6:08 -
meeting is called to order with all 8 board members present (including the 2
new members Aaron and Kate).
No
other MECA members or individuals were present.
Mike
indicates that he has received business cards for the EB members as well blank
membership cards that he purchased with his own funds (thanks Mike!).
6:09 -
Mike announces that the board has agreed to give Kate Ervin Kaplan (or a member
of her family) a life membership as thanks for her substantial donation to MECA
(unanimous approval by the other 7 board members).
The
board thanks the previous EB members for their service and welcomes Aaron and
Kate.
Mike
indicates his priorities for MECA at this time (and throughout 2021) are:
We
discussed ways to notify members if their membership is set to expire
soon.
Oisin
gives a specific thanks to Mike for continuing to put work in throughout
2020.
Elizabeth
asked about our membership term structure.
Kate
fielded a question about how we delegate responsibilities.
Dan
expressed some support for a calendar year based
membership structure as Elizabeth suggested.
Aaron
indicated that we cold automate emails to send to members when their membership
is set to expire.
Oisin
expressed support for this and Wyatt, Oisin, and Aaron have agreed to work on
this issue and find a cleaner membership database structure.
6:29 -
(Item #2)
Oisin
gives a treasurers report.
Current
general balance as of 12/30/20 4,000
Scholastic
balance: 4,500
Wyatt
gives proposal on the MECA election results and summary.
Elizabeth
asked if we have, or could have, a slot on the board for a scholastic
representative (voting or non-voting).
The
board agrees that we could add this into our bylaws (which are currently being
rewritten).
Steve
asks if there is a central location for all of our files.
Oisin
asked if we could have a deadline to ratify our new bylaws.
Mike
indicates February-March would be fine with him. He also indicates that there
should be a membership vote on the ratification.
Elizabeth
indicates that we would have a period where the membership has a reflection
period where they can give feedback on the document.
Mike
will send an inquiry to US Chess about bylaw ratification (member vote first vs
US Chess approval first).
Steve
opens a topic about IT security. Recommends 2-factor authentication for
everyone.
Mike
indicates that we have had scammers trying to pose as “Mike”.
Mike
has asked Steve to draw up some security guidelines.
Steve
and Aaron gave inputs on methods of 2-factor authentication.
6:57
(Item #3) - Deciding on the date and the format for the 2021 Maine State
Championship.
Dan
indicates a preference for September and an opposition to April.
Wyatt
indicates he’s opposed to April.
Board
members indicate opposition to April.
Board
has echoed that September is a stressful time.
Board
has concerns about July.
Board
has indicated a mid to late August as a good time.
The US
Open will be the first week of August in New Jersey. Mike is confident the
invitationals will be held in person.
Board
definitely supports having the weekend after the US Open in August as an ideal
time.
Mike
has made a motion to lower the U1600 section to U1500, and change the U1300
class prize to U1200.
Motion
passes 8-0.
Mike
will ask the hotel in Waterville about possible dates in August.
Wyatt
proposes to make the change to an open format indefinite (last year’s proposal
was just for the 2020 championship).
Motion
passes 8-0.
7:25
(Item #4) - Proposal for a print run of the MCJ.
Mike
makes a motion for $400 to run a print run of the MCJ.
Motion pases 8-0.
We have
decided at the time that we can afford one run per year. If Wyatt can secure
some advertises and raise another $400 we could
potentially afford ore runs (other editions through the year would be digital).
7:36
(Item #5) - Discussion about the RJM scholarship.
and
to allocate and add an additional $338 to our c. $662 in the fund.
Wyatt
abstains from discussion based on his potential eligibility for the Roger J
Morin scholarship.
Question
was asked abut the details of the scholarship.
Mike
indicates a willingness to support a committee to determine the detailed
structure and decide on payments.
Mike
makes a motion to establish an account for the RJM scholarship.
Passes
7-0 with 1 EB member abstaining.
Mike
makes a proposal to allocate $338 to bring the amount of money in the fund to
$1000.
Passes
7-0 with one member abstaining.
7:45
(Item #6) -
Discussion
about funds for reinstitution the George E Cunningham brilliancy prizes.
A
committee would likely be formed to look at the games.
Would
be for MECA members only.
Dan
says he will look into contacting the previous anonymous donor.
The
board has decided the committee can create their own factors for
choosing.
Mike
has made the proposal to allocate $300 for six $50 payments for GEC brilliancy
prizes.
Motion
passes 8-0.
7:52 -
We discuss a proposal from Andrew Demaris to build
some custom wood trophies to replace our older ones.
Mike
makes a proposal to appropriate no less than $500 and no more than $750 to
produce these trophies and, as Oisin said, to allocate the money from the
scholastic fund but that MECA could donate money to the scholastic fund
earmarked for the purpose of this.
Oisin
has indicated that Andrew would like to present the designs to the EB
first.
Elizabeth
has indicated we could record his presentation on how GEC fits into the trophy
design and send it to the schools so they understand who the man behind the
trophy is and the thought behind the design.
Motion
passes 8-0.
8:07 -
Meeting is ended and we will work on the remaining agenda issues at our meeting
that will be planned for next month.