Minutes APRA-VA Meeting January 28, 2005
The Winter 2005 meeting of the Virginia Chapter of APRA was held on January 28th at the Woodlands Conference Center in Williamsburg, Virginia and was hosted by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. There were 32 members in attendance. After a continental breakfast and networking session the group was welcomed to the Woodlands Conference Center by Treasurer Philip Bottonari of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Program Chair Lynda Myers introduced the two APRA-VA scholarship recipients who shared their experiences at the 2004 MARC Conference. Nancy Lanier, Director of Development Research at Union-PSCE, recounted her experience at the conference. Erik Kahil , Assistant Director of Prospect Research at Virginia Tech, also shared his experiences about the five sessions he attended, as well as his insight on transitioning to a development profession from banking and the similarities the two fields have in common.
Following their discussion, Chapter President Chris Pipkins called to order the business meeting, which began promptly at 10:30 a.m. In his opening remarks, Chris thanked Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for hosting the meeting. As the ice-breaker Chris asked everyone around the room to introduce themselves, tell what they did and whom they represented. He then thanked and recognized the outgoing chapter board members and presented the new 2005-2007 elected board members.
Committee reports: Presidents Report, Chris Pipkins: The chapter membership fees will remain the same at $20. It was voted on and approved that the due date for the yearly fees be collected in January (calendar year). If a new member signs up in the Fall, their membership fee will carry over to the next year. However a new member who joins in the Spring will pay dues at that time. The chapter meeting cost will have to increase to $30 per person to absorb escalating food costs.
Vice-President Report, Tricia Ambler: The MARC Conference is scheduled for June 8,9 & 10 at VCU and will be hosted by APRA. Tricia advised those present that the scholarship deadline, open to all members, is March 30. The application will be available on the website. Mary Maxwell, Director of Prospect Research at the University of Richmond, announced that she is the facilitator chair for the conference and is requesting volunteers to man the registration table and monitor sessions for the three days. Please contact her at (804) 289-8045 or by email mmaxwell@richmond.edu if you are interested. Tricia reported that the Mentorship Program is returning. Details to follow at the March meeting.
Program Chair Report, Lynda Myers Lynda handed out a survey to all attendees asking for topic interests.The next chapter meeting is Wednesday, March 30 at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville with Jay Frost, President & CEO of Wealth ID as the key speaker. Lynda reported that the joint meeting with the DC chapter & Maryland chapter was in the planning stages. Details to follow.
Treasurer Report, Philip Bottonari:Philip reported that, as of 1/28/05, the APRA-VA account balance was $5,061.81. There was one account discrepancy to report MARC never cashed a May 2004 scholarship check ($250), and the check cannot be traced. To remedy this situation, Philip will send MARC a new check, less the stop-payment fee on the original check. Membership fees collected since the October 2004 meeting totaled $1,180. The January 2005 meeting expenses were estimated at $1075.
Secretary Report, Lisa Cheney: Lisa presented the October 2004 meeting minutes which are available on the chapter website. As there were no changes or corrections, a motion to approve the minutes was presented, seconded and passed without objection.
Membership Chair Report, Randy Holden: For 2005, Randy reported that there is 59 organizations represented with 97 individual members 37 of the 97 have renewed their membership. Randy is contacting the individuals that have not renewed by email or phone
Publicity Chair Report, Aleta Gesiewski: Aleta asked for input for the visual aspects of the APRA web page. She welcomes any suggestions by members. She is currently working on updating the information on the web page and will be adding pictures. Please contact her (757) 221-2804 or email her akgesi@wm.edu with thoughts or corrections for the site.
Chris concluded the chapter meeting by thanking everyone for attending there wasnt a seat left, the attendance was incredible! He also shared his enthusiasm of the speakers lined up for this meeting both are chapter members. And hopefully, having chapter members present will be the case for future meetings. With no further business to discuss the meeting concluded at 11:00 a.m., with the speakers of the program to follow.
Program Chair Lynda Myers introduced: Randy Holden, Director of Prospect Research, Lynchburg College who presented Shop Talk: Tackling Large Ideas on a Shoestring Budget.
Lunch
Program Chair Lynda Myers introduced: Janet King, Director of Prospect Research, UVA who presented This Ones For You! A Practical guide for Communicating with Senior Management.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa B. Cheney, Secretary