Compiled by Marc Kirschenbaum from minutes by Rachel Langley. These notes cover some of the highlights of the OrigamiUSA Board meeting of April 10, 2008.
Board Retreat: The Board retreat has been confirmed for the weekend of May 31, and a room at the American Museum of Natural History has been reserved. Tony Cheng is still securing a Facilitator for the event. An important source of information for the retreat is the membership survey. We have so far received 300 online responses, and 86 mailed in surveys. The online survey will close May 2. Surprisingly, over 30% of the responders are non-members, and California was the most represented state. The data will be available for the Board to review before the retreat.
Treasury Report: Final preparations are being made for the 2007 Audit.
Election: The call for nominations was mailed out and posted on our web site.
Membership: As of March, we are at 1,636 members. Last month was 1,660 members, and the previous year was 1,569 members.
Convention: We have finally confirmed the dates with FIT, and we have a contract outlining the new prices and room configuration. Because of construction and scheduling issues, the availability of certain areas is tentative. The availability of FIT housing is guaranteed. Prices have increased for food services, and overall, there is a 10% increase in prices from FIT. The Convention Committee will discuss if Convention prices need to increase to absorb these additional costs. The Convention forms are being developed, and should be ready by the beginning of May.
Volunteer Pin: Nancy Schneider has completed the pin design, and Sok Song is working on creating an electronic version for production.
The Paper: Issue #98 is in the works.
Origami by Children: We have received 142 submissions, and they will be judged on April 19th.
Fund Raising: The Portraits of the Origami Artist DVD is almost complete, and will be used as a fundraising incentive, courtesy of Vanessa Gould (Green Fuse Films). Jeff Rutzky designed the packaging for the DVD, which looks fantastic.
On-Line Presence: After a lot of hard work, our new web site should be live on April 28th (since revised to May 10). Asides from a slick new look, there will be many new features. Convention registration and membership can be performed online. There will also be a bulletin board to post volunteer opportunities within OrigamiUSA. Dennis Walker has agreed to allow us to integrate his model database into our site. Because of the new site structure, there is plenty of flexibility for growth, and new features will continue to be added.
Special Folding Fun Sessions: The April sessions were a success. May 4th will begin the next season.
Parrish Exhibition: OrigamiUSA has loaned models from its collection for this exhibition. Unfortunately the show will be completed by the time Convention 2008 is ready.
Awards: Ruthanne Bessman agreed to be a liaison to accept nominations for our awards. The deadline for the Florence Temko Award and Ranana Benjamin Award nominations is May 15th. Rachel Katz and her committee will select the recipient (if any) for the Florence Temko Award. The Board will select the recipients (if any) for the Michael Shall Award and the V’Ann Cornelius Award.
Ruthanne Bessman will prepare the Board Notes for May.