Conference Local Arrangements

Minutes/Report: DATE: April 17, 2008 - Conference Local Arrangements LOCATION: Virtual ATTENDEES: Members present: James Buchanan, Michael Byrne, Leigh Cameron, Mary Cannon, Andrea Caputo, Diana Day, Deonna Decker, Brent Dove, Suzanne Fahrer, Anne Fligge, Jennifer Gates, Martha Geiger, Michael Gibboney, Charlotte Hardy, Angelene Harris, Betsy Johnson, Michael Jones, Val Kepner, Patricia King, Chuck Knepfle, Nichole Lein, Tasha McDaniel, Kathy Mills, Jason Reinoehl, Janice Ruitta Frances Robbins, Michiale Schneider, Jackie Tracy, LeeAnn Timmerman, and Cheryl Willard Member absent: Sue Allmon, Julia Benz, Stefanie Channell Mike Clouse, Diane Fleming, Liz Hunley, Kim Jeffers, Angela Johnson, Julie Kost, Dan Mann, Matthew Moore, Steve Queisser, Joann Ross, Carmen Sears- Edwards, and Lake Tackett. GUEST(S): MINUTES STATUS: Committee Reports: -Last two meetings will be in person August/ September Charity: * Purchased table decorations * Will get order form on MASFAA so folks can order the recipe book * Continue work on website and advertisement (link will be on conference site) * Deadline is the end of July for submitting recipes, trying to get the link up and running asap. * We will offer the cookbook for $10 as pre-conference purchase; $15 at the conference -sweatshirts will be $25 each ... if they also buy a sweatshirt, the combined will be $30. Corporate Support: * Trying to get at least 40 vendors, need to be realistic because of the times we are facing. It's been difficult to project how many vendors' we will have at conference. * Donations could possibly be non-existent based on the current times. * Deadline is the end of July * Betsy Johnson indicated that for the OASFAA conference in the spring (May 2008) that sponsorship is down by 50%. * Executive Committee had a long discussion regarding loss in vendor/sponsorship --registration fee will change from $225.00 to $250.00. * Also discussed the number of attendee's from last year to what we might see at this coming conference. Estimating 600 attendees, but more realistically it may be roughly 450. * We will need to consider adjusting the room block accordingly Food & Beverage: * Meal/beverage menu's were prepared for both the Sunday brunch and Wednesday morning brunch at the Hilton and submitted to Jason. * Jason will forward to the Hilton. The final menu at the Hilton will not be available unto May 1st, so the estimated costs of the meals at the Hilton could change. Also submitted was the snack menu for the Sunday evening activity. * The contracts for the Duke Energy Center meals are in the hands of the Finance Committee for signature Publicity: * Keith Williams will be making enhancements to the website. He sent an email to Paula Gordon at ATAC. Can take up to 2 weeks * Visitor center was working on a link called USA.com/MASFAA * Rec'd a welcome letter from the Mayor of Cincinnati * Met on April 8th to talk about the first email tickler which should be out by Monday morning- April 21st. Tickler will be a short information piece- 'Save the date'-it will include two things -information about the cookbook & link and a little bit about the charity. This will be sent to the MASFAA membership and State presidents. * Membership chair (Jeff Pethick) has requested our state membership database-they want to send out a letters out to all OASFAA members that are not MASFAA members. Registration * James Buchanan has received the lanyards. * Jason indicated that part of his workbook has a list of those individuals who will be donating laptops, projectors etc. * James Buchanan's group will be arriving on Friday to start getting the conference packets stuffed etc. Vendors * A revised Drayage cost was received. * They will begin setting up the vendor area on Sunday 8 - 11am. * Vendors can begin set-up by 3:00pm * Can adjust number of vendors up/down as needed once contract is signed. * There is a $500 charge for set-up. Executive Board Update--Jason MASFAA Executive Council Meeting - April 12, 2008 Present: Keith Williams, Dan Mann, Jason Reinoehl, Candi Frazier, Jeff Pethick, Scott Roelke, Aaron Steffens, Sara Beth Holman, Steve Schuetz, Jayne Dinse, Diane Fleming, Billie Jo Hamilton, Richard Shipman, Dick Battig, Karen Kopp, Anna Fligge, Janet Ozuna, Jo Cassar, Jim Brooks, Shashanta James, Delores Hawkins, Arnold Woods 1. Billie Jo accepted a position at South Florida; she is no longer President elect. Rick moves to President elect and Lois Mulbrook has been appointed Vice President, all travel expenses, etc. go to Lois 2. We need to work with Kim Donat re: awards and student success story. 3. We should plan to put tentative agenda on website ASAP. Initially, we can just provide a list of sessions. 4. Price of the sweatshirt is now $25. I offered it to exec. Council for $23. a. What is the cost associated with developing Red AND Black sweatshirt options with the MASFAA logo? b. We need to coordinate the shipping / sales of sweatshirts for summer institute with Delores Hawkins / Joann Ross c. We can offer a package deal for both cookbook and sweatshirt - $30 was suggested. d. Who will store the sweatshirts/cookbooks that are leftover? 5. VIP baskets should be budgeted at $75. This is now part of the conference budget. 6. Email the hotel reservation link to exec. Council - have them make their reservation by May 1st. 7. We should encourage a State dinners on Monday night or Tuesday luncheon a. If the state presidents want to do a lunch at the Duke on Tuesday, we should coordinate this with the state presidents (send an email to all presidents in September?) 8. Association Governance a. How do we deal with Associate Members who have been terminated from their positions? i. MASFAA wants to work with the individuals for the current year, they have paid their membership, it is ok for them to continue to serve in their current roles 1. They should continue to pursue positions or find one in the financial aid profession 2. Associate members should update their directory information, indicating they are "Associate member - not affiliated" b. How do we feel about the involvement of associate members? Do they have undue influence in our association? i. Associate members cannot hold office, but they can be committee chairs and can vote ii. The roles of associate members vary in other associations 1. In all associations they can be committee chairs 2. The associations vary when considering voting rights iii. We have adjusted our P&P to change the designation to "donors" iv. There is a concern that associate members are allowed to vote v. Local arrangements, early awareness, and corporate support have a large number of associate members - at what point do we make a dividing line? vi. Should some committees be eliminated if we reduce the participation of associate members? vii. It is not currently a "crisis" situation, but is something that we may need to address soon. We are not currently making a formal recommendation. viii. Discussion about role of associate members: 1. Aaron summarized the issues in Iowa 2. Delores asked for support from MASFAA/NASFAA ix. Donor support must remain clear and transparent x. Encouraging Corporate Support committee to look for new opportunities 1. Business solution opportunities? xi. Web postings - list serve 1. Should we have a review process for web postings? 2. We will re-state what our policy is and provide guidance. 3. Only one association reviews postings - we decided we will not have a review process xii. Should we develop a business solutions track? 1. Provide opportunities for demonstrations 2. We will not be pursuing this option at this time because we generally do not have space to do so xiii. General PowerPoint presentation template for presenters 1. Company should indicate their association on the first slide only and then are ok to include their contact information. 2. Companies can no longer provide their logo on every slide - they need to use our template. 3. We should coordinate with Debbie / Lois to be sure the presenters understand the template will be used 9. Nominations and Elections a. Slate of candidates has been established b. Voting will be very soon 10. Corporate Support report a. All recommendations were declined by Association Governance 11. Finance report a. Overall financial situation i. Concerns about declining value of investments with Franklin Templeton 1. Could we consider T-bills? 2. Investment advisors feel we should maintain current position, but with new cash we may consider alternative investment vehicles 3. We need to transition Billie Jo away from bank accounts, move them to Lois 4. Discussion items a. Budget variance i. Exhibitor fees will decline by approximately $35,000 ($105,000 to $70,000) ii. Estimated 35 sponsors at $2,000 = $70,000 iii. Transfer from reserves to cover the lost revenue from $21,050 (original allocation) to $56,050 (additional $35,000 to cover loss of revenue) b. Conference registration fee i. We think attendance will be down ii. We believe we will come in under budget iii. We have lowest conference fee iv. We are estimating 450 people v. Conference fee will be $250 vi. It is a goal to become self-supporting vii. I made the point about lender support on local arrangement committee and the fact they are paying their own costs; also SLXpress has paid for conference calls viii. Rick will consider this in his budget creation c. Membership fee i. 1063 members ii. 45% are associate members iii. We are keeping membership fee at $50. Total cost through registration will be $300. 12. Kim Donat will need to work with Betsy Johnson to identify student success story 13. We need to update our committee reports on MASFAA website - update committee list 14. Professional Development needs to do conference scholarship coordination a. Selected recipients need to register differently - work with Jeff Pethick 15. Professional Development also coordinates the newcomer's event on Sunday afternoon 16. We could use listserv as a travel board, indicating various costs for area airports, etc. - include in tickler Program Committee Update--Jason Notes from Program Meeting - 4-10-08 & 4-11-08 Present: Candi Frazier, Jason Reinoehl, Bennie Hayden, Thomas Ratliff, Nichole Lien, Dan Mann, Cappy Brewer, Lois Mulbrook, Debbie McKinney, Kelly Fleming, Dick Battig, Diane Fleming (Friday only) Absent: Michiale Schneider, JoAnn Ross, Lake Tackett, Nancy Calvert ACTION ITEMS (Responsible Person(s)) 1. Can we change sweatshirts to the general MASFAA logo? By doing so, we can sell leftovers at future events. (Michiale / Jason) 2. Duke Energy Center a. If we register at the Duke we need to make a decision about letting people into the dinner event on Sunday night (Jason / Michiale) b. We need to be clear about the "junior ballroom" on our signs and in print/web communications (Jason / Michiale) c. We should let the guests know that they will need to hold their coats and should bring umbrellas (Jason / Michiale) d. For general sessions / meals can we setup 10 tops with 6 chairs only? Face all chairs toward the speaker. (Jason / Michiale) 3. Do we have a student success speaker? (Jason / Michiale / Kim Donat / Betsy Johnson) 4. Newsletter handed out to guests upon arrival a. Include layout of Duke, with specific details about getting to the Junior Ballroom and the vendor area (Michiale / Jason) b. Include a suggested itinerary for Sunday (Check-in, visit vendor area, newcomer's reception, attend core/users group, dinner, Sunday entertainment) (Michiale / Jason) c. User's Group / Core Session details / rooms, etc. (Michiale / Jason) d. Note about Starbuck's / ATM availability (Cash only at Tuesday lunch and Freedom Center events) (Michiale/Jason) e. Martha will create a promotional flyer for Sunday Entertainment event. 5. Check the attendance for service award winners so we can streamline the reading of recipient names. Should we email them prior to MASFAA for an RSVP? (Jason / Michiale / Kim Donat) 6. We need to equip the Registration desk with general Information, as well. Also, we should be able to store things for people who don't want to carry items all day (i.e. Service awards, etc.)? (Michiale / Jason) 7. We need to establish registration desk hours (Michiale / Jason) 8. Program development timeline a. Program committee members will send session description and speakers to Debbie by May 15th (Program committee members / Debbie) b. If presenters need a comp'd room or travel reimbursement, send this information to Dan / Julia / Jason / Michiale (Program committee members) c. Within a week, Debbie will return these to committee members as a confirmation that information is correct (Debbie) d. Debbie will assign session numbers and send confirmation to speakers - confirmation will include i. A reminder for speakers to bring presentation in Word 2003 format and to bring on a flash drive. ii. Advise speakers that a laptop, microphone (no wireless), LCD, and screen will be provided (Debbie) iii. Handouts are their responsibility - 50 copies are suggested e. AV setup (Michiale / Jason) i. Provide backup laptops ii. Have a laptop available to convert Office 2007 to Office 2003, if necessary f. Debbie will prepare tentative agenda for website by June 1, 2008 - send to Dan/Julia/Jason/Michiale (Debbie) g. Tentative agenda to website by June 1, 2008 (Michiale / Jason) h. Tentative agenda for printer by July 1, 2008 (Michiale / Jason) i. Program committee members will send moderators and bio to Lois by August 1, 2008 (Program committee members) j. Final agenda, speakers, and moderators sent to Jason/Michiale by 9/01/08 (Lois / Debbie / Dan / Julia) k. Write track descriptions and send to Michiale / Jason to be included in final packet (Dan / Julia) l. Identify tracks using conference theme symbols (conductors hat, train whistle, etc.) (Michiale / Jason) m. Final agenda to conference program printer by 9/15/08 (Michiale / Jason) n. Cappy Brewer will revise intersession survey and send to Lois for printing and stuffing of the moderator packets (Cappy) o. Lois is revising moderator instructions, will include final version in moderator packets (Lois) p. Lois will send moderator packets to Hilton to arrive on October 9th. (Lois) She will need shipping instructions (Jason) q. Moderator packets will be included with registration materials. (Michiale / Jason) r. Registration desk should receive completed surveys from moderators (Michiale / Jason) s. Online survey should be on web on October 15th (Michiale / Jason) t. Post presentations to website after conference (Michiale / Jason) 9. Moderators for general sessions (Dan / Julia) 10. Introduction of NASFAA representatives (Diane) 11. Follow up with Freedom Center, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative re: speakers (Dan / Julia) 12. Develop a few additional sessions as backups, if necessary (Bennie) 13. Phil Day is arriving on Saturday and will stay through Wednesday (this room is comp'd) (Jason / Michiale) 14. Dave Gruen's stay, TBD - this is comp'd (Jason / Michiale) 15. Regional exchange, person and timeline TBD - this is comp'd (Jason / Michiale) 16. Provide itineraries from VIPs to Jason / Michiale (Program committee members) NOTES OF INTEREST 1. Attendance / Vendors - we anticipate attendance closer to 450-500, down from prior years 2. What do we think of a business solutions track? 3. Suggestions for student financial literacy SUMMARY 1. Dan/Julia and Jason/Michiale will talk about timeline and make some final decisions - we will keep the committee in the loop 2. We have established a general timeline for getting information to Debbie and then on to our membership via website and conference program development 3. For the MASFAA spring newsletter, we will just include speakers and a list of interest sessions, also including a highlight of the TEACH grant session, graduate/professional sessions/proprietary/medical, student employment/veteran's/scholarships, NASFAA President (Dr. Day), Reauthorization, Recap on ethics symposium, networking opportunities and entertainment opportunities (Freedom Center), cultural experiences in Cincinnati, vibrant downtown area, local restaurants and shopping opportunities i. We will provide this information on website, as well (Jason / Michiale) NEXT MEETING: May 15, 2008 MEETING ADJOURNED: SUBMITTED BY: Matt Moore, Miami Univ of Ohio POSTED BY: Michiale M Schneider