2021 Pre-convention Board meeting

April 30, 2021

The meeting was called to order by President Sheila Young at 5:00 PM. 

The meeting began with the pledge of allegiance.

Sally Benjamin called the roll. Those that were present were BRLF, CCTB, FCCLV, Greater Fort Lauderdale, Greater Miami,   Greater Orlando, GDUF, Halifax, Jacksonville, Manatee, Miami Beach, Miami Metro, Pinellas, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, members at large, President, Sheila Young; 1st Vice-President,  Mikey Wiseman; 2nd Vice-President Cassandra Jessie; Treasurer, Mark Lear; Recording Secretary, Mary Tyson; membership Secretary, Sally Benjamin; and Immediate past president, Jim Kracht.  Committee Chairs in attendance were: Access, Archives, Awards, Budget and Finance, Convention, Constitution and Bylaws, Employment, Education and Leadership, Executive, Fundraising, Membership, Project Insight, Publicity and Publications, Public Education, Resolutions, and Technology.   Chapters absent were: Northwest Florida, Palm Beach, RSVF, and Southwest Florida.  A quorum was declared.

Motion was made by Eugene Batke to approve the minutes of the mid-year board meeting   and was seconded by Wanda Stokley.  Motion passed.

Mikey Wiseman gave a hotel information update.  The hotel has added some additional lunch and dinner specials for today and tomorrow.  There will be cash bar at the banquets and this year they are able to accept credit cards. 

The hotel is providing bottled water in refrigerators located in the meeting rooms.  Please do not leave the empty bottles on the tables.

Dan Spoone thanked everyone who participated in the virtual auction held on Tuesday night.  Over $4,000 was raised.  There will be a live auction of six items at the banquet tomorrow night.  You must be present to bid and credit cards will be accepted. 

The convention sponsors will be recognized tomorrow and they have provided $7,100 in sponsorships.

If you enroll in the Monthly Monetary Support Program, or increase your monthly donation by $5, you will be eligible for a drawing for a Smart TV to be held on Sunday morning.  We currently receive approximately $5,500 each year from this program.

Mark Lear advised that vouchers for board reps and committee chairs need to be completed at 1:00 tomorrow in the Beauford Room.   

The Budget and Finance Committee met with Mark Webb, our investment advisor, and after a review of our finances; he recommended that we move our investment strategy up a notch to become more lucrative.     Motion was made by Paul Edwards to accept this recommendation to make this change in investment.  Motion was    seconded by Tom Hanson.

Jim Kracht explained that we are largely invested in ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) which are similar to mutual funds.   We currently have $499,642.44 in the Merrill-Lynch account and are doing very well.  

The question was asked what our risk would be when the market makes a downturn, as is inevitable at some point in the future.  The Committee was advised that in the event that this occurs, we could move our funds with no financial penalty.

The motion passed.

Motion to adjourn was made by Wanda Stokley and seconded by Mary Tyson.  The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,

Mary Tyson,
FCB Recording Secretary