The meeting was called to order at 7.05 p.m. with Gary Eikenberry as Chair and Sandy Campbell as Secretary.
Board members present:
Sandy Campbell (dt820), Secretary
Gary Eikenberry (aa353), 1st Vice-President
Mark Mielke (al278)
Don Francis (ba990)
Michael Mei (bi195)
Graeme Beckett (aw958)
John Hennessey (ev776)
Mary Anne Dugmore (er983)
Regrets:
Christopher Cope (bz787), President/chair
Vanessa Kanu (ev216), Treasurer
Michael Williamson (cm324)
NCF Management/Staff present:
John Selwyn (es347), Executive Director
Members/Guests:
Jim Elder (aa456)
Richard Webb (dw413)
Once around the table . . .
Informal pre-meeting conversation, with Directors taking turn
offering personal views and commentary on interesting things
that might not make it to the Agenda.
MOTION: That minutes be approved as published.
Moved by: Mary Anne Dugmore
Seconded by: Michael Mei
VOTE: All in favor
MOTION: That the agenda be adopted after amendment to add
Draft 2004 Budget under New Business as 7 b)
Moved by: Sandy Campbell
Seconded by: Michael Mei
VOTE: All in favor
At the request of President Chris Cope, who was out of town on business, Sandy Campbell discussed with Michael Williamson his availabity to continue as a member of the Board and offered the following motion:
PREAMBLE: Unusually heavy work demands caused Michael
Williamson to be absent from three consecutive Board
meetings. NCF by-law 9, section f required that he be
deemed no longer a member of the Board. Therefore, it is
moved:
MOTION:That Michael Williamson be re-appointed to fill
out the term to which he was elected.
Moved by: Sandy Campbell
Seconded by: Michael Mei
VOTE: For: Sandy Campbell; Michael Mei; Gary
Eikenberry; John Hennesey; Mary Anne Dugmore.
Against: Mark Mielke. (NB: Graeme Beckett
and Don Francis had not yet arrived at the meeting.)
The motion was approved and Michael Williamson was re-appointed to the Board.
MOTION: That the committee appointed at the last
meeting be reconstituted to include John Hennessey, Gary
Eikenberry, and Sandy Campbell.
Moved by: Mark Mielke
Seconded by: John Hennessey
VOTE: All in favor
MOTION: That NCF members be informed that one vacancy
still exists on the Board, which the Board might opt to
fill before the elections at the Annual General Meeting,
so that members have an opportunity to suggest possible
candidates.
Moved by: Mark Mielke
Seconded by: John Hennessey
VOTE: All in favor
Since no closing date was included in his original challenge to fellow Board members, this was a report on a work in progress. John Hennessey modestly announced he had recruited 13 new NCF members; other Directors reported they were still in the preparatory stage of their personal drives.
Major thrust of ED John Selwyn's report was a heads-up
to the Board on the need to focus on increasing
donations/revenue to cover the costs of operating a
modernized, improved NCF. The objective of retaining
current members and contributions and of attracting new
members and contributions sufficient to cover all of
FreeNet's operating costs, depends heavily on the quality
of service provided. There are unavoidable costs in
providing improved service, but without taking on the
risk of those increased expenses there will be no chance
of NCF achieving self-sufficiency.
He recommended (and Directors approved) postponing the
planned November "launch" of SmartCapital and HRDC
projects to January, and that the traditional December
"renewals" notices which historically draw the strongest
response, be delayed one month to take full advantage of
improved services, especially the customized FreeNet
SpamFilter which will shortly go into general release to
all members.
Meanwhile, all efforts are being made to reduce costs.
Because it is clear that member contributions could not
support current staffing costs, reductions were made by
redirecting staff time to projects and by the difficult
decision to eliminate the postion of Office Manager.
Membership has continued to increase, to more than 8.000.
Contributions from members totalled $13,274 in October
versus the forecast $11,968. Expenses, however, were
$19,258 against the forecast of $16,497, mainly due to
higher cost of more digital phone lines. Overall,
year-to-date expense were $152,500, about $7,500 over
budget. Current shortfall is about $6,000 a month,
because this the fall is traditionally the "low" period
for renewals and contributions. At this point, best
estimate is that member contributions for 2003 will total
about $175,00 versus the target of $200,000.
Details of the draft budget are still being finalized.
The target is $240,000, the amount required to support
the quality of service needed to achieve the goals of
increased membership and increased contributions needed
for self-sufficiency. (Additional discussion of the draft
2004 budget occured later in the meeting under New
Business. The resultant motion is included here.)
MOTION: That the Executive Director's Report be
received,
Moved by: Graeme Beckett
Seconded by: Don Francis
VOTE: All in favor
MOTION: That the draft budget for 2004 be
accepted.
Moved by: Graeme Beckett
Seconded by: Mark Mielke
VOTE: All in favor
ED John Selwyn presented an oral report from the Treasurer that the Financial Report and operational figures were in order.
MOTION: That the Financial Report be accepted.
Moved by: Graeme Beckett
Seconded by: Michael Mei
VOTE: All in favor
MOTION: That the Board nominate National Capital
FreeNet for membership on the Board of Directors of the
Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).
Moved by: Sandy Campbell
Seconded by: Mark Mielke
VOTE: All in favor
This initiative was the suggestion of former NCF Executive Director Ian MacEachern. The Board gratefully accepted his offer to handle details of the nomination and to advise on a campaign to round up support for the nomination.
December 9, 2003 at 5 p.m.
Because of the holiday season it was agreed to hold the next
Board meeting at an earlier date and hour, at a location to
be determined by Director Mary Anne Dugmore
The meeting adjourned at 10.20 p.m.