Present: Mike Karnes, Charles Youngblood, Phil Vance, Samantha McKinney, Rusty Fried, Michael Verzwyvelt, Doug Pilcher, Steve Sides, Ron Graham, Brad Davy, and Adi Kochav
Guests: Clark Hymas, Charles Lewis, Gil Major, and Jeff Maruschek
Meeting began at 9:02 p.m. EST.
2018 Worlds – Steve Sides
Steve posted a forum to get the opinions of the judges on time spent in the judging chair. We had 3 judges per class at the 2014 Worlds. By doing that now, we need 24 judges, which we currently only have 12. Many of the judges said that it was too long. He received an answer of anywhere between 1 to 4 hours to still be effective. Steve believes that we need to come up with a way to give the judges a break to keep them effective. Pilots will be flying single sequences, with at least 25 pilots per class. Ron questioned if this varied between classes when effectiveness came into question. Steve suggests that we at least give them a break in the middle of each class, around 5-10 minutes. Then, we would possibly stagger the start times, such as 30 minutes, before the judges have to be back in the judging chair.
We need a minimum of 24 judges to run 4 lines for 4 days. This means that there will be 3 judges per class. Steve says we currently have a few international judges. He isn’t pushing too hard until he finds out which teams are committed to the Worlds. Currently, we have a conflict with some due to wanting to fly in the 2018 Worlds. Steve believes that we will get a judge from Italy and Adi is working on a judge from Israel. It was suggested to have a few on “standby” just in case a committed judges cannot make it.
We will pay the judges for the 2018 Worlds. The judges will be paid the same as the 2014 Worlds, $1,000 for an international judge and $800 for the U.S. judges. International judges were paid cash on site for there weren’t any currency exchange issues. Steve believes that all judges should be paid the same amount. the last Worlds had a total cost of $17,200 for judges. The entry fees collected was just over $29,000.
Last time there were 22 judges. Steve would like to have help from the RDs for the folks that he doesn’t know. He would like to have input from all regions on qualified judges for the 2018 Worlds. Steve will send a list of judges/volunteers that have confirmed for 2018. The list won’t be finalized until we know who makes the team.
Steve has talked with Phyllis Youngblood about being head scorekeeper. There will be Rhonda Vance, Terri Foster, and Jenna Youngblood is also available as scorekeepers. Phyllis has also been asked to be a judge, if it is absolutely necessary. Steve will talk with Phyllis about the rest of the scoring team.
Steve would like to start sending out team invitations in January 2017. He will have the invitation letter updated and out on the forum for the Board to approve before it goes out. Adi has been helping out Steve with the International contacts. Steve had a question on where to send the invitations for the International countries. Adi mentioned that they had seen the letter on the website and then called the BOD to tell them if the country was coming. Wayne handled all the invitations last time, so Steve is going to follow up with Wayne. It was recommended to post to the IMAC website and the Worlds website.
Steve would like to have permission from the BOD to approach IMAC members via email for donations. He would like to have permission to go to all the AMA clubs to ask for donations. It was the consensus of the BOD that this is a good idea. Steve would like to add to the World website that will list the AMA club as a sponsor of the Worlds. Mike says that we can add a page to the magazine for the list of AMA club sponsorship. Steve is going to ask the RDs for help in contacting their local AMA clubs. The BOD is in agreement on this approach. Steve is going to create a brochure to send out as an email attachment. The BOD will approve before it is sent out. Adi mentioned if we would want to use PayPal or a “Donate me” website, such as a GoFundMe page. You can use PayPal or credit card. There is a link on the Worlds website that is linked to the PayPal account. The GoFundMe page is very popular and people know it. The brochure can be included on this page. Adi will find out how to setup the page. Currently, the registration is set up to send a check to Phil. We need to make sure that PayPal is still linked on the Worlds page. Adi mentioned doing both, PayPal and GoFundMe page.
Steve will need to know when money is sent in to IMAC. GoFundMe is attached to an account for funds to be deposited. This will only be used for donations or sponsorships. There is about an 8% overhead. It was discussed about mixing the funds between the Worlds and the General IMAC account. It must be kept separate. Last time, no IMAC treasury funds were used. The incoming money was kept in the general fund, but was kept separate in the accounting books. It was suggested to keep everything separate to know exactly what was spent on the Worlds. Ron made a motion for the “accounting of the Worlds be kept separate from the IMAC budget or any IMAC money and that there will be regular accounting of that.” This was seconded by Steve. By roll call vote, motion passed unanimously.
Charles questioned how we would initially fund this account. One fee has already been paid for the initial costs of the website. Phil is going to check with the bank to see how much it costs to open up a new account. We could possibly be out a few hundred to open the account, which will be paid back to IMAC.
The 2014 Worlds brought in a total of $54,328.16, which includes entry fees, donations, etc. The entire expense of the Worlds was $47,394.24, which left a profit of $6,933.32. Phil doesn’t foresee any upfront costs before receiving fees/donations in the account. How will the expenses be covered, if any? We may have to borrow funds from the General IMAC account and have to pay back once funds are received from the Worlds, but his will only be done if approved by the BOD. Ron raised the question that we cannot use money from the IMAC to fund the Worlds because the line could get blurred. Phil said once money starts coming in that he will not need any IMAC funds. Phil has already paid bills for the Worlds, which includes the website cost. Phil will look into setting up the account for the Worlds and see how much money is needed in the account before the Worlds. Phil doesn’t believe that there is a monthly service charge on the account.
Marketing IMAC – Mike Karnes
The BOD has been discussing marketing of IMAC a couple of months ago. Brad gave Mike the name of the company that AMA works with. Mike is going to contact this company and will get ideas from them on a survey. It has not been forgotten. Ron said that Spark has contacted him about a response on their marketing proposal. We will send them a letter with our decision.
National Judging School – Doug Pilcher
Everything is in place. Doug had to fill out extra paperwork for the extended insurance that the college required. The only thing he has left is getting arrival/departure times from everyone to get his transportation schedule finished. As of now, we are going to use one 15-person van. The cost of the van rental should be around $420. Many of Doug’s guys are willing to shuttle everyone. The flight field for the practical could possibly change to a different field that is closer to the college. The hotels are directly across from the campus. We have two classrooms available, if needed. Doug would like to have the RDs contact their participants for Friday portion that they are sending with arrival times and gates that way he can get all the transportation lined up.
Treasurer Report – Phil Vance
October Balance: Checking - $ 2,754.65
PayPal – $36,365.94
Total - $39,120.59.
Total income for the month was $1,506.19 and total expenses of $1,854.42.
November Balance: Checking – $ 1,416.66
PayPal - $37,472.41
Total - $38,889.07
Total income for the month was $1,156.46 and total expenses of $1,387.98
Balances reported up through November 30, 2016. Phil will be moving funds out of PayPal to cover expenses for the National Judging School. Phil and Mike are currently working on the 2017 IMAC budget. Once completed, Phil will send to the BOD for review. The allocation of the regional funds issued per members will be done on January 1. Phil will get the regional reports sent to the RDs this week. Mike reported that the RDs are still trying to get all their members to complete their profiles for the region can be allocated the money for that member. Doug recommended that city and state needs to be added as a “required field” in the profile process. Phil is going to ask Roy if we can get a paper registration form to be added to the website cause there are still members that are paying registration fees through the mail.
Regional Issues – All RDs
SC is currently working on 2017 judging schools. Mike asks that the outgoing RDs to please work with the incoming RDs. Doug will be working with the incoming RDs on Live Writer training and Event Manager. SE is going to have their CDs provide callers at their contests for advanced and unlimited unknowns. He has also asked for the CDs to take a few minutes to discuss a particular rule for the first few minutes of the pilots’ meeting. The SE currently has judging schools setup in North Carolina, Triple Tree, Clover Creek, and South Florida.
Brad mentioned that in a forum, the members are questioning the cost of the “old website” compared to the current website. He wanted to know if we should respond to this question, due to not being able to make a valid comparison because of the change in technology. He has researched the prior BOD forums and meeting minutes that he has found and has not found any information. Phil will send out an email of the costs of the “old website.” Phil mentioned that on the 2015 Financial Statement the monthly maintenance fees of $300/moth ($3,600/year) was included in the website costs. For 2016 financials, he is going to split this out separately to give a more accurate cost of the development of the website.
IMAC Forms – Mike Karnes
Mike wanted to make sure that the BOD approved the IMAC forms for the 2017 year. Many had already approved on the forum. The Contest Standards Guide and the CD Checklist had some changes, whereas the Regional Point Series and the Seniors Points had no changes. Mike has sent the webmaster the AMA rule book to be posted to the website, along with the updates to the scoring program for the 2017 sequences. A motion was made to approve these forms by Doug and seconded by Steve. Motion passed unanimously. Mike will send these forms to the webmaster to be posted to the IMAC website.
Meeting adjourned at 10:46 p.m. EST.