Winter Board Meeting Highlights

Rhea Bentley (GA), Secretary

The NEAFCS Board met January 23-25, 2013. Some board members arrived the day prior to go through files that had been sent from our previous management company. The meeting started with a 'getting acquainted' activity led by Kathy Olson. The Galaxy conference, which is September 15-23, 2013 in Pittsburgh, PA, was a main topic. Marsha Lockard, NEAFCS Past President, met via conference call and shared some of the highlights of the conference and answered many questions. She reported that program information and location logistics have been confirmed for NEAFCS. Pre-Conference presenters have been finalized. They are Mike Vogel and the Home Baking Association. There will be a fee to attend the Pre-conference sessions.

Marsha informed us that we have to be very careful with what we bring into the convention center. Boxes can’t be brought into the convention center because it is a Union facility. Boxes will have to be sent to the decorator. Details will be forthcoming. You can bring in one thing to carry into the convention center.

The submission of proposals for Galaxy was discussed. There were 102 proposals that were started, but never finished. NEAFCS had a total submission of 143 proposals, which is 17% of the 1,059 that were submitted. There was discussion on whether or not members had difficulty with the process. A committee has been established to review proposals and make selections for those that will present at Galaxy.

The board decided to offer a 2-hour Super Seminar on Thursday morning at Galaxy. It will focus on the FCS Master Volunteer program. This program will be presented by Beverly Samuels from NIFA and Mike Vogel. There is no cost. It’s included in the registration.

Any state that wants a sales table will have to secure one through Galaxy. There will not be individual silent auctions this year. There will be an overall silent auction, and five items from each association will be sold in a live auction. The proceeds will go to each organization based on the amount received on their five items.

The board decided to have a leadership event for Board members, affiliate Presidents and Past Presidents. It will be reception-style, in the President's Suite, by invitation only.

The Vice Presidents have been working on getting action plans from their committees. They all have been received and are posted on the NEAFCS website. The new strategic plan is incorporated in the action plans.

A Research firm for Department of Labor is asking for experts to look at task that we do for the Farm and Home Management Advisors. The data will be placed in a dictionary of occupational titles. It was recommended to board that an email with the opportunity to opt- in on opportunity be sent to membership on being experts and its criteria. There is a need of a minimum of 10 people from each association to participate. Advantages would be increased visibility to our organization and the placement of expert for Department of Labor on vita. The board decided to give the opt-in option to the membership.

The National Office reported that there have been approximately 150 telephone inquiries and 600 email inquiries since the last board meeting. Jody Rosen Atkins reported that the 2012 financials are being closed. It was announced that the online award system is up and running. NEAFCS has hosted 2 webinars and set up 21 online committees. The National Office has finished the journal design, and it is posted in the Publications section of the web site. There is a place on the website to place job opportunities. The email is [email protected].

The Living Well Cookbooks grant has been a success. There are only 70 cases remaining. Thirty states have participated. Stories on the grant project will be placed in the eNews.

NEAFCS has 1,749 members that sent in membership forms. This includes 15 life members.

The Journal of NEAFCS 2012 has 13 articles and will be coming out soon. For the 2013 journal there are 13 articles.

The board reviewed some suggestions that were made by members on how the organization could improve Annual Session. Hopefully, some of these changes will be implemented by 2014 Annual Session. The 2014 Annual Session will be held September 15-19, 2013 in Kentucky.

The Regional Directors shared information from their states. The Regional Directors are still waiting on some affiliate reports. Marian Ross and Gail Brand will be the two Regional Directors attending JCEP along with Carol Chandler, Kathleen Olson and Amy Peterson.

The board also looked at the list of committees and determined which ones are still active. They also decided which committees would be by appointment only. The duties and qualifications for the Finance committee were reviewed and some changes were recommended on qualifications for National Treasurer.

The National Nomination Committee will be meeting. Amy Peterson will be bringing a slate of candidates to the board at a later date.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00am on January 25, 2013.