Board of Directors Minutes
May 2008

A regular meeting of your Board of Directors was held at the Resource Center on Monday, May 12, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. Present were Howard Berger, Charles Bovaird, Richard Corzo, John Gallichotte, John Lansdale, Patrick Libert, Rob Limbaugh, Anna van Ommeren, Jeff Setaro. President Rob Limbaugh presided and Secretary Anna van Ommeren kept the record. Minutes of the last meeting held April 14, 2008, were presented and approved.

Treasurer Charles Bovaird reported current cash assets of $7,573.19, consisting of total bank and postal accounts in the amount of $7,564.15 plus postage on hand of $9.04. Subtracting a liability of prepaid dues in the amount of $1,493.00 left a net equity of $6,080.19. He also reported that the current membership is at 257 - 151 of which receive the mailed Dacs.doc newsletter.

Charles presented several spreadsheets to the Board itemizing DACS’s expenses and costs, and demonstrated projected balances against hypothetical numbers of members. The options for potential cost adjustments and discontinuing some expenses were discussed. He also mentioned the newsletter expenses, highlighting variable printing expenses and projected cost. Charlie showed the RapidRepro charges for printing the newsletter and compared the expense for color versus all black & white printing. He also mentioned RapidRepro recently had to increase their printing fees, however they also give DACS a 10% discount. The benefits of the new color cover and the advantage of the improved look was weighed against the increased expense. Patrick suggested the new color cover should be given a trial period of 6 to 12 months.

Rob relayed some changes to the general meeting lineup. The HDTV presentation for June has been rescheduled to August and Ken Graff has offered to fill in and will be discussing “Sharing your pictures online” for the June meeting. Speakers for Nov 2008 and Jan-Mar 2009 are still to be decided upon. Rob also mentioned positive comments from speakers who have received the DACS membership gift.

Anna brought up the subject of the DACS feedback form. It was discussed who should have the responsibility of answering the form submissions. Rob suggested it be directed to two people to ensure requests receive a timely reply. Richard agreed his email be added and both Anna and Richard will respond to submissions the same alternating month as updating the DACS web site. One of the form submissions requested information about local recycling. The Board discussed adding a page to the DACS website listing recycling suggestions, helpful resources and links. Rob suggested a separate link on the Home page to highlight the new page.

As appreciation for services provided by Charlie, the CT Film Fest organization has offered to add a link to DACS with our press-release information on their sponsor page. Jim Sheef’s variation on the About DACS text was agreed to be the best to submit and Charlie agreed to forward this to the appropriate persons.

Rob mentioned that he and Flo will not be able to attend the August general meeting.
He also recommended “Itsdeductable.com”, a website which provides information about tax deductible credits applicable for individuals who volunteer their time for nonprofit organizations such as DACS.

The subject of Door prizes at the general meetings was discussed; members in good standing are eligible and need to be present to win. To encourage more participation and attendance at the meetings, the possibility of awarding a larger prize on a semiannual basis was considered, however, the legalities and tax issues would have to be researched. The possibility of a raffle, with the remaining money being donated to a charity was also brought up. Howard talked about fundraising and contest topics such as photography or digital art, and potentially showcasing the winners on the DACS website.

Howard mentioned the ongoing DACS collaboration with the GDNRC Technology Committee, an organization which assists nonprofit agencies with their IT (phone and computer) requirements. They appreciate our participation and suggestions regarding various technical issues non-profits have to deal with. DACS acts as advisors to their organization at this point, and has offered to build them a virtual server and virtual PC to demonstrate the possibilities to new nonprofit organizations. We will offer our consulting ability as advisors and can provide direction. An added benefit is that this working relationship is improving DACS’ position in the community.

-Anna van Ommeren