Between the first and second lines of equal signs below is the full official minutes. After the second line of equal signs is an abbreviated version of currently-uncertain origin (maybe in a Rune?) that was all we had online previous to 2020. The full minutes were typed in by hand (no OCR) in 2020 and are intended to be verbatim, including formatting and errors, which will be marked by [sic] when noticed. Other things in square brackets are also explanatory additions by the transcriber. ================================================================================ [handwritten:] B#4 Minn-STF Board of Directors -- 1988/89 year, meeting 4 -- 11 July 1988 meeting at Huddling Place Present: Board--Bailey, Cargo, Ihinger, Johnson, Sullivan Officers--Halpern (Treasurer), Lien (Recording Secretary) Other--Nate Bucklin, Eric M. Heideman, Terry Garey, Sharon Kahn (briefly), Mark Richards Agenda: Answering machine; Imes report; Coca Cola letter; Minicon registration report; Fallcon plans; Minicon earnings target; Board By-Laws work session; RUNE; Minn-STF Lecture Series; Tales of the Unanticipated; Minn-STF Letterhead; Minn-STF Mailing List; Memorials; Wilder Foundation; Paper Folder; Filksing Idea; Minn-STF/Minicon Group Dynamics; Mail; Printer Repair; and whatever else we could fit in our copious spare time ************************************************************************* Answering Machine: Garey has a question (do we have we [sic] need one with a built-in phone or have phone already--An: we have phone already) and a problem (have not yet found one with more than a circa 30-second outgoing message available). She will keep checking. Fallcon: Bucklin proposes one, probably Oct. 21-23, with himself as chair and the following committee: Registration--Jerry Corwin; Mentor--Don Bailey; Treasury--Jan Appelbaum; Parties--Karen Cooper-Hallin; Program-- Sharon Kahn and Elise Krueger; Hucksters--Bill Bader; Art Show--Reed Waller and Kate Worley; Publications--Dave Romm; Scribe--Sharon Kahn. An organizational meeting was held on 10 July; next one due 24 July, a twhich they hope to fill GoH slot; pre-Reg cutoff would be 30 September; Hotel not yet set but several investigated (Sullivan volunteered information on the Normandy, which is one considered). Need to decide how large they want/expect to be, which will affect publications and budget and mailing list. Board OKed Bucklin committee bid 4-0, with Bailey "abstaining in favor," and voted the traditional $500 start-up seed money. Letterheads: Sullivan passed out two final (?) designs, one for Serious and one for Semi-Silly; both appreciated. Our Days in Court publication: Sullivan will have 30 copies printed, taking advantage of this week's half-price sale at Kinko's. Wilder Foundation: Cargo reports that they make available discount prices on desktop publishing equipment to other nonprofit organizations. Ihinger remarked that he knows of other local nonprofits that also offer helpful services/products to fellow nonprofits. Lecture Series: Heideman reported that Fred Pohl has accepted for the November 3rd slot. Gordy Dickson is a maybe and would prefer to do one in afternoon, not evening. In the other out-of-region slot, we have three turndowns so far and are awaiting word from #4 on the list. Still no decision from Univ of MN if they want to co-sponser [sic] series with us. TotU #4: Heideman reports 80% proffrdaed and typeset; pasteup upcoming; expect back from printers by mid-August. Cargo volunteered proofing aid. Imes Request: Ihinger will ask Scott to notify us if situation becomes other than moot, which at present it is, as individual in question is no longer in area. Coca Cola Letter: nothing to report (Bailey). Minicon 23 Registration Report: nothing to report, except that Beth Friedman's computer (whose woes have slowed things) is now "probably about to do something" (Bailey). That will be nice. RUNE: Sullivan reports theory that RUNE is within 48 hours of going to the printer. Board clarifies/re-eomphasizes that total budget for this issue is $2500, which should pay for at least 2500 copies. Minn-STF Mailing List: Cargo reports about 25% done (namely, A - F) in updating and interfiling Minicon preregistrations into master list. Cargo does not yet have firm numbers on eventual total, but the 2500 copy estimate for this upcoming RUNE is "not likely to be too low." Scott Raun now has copy of Cargo's mailing list software, and so can serve as backup. Cargo has heard nothing further from the fans in Nebraska who wanted access to our mailing list; Joel Halpern can and will get the phone number to him. Lon Levy thanks and donation for use of list noted by Sullivan. Levy (?) is seeking a source for the short-short-short (really, real short) film, "Bambi's Revenge" (sequel to "Bambi Meets Godzilla"), which takes less time to watch than this note has taken to write up. We'll refer his question to local film maven Herman Schouten, of the Fawn and Game(s) Commission. Group Dynamics (Bailey): Crazy Idea #1 of the night. Minn-STf/Minicon Board/Exec Rank'n'File/File'n'Rank interactions have displayed their problematic moments in recent years. Do we want to consider hiring an encounter group facilitator to do professional clearing of the air? Bailey has just become acquainted with one such, who is usually "expensive, but may be negotiable for weirdos who interest him." Sullivan works for NCS, which deals with scoring personality and suchlike tests, and also has Contacts in this area, as does Ihinger. Some interest in pursuing if it can be done on the less-than-going-rate cheap, and if our fellow weirdos are equally interested and interesting. Bailey, Ihinger, and Sullivan will check with their respective possibilities to see what possibilities exist. Filksong Idea (Bailey): Crazy Idea #2 of the night. What the world needs now is a public TV show on sf fandom subculture music (folk/filk/sf- oriented commercial music), with animation, music video type production values, and the Works. Minn-STF may want to look into organizing such a production, which we obviously could not ourselves afford to fund. We should look into foundation grant possibilities, and possibly contact possible contacts. Alive From Off Center, Gordon Garb, and Off-Centaur Productions were among the names tossed casually off. "Ask for public TV/Channel 2; settle for local community video." Tossed out as idea to think about tonight; no action requested. "Alive From Dodotrap"? Paperfolder: Cargo suggests purchase of an "Autofold" device at $229. One drawback: it will fold only 8.5 x 11 inch sheets into thirds. Still useful at the price for Einblatt and such. OKed 3-0, with Ihinger and Johnson abstaining. Memorials: Bailey noted recent deaths of Heinlein, Simak, and (earlier) Feynman. Does Minn-STF want to memorialize? Noted that we had sent flowers to Simak's funeral and inquired into Feynman memorial. Comment that Heinlein, central and vital as he was to modern sf, had no specific local connection and expanding memorials to such could be a troublesome precedent. No further action taken. Next Board meeting set for Monday, 8 August, at Bailey/Bratton home, with meeting to commence at 7:30 pm in theory. Next Board By-Laws suggested revisions work session also set: Karen Johnson's, 13 August , 2:30 pm. "Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Falcon Heights--your worst nightmare, SPAWN OF BYLAWS, Part Two--subsection 3.C.8-9.1." Printer Repair: Cargo's printer's printhead is about to join the choir invisible and if he 'and't nailed its feet to the perch it would be pushing up the daisywheels by now. Minn-STF usage (mostly labels) is about 90% of its usage. Replacement costs circa $175; Cargo proposes to purchase and do the labor of replacing if Minn-STF will front money. OKed 4-0, with Cargo abstaining. Minicon Earnings Projection: Noted as background that our annual expenses are currently running about $8,000. Much discussion on what we ought to aim to bring in with Minicon (essentially our only annual fundraising function), with views mostly reducable [sic] to variants of of one of the following two positions: (a) $8,000 is a floor, not a ceiling; $8,000 is fine, more than that is more fine; making more money is preferable to spending to bring down profits to target area; and/or (b) profit, or any specific figure thereof, is less important than keeping membership rates down to a figure affordable by maximal number of our attendees. Said figure is felt to have a break point at around $15. Consensus of Board (5-0) is that these two positions are not inherently irreconcilable: Board would suggest that Minicon target for a profit of $8,000; feel a bit nervous if we make less; feel find if we make more. Assumption is inherent that we can do that above without raising rates or cutting services to point of a perception that we are cutting too deeply into the pocketbooks of attendees. It was late enough to remove any interest on part of Board in dealing with other, lesser, problems, like squaring the circle, determing [sic] which songs the sirens sang and what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, balancing the federal budget, finding the lost chord, deciding who "Werner Von Lorne" really was (possibly the Man in the Iron Mask?), solving the problem of Evil in the world (or even in fandom), coming up with a worldcon rotation system that would please everyone, figuring out what it is that cats see that we don't, developing a method for nonstopparagraphing with WordStar, and figuring out a way to import British Columbia cider into Minneapolis. We did in fact have the time and energy to solve Fermat's Last Theorem, but the space remaining on the bottom of this page is not sufficient to contain the proof thereof, so we decided instead to give up and go home, or (in the Secretary's case) stay home, And So To Bed. Typed at next-to-last-minute 6 Aug 88 [signed: Denny Lien] Denny Lien (Recording Secretary) ================================================================================ July 11, 1988 Agenda included all sorts of fascinating subjects, and 'whatever else we could fit in our copious spare time'. Fallcon: (Nate) Bucklin proposes one with himself as chair and the following committee: Jerry Corwin, Don Bailey, Jan Appelbaum, Karen Cooper-Hallin, Sharon Kahn, Elise Krueger, Bill Bader, Reed Waller, Kate Worley, DavE Romm. Discussion on GoH, size, etc. OK'd by Board and voted the traditional $500 seed money. Letterheads: (Geri) Sullivan passed out two final (?) designs, one for Serious and one for Semi-Silly; both appreciated. Wilder Foundation: Discount prices on desktop publishing equipment are avilable to other nonprofit organizations (such as Minn-STF). Lecture Series: Fred Pohl has accepted for the November 3 slot. Tales of the Unanticipated #4: Heideman reports 80% proffrdaed and typeset, due back from printers by mid-August. (David) Cargo volunteered proofing aid. Minicon 23 Registration Report: Beth Friedman's computer (whose woes have slowed things) is now "probably about to do something". That will be nice. _Rune_: Was within 48 hours of going to the printer. Minn-STF Mailing List: Reportedly about 25% done in updating and interfiling Minicon preregistrations into master list. Group Dynamics (Crazy Idea #1 of the night): Minn-STF/Minicon Board/Exec Rank'n'File/File'n'Rank interactions have displayed their problematic moments in recent years. Do we want to consider hiring an encounter group facilitator to do professional clearing of air? Some interest in pursuing it if it can be done on the less-than-going-rate cheap; possibilities being pursued. Filksong Idea (Crazy Idea #2 of the night): What the world needs now is a public TV show on sf fandom subculture music (folk/filk/sf-oriented commercial music), with animation, music video-type production values, and the Works. We should look into foundation grant possibilities, and possibly contact possible contacts. "Alive from Dodotrap"? Memorials: Recent deaths of Heinlein, Simak and (earlier) Feynman noted; flowers sent to Simak's funeral, and inquired into Feynman memorial. Printer Repair: Cargo's printer's printhead is about to join the choir invisible and if he 'adn't nailed its feet to the perch it would be pushing up the daisywheels by now. Board OK'd replacement purchase ($175) with Cargo offering to handle labor. Minicon Earnings Projection: A profit figure of about $8,000 was determined as being right for the job without raising rates or cutting services as to appear to be cutting into the pocketbooks of attendees. ============================================== "Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Falcon Heights -- your worst nightmare: SPAWN OF BYLAWS Part Two, subsection 3.C.8-9.1." ============================================== It was late enough to remove any interest on the part of the Board in dealing with other, lesser problems, like squaring the circle, determining which songs the sirens sang and what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, balancing the federal budget, finding the lost chord, deciding who "Werner Van Lorne" really was (possibly the Man in the Iron Mask?), coming up with a worldcon rotation system that would please everyone, figuring out what it is that cats see that we don't, developing a system for nonstopparagraphing with WordStar, and figuring out a way to import British Columbia cider into Minneapolis. We did in fact have the time and energy to solve Fermat's Last Theorom, but the space remaining on the bottom of this page is not sufficient to contain the proof thereof, so we decided instead to give up and go home, or (in the Secretary's case) stay home. And So To Bed.