2008 - 2009

MASFAA LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Teleconference

9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Present: Present:

Diane Borchardt, Carin Bullerman, Nichole Lien, Doug Minter, Jarod Paulson, Brad Riebel, Nate Rosckes, Carol Swenson, and Ken Wallace.

Absent:

Michelle Ahrendt, Cappy Breuer, Lois Larson, and Rick Shipman.

Budget	Nichole explained that the current 2008 budget for Local Arrangements is $170,000; however, we have been told that our 2009 budget will probably be less than this.  Also, we are not allowed to incur any expenses until we receive approval from Rick Shipman.
Review Master Workbook	Nichole explained that for 2009 we will have one Master Workbook similar to what the current Local Arrangements Committee is using. Nichole will update the workbook as the year continues.
Committee Reports (Membership, Overview of Duties)	Nichole stated that Rick Shipman asked that we wait until August to email the MAFAA listserv asking for committee volunteers. Nichole has it noted on her calendar to do this in August. The following committee chairs shared updates in regards to membership and tasks for each of their committees: A/V – Ken Wallace reported that he will be asking two MAFAA members to join his committee. Ken explained that the current committee solicited laptops to be used for sessions, however, Ken recommends having speakers bring their own laptops. There is also the question of soliciting for LCD projectors. We will discuss these items as a committee at a later date. Printing Program – Ken Wallace reported that he spoke with Lee Ann Timmerman (current Printing Program Chair) and they received three bids for printing the program which she will send to Ken for comparison. This year, the committee would create the program using publisher’s software and bring the completed program to the printer. The 2008 program will be approximately 50 pages. The current committee did have a problem obtaining vendor ads in a timely manner.  Most of the work that this committee will do is in late August / early September. Ken has added Katie Hendrickson to this committee. Evening Entertainment – Brad Riebel reported that he is in charge of Sunday and Tuesday evening’s entertainment. Brad contacted the Mall of America which has a ballroom / Great Room that we could rent. We can have a seated dinner with a max of 350 people or add Chef’s Tables and serve up to 650 people. There is a permanent stage in this room where we can have entertainment. The Mall of America will send Brad a meal/beverage menu. Doug suggested that we could have the option of purchasing round trip tickets on the Light Rail from downtown Mpls. To the Mall of America.  Brad will contact the Mall of America to ‘save the date’. After the teleconference, Brad contacted the Mall of America again and reported that the room fee is normally $1,500 but she would be willing to work with us on that based on our food and beverage purchases. The Mall will send Brad a copy of the contract so he can review the details. After the teleconference, Brad also spoke with Jason Reinoehl, the current local arrangements co-chair) and received the following information:  The Sunday welcome dinner will start at 5 p.m. with keynote, awards and a buffet dinner as well as a local choir group or band.  On Sunday night (after dinner) they plan to have a bunch of big screen TV's set up in the ballroom at the hotel.  The TV's will have baseball, football games, as well as a movie and Wii game.   Monday night is dinner on your own.   On Tuesday they will have "Concessions" in the exhibit area and conference attendees are expected to purchase their own lunch. Tuesday evening entertainment is use of the Freedom Center which is an underground railroad center and museum.  They will have a buffet dinner and cash bar. Doug also suggested the Mill City Museum for the Sunday event. Mill City is 1 mile from the Marriott and has an outdoor area and meeting rooms. Everyone will continue to think about more ideas that we could do for evening entertainment. President’s Reception – Carin Bullerman reported she spoke with the current chair, Cheryl Willard, and they currently have 3 members. The current committee began working on planning the President’s Reception in November. In November, she advised to contact the President with ideas for what he will want for a President’s Reception (location, entertainment, food, invitee list). Carin will also be responsible for sending out ‘save the date’ emails to the invitees with formal invitations going out later.  This year, they are mailing out invitations on September 1, 2008. Food / Beverage – Jarod Paulson reported that he has one member added to his committee:  James Hammer. Jarod also plans to ask Dick Battig to help him. Jarod will need to work closely with Brad on evening entertainment items also. Logistics & Publicity – Nate Rosckes reported that he contacted the current chair, Tasha McDaniel, and they started out with 11 members, however are down quite a few members due to them leaving the industry. Tasha would recommend fewer members for this committee. The current committee contacted the Visitors Bureau in Cincinnati and they created a web page for MASFAA to link to which included several area attractions, restaurants, etc. This year’s committee also decided to not mail postcard reminders for the conference as a way to cut costs. Charity – Carol Swenson asked the committee for charity ideas and the following ideas were given: Book drive to purchase B & N gift cards to give to lower income schools. Charity to help the Midwest region hit by the floods, although the timing may not be right in October 2009. Raffle or Silent Auction although we need to remember that several attendees fly to these conferences so if they win prizes it should be something small enough to pack in their luggage. Karaoke (could also use as a Sunday evening entertainment?) Not everyone knows each other at MASFAA conferences so we could have “State Competitions” or include the MASFAA President, NASFAA President. We would also need to generate creative ideas on how to raise money for the charity using Karaoke (if we did this). Everyone should continue to think of Charities and ways to raise money for the charity. Decorations – Carol Swenson will contact the current chair for more information on the Decorations needed for a MASFAA Conference. Vendor Relations – Michelle Ahrendt was absent and will report at the next Teleconference. Guest Services / VIP Services – Doug Minter reported that there are 4 people on the Guest Services Committee this year. Guest Services and VIP Services work closely together. Doug spoke to both current chairs, Stefanie Channell and Jennifer Gates and they did start out with 12 or 13 members, but ended up with 4. Stef and Jen stated that they use to have “Airport Greeters” but decided to drop it because people know how to travel and get to a hotel so they did not find it necessary to continue using Airport Greeters. They recommended that we do not have a Fall Conference in 2009 due to our MASFAA 2009 Conference. Nichole stated that she was told that the MAFAA Executive Council already voted to not have a Fall 2009 Conference. Stef and Jen also stated that they are pushing to “Go Green” and have more things electronic (i.e. website asking for car poolers to drive to the conference or to commute from the airport to the hotel).  Doug also reported that these committees would provide input for the MASFAA Newsletter in August and September of each year. Suggested items to include: AUGUST: Cab Phone numbers; Message Board to car pool. SEPTEMBER: Mayors Welcome; MASFAA President’s Welcome; Lunch/Dinner Options in the area; Coupon Book; Saturday evening activities that attendees could do on their own; walking trails; Sunday Church services; and things to do within 1 hour driving distance away. In 2008, they plan on asking Jeff Baker if he wants a driver to transport him to/from the airport and hotel instead of assuming that he does. Stef and Jen are also creating goodie baskets/bags for every single attendee at the conference instead of just VIP’s which they are discontinuing). Registration - Diane Borchardt reported that she talked to Val Kepner, current chair, and they currently have 11 members. Val suggested that Diane have 4 members on the committee and then when the conference approaches to add others to help on Registration Day. As the Cincinnati conference approaches, Diane will continue to learn more about how Registration works.  Diane also reported that the Local Arrangements Chair (Nichole) will be in charge of getting the Registration Page on-line. We will also need to work with Food/Beverage to add the menu / dietary options the on-line registration page to allow for more accurate meal counts and to be more cost effective. For Cincinnati, the committee is flying in on Friday evening and assembling packets on Saturday. Everyone on our committee is invited to help assemble packets if they want to.  This committee will also print name tags (Kerry Lurken was suggested as a good contact to assist with this so Diane will contact Kerry). We also added the following tasks to the Master Spreadsheet: Order name tag holders; Order name tag ribbons for presenters, VIP, Exec. Council, etc. Signage – Diane Borchardt reported that the Marriott already has electronic room signs that we could use instead of using poster board signs/easels for each room (another way to save money). We would however need signage to direct attendees to the Registration area and signs for Lender/Vendor Recognition (which we will obtain ideas from the Cincinnati conference).
Theme / Logo Update	Rick Shipman decided on the theme “Time To Refocus”. Diane Borchardt had EAC design six logos for us to review. Most of the committee liked logo # 4 with one person liking # 1 also. Other ideas for logos would include a magnifying glass, telescope, glasses, and microscope. Diane will ask her contact at EAC to design some more logos using the above ideas. Doug also sent these ideas to his Graphic Designer to create some logos for us to choose from.  Once we receive all of the logos, we will share all of these with Rick Shipman also and ask for his preference. Our logo page is due August 1 to allow the 2008 committee to include it in the Cincinnati Agenda/Program booklet.
Cincinnati Promo for MASFAA 2009	The committee discussed several ideas that have been used in the past such as: Last year’s train conductor song For Iowa people walked around putting corn stalk stickers on name tags while people in front discussed the upcoming conference (we could use Land O Lakes, Fish, MOA stickers) Video (one created by the committee or from the visitor’s bureau or asks a school to create one for us).  Nichole will inquire with area schools to see if they had any ideas on what we could create or what they could create for us (McNally College of Music, College of Visual Arts, or College of Art & Design). Placing postcards from the Convention Bureau on everyone’s chair/table setting on Wednesday. The committee will continue to brainstorm on this and will discuss again at our next teleconference.
Cincinnati Attendees	The following committee members confirmed whether they will be attending MASFAA 2008 in Cincinnati: Yes: Ken, Brad, Jarod, Carol, Nichole and Diane No: Nate Maybe: Carin and Doug
Next Meeting	Teleconference: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 9 a.m. Agenda Items: Vendor Relations Committee Report – Michelle Logo / Theme Update for Aug. 1 Deadline Promo June 25^th Teleconference Assignments (hi-lighted in blue on 6/25 minutes)
Respectfully submitted by, Nichole Lien Local Arrangements