Board Minutes 2023-05-24

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][alg_back_button][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]JGSPBC BOARD MEETING MINUTES

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023

 

PRESENT: Beryl Cole, John Cole, Ina Getzoff, Allan Huss, Mark Glickman, Cindy Potter Taylor, Mark Jacobson, Walter Rosenthal, Glenn Segal, Andy Wakshul, Joel Sisitsky, Marilyn Lane, Larry Schulman, Judy Gelpey

 

ABSENT: Lori Schindelman, Neil Bass, Mona Morris, Dennis Rice, Barbara Nowak

 

The meeting was called to order by President Beryl Cole at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.  The first order of business was to introduce Philip Levine and hear about his plans for the JGSPBC website and to then ask any relevant questions. Philip gave a presentation and talked about his company South Florida Web Advisors. He also serves as Vice President at Temple Shaarei Shalom He is not a content creator or writer but will maintain the website, enhance it and provide social media and constant contact. Allan Huss asked him about surveys and he said that Survey Monkey will not be needed; he will be able to handle surveys. Walter suggested that there be a point person from the IT Committee so that Philip doesn’t receive calls from several people. Philip appreciated that suggestion and also recommended the committee be called Communications rather than IT (later in meeting this was approved.)

 

Philip is available to start right away and requires $250 initially and then be paid quarterly at $75 per month.

 

Marilyn Lane made a motion to hire Philip Levine and Larry Schulman seconded the motion. Mark Glickman commented that we need to understand that Philip will not be coordinating Zoom and that we need to discuss the funding to pay Philip. His recommendation is to add $2000 to the budget from the Overage & Operating Account to cover tech services, extra fees we may need to pay Phil and possibly for someone to organize the Zoom meetings. He will then re-do the budget. As such, Mark proposed an amendment to the motion to allocate this money and Larry seconded the amended motion. Motion passed.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:  Mark emailed the report.  As of April 30, there was $28,073 in the Operating Account and $11,837 in the Reserve Account.

 

Mark made a motion to move $10,000 from the Overage & Operating  Account to the Life Member Reserve. Larry seconded and the motion passed. This will enable JGSPBC to continue making annual transfers for another five years.

 

At the end of the 2023-24 buget year, if the net income over expenses is greater than planned, additional dollars will be moved to the Reserve Account. Moving $12,000 from the Operating Account to the Reserve Account leaves almost $16,000 in the Operating Account, more than enough to meet the 2023-24 budget needs.

 

As far as raising dues, Mark suggested keeping the dues as they are now since the budget has already been approved.  While several people agreed that most people would be willing to pay $36 as double chai is a common membership fee, it was agreed not to make a motion to increase the dues this year.

 

Other ways suggested to increase and encourage donations are to appeal to Life Members, seek program sponsors for $250 for each of the nine programs, do Facebook fundraisers for birthdays and/or holidays, charge $125 per speakers bureau presentation and find someone to underwrite our tech services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

MEMBERSHIP VP –  Joel Sisitsky:

As of now, we have 19 Family Life and 50 Individual Life members with   a total of 69 Life Memberships; 116 Individual Annual and 45 Family Annual for a total of 229 Memberships. There are 294 Individual Memberships.

 

Joel drafted a letter to JGSPBC members thanking them for supporting the organization and renewing their dues. However, Mark said that it should be sent out with the dues renewal with instructions on how to pay. The renewal campaign should begin June 1. Marilyn offered to work with Joel on a revised membership letter.

 

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES VP – Andy Wakshul

Andy will hold a committee meeting in June to work on the policies and procedures. Ina provided him with the binder and information from previous meetings.

 

PROGRAMMING – Allan Huss:

Allan reported that his committee met on May 22^nd. The committee would like to construct and send a survey to members electronically to gauge the following:

• How many members prefer meetings in person?
• How many members prefer meetings by Zoom?
• Does this vary by season?
• How many in-person meetings has the member attended in the past year?

The committee recognizes that answers to these questions may impact budget. For example, perhaps the large space rented from the South County Civic Center is no longer needed. Based on results of the survey, this will need to be evaluated.

 

Scattered Seeds was mailed in April and the next issue will be mailed in July.  The following programs are scheduled for the 2023-24 season:

 

 

September – Mark Jacobson & Mona Morris will present. Marilyn suggested that Allan give a presentation on the IAJGS Conference that will be held in London in August. Allan agreed and said he will also provide a summary in Scattered Seeds and on the website. Allan will also be discussing his trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. (see below)

October – Dr. Rebecca Kobrin, Professor of History at Columbia University will speak on Sender Jarmulowski.

November –  Allan Huss will speak on “Why our Ancestors Ended Up Where they Did”

December – Presentation by Chuck Weinstein

January – Presentation by Laura Diamond

 

The committee may be able to secure Randy Schoenberg, known from the Woman in Gold story, to talk about using Geni as well as his recovery of the Klimt painting. Once his 2024 schedule is finalized, he will contact the committee. Allan will meet with him in person at the IAJGS Conference in London in August.

 

For the April or May meeting, Allan is working on a tie-in with Holocaust Remembrance Day. The topic would be “Doing Research on Holocaust Victims” but a speaker has not been identified.

 

Allan would like to organize a trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for next spring. He said that ideally, the group should be 8-10 people. He will present the suggestion at the September meeting. He paid $1700 for the week, air not included. The assistance provided was invaluable.

 

Dennis has a tentative commitment from Mark Olson from Family Tree Maker for an all day program in March at the Civic Center.

 

Coordinating with the JGS of Toronto has been put on hold at the request of the Toronto group.

 

MEDIA PUBLICITY & SPEAKERS BUREAU – Walter Rosenthal:

As approved in the budget, business sized ads will continue to run in selected community newsletters over the 2023-24 season. JGSPBC meeting announcements will continue to appear in selected JewishGen media.

 

Walter noted that guests increase with top notch speakers so our goal should be to seek out quality speakers.

 

Speaking engagements have been scheduled for early Fall, 2023 and Spring, 2024. There is a need for additional members to participate in the Speakers Bureau. Judy asked if a flyer has been created promoting the Speakers Bureau. She volunteered to distribute them to Synagogues in the County so they can be displayed during the High Holiday season when more people are attending services.

 

Walter is working on a one-day program for Spring, 2024 that would be open to the community and co-hosted by external organizations such as Ancestry.com. A budget and time line will be presented at the next meeting. Walter called for volunteers to work on a planning committee with him.

 

INTERNAL PUBLICITY – Marilyn Lane:

Marilyn reported that she will resume her role in mid-June. This will include her assistance with meeting notices, reminders, program flyers, evaluations and surveys of various topics, editing of various items (including Scattered Seeds,) updating bylaws and the procedure manual and working with Joel on member renewal.

 

LIBRARY – Barbara Nowak & Cindy Potter Taylor:

Cindy said all is well and they will end appointments at the end of May and resume in September or October. They have had several successes. Over the summer, donated books need to be stacked.  

 

RECEPTION – Glenn Segal:

63 people attended the May meeting, 29 in person and the rest by Zoom. There were 9 pre-paid guests.

 

IT TECHNOLOGY – John Cole:

To be discussed under New Business

 

OLD BUSINESS:

Beryl questioned if we should forget about obtaining indemnification insurance. However, Mark Glickman thinks we should purchase it to protect us. He will investigate other groups who have it. Allan thinks it would be approximately $350 per year.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

Mark Glickman point out that we will need someone to set up the Zoom meetings once Philip is hired as he does not do that. He does know someone, Glen Benjamin, who may be willing to do this but has not been approached. Mark suggested that John Cole should reach out to Glen.

 

Judy made a motion to change the name of the IT Committee to the Communications Committee. Joel seconded the motion and the motion passed.

 

Tasks:

-Walter to hold a planning meeting for a spring program

-Create a Speakers Bureau Flyer and distribute to Synagogues

-Mark to obtain costs for the Indemnification Insurance

-Membership letter and renewal forms to be sent out once letter is revised

-Continued work on Policies & Procedures

-Library books to be sorted and stacked

 

Motion was made for adjournment by Mark Glickman, with Cindy seconding the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 2:40 PM. The next Board meeting is on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Judy Gelpey, Secretary, JGSPBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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