2015/06/18 VIMS Council Meetig Minutes

VIMS Council Meeting Minutes (approved)

Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

Sandra’s home


Present:

June, Sandra, Rod, Bruce, Brian

Absent with Regrets:

No one

 

Agenda Items:

  1. Review and Approve Council Meeting Agenda:

Motion from June to approve agenda.

Carried.

  1. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting (May 21st, 2015):

Motion from Rod to approve minutes.
Carried.

  1. Follow-up to 2015 AGM:
  • Note in the July newsletter that the 2015 AGM minutes are posted to the VIMS website. Rod to provide information to Margo.
  • Post a link on the website to the 2014 financial report. Bruce to set up the link and post the report.
  1. Financial
  • June presented the VIMS quarterly report prepared by Wei Wu. We are doing better than expected for the first quarter mainly due to the higher than expected dana from Christina Feldman and Ajahn Sona’s retreats.
  • Account Balances on May 31st:


Chequing: $5,002.36

Savings: $5,239.99

TOTAL: $10,242.35

    • Motion from June to accept the report. Carried.
    • Wei was offered the treasurer role (to sit on council) but she has declined as she thinks it is better for her to keep being the bookkeeper and providing financial reports and to keep these tasks separate from the Treasurer role. June will continue as treasurer for now
    • Post the 2013 financial report to the website with the report from the 2014 AGM.
  1. Reports and Updates
    • Communications: Bruce provided a report to council.
      • Automated retiring of posts (at a predetermined date) is not currently working.
      • Recordings from Ayya Medhanandi’s retreat will be available after those from Ajahn Sona’s retreat are ready.
      • There will be no changes to our website now but consideration will be given to Rod’s optional presentation in the future.
      • The June newsletter went out on time. There was one date error noticed after distribution and it was suggested that we have the draft newsletter emailed to the contributors for review to check for accuracy. Changes sometimes happen (program schedules, facilitators, etc.) and not everyone involved with newsletter production will be aware of the changes. Rod to follow up with Margo.
    • Retreat Operations:
      • Ajahn Sona’s May 23/24 retreat: 140 registered and 98 attended on Saturday and 85 on Sunday. Gratitude to: the Retreat Coordinators June Fukushima and Brock Brown; Constant Contact setup Brian Chapel; Registrar Joanna Stonechapel; Co-managers Tess Wixted and Isy House; Sound/Recording Rod House; Hospitality June and Brock.
      • Ayya Medhanandi visit – June 12-14: Friday night Public Talk: Held at Goward House – 20 people attended – gratitude to Bruce McRae for Sound/Recording and to Brock Brown and Eric Bedard for set-up. Saturday one day retreat at First Unitarian Church of Victoria – 76 registered, 67 were expected, 64 attended. Gratitude to: Retreat Coordinator Brock Brown; Constant Contact setup Brian Chapel; Registrar/Ride Coordination Margo McLaughlin; Co-managers Brock and June; Sound/Recording/Setup and site visit Bruce McRae; Hospitality Brock and June. Feedback on the venue was very positive. Sunday night Facilitation and Talk: 30+ people attended. Gratitude to Eric Bedard and Brock Brown for setup.
    • Workload/Recruitment Meeting: A meeting was held at the end of May to discuss the status of VIMS workload and strength of the volunteer base. Gaps, options for staffing and recruitment possibilities were reviewed. Minutes were taken, circulated to all attendees, reviewed and approved. (reference item #7 for related information).
    • Advice given by accountant (Levinson):
      • Submission of the T1: VIMS had a recommendation to file a T1 (General Income Tax and Benefit Return). Council had a general discussion whether to file or not but feels we need additional information before making a decision.
      • T4s (Statement of Remuneration) for Margo and Brock who taught the monthly Beginner Drop-in Program January through June 2015. The council has taken this under advisement and will discuss further in the future.
  1. Action/Decision
    • Study Group: Bruce has spoken to Heather regards possibilities for the study group for the fall but further investigation and discussion is required. Motion from Bruce to defer a decision on the study group to July to allow for further discussion/investigation. Carried.
  1. Potential Discussion Items:
    • Mentorship & volunteers: Referencing the group finance meeting June said that people wanted to talk about the possibility of hiring. The head Registrar role that June currently undertakes (to mentor specific retreat registrars) is a role we need to fill. Brian is willing to support/mentor Registrars who are new to Constant Contact for retreats in 2016 when his schedule permits. June is also available for this purpose. Some technical roles (like sound, recordings, website maintenance) require volunteers have a certain level of technical skill. Rod mentioned sending out a request letter to a targeted list of regular retreat attendees to seek more volunteer help. The idea was agreed by council. Rod will create an initial draft list. Rod, June and Sandra will carry this further.
    • Key roles on council: It was suggested that council invite specific people to council meetings as visitors.
  1. Planning:
    • Remaining 2015 retreats: Sandra to request descriptive information from Margo for her September retreat to add to the July newsletter and to post to the website.
    • Sunday night sit facilitators – website update: Sandra to check with Margo if she or Pascal is updating the website with the facilitators for each month.
    • Acknowledgement and thanks to June for preparing the Retreat Operations document. Motion from Rod to use this as a working document. Carried.
    • 2016 May retreat item: Ajahn Sona will be conducting a two day non-residential retreat May 21/22. It’s been proposed that he will give a public talk on the Friday night prior to the retreat in conjunction with storytelling from Margo. Motion from June to put this in place. Carried. The location of the Friday night public talk is to be decided.
  1. 2016 Retreat Planning:
    • Sandra to confirm February one-day retreat date with Margo McLoughlin and to ask Brock to contact Goward House to check availability for preferred date(s). This one day retreat is an addition to the retreats already planned for 2016.
    • Isy House is contacting potential Registrars and Managers for the 2016 retreats.
    • Further operations planning for 2016 retreats will begin at the next council meeting.
  1. 2017 Retreat Planning:
    • Further discussion on 2017 retreat scheduling is tabled for attention at the July council meeting.
  1. Meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Next Meeting

July 16th, 2015
7:00-9:30 p.m.
Sandra’s home