VIMS Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting via Zoom, in Victoria, BC
Present:
Brock Brown (chair), Rhonda Duncan (Director), Kevin Keliher (Secretary), Joe Barrett
(Director) and Bruce MacRae (Vice-President).
Absent: June Fukushima (Treasurer)
Agenda Items:
1) Review and Approve Agenda.
Motion from Kevin to approve the agenda. Carried.
2) Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting June 18, 2024
Motion from Bruce to approve June 18th, 2024 minutes. Carried.
3) Business arising from the Minutes and Updates.
a) Ajaan Geoff retreat August 17 & 18 at University of Victoria
Thanks to Jacqui Balfour (Manager), Kiko Brown (Registrar), Metta VanderVliet &
Jonathan Huot (Sound) & Brock Brown (Retreat Coordinator). Thanks also to
Brock Brown & June Fukushima for hosting the monks.
Total number of Registrants: 129 In-Person and 290 Online.
Saturday Attendance: In-Person 105, Online 145
Sunday Attendance: In-Person 76, Online 140
Wi-Fi was $300/day. We thought it was $300 for both days. Total cost was
$3,500 for two days all included (i.e., rental, Wi-Fi & travel). We paid ½, $1750
per organization (VIMS & Aranya Refuge). Loss was about $1,000, however the
council felt it was a valuable contribution to the community and well worth this
loss.
b) Kate Davies retreat September 14 & 15.
Thanks to Louise Takada (Manager), Rhonda Duncan (Registrar), George Nyi
(Sound) & Brock Brown (Retreat Coordinator). Thanks also to Brock Brown &
June Fukushima for hosting Kate.
Saturday Attendance: In-Person 31,
Sunday Attendance: In-Person 26. Loss was $500.
c) Howie Cohn retreat October 19 & 20.
Thanks to Rhonda Duncan & Christine Mauro (Managers), Rhonda Duncan
(Registrar), Bruce MacRae (Sound), Metta VanderVliet (In-House Zoom
Coordinator) & Brock Brown (Retreat Coordinator). Thanks also to Brock Brown
& June Fukushima for hosting Howie. Thanks also to Nona Avren for taking care
of the retreat bins.
Saturday Attendance: In-Person 52, Online 26.
Sunday Attendance: In-Person 40, Online 26. Close to even.
d) Due to a health challenge in their family Brock & June have recently reduced
their participation in the organizing and running of retreats. They leave big shoes
to fill. Brock will let Heidi (Goward House booking agent) know that other board
members can sign if Brock is not present.
4) Financial Updates
a) Coast Capital Account Statements
Accounts October 28, 2024
Chequing: $ 6,561.02
Savings: $ 6,021.10
TOTAL: $12,582.12
Notes: Outstanding cheque to Suzan Denis $650 (not cashed yet)
Financial Reports for Jan 1 to Sept 30 sent by email
b) Margo McLoughlin asked for $50 travel reimbursement for leading the Sunday
Night Sit. Motion from Brock to approve travel reimbursement to Margo. Carried.
c) Motion from Bruce to give Kelly Arason permission to transfer funds from PayPal
to the VIMS bank account. Carried.
d) Motion from Brock to approve the 2025 Budget. Carried.
e) Brock expressed concern regarding financial losses for the last 3 years.. He then
presented three possible ways to reduce operating expenses moving forward. 1)
Could we do without insurance? Neither Goward House nor UVIC requires VIMS
to carry insurance. Would purchasing insurance for a day or weekend retreat be
sufficient? This decision does not need to be made until the summer of 2025. 2)
Could our Internet cost be reduced? Reducing our retreat recordings to a 12
month period would save approximately $200. A cut-off at 20GB was proposed.
3) Could we submit the tax return ourselves? We could use a copy of the 2023
tax return as a guide. If we run into further sustainability issues in the future the
one thing to keep would be In-Person retreats.
5) Sunday Night Sits (SNS)
a) Update from Joe regarding Sunday Night Sits. Joe reported that all the
organizers/coordinators worked on a budget for 2025. George Nyi did an
excellent job of leading a Sunday Night Sit. Moving forward Joe will be more
accurate when requesting rent payments from VIMS.
6) Communication – Newsletter, Website, Social Media, MailChimp
a) Bruce reported no change, things are continuing to run as normal. He will look
into reducing the size of the website (i.e., deleting files to keep no more than 12
months of recorded talks – max 20GB). Bruce will be away from December 10th
to February 10th.
7) 2024 Completed Retreats: all retreats in 2024 have been completed.
8) 2025 Upcoming Retreats: at Goward House unless indicated otherwise. Plan is to have
the first three retreats In-Person only. This will simplify volunteer requirements and
overall workload. Bruce agreed to get others (e.g., Metta or George) to manage Sound
when he is unable. Registration will continue to be managed by Kiko Brown & Rhonda
Duncan. Venue rental for Christina Feldman retreat (June 14 & 15) will cost
approximately $1,200. Motion from Kevin that we proceed with plans to reserve Shoal
Centre in June. Carried. This will most likely be the last time Christina will visit Victoria.
Rhonda to transport Christina from Parksville and back. Thank you Rhonda.
2025 Upcoming
Retreats
Date Teacher
Confirmed (Y/N)
Venue Format Notes
Feb 22 Margo
McLoughlin (Y)
Goward
House
In person
only
Joe Barrett (Manager),
Kiko & Rhonda (Registrar),
Bruce (Sound).
April 12 & 13 Tempel Smith
(Y)
Goward
House
In person
only
Joyce Elliott (Manager),
Bruce (Sound), Kiko &
Rhonda (Registrar).
May 10 & 11 Kristina Bare (Y) Goward
House
In person
only
Mary Ann Enthoven
(Manager), Kiko & Rhonda
(Registrar), Bruce
(Sound).
June 14 & 15 Christina
Feldman (Y)
Shoal Centre
in Sidney
To Be
Determined
Louise Takeda (Manager)
, , Brock & June (Host),
Kiko & Rhonda (Registrar),
Bruce (Sound).
Sept 20 & 21 Tuere Sala (Y) Goward
House
Hybrid Metta VanderVliet
(Manager), Kiko & Rhonda
(Registrar), Bruce
(Sound).
Oct 18 & 19 Howie Cohn (Y) Goward
House
Hybrid Rhonda Duncan
(Manager) , Kiko &
Rhonda (Registrar), Bruce
(Sound).
9) Discussion regarding ways to reduce Brock’s workload (e.g., finding Retreat Managers,
Sound Person and In-House Zoom Coordinator). Joe & Rhonda agreed to discuss in
more detail the possible development of a Retreat Operations Subcommittee.
10) Next Council Meeting date: January 21st, 2025 6:30 p.m.