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,
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
IN ATTENDANCE: Mary Gabriels, Jann
Huling, Shirley Jones, Shirley Lorraine, Sheila
Lowe, Michelle McConica, Jim Nicoll, Sue
Osborn, and Darian Taylor.
suggested that Sheila L, as membership director,
send a note to one person who has attended many
times, added members to her distribution list, but
not joined.
ABSENT: Alison Balter, Rita Frayer, Micki
Rickard
At the February meeting, during the Blow Your
Own Horn section, non-members were allowed
to participate. We need to stick to members only
- it’s a privilege of membership.
President Mary Gabriels called the meeting to
order at 6:35 p.m. at Shirley Jones Snyder’s
home.
Shirley Lorraine moved that the minutes from the
January 2013 meeting be approved, and Sheila
Lowe seconded. The motion passed
unanimously.
Webmaster/Membership – Sheila Lowe
The membership committee met and one of the
topics discussed was anniversary pins that are
coming due, or are already due.
A 5 year pin was awarded to Jim Nicoll. At the
March meeting there will be 5 and 10 year pins to
be awarded. There is also a new navigator
candidate who owes her membership dues.
Shirley J will send her another invoice to give her
an opportunity to become current.
Carol Leish, who became a navigator as of her
last anniversary, needs her navigator ribbon.
Sheila L will check with Charlotte Werner
Gesling, navigator captain, to see if she has any.
Mary will check with Aswell Trophy.
Another topic was the issue of non-member
attendees who come whenever they want. It was
Jim N checked in storage and found that we still
have a box of blue folders - he brought some for
Sheila to use for new members.
Sheila reviewed the items that will be included in
an envelope for prospective members, and those
that will be included in the folders for new
members.
We have about 12 of the blue business card
holders left, which should get us through a year’s
worth of speakers.
Julie Saltoun, a new member, asked if we would
like to sponsor an upcoming event entitled
“Financially Empowered Women”. We would get
a table at the event where we could encourage
attendees to join VCPWN.
Networking – Alison Balter
No report as Alison was absent.
Mary G informed us that Alison will not be at the
March meeting, and Rita F., as member at large,
usually fills in for her, but also may not be there.
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources
Jim N said he will do both the Blow Your Own
Horn, and Who Did Business with Whom
segments of the meeting.
Hospitality – Jann Huling
Jann had some difficulty getting table hostesses
at the February meeting. She does need another
basket, and Shirley JS will provide one.
President-Elect – Darian Taylor
In March our speaker will be our own Jann
Huling who will talk about disaster preparedness.
Jim Nicoll and DSI Insurance will sponsor.
It was noted that some members have expressed
interest in serving as table hostess, so this will
help.
April’s speaker will be Dr. Kalee Pasek, a
veterinarian who will talk about healthy pets.
She has not completed the online form yet. We
don’t have a sponsor yet, but we have a couple of
new members interested in sponsoring a meeting.
Special Events – Micki Rickard
Micki as absent, so Mary G informed us that
Micki has already set a goal for the next silent
auction and she is excited about taking on this
role.
Our speaker for May, who was to talk about the
history of hats, cancelled for medical reasons.
Darian has contacted the group at Heritage
Square in Oxnard, who may have a couple of
possible replacements. All attendees will be
invited to wear hats to the meeting. Laurie Kreis
is sponsoring.
Member at Large – Rita Frayer and Jim Nicoll
Rita filled in for Alison B at the February
meeting and did a great job.
June is installation of the new board. We still
need a speaker and a sponsor.
Michelle also posted the meeting announcement
on Big City Buzz Online and Facebook.
Discussed other potential speakers.
It was too late to be included in Happenings
Magazine for March, but we’ll be in for the April
meeting.
Finance – Shirley Jones-Snyder
At the February meeting we made $155 on the
center pieces.
There is now a finance committee, which will
help alleviate some of the heavy load of this role.
There was some discussion about the fair way to
handle the price difference of regular
membership versus serving on the board.
Darian Taylor moved that when a full-price paid
member is voted onto the board, VCPWN will
issue a prorated refund of their partial year. Sue
Osborn seconded and the motion passed
unanimously.
Communications – Michelle McConica
March meeting has been posted in the VCSTAR
and will run March 3rd.
Regarding the blast she sent on behalf of Ali
McLean - it was a challenge trying to keep the
formatting of Ali’s original. So Michelle Mc
would prefer if members submit text-only,
otherwise she spends too much time re-working
the message.
She did some clean up of 12 email addresses, but
this is an ongoing process.
In the next blast she will include a request for
anyone interested in table hostessing to talk to
Jann H.
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources
We discussed getting a notice about VCPWN
monthly meetings to be included in CAPS-TV - a
local scrolling bulletin board that plays KCLU in
the background.
Immediate Past President – Shirley Lorraine
Nominees for the new board have been identified
- all except Secretary.
At the March meeting an announcement should
be made soliciting nominations for the Spirit of
Networking award. Jim N agreed to do this.
We reviewed the success of the first New
Member Breakfast in January.
Regarding the quote for new business card
holders - we will table it for now because we
have enough for another year. Mary G noted that
Sue Gary is not with ProForma, the company that
purchased Sue’s business.
Rita F has sent info out regarding the Murder
Mystery Train. Mary G asked everyone to
review this information.
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. The next
meeting will be on March 21st.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Osborn, Recording Secretary
President – Mary Gabriels
Mary has an invite for VCPWN to participate in a
Woman’s Expo taking place on Saturday, May
18th, at the Hilton in Oxnard. Price is $125.
Michelle McConica moved that we buy a space
at the May 18th Expo. Sheila Lowe seconded,
and the motion passed unanimously.
There was some discussion about whether or not
to continue the Table Top Expo in October. It is a
great deal of work, and we had a smaller than
usual turn out last year. All agreed that we had at
least three conflicting activities last year, making
it unusual. If we are going to continue, we
should start working now and identify a
committee.
Darian Taylor moved to keep the Expo in
October, but to shift primary responsibility for it
to Special Events, from Networking. Jann
Huling seconded, and the motion passed
unanimously.
Mary G. had the results of the Fun Groups survey
from last year. There is a page for each group
identified and she will give the page to the people
who expressed the most interest for them to pick
up the conversation.
Promoting the professional and personal growth of Ventura County women
through education, mutual support, and sharing of resources