Matt Strait typed up these minutes from a paper copy in 2020. No OCR was involved. Original errors, if any, are lovingly retained. Additional errors may have been introduced. Below the second line of equal signs below is an abbreviated version of the minutes that we displayed online for a long time prior to 2020. Matt doesn't know exactly where they came from. The long version (between the two rows of equal signs) is the official version, but the short version is retained in case it is useful somehow. ================================================================================ Minn-STF Board of Directors - - minutes - - meeting of October 5, 1989 at the Rob Ihinger home. Present: Board: Johnson, Bailey, Dyer-Bennet, Ihinger Officers: Tuttle, Raun, Lien Others: Sally Morem, Polly Peterson, Beth Friedman, Victor Raymond, Dave Leander, Margo Bratton ******************************************************************************************* Meeting called to order at 8:00 PM. Agenda: Lecture Series Budget Einblatt Editor Fall Con Report Chastisement Treasurers Report Camel Next Meeting Lecture Series Budget Sally Moren has report on budget. The board has approved $2000 for the lecture series. The flyers cost $16. The ads in the Minnesota Daily have in the past been reasonable, but this year the cost is unknown. The hotel costs for Cherryh and Bova are unknown. A partial over budget is possible because the honoraria was increased form $50 to $100. There is not a known figure for Ben Bovas' transportation cost. There is a possibility of a panel discussion after one of the lectures in conjunction with ITC. The board is being asked the direction to go with the transportation of CJ Cherryh. She has been booked on Braniff which is presently in receivership. The options are to upgrade to Continental ($317 more), fly standby with the airline honoring Braniff tickets the same day or the day before, or look at another airline totally. The Board requested that CJ be talked with to find out what she is willing to deal with. The Board said not to worry about the budget if Braniff causes problems. If it only takes another ticket - no problem - the ticket will becovered. The Board asks the Lecture Series not to go overbudget on the other items. If everything goes our way we will be under budget (cross all fingers and toes). Einblatt Editor: Mark Richards has resigned. Denny Lien is replacing him. The Board confirmed Denny as editor and requested a budget from him. Scott Raun will be sending out a prepaid postcard to cull the mailing list. This will be going out with the next Einblatt. Fall Con Report Scott Raun and Victor Raymond reporting. There were good points - - No one died. Most people had a good time. The programming went well especially the "War For The Roses" tours and the Friday night readings. The guest of honor got very sick on Saturday night. The attendance was 160 people - 11 comps, 10 children. There were 102 preregistrations and 45 at the door. Without seeing the paperwork yet, they may give back from $25 to $50. The problems noted were - Minn-STF doesn't know where all its' stuff is. Victor volunteered to coordinate the inventory. Scott, Victor, and Cat would like to put together notes on running a Fall Con. There is a need for discussion of what a Fall Con should be. The Board is requesting that the books and bottom line be prepared by the next Board meeting. Chastisement Don hasn't completed enough of the Art Show records to send out checks yet. Rob hasn't requested the tax free status yet. Karen hasn't closed Minicon 24 books yet. Treasurers Report Don Bailey reporting. Without having the Minicon 24 books closed yet the projected income is about $12000 for the year. There is $10000 spent to date, with $500left unclaimed at the moment. As soon as the Minicon 24 profit is turned over to Minn-STF things will look better. Camels There was a discussion of rates at Minicon. One opinion was not to lower rates, especially if the result would be a cut in the education portion of the Minn-STF purpose. Also when looking at rates you have to look at other things - hotel rates, meals, transportation, etc. Minicon is cheap for the quality. A modest proposal was given by Victor. Being as there is difficulty with Minn- STF meetings needing sizeable spaces, why not try doing various Fall Con like items for Minn-STF meetings. There needs to be discussion in Minn-STF of various issues. As an educational organization who do we want to teach and what do we want to teach them? What are we doing to create a comfortable environment for science fiction fans? How can we bring together the ideas behind Minn-STF and the lecture series? "You got chocolate on my peanut butter. - - You got peanut butter on my chocolate." Computer Discussion Proposal Beth Friedman The problem is registration is tied into Beths' computer which just barely worked this year. Any compatible com puter available in Minn-STF is virtually nil. A computer that will be used for registration and the one true mailing list should be semi-portable, 40 megabyte, AT Clone(could run all processing for registration). The cost would be about $1400 to $1700 for hardware. A cheaper alternative is historically disfavored (rentin from a Minn-STF member). The Exec thinks a computer is an eminantly good idea but can't authorize the expenditure. The Board needs to gather data, draft a version of a proposal and get feedback on the proposal. Then a committee needs to be put together made up of someone who knows about business applications, someone with publications experience and someone considered a computer illiterate (who will raise questions and get explanations understandable to other computer illiterates in the group). We need to decide if the people making the recommendations should be the same as those making the decisions. There should be a discussion of needs to help decide what is needed to be looked at. First the Board should look at what are the tasks, waht are we looking for, and what are the parameters. Then delegat to the committee. Brainstorming: Questions 1. What things are we now doing on computer? 2. What things should we be doing on computer? 3. What things do we consider it unreasonable to not do on computer? 4. Who needs access to a computer? How many people and when? 5. Should we consider a distributed approach or a central approach? 6. What range of people do we expect to use the computer? What range of skills will there be? Within the membership of the organization how many will actually be touching the beast? 7. Who has responsibility for the hardware? Who has responsibility for the software? What is the responsibility of the person in possession? 8. What does the job? What type of computer does the job? 9. How much can Minn-STF afford on a computer in one year, three years,five years? 10. What needs to we expect to have in the next one year, three years, five years? What are long range plans and forecasting. 11. What methods other than ownership can be found for fulfilling our needs? 12. Is there anyone reasonably disposed toward donating a machine to the club? 13. Investigate hardware and software. 14. How will we maintain the system(Insurance)? 15. Are there any other organizations that we will want to work with , computer to computer? Questions of standards we need to meet. 16. Does the Society for Nonprofit Organizations have anything to help us in our dilemna/decision? 17. At what point will we run into difficulties with the current computer facilities in the club? 18. What do we do about documentation, training, and confidentiality? 19. Is there someplace we can get it cheap? Ask Victor about Northside Residents Rehabilitation Council. 20. Make sure to query all Minicon Department heads for needs (not uses). The Board is directing itself to investigate these questions and keep this at the level of questions and needs. Next meeting November 13, 1989 at 7:30 PM. at the David Dyer-Bennet home. 4242 Minnehaha Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota Don Bailey moved to adjourn the meeting. Peg Ihinger and the other wives of Board members seconded. The Board was 1,0,2 to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 PM. [signed: Twila K Tuttle] ================================================================================ October 5, 1989 Sally Morem reported on the lecture series budget, with various costs known and unknown. The transportation for C.J. Cherryh was discussed: she was booked to fly on Braniff, presently in receivership. The Board instructed that she be contacted as to flight arrangement preferences. The Board asks the lecture series not to go overbudget on other items. If everything goes our way, we will be under-budget (cross all fingers and toes). Einblatt Editor: Mark Richards has resigned, Denny Lien is replacing him. (Thanks to Mark; good luck to Denny. -JM) Scott Raun will send out a prepaid postcard to cull the mailing list, sent with the next _Einblatt_. Fallcon: Scott Raun and Victor Raymond reported. There were good points -- no one died. Most people had a good time. The programming went well especially for the "War of the Roses" tour and the Friday night readings. The guest of honor got very sick on Saturday night. Attendance was 160 (11 comps, 10 children), 102 preregistrations, 45 at the door. They MAY be able to return $25 - $50. The Board requests that the books and bottom line be prepared by the next Board meeting. Scott, Victor and Cat would like to compile notes on running a fallcon. Chastisements: The Art Show records must be completed and checks sent out. Tax-free status must be requested. The Minicon 24 books have yet to be closed. Camels: There was a discussion of rates at Minicon. One opinion was not to lower rates, especially if the result would be a cut in the education portion of the Minn-STF purpose. Also, when examining hotel rates, meals, transportation, etc., Minicon is cheap for the quality. Victor suggested doing fallcon-like items for Minn-STF meetings. Purposes of Minn-STF were discussed: As an educational organization, who do we want to teach and what do we want to teach them? Are we providing a comfortable environment for science fiction fans? How can we coalesce the ideas behind Minn-STF and the lecture series? Computer: Registration is tied into Beth Friedman's computer, which just barely worked this year. Any compatible computer available in Minn-STF is virtually nil. A computer used for the one true mailing list and registration would cost between $1400 and $1700 for hardware. Neither renting from a Minn-STF member nor an outright purchase was authorized by the Board. A committee is needed to gather data, draft a proposal and get feedback on the proposal. The committee would be comprised of someone with business applications experience, someone with publications experience, and a computer illiterate. A 20-point list of questions resulted from the Board's Brainstorm about what needs to be considered by the committee. These included "What things are we now doing on computer?" and "How much can Minn-STF afford on a computer in one/three/five years?"