16 April 2008 Planning Meeting Minutes

SKI BUDDIES Planning Meeting Minutes: 16 April 2008
Address: Ski Buddies; P.O. BOX 20003; Seattle, WA 98102

Attendees
Lisa Sokanoff, Chris Turcotte, Carl Wilson, Steve Wegener, Tim, Mark Pollock, Shilpen Patel, Bud Wright, Vincent Chou, Stuart Stoddard, Fred Grant, & Greg Snider met at Vince & Stuart’s place for our latest planning meeting of the 2007-2008 winter sport season. Thanks for hosting us, Vince & Stuart.

Agenda
• Joint Membership Agreement with SAGA North
• REI Gift Card
• Bounced Check/NSF Policy
• Trip Room Sharing Policy
• Treasurer Report
• Trip Refund Policy
• Website/Membership
• Open Forum
• Ski Buddies Presence at Pride in June (Parade?, Booth)
• Next Planning Meeting

Joint Membership with SAGA North
After the successful Aspen trip, SAGA would like to have a joint membership agreement with Ski Buddies. This would work much like the agreement we have in place with OutVentures, allowing members in either club to go on each others trips without any non-member fees. This sounds like a great way to provide members with more skiing opportunities, so the board decides we’ll try it out for next season and evaluate if we want to continue the relationship beyond a season.

REI Gift Card
Kevin Schultz won the drawing for the $25 gift card – which was awarded at the annual banquet last month. It can be sent electronically via REI’s website, but Chris had a bad email address so it bounced back. Treasurer Chris got the correct address at the meeting and agrees to make sure Kevin gets his prize soon. Thanks for being patient, Kevin.

Bounced Check Policy/NSF fees:
• We still haven’t gotten a check for the NSF membership check deposited for the Methow trip, despite Chris contacting him numerous times, being reassured each time payment is on the way.
• As treasurer, Chris has implemented a four-step process:
o Notify the board of problem
o email notice (if email is available and accurate)
o snail-mail notice with invoice of amount due and why
o after 30 days - treasurer notifies the board, internet club site access is removed, membership is revoked, and trip leaders are notified if the person has paid for a trip. Although it's not the trip leader's responsibility to collect the fee prior to the member going on the trip it would be appreciated.

Trip Room Sharing Policy:
• The Mt Hood Meadows trip was a great time, but the trip coordination could improve for future visits. There were some rooming problems, ending with Ski Buddies getting billed for one more room than was anticipated.
• While it is unclear exactly what happened, it appears one of the members wasn’t on the rooming list so the front desk gave him another room. In the future, it should be made clear to the hotel, all room changes need to be coordinated through the trip leader unless the difference will be paid by the individual changing accommodations. This situation will lead to individuals being allowed only on pre-approved trips and the treasurer won’t accept any payment without approval.

Treasurer Report:
• We are only going to carry ~ $8,000 between seasons this year – since most trips were not as profitable as in the past, and the popular annual Crystal bus trip ended up costing about $3,000 per year. We made ~ $7400 from trips – but newsletter/marketing costs are $3300.
• One big problem is our trips are being priced incorrectly so Chris wants to do a tutoring session in September, have folks complete the trip pricing forms and send them to Chris before the trip happens. This should help out since Chris can provide feedback to the leader to assure the finances appear to be in order. For international trips, leaders also need to understand about the international conversion fee – which is different on each country).
• Chris reports we need to raise the dues $5 for next season - so new rates will be: singles $30, couples $40, new folks $25. The extra income will pay for a newsletter.
• He’d like to make it possible for everyone to use PayPal to pay for membership & trips via credit card but there’s still a 1.5% fee (approximately $1 fee on membership). Since this amount will vary by payment amount, the trip leader needs to send Chris an amount to be paid, and Chris sends them an invoice (including the 1.5% fee), and the member makes payment on-line through PayPal.
• We need to re-register our website domain name, so a check will be issued.
• Chris got the club a new business credit card – it has advantages over the WaMu card since it has no international transaction fees, and a higher credit limit.
• The fluctuating dollar exchange rate makes international trips more challenging – so perhaps we need to factor in an increased “fudge factor” for currency exchange?
• We can’t get GST back in Canada anymore: they changed the rules.

Trip Refund Policy:
• We also have to watch members who sign up for multiple trips – and then cancel on all them. A major problem since one member has missed the cancellation deadlines on 4 trips, and then she still got full refund. Trip leaders need to set deadlines and enforce them – so that will also be part of the training.
• Numerous refund requests have come in this year, so we decided to restate our policy: if the deadline is past, and the club will lose money, then the member loses (for example, lodging typically can’t be refunded late, but unused ski tickets can usually be turned back in for a refund – which would go to the member). The club will make allowances for serious injuries (like Scott Feest, who shattered his leg right before a trip). If a partner or friend is going, the exception only applies to the injured member and not the partner or friend.
• Since our VP Cathy had to pull out of Scottish Lakes a week before the trip since she couldn’t do anything “heavy duty”, we agree to let her use her unused season trip credit as a refund (vs. carry it forward to next year). Mark agrees to send her a notice – and Chris will send out the check once he gets a confirmation email from Mark.

Website / Membership:
• Trip reports still needed for the website. Red Mt, Whistler, and Austria should all add one. Trip leaders (or other attendees may send articles to webmaster Stuart for posting).
• Reiterate that only members go on club trips in the future; Folks have to join the club for $25.
• To assist trip leaders in knowing who is or isn’t a member, Stuart intends to post the membership list on website so everyone can easily make a determination.

Open Forum:
• Bud Wright announces he’s investigating a possible July ski trip to Chile (last weekend of July; 2 days down, 5 days of skiing, 1 day back). 6100 miles from Dallas to Santiago, Chile. Bud is just doing the research now, but he will send details out to Ski Buddies as he gets them.
• Bud discusses how at Red Mountain, Rose, the lodge owner knocked a bunch off the cost of the lodging, so she suggested we donate some money toward an AIDS organization out of the extra profit the club made. The local preferred charity is named “Kootenay Outreach”, so we agree to donate a $200 check to them. Mark will provide the organization address to Chris, and the check will be made out from SkiBuddies & Rose (lodger owner).

Ski Buddies Presence at Pride:
Gil is not interested in coordinating this year, but is willing to host the meeting on the topic. So we’ll be looking for a volunteer – to complete necessary application & paperwork, to coordinate the member sign-up sheet, and make sure set-up and tear-down is handled appropriately. And if we have anyone really creative, think up something fabulous for a float.

Next Planning Meeting
The next planning meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm Monday, May 12, 2008 at Gil’s. Gil's place is located at 3513 South Leschi Place, Seattle, WA 98144. 206-322-7967. (Directions: 1 blk south of Daniels Broiler, Blu Bistro & Leschi Starbucks).

Greg takes the action to send out a reminder email via our website around May 5 - reminding folks it’s meeting time again. See you all then - when we start looking at trip proposals!

2008-9 Ski Buddies Officers and Volunteers:
? President: Mark Pollock
? Vice President: Cathy Jessup
? Secretary: Greg Snider
? Treasurer: Chris Turcotte
? Membership: Vincent Chau
? Newsletter: Carl Wilson
? Publicity: Fred Grant
? Web Master: Stuart Stoddard
? Potluck Coordinator: Tom Rowan
? Trip Leader Coordinator: Chris Turcotte
? Banquet Coordinator: open
? Pride Coordinator: open