Humanist Society of Santa Barbara

Minutes of the Board Meeting of January 16th, 2018

Home of Mary Wilk   Host: Potluck

 

 

 

Board members present: Roger Schlueter, Mary Wilk, Judy Flattery, David Echols, Suzanne Spillman, Neal Faught, Wayne Beckman, Diane Krohn, Clover Brodhead Gowing

 

Board members absent: Pat Ward

Visitors: Jocelyn Flattery

 

1. Call to Order: Roger called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.

 

2. Secretary’s Report: Suzanne Spillman
   2. The December minutes were approved.

 

3. Treasurer’s Report: Neal Faught
   3. Neal reported we have $13,801.88 in our bank account.
   4. Speaker costs for the current fiscal year to date are $1,778

 

4. Programs: Roger Schlueter
   4. After a brief discussion it was decided that we would give Saturday’s speaker, Rick Wayman, $100.
   5. Roger reported that the remaining months of this fiscal year have commitments from speakers, except April.
   6. Action Item: Suzanne knows of a person who is very knowledgeable about the Supreme Court and will speak to him when she sees him at an event on January 28 to ask him if he would consider speaking at our April meeting.
   7. Several Board members expressed the need to get information about our speakers far enough in advance to prepare publicity. Judy mentioned that our February speaker would be traveling to Israel in February; Roger will try to contact her before she leaves to gain the information needed to distribute to those handling the publicity.

 

5. Publicity: David Echols
   5. No Report

 

6. Social:
   6. Clover has agreed to be the new chair of the Social Committee.
   7. Roger suggested Clover engage the assistance of Jocelyn Flattery who expressed an interest in participating with our Board in some way.

 

7. Membership: Mary Wilk
   7. No Report

 

8. Newsletter: Judy Flattery
   8. No Report

 

9. Webmaster: Wayne Beckman
   9. Roger asked if text could be added to the photograph of our monthly speakers on our web site. Action Item: Wayne will contact Ameravant to ask if this is possible.

 

1. President: Roger Schlueter
   1. Roger has asked Board members to volunteer to stand out in front of Valle Verde at the Saturday meetings to monitor and ensure that attendees do not park on the street in front of Valle Verde but instead, park at the church parking lot as is now required for our Saturday meetings. It is not certain how many will perform this task. He will also ask Nancy Wahl to send out a reminder about the parking restrictions for Valle Verde.
   2. A map will continue to be published in our newsletter about where parking is permitted for our meetings with information about the shuttle times.
   3. Clover will remind the speaker about the parking limitations at Valle Verde.
   4. Roger will be meeting with Tracy at Valle Verde on Wednesday and will talk to her about having enough tables set up for our pre-meeting activities.

 

1.  Old Business
   1. Roger amended his comments about our 501(3)(c) status saying that it was NOT the IRS he received a notice from, but the State regarding their Federal Employee Identification Number (FEIN). Action Item: Roger will contact the State to give them our status with respect to the IRS.

 

2.    New Business
   2. Mary reported that many more visitors are attending our meetings, but not joining. She      asked us to think about what we could do to convert visitors to members.
   3. David said that the feedback he receives from visitors is that people do not want to join            because they do not want to be asked to do something; they do not want any responsibilities      or obligations with our Society (i.e., they do not want to be asked to be on a committee.)
   4. Action Item: Roger said he would make contact with someone at the national      organizations with whom we are affiliated and inquire how they deal with member

     retention and “recruiting”.

2. Roger reminded us of the importance of greeting visitors at our meetings.

 

3. Adjournment
   3. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
   4. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. at the home of Mary Wilk.
   5. The host will be Wayne.

        

Respectfully submitted,

Suzanne Spillman, HSSB Secretary

January 19, 2018