Date: Tuesday December 9, 2014
Place: Brad’s House
In Attendance: Carl, John R, Ham, Brad, David, Bob (via conference phone)
Minutes submitted by: David
It was a dark and stormy night….
1. Minutes from Oct. 19, 2014 weekend meeting were reviewed, minor revisions made and these will be posted on the website soon. The minutes from the past 3 meetings will also be posted at that time.
2. Weekend reviewed – Workshops went well with variety, the thought is that the push by e-mail and in the brochure seemed to help men think ahead. This practice will continue. Also the “Variety Show “ went well but we need to encourage men before the weekend to take a risk and share their talents or abilities. Connections to nature, taking care of self, synchronicity of the moment as well as intention should all be stressed for upcoming weekends.
3. Maine Bob made a short video of the experience at MCM Sunday morning weekend. The board decided that this can be shared with the people who attended the weekend. Confidentiality was discussed and it was felt that this should be treated as we do the mailing lists of the weekend as well as the group picture. If men decide to share, discretion is encouraged as always. Bob will send this video link out to you.
4. Alcohol was discussed at the past weekend event. It was decided that we reiterate our chemical free policy at the weekends. Board meetings are also chemical free. We felt that Tanglewood probably has policies in place for a Chem free environment. If we have a “50th” celebration, possibly a cookout, we will discuss if this should also be a chem free event.
5. A financial report was sent in by Ian: “The current bank balance with no pending bills is $2306.41.” We are in good financial shape at this point.
6. Board E-mails… the Board felt that e-mails about matters being discussed, plans etc. by the board should go to members of the board only. Any man interested on being an active member of the board is encouraged to join and come to meetings. It was recognized that there are many past board members who are very active with the weekend and their past experiences are very valuable. Input is always encouraged from anyone and decisions made by the board will be posted on line in the minutes. It was felt that if needed, board members could ask anyone of the “elders” for their perspective and/or help.
7. We are attempting to identify who the men are on the current active list for the board. Generally it is felt that many men who had been active in the past are probably on the “inactive board list”. Some men have announced they are stepping aside others have not. If you feel that you are still on the board we apologize for not adding you to this list and would appreciate if you could contact us ASAP so you can again be on the “active list”. The current “active board” list includes: Ham, John R., Don, Michael, Sepp, Ian, David, John B., Brad, Lew, Carl, and Bob.
8. Mentor Program: This is a work in progress. When a new man sends in his registration we will ask John B. to assign him a mentor. Mentors were asked to volunteer and sign up at the last weekend with their e-mail and phone numbers. The responsibility of the mentor will be to try and contact the new man before the weekend to discuss the weekend, answer questions etc. On the weekend, contact the person on Friday night and check in during the weekend. A follow-up call after the weekend at some time will also be a way to help a new man process the weekend. It was suggested that a workshop on “Mentor Program” be held at the Spring weekend. We realize that this is a start and hope to develop this program as time goes on.
9. Mailing List Update: Ham and Bob will continue working and plan to complete this list to be used for the Spring mailing. They have been working on dropping names of men who have not respond in many years, deleting names of men who have died, updating addresses etc. This has been a huge task to convert it over to a flexible computer program file. The board would like to recognize the men who are working on this task and say thank you.
10. Web-site update: Tom B. is our Website Master. Bob and Vince are back-ups. These men should have the passwords to the Website. David has offered to be a substitute if needed as one of his siblings builds websites and may be of assistance. John R. will be the “board liaison” to Tom. David has offered to be back-up. Information for the website will be approved by the board and John will pass it on Tom’s to be posted. John will contact Tom and they will look to see if changes need to be made to our current website to make it more user friendly. They can make these changes without board approval with the idea that “keeping it simple” is generally better. Thank You for this work.
11. Peanuts/nuts at Tanglewood: The University of Maine is heading toward being nut free environment due to the life threatening allergic reactions of some individuals. MCM has adopted a policy of being “nut fee” to support their efforts. A note in the brochure will emphasis that no nuts be brought to the weekend in cooked foods or as snacks. Dan will need this info for the brochure.
12. Outside Consultant: It was suggested at the past weekend that the board consider bringing in an outside consultant to look at our organization and possibly redesign our current structure. The board discussed the MCM organization and feels that we can use the expertise within the organization to continue our work and that a consultant is not needed at this time.
13. Number of men at the weekends: Currently we have been having 30+ men attend the weekends. It is felt that a healthy number would be between 30-50. Larger numbers would also be accepted. The financial “break even” point is 22 men for a weekend.
14. Brochure mailings: The board felt that the mailing should go out 6 weeks before the weekend to give men enough time to decide as well as plan and encourage new members. A week before the mailing a “Fold and Stamp” session will be held at a place to be announced. The next weekend is May 1, 2 and 3rd. The plan is the mailing will be sent on March 23, 2015. The “Fold and Stamp” session will be the week of March 16.
15. Facebook Page was discussed and men are urged to sign up for it by going to your Facebook account and typing in “Maine Coast Men” in the group search. This is a closed account and only men who have been “accepted” can view the contents. This is a powerful tool that can be used for communication, connections, discussions etc. We are encouraging all men who have Internet access to join this on-line format.
16. The board continues to search for a copy of the past by-laws. If you have any knowledge of them please contact David at hmmmbus@aol.com
17. The meeting concluded at 8:05 PM with several more agenda items to be discussed. These will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. Items are:
1. 50th gathering ideas/discussion
a. Dan/Tom write up for the newspapers
b. 50th T-shirt
c. Fundraiser
d. BA – Summer cookout mini adventure
2. Other :
a. Philanthropy
b. Amount of money MCM should have on hand for future weekend
costs, scholarships etc.
c. By-laws – we had them…. Should we rebuild them?
d. Brainstorm workshop ideas :“Healing” “Self Care” etc
e. Mission Statement of MCM
18. Next meeting – Date, Time and Place
David will put out an e-mail out to the board in early January asking board members for their available dates in January and early February . This process worked well for this past meeting. This meeting we tested out Bob’s “Conference Line” so people can be present by phone if travel is difficult. It worked very well and he will again offer this service for future meetings.
Minutes approved 1/14/15