve how dogs are placed, “right” breeders produce more, “wrong” breeders produce less, rescue (a short-term stopgap).

5.5.1. Breeder Referral: Karen Herceg

• After more than month of computer problems, I was able to trace back most all of the Breeder Referral additions/updates that were emailed to me, and get them posted to the BCSA website. I apologize for the delay and inconvenience to those members that had to wait for their listing to be posted. If you had submitted an addition/update, and don't see it listed, please send another, as I am sure that I have my computer problem fixed.

• If a member has submitted an addition/update, after the listing is posted on the website, I send out a confirmation email to them, so they can check that the information is posted correctly.

• I will be going over the directory with Kathy Sours, our membership chair, and deleting those who are no longer members.

• I also answer emails from people asking for Border Collie information and/or available puppies/dogs, and refer them to our Breeder Referral Directory.

• From time to time, non-members submit a listing to the directory. I will send an email back to them, explaining that the Breeder Referral Directory is for members only, and include a link to our membership page on the BCSA website.

5.5.2. Rescue Committee: Need Volunteer
Carol has decided not to renew her membership. Megan will advertise for a new chair and fill in as chair until someone else volunteers.

5.6. AKC Community
Invest in our “dog fancier family”, support protection of dog owners’ rights, stay engaged in AKC governance, contribute to AKC programs, leverage shared breed club knowledge & power.

5.6.1. AKC Delegate Business: Claudia Frank
Claudia joined our meeting tonight to give her reports. She would like to know how the board would like her to disseminate information from the AKC and from the Delegate meetings within our club. She suggested sending the relevant information directly to the committee chairs. The board agreed with this idea and would like to be cc’d on these email communications to keep us informed as well.

5.6.2. AKC Gazette Columnist: Terri Clingerman
No report.

5.6.3. Legislative Committee: Linda Baron
No report.

5.7. Health and Welfare
Further research on disease cause and cure. Propagate knowledge on health, feeding, care, husbandry and training.

5.7.1. Health: Angie Roesch
No report

5.8. General Club Administration
These committees manage club infrastructure tasks that aren’t directly related to our mission statement, but are necessary for the operation of the organization.

5.8.1. BCSA Announce & Suggestion Box: Nancy Little

• As of February 5th, 2008, there are 341 subscribers to BCSA_Announce. This is the busiest time of the year for me with regard to this e-mail group. I have been working with Kathy Sours on the membership renewals. On January 19th, I notified all members via an e-mail message explaining that they had not renewed and their membership was going to lapse at the end of the month. I also explained that if they were members on BCSA_Announce, they would be removed from that group on February 1st. This additional e-mail besides the e-mail announcements on BCSA_Announce seem bring in the memberships from members that had just simply forgotten during the busy holidays. I got lots of responses from members, many who were kind enough to let us know that they have decided that they would not rejoin and many that had forgotten and were sending the money immediately.

• On February 1st, Kathy sent me the members that had not renewed by January 31st and I removed all of those members that were subscribed to BCSA_Announce from the group. In order to do this efficiently, I need to add an additional column to the roster that Kathy Sours maintains so that I know which members are on the group. I also have to compare e-mail addresses in order to find members on BCSA_Announce since not all members use their names when they subscribe. As renewals come into Kathy with the postmark in January, I have been (and will) add back the members that I had removed from the group.

• My next step is to go over all the subscribers on BCSA_Announce and verify that they still members (to make sure that I didn't miss anyone). Also, Kathy will be sending me a new roster and I will need to go through my yearly update to add the columns that I maintain for the group.

• BCSA Suggestion Box: There was one message received in the Suggestion Box this last month.

• BCSA_2008_National: This list has been deleted.

• BCSA_2009_National: Lisa is mostly maintaining this list as she is the co-moderator

5.8.2. BCSA Online Fundraising Store with Ivars: Carol Wesenberg
No report.

5.8.3. Finance Committee: Beth Bartholomew
The board discussed our tax preparation for this year and decided to have Ann hire HR Block to prepare our taxes.

5.8.4. By-Laws Committee: Michelle Canfield

• Seven members have volunteered to serve on this committee. A Yahoo group was started to facilitate discussion. So far the committee has agreed that the delegate should become a voting member of the board. Now under consideration is improving how we approve new members.

• One change the board decided to make now is to ask sponsors to write a brief introduction of the member they are sponsoring on the sponsor form. Ann will discuss this idea with Kathy and make this change to the online form.

5.8.5. Code of Ethics Revision Committee
Five members have volunteered to serve on this committee. This will be a general review of our code of ethics to see what needs updating. One area that needs consideration is to include preserving working ability in the breeding section.

6. Old Business

6.1. Meet the Breeds Booth at the Eukanuba Invitational
We would like to offer this education opportunity to the Los Angeles affiliate club to help them fulfill their AKC education requirements. Lisa will contact their president to see if they are interested. The BCSA is very grateful to Catherine Swain for stepping up and organizing the BC booth at this show in previous years.

7. New Business

7.1.Agenda Highlights Sent out to the Membership
We started doing this last year but there wasn’t much apparent interest from the membership and the practice was dropped. However, we would like to try again, even if we don’t get many comments, as we feel it is a good way to try to keep the membership informed.

7.2 Supported Entry at the AKC Eukanuba Invitational
Lisa sent out a notice to our affiliate clubs to see if they were interested in this idea but there was no interest.

7.3. Reimbursements for Educational Displays and Demonstrations

• The board discussed setting limits on how much we reimburse members for their participation in educational events.

• Based on our financial situation and the current economic climate, Terri Clingerman motioned that we reimburse up to $100 for expenses related to BC educational booths, herding demonstrations, and similar events with requests to be made in advance of the event and receipts required before reimbursement is made. Second by Michelle Canfield, In Favor – Unanimous

7.4. Membership Categories
The board discussed many ideas for adding new levels of membership to better serve our members. As this is also a topic the by-laws committee will be discussing, the board tabled its discussion for now and we’ll wait and see what the committee comes up with.

7.5. AKC B Course Invitational

• Joyce Aston sent a letter asking for our support for the B Course Invitational that the 4 Corners Herding Association of Tulsa is hosting. This is NOT a B course grant request; it is an all-breed B course trial where dogs must have an HC or HX from the B course to compete in the trial. Our support will go towards the prize money.

  • Terri Clingerman motioned to not support the trial but the motion failed for lack of a second.

  • Michelle Canfield motioned to provide $50 in support of the trial. Second – Paige O’Donnell, In Favor – Ann Shaw, Lisa Weeks, Megan Harrison, Jo Roach; Oppose – Terri Clingerman

7.6 Suggestion Box Submissions/Input from Membership
One suggestion for a cheaper, non-voting membership category.

8. Adjournment

8.1. Date of Next meeting
Monday, 9 March at 5 PM PST

Adjournment motion at 8:06 PM by Michelle Canfield
Second: Lisa Weeks
In Favor: Unanimous

Page Updated 05.13.2009

Home | Club Info | Breed Info | Rescue | Events | Programs | Contact Us | Top

This site is owned by the Border Collie Society of America, Inc. and was established 12.94.
Some graphics on our site courtesy of Graphics From Fuzzy Faces Free Doggy Graphics