VENTURA COUNTY PROFESSIONAL WOMENʼS NETWORK
Post Office Box 6329  Oxnard, CA 93031  (866) 275-4134  www.VCPWN.org
Minutes
VENTURA COUNTY PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK
LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING,
OCTOBER 18, 2012
IN ATTENDANCE: Alison Balter, Rita Frayer,
Mary Gabriels, Jann Huling, Shirley Jones,
Shirley Lorraine, Jim Nicoll, Sue Osborn, Micki
Rickard and Darian Taylor.
ABSENT: Bernadette Cardenas, Sheila Lowe,
Michelle McConica
President Mary Gabriels called the meeting to
order at 6:25 p.m. at her home.
Mary welcomed Micki Rickard, who is sitting in
for Bernadette Cardenas, and announced that
Jann Huling has agreed to take on the role of
Director of Hospitality.
Darian Taylor moved that the September minutes
be approved and Shirley Lorraine seconded.
Motion passed unanimously.
Webmaster/Membership – Sheila Lowe
Jim N gave the membership committee report in
Sheila L’s absence.
The group offered kudos to Michelle McConica
for the amazing job she is doing as director of
communications.
New member Jann Huling stepped right up and
joined the membership committee and at our last
meeting said she would call on members to
introduce herself and hopefully get some to come
back to the meetings.
There are five new members to introduce at the
November meeting.
Shirley J asked the group if anyone had received
any feedback on the new brochure - none has
been received.
Networking – Alison Balter
Vendor turn out at the expo was good, but
attendees, not so much - bad weather, presidential
debate and playoffs made for low attendance.
In spite of this, we pretty much broke even,
taking into account the two new members who
signed up that night. Our net was a negative
$3.69.
Something the board will consider for next year
is offering a discount for advance sign up something along the lines of $5 in advance, $10
at the door.
Alison offered thanks to the expo committee
members: Rita Frayer, Darian Taylor, Mary
Gabriels, and Linda McCarthy,
President-Elect – Darian Taylor
The speaker for November is Carrie Sharpshair,
and we need a sponsor.
December is dark.
In January, Alison Balter will be our speaker topic is Smart Phones, Smart Women & Men.
We need a sponsor.
Discussed ideas for the February meeting.
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources
In March, our speaker will be Jann Huling who
will talk about disaster preparedness. Need a
sponsor.
Discussed other possible speakers, topics and
themes for future months.
Finance – Shirley Jones-Snyder
Shirley circulated the Cash Flow statement for
review.
Corporate tax is due at the end of October, but
since we make less than $25,000 annually,
usually sending an e-postcard is sufficient,
without having to file a tax return.
There was some discussion about doing the audit.
It was decided that we will get three estimates,
from Linda Wall, Kathleen Miles, and Paul
Williams (Alison’s friend).
Sheila L provided the D&O insurance statement
from her handwriting analysis group, which she
believed was less than what we are paying.
Shirley L and Alison B will review and compare
the two.
Shirley posted a question to the board. A new
member who took advantage of the two year
special asked if she could also get the WEV
graduate discount. It was decided that specials
cannot be combined.
Hospitality – Jann Huling - NEW!
We walked through some of the responsibilities
Jann will have as our new director of hospitality.
In November, there will be a drawing for flowers
- so all members cards will need to be collected
as they come in for this drawing.
Special Events – Bernadette Cardenas
Micki Rickard filled in for Bernadette.
A lot of good stuff has been gathered for the
November silent auction so far. The fluff party
will take place on Sunday, November 4th, at
Micki’s home.
Member at Large – Rita Frayer and Jim Nicoll
Rita and Jim had nothing to report, but reiterated
that they are available to support all other board
members.
Communications – Michelle McConica
Michelle provided a written report for MaryG to
read.
There are currently 1,203 email entries in Vertical
Response, and it will be a major task to try to
clean this list up.
Janet Young, NAWBO’s director of
communication has agreed to post our
announcements for NAWBO members to see.
Michelle has been contacting local chambers of
commerce to see if they will post VCPWN
announcements on their facebook pages. Ventura
chamber said no.
She invited WEV to our expo.
The hotsheet is emailed to Jann so she can make
name tags for our registered guests.
And she wondered if we should invest in a paid
ad for next year’s table top expo.
For each meeting she gets greeters and table
hostesses. Additionally, there should be at least
one board member at each table. Rita will work
with her for the November meeting to help her
get into the swing of things.
President – Mary Gabriels
The next Latino Business Expo is in April - Mary
asked if we want to participate? It was agreed
that we would not participate as a vendor.
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources
Fun group status: Alison B. announced the results
of the survey and asked for champions for each
group, but no one stepped up. So this will be
revisited at the beginning of next year.
December is dark, but there will be a holiday
party for the board members. Tentative date is
December 13 which would be the date of a
regular meeting. Mary will see if the date
coincides with Santa’s drive through historical
Oxnard. All agreed that would be a good day to
have the party.
We will have a gift exchange at the party.
Other Business:
Sue O will be working on a new member
orientation breakfast for all new members since
May. This event will be in January or February.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. The next
meeting will be on November 15th.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Osborn, Recording Secretary
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources