Members present: John B (host), Ian C, David H, Tomas L, Lew M, Robert D, and MaineBob
Stamp Party from 4-6pm. Board Meeting from 6-8pm.

  1. Check-in
  2. Review MCM Board Minutes from 06/25/2019
    a. (14e) “New men fee will be waived-how many?”. New men will have the option to have their fee waived, pay part or total amount. David will work on wording for the brochure
    b. (17c) “Bus test?” No one can remember what this is about – subject dropped.
    c. Minutes from 6/12/19 approved with above changes.
  3. Treasurer’s Report (Ian)
    Current Balance = $4873.38. Ian has resigned as Treasurer of MCM. The board thanks him for his service, Tomas, Co-treasurer will assume the responsibilities. David will ask for volunteers at the business meeting at the retreat to fill this position. The Treasurer needs to be a member of the board.
  4. Common Ground Fair/MOFGA Membership (Ian)
    Look into finding cost to advertise in MOFGA Guide – John B
    (Board voted not to renew MOFGA Membership at this time).
  5. Timeline for things to get done by (David)
    a. Program Committee – a timeline needs to be developed for MCM. This outline will include things like: When insurance is paid, timeline for brochure and confirmation letter will be completed, mailing dates, 501c3 paperwork needs to be submitted. David will work on typing this up. It will be added to the manual when complete.
    b. Program committee representative will meet with MCM Board at the first or second meeting after the Spring or Fall Retreat. The reason is so work can start early and help can be offered by the board if needed.
    c. A job description for the Program Committee needs to be written to help the men know their responsibilities
    d. Early Registration Discount – dates decided upon: By October 1st for the Fall Retreat; by April 15th for the Spring Retreat.
    e. Mail Chimp is a mailing that gets sent out to all current MCM members. Tom Beal, Bob O’Conner, or the Program Committee can write up the blurb. A series of 3 blurbs will be sent out prior to the weekend. (David will contact Tom to confirm this.)
    f. Ian has been filing the annual 501c3 paperwork by Jan 3 of each year. The deadline date is Jan. 15th. John Sommo and Ian will get together to review what needs to be done and at this time John has agreed to be the secretary for this document. John and Ian will get together about this.
    g. The MCM Manual is a working document to be updated each year with new decisions. The manual is currently being used and was updated 9/3/18
  6. Name Tag Idea (John B)
    We will need to have plenty of regular name tags ready for the retreat. Burning your own name tag will be a workshop. Ian will bring 30-40 wood pieces to use for tags. Suggestion: make name tags for men who have passed (John and Ian will bring this up at the retreat).
  7. Website – issue about retreat dates – David will contact Tom and Dan to have it updated. The new dates should be posted soon after the retreated has ended.
    Dan K – online registration project. Who will take care of online registrations? Dan contacted David and said that it would be easy to set up on the website. He will develop it and present it to the board for approval.
  8. Arriving at Tanglewood. The following people need to be there by 3pm: Registrar, Weekend Facilitator, Tanglewood Liaison, and Program Committee should try and be there at 3:00. The other men may arrive at that time but registration will start at 4. This give people time to set up in their sleeping quarters.
  9. Registration Forms –
    a. Put regular registration form into the packet for this retreat. Expanded form developed by John B to be used in the Spring mailing
    b. 6 sheets and the outer envelope = 1 oz. (David): 2 brochures, 2 registration forms, 1 poster (we can have a total of 6 sheets in the envelope).
  10. Transgender Discussion will continue. At the present time “any self-identified man is welcomed at MCM”. Discussion continues to figure out if we need a separate protocol to help any and all men feel comfortable. Lew has a friend he can consult for input and will report back at out next board meeting.
  11. Non-Profit MCM 501c3 – John S will be the secretary and will contact Ian for help with this position. Ian was looking into hiring a person to do this so we can discuss if it is worth the cost.
  12. Glossy Paper Poster – John B will check on cost of Poster for Registration. John B will contact Staples and get in touch with David afterwards.
  13. Pop-up Workshops Refer to minutes (06/25/2019 – 15a,b,c)
    It was suggested that Friday night at the retreat would be the right time/place to mention this type of workshop if we have a low number of workshops offered. The board needs to encourage people to develop workshops before the weekend. Money is available for supplies by calling the treasurer.
  14. Confirmation Letter – Who creates this? (Tom B)?
    a. Meat dishes need to be identified
    b. Time to arrive – 3pm for Board members; 4pm for all other members
    c. Food allergies need to be mentioned and communicated to Brad or Vincent
    d. Check with Tom B to see if he is creating the Confirmation Letter (David)
  15. George and MCM Film Productions
    a. David and group of men met with George
    b. Project to be a workshop at the retreat
    c. Possibly film men in conversation at the Tanglewood Museum
    d. Film needs to veted by the board before being used.
    e. David to talk with George about the filming. On Friday night David and George will discuss the workshop and let the group know that the board has given George the OK to film at the weekend in specific spots. Men can choose if they want to take this workshop with the understanding that the film may be shown to the public at a later date.
    f. David to send MaineBob the 2019 Spring Retreat List
  16. Review Responsibility List for the upcoming Retreat
    a. Need Weekend Facilitators and Board Members – need Script for the facilitator to follow for the weekend. Lew will be Backup Facilitator
    b. Parker – Coffee Meister – John B to call him to see where Coffee stuff is.
    c. Postmaster General – MaineBob is Primary – Tomas is Backup
  17. Other
  18. Next Board Meeting: Set for October 30th (Wednesday) at either John Sommo’s house or at David’s.

Submitted by Registrar John Bangeman on 09/24/2019 Accepted by the MCM board on 10/29/19