Board Meeting Minutes 08 November 2022

OIAA Board Meeting Minutes 08 November 2022

Attendees:
Jeff B., Alt. Secretary
Jane G., Vice Chair
Gwen M., Chairperson
Mark M., Technology Chair
Barry M., Secretary
Brian R., Treasurer
Spencer W., Finance Chair

Gwen M., Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 5:04 pm EDT (2:04 pm PT). The  meeting opened with the Serenity prayer.

The Board minutes from the 10/11/22 Board meeting were reviewed by Jeff B., Alt Secretary.  Motion was made by Brian R. to approve the minutes of the 10/11/22 Board meeting as  presented and was seconded by Mark M. The minutes were approved unanimously.

Chair’s Report: Gwen
Gwen commented on how we communicate in OIAA and felt that the message on our  website of “Anywhere, Anyone, Anytime” is very important.

Old Business

• Motion was by Jeff to confirm Paula D. as the chair of the CPC committee. Jane  seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to accept Paula D. as the CPC  Chair.
• Communication to due to the Membership.
  • Need to communicate the next steps with our IRS reinstatement to the membership  and Gwen would like to have this on the agenda for the Dec. 3rd Assembly. Gwen  suggested that Spencer present this at the Assembly.
  • Spencer will communicate that OIAA’s ProBono attorney will file the Bylaws with  the State of NJ to validate OIAA is in compliance with the NJ Non-profit laws and  that The Bylaws will be submitted to the IRS to have our 501c3, tax-exempt status  reinstated. However, in the spirit of transparency, we will communicate that we are  not going to submit our request retroactively as we do not have the records.
• Access to Board minutes. A public folder will be created and a link will be placed on the  website so that members can access the minutes. Mark will create the folder and Gwen  will upload the minutes going back to June into that folder.

New Business:

• Ibero-American Online Convention Idea for 2023: Jeff mentioned that Carlos D. from  Portugal was very impressed with a recent Spanish event and he was inspired to suggest  that we could hold an Ibero-American event in the Fall of 2023 to involve a number of  countries. Jeff, Jane and Carlos had a discussion about such an event which would  require a great deal of planning after the formation of an ad hoc committee.
  • Mark suggested that there have been a number of suggestions for OIAA sponsored  events and that perhaps a “Conferences” committee could be formed to evaluate  this and other conference opportunities
  • It was mentioned that there already a Convention committee which is currently not  active that could be used for this purpose. The current guidelines state that the  Convention committee help plan OIAA events such as the International Convection  which takes place every 5 years
  • Gwen mentioned that it would be useful to plan an evet like this for not only the  Ibero-American region but other global regions as well
  • Jeff mentioned that he will reach out Carlos to flesh out this idea further

Financial Report – Brian R./Spencer W.

• The proposed budget has been completed and has been sent out to the  Membership. A summary has been prepared by Brian to explain the budget.  o This year’s budget is a significant increase over last year’s budget. The budget  attempts to get a handle on translation costs and some assumptions were made.  The Unity committee is the only committee that had a specific budget request for  translation.
• A motion was made that the Board approve the 2023 budget and release it to  the Membership by Mark M. and seconded by Jane G. The Board approved  this motion unanimously.
• There was a discussion about the necessity to reach out to our groups to  determine their thoughts about how to better utilize our financial resources to  support their needs. Mark mentioned that the new website is intended to be more  dynamic and collaborative rather than current website which is mostly a repository.  Suggested Protocol for the Committee Chair Board meeting next month
• Brian suggested that each committee chair should present a short report with a 5- minute time limit. At that time, they could also bring up any issues that they would  like the Board to consider.
• Gwen mentioned that she will communicate our thoughts to the Committee chairs  when she sends out the reminder

Questions from the Guidelines committee

• When should the Committees make their annual reports?
  • Gwen stated that this should not be done at the December Election  assembly. She suggested that these could be done over a few Assemblies  as there will 4 Assemblies are planned going forward
  • Jane suggested that she would like to see this done at the beginning of the  year and could include an invitation to assist the committee
  • Mark stated that each Committee will have its own page on the website for  an on-going, dynamic report from each committee
• Will there be readings at the Election Assembly?
  • Yes, there will be. The readings will include the Serenity prayer, OIAA  Statement of Purpose and the Traditions.
  • Establishing the quorum will have to be done quickly which will be done by  the attendees filling out a form. The readings can be done while the quorum  count is proceeding
• What will happen if a quorum is not present?
  • Jane mentioned that the Bylaws state that the Board can adopt the budget  and appoint officers in the absence of a quorum
  • If a quorum is not reached at the Assembly, then the Board will appoint  officers at the December Board meeting a week later until Elections can be  held at the 1st Assembly next year.
• What happens if there is only one candidate for a position?
  • If only one person stands for an officer position, then that person will still go  through the election process
• What would happen to the budget if there is no quorum?
  • Brian suggested that the Board approve a short-term budget to allow the  organization to function as opposed to the Board approving the budget for  the full year.
  • Gwen suggested that we do not to pr-rate a budget and that we can just  continue to operate until a new budget can be passed
• Should we stick to the simple eligibility requirements from the Bylaws?   The Bylaws state that “Anyone who has served in an OIAA service position  is eligible to serve as an Intergroup officer.” This will be the only eligibility  requirement
• Would we like to have a presentation from the the individuals who presented at the  NAATW workshop on translation?
  • This could help OIAA create a Translation committee
  • Gwen suggested that this presentation not be just to the Board or the ad hoc  Guidelines committee but that we open this presentation to the full  Membership
• Should we hire special workers to help take minutes at a committee meeting?   This request is coming from the Unity committee
  • The Board felt that this is not a viable option and that this should be a  function of the committee

There was no other new business.

The Board meeting adjourned at 6:51pm EDT and was closed with the Declaration of Unity.

Motions Summary

The following motions were voted on and approved by the Board at this meeting:

1. Motion was made by Brian R. to approve the minutes of the 10/11/22 Board meeting  as presented and was seconded by Mark M. The minutes were approved  unanimously.
2. Motion was made by Jeff B. to confirm Paula D. as the CPC chair and seconded by  Jane G. There was no discussion and the Board voted unanimously to approve.  3. A motion was made that the Board approve the 2023 budget and release it to the  Membership by Mark M. and seconded by Jane G. The Board approved this motion  unanimously.

Humbly submitted,
Jeff Bernknopf
OIAA Alternate Secretary