Mnstf board meeting, Aug 10, 6pm on Jitsi,

Attending board members: Matt Strait, Aaron Vander Giessen, Scott Raun,
Linda Lounsbury, Eric Forste.

Others attending: Minicon 55 chairs Sharla Stremski and Don Stremski.

== Approve last meeting's minutes ==

Approved!

== Conventions, part 1 ==

We'll start with this so that Don and Sharla don't have to wait through
the rest of the agenda.

* Minicon 55 (2021?)

What are we going to do? Concern is expressed about any sort of virtual
con kind of idea, because we are not good at tech. But if we did want to
do anything virtual, we definitely would want to start planning now.

Don points out that one of our GoH is currently on the other side of
a closed international border. He is inclined to pull the plug on an
in-person Minicon in 2021.

With the current restrictions, we are in force majeure territory (unless
the hotel wants to claim that we aren't a social event), but of course
we have no idea whether that will be true in April -- 8 months from now.

(Currently social gatherings larger than 10 people and any gathering
over 250 are banned in Minnesota. That's in Minnesota's "Stay Safe
Plan", phase 3. It's unclear how we'd move to phase 4, and also the
rules for phase 4 haven't been set.)

Matt would like something written from the hotel, like an e-mail, in
which they agree that under the current restrictions, the event is
illegal and therefore we both walk away with no penalty. But a lot
of the staff is furloughed at the moment, which makes all kinds of
communication with the hotel difficult.

Even under the most optimistic scenario of a vaccine very soon, we'd
have to negotiate with the hotel about how we don't lose a huge amount
of money on a much smaller Minicon, because many people still won't
come, and therefore won't rent rooms. (Because some people won't
tolerate the vaccine, or they'll still be in line for it, or because
they'll just be skittish from the last year, etc.) We don't know when
hotel staff will be back so that we can talk to them about it. Aaron can
try to find out.

Currently our penalty, if somehow we felt like paying it, would be
$8400. That's until October. But there's really no reason to think about
paying it.

When do we need to make a decision? We don't think we're going to really
learn anything new in the next few months.

How long does Minicon take to plan? Matt says we usually do it in about
three months even though we have all year. If we wanted to convert it
into a relaxacon, or close to one, that would take less time.

Scott suggests, therefore, that we not attempt to make a final decision
until about January, but that between now and then we talk with the
hotel as much as possible about different scenarios.

Sharla asks what the financial situation is if it's legal to have it,
but Minicon is extremely small. Matt says for a 200 person Minicon, we
lose $7k, plus we have to pay for all the room nights we don't make,
which might be around $16k if we missed our room block by half ($23k
total). So that would be bad, but we're (Matt's) hoping that the hotel
sees it in its interest for us to have the con (so they get *some*
revenue), and would like us to be repeat customers, and would work with
us to make it not ruinous.

Linda asks what happens if the governmental restrictions are lifted, but
we don't think it's safe. Matt says, well, that's the risk we're taking
by not cancelling now. Cancelling now, taking the $8k hit, would be the
most conservative thing to do, but no one present wants to cancel right
now.

Don is willing to wait, although not super happy about it.

If we canceled in February, about the latest that we could make a
decision and still plan a decent con, the penalty is $25k. But we
all agree that the risk of having to pay this $25k is pretty low.
It requires that there's no available vaccine, and governmental
restrictions are lifted, and the hotel is totally unreasonable.

We should have the chairs to a meeting again by October.

* Minicon 56

Matt would like to know if Don and Sharla believe they've signed up
to run two Minicons, whenever they are, or if they signed up to run
Minicons in 2020 and 2021, if possible? They don't want to answer
this question until Minicon 55 is firmly scheduled, which is totally
fair. Matt just points out that usually we have the following Minicon
lined up before the current one so that we can announced GoH and take
registrations, etc. He'll just ask this question again later.

== Next meeting ==

With the Minicon 55 chairs.  Sept 21, 6pm, on Jitsi.

== Review TODO list ==

* (2020-06) Eric will run proposed virtual meeting bylaws language past
Laura and Michael -- Eric reached out to them. No response from Laura.
Michael said that he was fine with him.  See discussion below.

* (2020-07) Linda will talk to Don at Uncle Hugo's about us buying
$1000 of books by authors of color from him and sending them to
libraries/community centers/etc. to (predominately) reach readers of
color -- Linda has talked to Don, and he can do that. One complication
is that a lot of stuff is only available in trade paperback at ~$18
each. We might just have to live with the lower count. Linda also talked
with Northside Achievement Zone, who do student mentoring, to see if
they would have use for books from us. The Phyllis Wheatley Center said
they don't have programs for children over 11. Scott suggests that
Linda talk to Moon Palace Books about children/YA books.

* (2020-07) Matt will talk to Greg at Dreamhaven about us buying $300 of
books, as above -- Greg says sure, he can do that.  Matt should have the
books in hand in a couple of weeks.  He has the list of titles in hand.
He's forwarded it to board-chat so Linda can use it.

* (2020-07) Matt will talk to Quartermaster Brother Joe about making
sure our stuff is still in the storage locker -- Matt has e-mailed
Brother Joe and he said sure, but he hasn't heard the result.  Aaron and
Emily conspire to make sure he knows how to get in.

Done:

* (2020-07) Matt will write up language for the bylaws to allow the
pandemic voting member rules we want. And the rules for announcing
amendments needs to be updated.  Done.  See below.

* (2020-07) Matt will write a sentence that says that people can
petition the board if they feel they are being locked out of voting
status for 2021.  Done, and here it is:

"Because of pandemic restrictions on in-person meetings, the board has
relaxed the requirements for voting membership. We have clarified that
virtual social meetings do count towards the 5 required meetings, and
have also made everyone who was eligible to vote in 2020 also a voting
member for 2021. We hope this covers nearly everyone's situation fairly,
but if you will still have trouble achieving voting status, the board is
happy to hear from you: board@mnstf.org."

* (2020-07) Matt will send bills for past due accounts -- Done.

* (2020-07) As he will do every time, Matt will announce the next
meeting to all our officers -- Done.

* (2020-07) Scott will talk to Carol about sending a $500 check to
GPS. Check written and went in the mail today. The Sept-Oct check to
the storage locker went out with it. (We are billed monthly, but Carol
decided to pay for two months this time.)

* (2020-07) Aaron will invite Don and Sharla to this board meeting,
and maybe the one after that if necessary.  That happened!

== Review recurring task list ==

Matt doesn't see anything that needs doing, nor does anyone else.

== PO Box ==

As of Aug 8, Hershey says she has not picked up the mail has not been
picked up since about a week before our post office was torched in the
George Floyd riots. Matt has urged her to go try and pick up our mail
from wherever it is being directed now. Hershey thinks she knows, but
hasn't checked yet. Matt will pester her about getting the mail.

== Website update ==

Scott and Matt have seen some proposed new style sheets. Scott says that 
Matt should make a proposal to the board about the one he likes. Matt will
do that.

== Bylaws ==

Four amendments are on the table:

* We previously agreed to add a sentence at the end of III.3: "Only
hand-marked paper ballots shall be used." We still like this.

* We are also looking to amend the bylaws to formalize the policy about
virtual meetings. Matt wrote some language, previously appearing in
the June board minutes, and here it is again.  It is a new
sub-paragraph, III.6.b, (under III.6, "Recorded attendance
at various types of meetings shall count or not count towards voting
membership, as follows:"):

*****
b) For meetings of one of the types defined in (a) that include the
possibility of remote attendance:

  i) For the regular annual meeting, remote attendees of the business
  meeting shall count towards voting membership

  ii) For special meetings of the members, remote attendance shall count
  towards voting membership by discretion of the board of directors

  iii) For regularly established social meetings, if the meeting
  is intended to be primarily attended remotely and/or all social
  interactions occur through the remote connection platform, attendance
  shall count towards voting membership, but not otherwise

  iv) For general convention committee meetings, remote attendance shall
  count towards voting membership at the discretion of the chair, or
  their designate

For meetings in which remote attendance counts towards voting
membership, it shall be the responsibility of the host to provide the
remote attendance list to the Membership Secretary.
*****

It's a bit complicated, but that's because it has to fit in with the
rest of the bylaws, which are a bit complicated. As above, Michael says
he's fine with it, so we're good with it, and will go ahead and adopt
it.

* And to clarify that posting bylaws amendments at virtual meetings
counts for purposes of having the new bylaws take effect as per
By-law X. The current language is "Such alterations or amendments
take immediate effect upon a single publication in Rune, in Einblatt,
or after being posted for a two-month period in a prominent place at
Society meetings."

Matt notes that this wording also seems to assume that any two-month
period would have plenty of meetings in it. He suggests: "Such
alterations or amendments take immediate effect upon a single
publication in Rune, in Einblatt, or after being announced and made
available at three consecutive Society meetings."

We all like this.

* And, finally, to allow us to declare that all 2020 voting members
are 2021 voting members. Matt proposes adding a paragraph I.2.b.i: "i)
In addition, all persons who were voting members at the beginning of
the 2020-2021 membership period shall also be voting members for the
2021-2022 membership period."

After some discussion of the technicalities of what it means to be a
voting member, and the history of those technicalities, we like this one
too. (In short, voting member status currently persists all year, and
besides letting you vote for the board, allows you to call a special
meeting with 1/4 of the voting members. As far as we know, there has
never been a special meeting.)

Matt will put them all together into a single document, and then we'll
have to figure out how to sign it, which we want to do.  A round-robin
letter, we suppose.

== More conventions ==

* Decongestant 5

Yeah, we should cancel it.  We'd like to not pay the cancellation
fee.  Force majeure almost certainly applies.  Matt will get on this.

* Decongestant 6

Nothing to discuss.  We'll plan this when it's possible to plan things.

* Minneapolis in 2073

No news.

== Adjourned ==

== New TODO list ==

* (2020-07) Linda will continue working to buy a pile of books from
Uncle Hugo's.

* (2020-07) Matt will continue working to buy a pile of books from
Dreamhaven.

* (2020-07) Matt will see if Brother Joe found our stuff still in the
storage locker.

* (2020-08) Matt will ask Hershey if she's gotten the mail.

* (2020-08) Matt will propose one of the new designs for the website to
the board.

* (2020-08) Matt will put all the bylaws amendments together.

* (2020-08) Aaron will talk to the Minicon hotel.

* (2020-08) Matt will, as usual, announce the next board meeting to all
our officers.

>> Perpetually recurring items for next time:

* Approve last meeting's minutes
* Review TODO list
* Review recurring task list
* Conventions
* Next meeting

>> Also for next time:

* Bylaws amendments