April 11, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 5:40 p.m. by President, Jan Robinson.

In attendance were Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Larry Sullivan, Sandra Stapleton, Jeanette Hopkins, Cathy Lauer, Bruce Conrad, Lyleth Winther, Loretta Welsh, Sandi Whiteman, Gerry Lenzen, Rex Bosse, and Jim Morrow.

Minutes of the previous meeting were presented and there were no corrections. It was moved by Leslie, and 2nd by Rex that the minutes be accepted as presented. Motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS:

Treasurer’s Report - Jeanette presented spreadsheets for the Balance of Accounts and the 2005-2006 Monthly Income and Expense. The question arose regarding the kickbacks we receive from Heritage Books and Amazon Books for the purchases we make from the GFO website. To date, we haven’t received any monies from either company. Jan will check with our Webmaster, Kathy Cardoza to try and determine what the problem is.

Smolenyak Grant – Jan has composed a letter to Ms. Megan Smolenyak stating that our efforts to obtain funeral records from the African-American community have not been successful and we are returning $250.00, the amount of the original grant received in November 2002. A motion to return the money was made by Bruce and second by Sandi. Motion carried.

File Maker Pro letter – Jan will send a letter to FileMaker, Inc. soliciting a donation of a newer version of the File Maker Pro software.

Organizational Chart – There was nothing to report at this time and we will discuss it at our meeting next month.

Volunteer Internship - Michele Holley will begin her volunteer recruitment in the next 2 months and will probably be contacting each of the board members for input. [NOTE: A previous discussion was held outside the Board meeting about a request from Michele for GFO to sponsor her with an internship in Volunteer Coordination. She met with Jan and a contract was written and agreed upon by the two parties. A copy of the contract will be filed with the monthly reports].

Hall of Fame – Michelle would like to have two (2) volunteers to work with her on the Hall of Fame nominations.

Electronic newsletter. More discussion is needed before a decision is made regarding the sending of our newsletter by electronic mail to those members who choose to receive it in that manner. It was agreed to table the discussion for a year, as the Board realizes that people like that tangible piece of mail coming in their mailbox. Although they make not make it into the library, it says they are members of the society at large, and their dues pays for something.

First Families of Multnomah Co. – Discussion was deferred until next month as there was nothing to report.

Research Committee – It was suggested that we send a ‘thank-you’ letter to Nathan for his volunteer hours at the Forum. He’s doing an excellent job and we are getting more requests as a result of our website. Nathan is very prompt at filling the requests for copies and mailing them to the client.

NEW BUSINESS

Equipment proposals - The Forum has received the first proposals to replace our printer in the Print Shop and copier in the Reading Room.  The proposals were from Pacific Office Automation and Oce Imagistics. After looking at the proposals and talking about board discussions at prior meetings, we decided to drop the copier for the Reading Room.  Further proposals will be only for the Print Shop.  A new copier for the Reading Room will be purchased separately, and $500 is in the newly approved budget for this purchase. Both companies were higher than we wanted, so we will ask for a requote on equipment and pricing.

Mailing Labels – Bruce has contacted two (2) companies for pricing on outside label printing and mailing services. He learned that most companies do not use labels anymore, and that the labeling information is printed directly on the letter.
The prices quoted are more than two times the price we are currently paying, which is about $81.00 per month. These prices are beyond our budget, therefore we will not change our mailing procedure at this time.

Corporate Sponsors – Jan would like to create a letter to be sent to potential corporate sponsors to help support our organization. Rex made a motion that we let Jan send letters to businesses that may be willing to help us. Lyleth 2nd. The motion passed. Jeanette, Leslie, Gerry will help Jan.

Pricing of materials. Sandi asked a question regarding how pricing of our books, CDs, supplies, and equipment should be determined. Loretta will be in charge of writing a policy. We need to determine why we are doing it and what we hope to accomplish, and discussion followed about whether or not all pricing should be voted on by the Board;

Budget – Jan, Sandi, and Jeanette met after the Spring Seminar to work on a new budget. The Board discussed the budgeted items and made some changes. Sandi made a motion that we accept the revisions. Loretta 2nd. Motion carried. A revised budget will be forthcoming. Each committee head will need to be apprised of what their budget will be for the year. A policy needs to be written for the extraction committee. Loretta will chair the committee beginning July 1 when the newly elected officers take office.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Submitted by
Cathy Lauer
Secretary, GFO

Goal Setting Workshop – Saturday, April 29, 2006 – 3 p.m.

Next Membership Meeting – May 13, 2006 – 2 p.m.

Next Board Meeting – May 9, 2006 – 5:30 p.m.

May 9, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by President, Jan Robinson.

In attendance were Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Jeanette Hopkins, Cathy Lauer, Bruce Conrad, CR Hanna, Lyleth Winther, Loretta Welsh, Sandi Whiteman, Gerry Lenzen, Michele Fricke, Rex Bosse, Jim Morrow, and Michelle Holley.

The minutes were presented and no corrections or additions were noted. Lyleth made a motion to accept the minutes and it was 2nd by Rex. The motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report – Jeanette reported that income is down, but it is probably due to the fact that most memberships are due in July and that there will be a significant rise at that time. Commissions for DNA sign-ups have been profitable. Commissions from our book purchases from Amazon have not been received. An inquiry by Jeanette to Amazon was answered, and the company tells us that the email address link has been discontinued. She will try to determine what address was in use when the account was set up. The company (Amazon) may be able to reconstruct the amount due us if we can supply the original email address link.

There was no report on PayPal as we may be changing banks again and Jeanette will pursue that further when the plans are complete. The Endowment Fund has done well. The Krauter donation has been received. Lyleth moved that we accept the treasurer’s report, and a 2nd was made by Rex. Motion carried.

Old Business:

Brochures – Jeanette plans to have the new brochures ready for the printer before the end of May. She showed us a sample high-quality glossy brochure that she will be using for our organization. The cost will be $375.99 for 5000 brochures and will be charged to the Admin Expense. A motion was made by Jeanette that we add a budget line item for $500 for advertising, brochures, and distribution to the current annual budget. The motion was 2nd by Bruce. Motion carried.

Electronic Emailing of Insider & Bulletin – The Board discussed the pro’s and con’s of delivering the publications electronically. Jim told us that we have contracted for a specific number of paper copies and that decreasing the number would not change the price. Rex and Cathy will work together to run a test to email the Newsletter to those members that have requested to receive it in that manner. The Bulletin does not have the capabilities to be sent at this time.

Smolenyak, GRIO, and File Maker Pro Updates – Letters were sent to Megan Smolenyak, Larry Piatt, and File Maker Pro. Larry Piatt of GRIO has responded, however the other two have not. A refund check was sent to Megan and it has been cashed, so that business is finished.

First Families of Multnomah County – Much of the planning for the First Families of Multnomah County has already been done. We will try to get the project moving in a forward direction as soon as possible. Lyleth will be in charge of the organization and Cathy will work on the proof of lineage. Additional help has been offered where needed by Jeanette and Rex. This project should be a good money income.

Pricing of CDs, Books, Etc. – No report.

Budget 2006-2007 – Jeanette presented a revised budget. She moved and Leslie 2nd the motion to accept the revised budget. Motion carried.

Carpet Cleaning Update – A quote of $1000 was given to us for cleaning the carpet. No additional donations of money have been received from our members. The only money received for this fund has been from the Board Members, which totaled about $160.

Membership Renewal Letters – Michele reported that in order for us to get a Bulk Rate, we must have 200 mailings. The cost for individual mailing is 14.8 cents per item, compared to 39 cents for singles. The renewal letters are sent out quarterly. We have to pay for 200 even if we have less than that.

Foreign Postage – Jim stated that the cost of mailing our Exchange Quarterlies has gone up and suggested that we raise the cost of subscriptions to make up the difference. Sandi said that we only have about 7 memberships that go out of the country and that the quality of exchanges from them is superior to what we send them.

Printer Proposal – Jim and Loretta presented quotes from 3 companies for leasing a new printer. No quotes have been received for buying a new printer and leasing would probably be more in line with what we can afford, but Loretta feels that purchasing our own printer should be looked into before making a final decision. Jim will get additional quotes to report at the June Board Meeting.

Phone Books – Sandi went to the storage locker in Vancouver to check on the condition of our old phone books. She reported that they are still in very good shape and that we need to get them out of storage. There are about 100 boxes of the books and we have to dispose of them. We may try to sell them on Ebay, Craig’s List, or list them on the ORFORUM maillist. Jeanette has experience selling items on Ebay and offered to list some of them. We will hold discussions outside the board meeting and take the subject up at a later meeting.

New Business:

Volunteer Recognition – A line item for the 2006-2007 budget was proposed to include Volunteer Recognition activities for the coming year. An amount of $200 was suggested. Michele will work out the details for our June 2006 recognition activity.

Annual Reports – All annual reports need to be given to Jan to include in her recap for the year ending in June 2006. Please try to get them to her by June 5th.

Winter Hours – Are the new hours working? Should we continue? We will continue with the current library hours as they appear to be drawing in patrons on all shifts. Michele reported that we are getting a significant amount of new members. She wonders what is bringing new people to our library and thinks they may be coming to the Interest Group meetings. Further discussion will be held at our next meeting.

Multnomah County Fair – Do we want to have a GFO informational table at the Multnomah County Fair? Irene Little and Loretta have offered to pay the $75 fee. A call for volunteers to help will be issued. We hope to bring in additional membership for the library by handing out brochures, visitors packets, and other information promoting our resources. Taking a laptop to display some of our extracted records or genealogy programs could draw people to the table also.

Volunteering – Jan will check out some websites which deal with volunteering issues: “Hands on Portland”, “Free Cycle Portland”, and “TACS”. These sites offer many suggestions for productive volunteering.

Michelle Holley, our student intern in volunteerism, made a presentation to the group outlining her ideas for increasing volunteerism from our members. If we have any suggestions or questions, we can reach her by email.

Bibles in the GFO Collection – We have a few bibles in our possession and because the Forum doesn’t have a plan to keep them, Sandi asked for suggestions about what we should do with them. Sandi and Rex will be in charge of extracting the genealogical records from them, and then we may give them to the Historical Society, DAR library, or the NGS library.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Submitted by
Cathy Lauer
Secretary, GFO

June 12, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 5:40 by President, Jan Robinson.   Minutes of the May meeting were presented and there being no corrections,  Leslie moved to accept the minutes.  Lyleth 2nd the motion.  Motion carried.

Present were:  Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Larry Sullivan, Cathy Lauer, Bruce Conrad, Lyleth Winther, Loretta Welsh, Sandi Whiteman, Don Holznagel, Sue Lydic, Gerry Lenzen, and Connie Lenzen.

Jan reviewed the Spending Policy and Signing of Contracts with the group and noted that the email address,  president@gfo.org has now been changed to gfoinfo@hotmail.com

OLD BUSINESS:

Pricing of CDs – Loretta had nothing to report

First Families – Lyleth reported that the committee will have their first meeting June 24th to discuss the plans for getting the project going.

Amazon & other links  - Jan gave the report regarding the links to Amazon Books and Heritage Books.  The links have been corrected and we should  begin receiving a rebate on all items ordered through the GFO website.  She will place a reminder on ORFORUM and Lyleth will post an item in the newsletter to let members know about the rebate.  The DNA link has brought in $1000 in rebates.

Other income - Loretta has photographed the first box of old telephone books and made a spreadsheet to track the sale through eBay.  Jeanette has set up a paypal account and will start posting the books when she returns from vacation.

Larry said the next group of marriage records will be on the website in about 2 weeks.  He will contact Dick Eastman  again with updates on the posting.  He plans to also notify Leland Meitzler and Cyndi Howells.

FGS - Sue has volunteered to be the  FGS contact for the Genealogical Forum of Oregon.

Treasurer’s report – Jeanette was absent from the meeting.  There appears to be a discrepancy in some of the figures for the Endowment Fund.  Also, the    Krauter donation was put in the General Fund in error and needs to be transferred to Library Acquisitions.

Corporate Sponsorship - Jan & her committee will soon meet to work on corporate sponsorship donations.  They will report at the next meeting.

New Printer – Loretta had nothing more to add to last meeting's information.  She told us that 107 various size jobs have been completed by the print shop.  This includes the Insider, Bulletin, miscellaneous flyers, leaflets, and outside jobs..

Writing contest report – the “End of the line, lest they be forgotten” writers contest received only four entries.  Peggy Baldwin was awarded a first place prize of a $100 gift card;  the other 3 entries received $25 gift cards from Fred Meyers.  Larry has asked Peggy’s Writer's Group to choose a subject for the next contest.

NEW BUSINESS

Membership Chair – Sandy Sterling has agreed to take over the duties of the membership  chairman.  The Board accepted the appointment with no further discussion.

Nomination Committee – An early call was made for a nominating committee to be appointed in order to find persons willing to serve on the Board of Directors for the next term.

New Marketing - Michele Fricke will be in charge of New Marketing and will work with the Corporate Sponsorship committee to find new ideas for bringing monies into the organization.  Sue has offered to work on this committee also.

Internet Printer - We have a new printer for the Internet computer donated by Maggie Kitts.

New committees - Jan asked if we need to form additional committees.  It was decided that we need to fill the ones we already have before we form any more.  She reviewed with us the committees that are currently on the charts.&

Mission and Vision statements -  We talked about what we want to accomplish within our organization and came up with the following:

The Mission of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Inc.  is to provide resources for historical and family research.

The Vision of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Inc.  is to be one of the premier non-profit  organizations providing assistance and information for genealogical researchers.

The Board will wait until the next meeting to vote on the statements as given or to have additional discussion and we were asked to bring ideas for the goals of our organization to the July meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. by President, Jan Robinson.

Next board meeting July 11th

Submitted by
Cathy Lauer
Secretary, GFO