The meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by the DACS President, Dave Green.
In attendance were board members Richard Corzo, Dick Gingras, Bert Goff (Secretary & Treasurer), Dave Green (President), Jim Scheef, and Andy Woodruff. Cathy Quaranta and Tom Zarecki were not present. The minutes were taken by Richard Teasdale.
- The Minutes of the 4/6/2016 Board Meeting were accepted.
Reports
- The Treasurer’s report for April was discussed and accepted. Bert highlighted the fact that income from membership dues was much better than in April of last year, and that on a year-to-date basis, it has caught up a lot with last year’s performance. Jim mentioned that postcards are being sent, and that members in-grace are receiving weekly e-mail reminders. Also, those who are in the last month of their memberships before renewals become due are receiving e-mail reminders.
- Membership committee: Jim e-mailed an updated spreadsheet, reporting that there are 95 current members + 14 in-grace, making a total membership of 109, one down from the previous month. Two new members were recorded.
- Marketing committee: No report.
- Press Coverage: Dave reported that a press release for the May general meeting was successfully sent out in April.
- Website: Richard reported that Annette van Ommeren used his new documentation webpage to send out the monthly e-mailed newsletter to the membership. Updates to the website during the month included the addition of links to Andy’s 2015 video clips of John Patrick.
Old Business
- Programs
- Bert reported that he had so far been unable to contact the owner of Computer Troubleshooters (Brookfield), Rick Van Akin, the prospective speaker for the June general meeting. Assuming that Van Akin is confirmed as speaker, Bert will write a Preview article. Dave will identify someone to write the Review.
- Several speaker alternatives were discussed, in case a substitute is needed in June. One possibility is John O’Donnell, who was scheduled to speak on genealogy in April but had to drop out due to illness. Dave will contact him to ascertain his availability in June or July. Also, Jim will contact the Microsoft Store to determine if there is interest in providing a modified version of their seminar about Cyber Security.
- Renovation of the Resource Center (RC) – Options for dealing with the possible health problem (mold) were discussed. It was agreed that the Building Manager (first) and city Health Dept. should be approached, in spite of the risk that the RC might be declared unusable. Dave will contact the RC Building Manager.
- Search for a Vice-President (and other DACS leadership positions) – Dave indicated that this matter does not need to be pursued further at the current time. Also, Andy reported that no responses have been received to the posting on Craig’s List.
- Music Workshop – Andy informed that he had discussed options with Chris Aher, however Dave reported that Chris will be moving away. Dave will follow up to determine whether someone else may be available to participate in a Music workshop.
- Ad from Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance – Bert is working on this.
- Location of key to DACS Mailbox – Charlie Bovaird has it.
New Business
- Snacks for general meetings – Richard (drinks) and Cathy (snacks) will make the arrangements in June.
- Robilotti Room vs. Auditorium for general meetings – The renovations to the Auditorium were judged to be an improvement but the board still felt that the Robilotti room is a better venue for DACS general meetings. Dave said that he would contact the hospital. Andy described some of the new audio facilities of the Auditorium.
- The roping off of certain areas in the Auditorium (done on May 3) was discussed, and it was agreed to use a different method in future for management of audience seating.
- Dick will continue to be the APCUG liaison.
- The board decided to take no action about the request from Danbury Youth Services for mentors.
- The board discussed possible ways to make general meetings more welcoming to non- members. It was decided to move the snacks table to the back of the room, and to use color-coded name tags to identify new visitors.
- Video workshop. Andy outlined his plan to run meetings of the workshop every 2 – 3 months. There will be opportunities for someone else to lead meetings in intervening months.
- It was decided that one of the donated copies of John Patrick’s book, Net Attitude, will be kept by DACS as a reference copy. The remaining four will be given away, one per meeting, at the next four general meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30pm.