Date: December 5, 2018
In Attendance: Brad, Ian, Jonathan, Tomas, John S, David
Minutes Submitted by: David, assisted by John S

  1. Check In
  2. Review of Fall Weekend: Positive feedback on theme. – There are concerns about men coming prepared with presentations vs discussion topics to fill the slots at the last minute. (This will be brought up to the Program Committee for them to decide how they how or if they want to actively elicit presentations.) – The weekend program worked out fine even though 2 of the 3 PC members were unable to be present (Nice job Lew) We had about 30 people in attendance.
  3. Treasure’s report:
    1. Currently MCM has $5672.29 before expenses for the weekend are paid. An update of the finances will be presented at the next board meeting. $694 was made at the auction. Expenses are estimated to be about $2000 for Tanglewood. Registration fees need to be added.
    1. Authorization was given to Ian and Tomas to close the MCM account at Bangor Savings and open an account at the TD Bank.
    1. Ian has been authorized to transfer the funds from TD to Bangor Savings Bank by the board.
    1. Discussion was held on different ways to offer the incentives for the: “New Man’s Incentive”.  For the May weekend we will offer 3 weekend slots for the first 3 new men to sign up for the spring weekend. (This will be confirmed next meeting once we know what we have in the bank account) Scholarships are still available as in the past. MCM members will be asked for input at the next weekend.
  4. MCM Manual was shared and discussed. It needs to be posted on the MCM website. David will work with Tom Beal to update all the minutes and post the procedure manual so it can be used by men interested in knowing how we operate. Also, job descriptions need to be completed so men who volunteer know what their responsibilities are .  Information on 501c3 needs to be part of this manual.
  5. Steve Case has resigned from the board. The board appreciates his work and enthusiasm.
  6. Jeff K, a member at the weekend asked the board to discuss finding a different place to have the weekend to possible save money as well as the topic of philanthropy to groups of people or organizations.

Place to hold weekend:

  1. Tomas will check out the price at “Hidden Valley” which is close to him
    1. Blueberry Cove will probably be the same price as it is owned by the University. It may be more as we are grandfathered into the rules and prices offered Tanglewood due to our long-time association.
    1. Discussion was held as to the sacredness as well as comfort level we have developed over the years at Tanglewood. Every weekend men speak to the specialness of being at Tanglewood. Tanglewood has not raised their prices since we have been a long-time member and they do not require a deposit. Tanglewood has also said that if MCM needs to cancel a weekend no fee will be charged as they do for any other organization.

-The board has decided to continue having the weekends at Tanglewood but will be open to discuss other options to save money.

Philanthropy

-At this time the board has decided that we will continue to use any money earned at the weekend to support the goals of MCM. Just a few years ago we were close to financial ruin and want to be sure that we have the funds for future weekend. Advertisement of some sort was suggested to use our funds to attract new members and keep the weekends going. MCM feels fortunate to having money in the bank to protect our interests.

Volunteerism as a way to give back to the community.

-MCM needs to be careful of offering out the services of its members to help out the community who are asking for volunteers. We have been asked in the recent past and 2 men showed up. It is very difficult to get men to commit to give time to these events. MCM is open to discussing this topic in the future and will continue efforts to get men to volunteer when asked.

  • Registrar — David will call John B to see if he would be interested in being the registrar for the May weekend. Maine Bob is the back-up person but will need to be asked if he is available as well. At the spring weekend we will put out a call for a member to take over this task. A person does not need to be on the board to be the Registrar. A job description needs to be developed for this position. (next Agenda)
  • Passwords and Mail-Chimp — David will contact Maine Bob and ask him to change the password. David volunteered to learn how to use mail chimp so we have more than one person on the board able to access this tool.
  • “A Time to Reach Out” … Can this be added to the theme of the weekend or be used in some way to get men thinking about reaching out to others? David will suggest this to the Program Committee.
  • Common Ground Fair — Tabled until next meeting to gather more input.
  • Evaluation Forms: MCM board decided not to send an evaluation sheet out about the past fall weekend. We need to decide “What do we want to know?”  For the spring weekend a “Suggestion Box” will be used to solicit feedback.  Blank sheets as well as a few questions could available for men to fill out.
  • Mini-Workshops: A new concept for men to try. In the confirmation letter it will be suggested that men prepare a 45 min mini presentation. This idea can also be floated in the e-mail blurbs encouraging men to sign up.
  • Other:
    • Bandanas. Ian will check out the price to have them printed at Liberty Graphics.
  • Next meeting:  Jan 9, 2019. Snow date Jan 16, 2019.  Place: John Sommo’s house

Minutes Approved on Jan 16, 2019 by the board