VENTURA COUNTY PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK
Post Office Box 6329 Q Oxnard, CA 93031 Q (866) 275-4134 Q www.VCPWN.org
Minutes
VENTURA COUNTY PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S NETWORK
LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING
September 18, 2014
IN ATTENDANCE: Sue Osborn, Darian
Taylor, Lynn Ryder, Sheila Lowe, Jann
Huling, Anna Kittleson, Micki Rickard, Celia
Cortez, Mary Gabriels
of the meaning of this important award.
Those past recipients are invited to send a
copy of their essay to Darian.
Pres Elect/Programs – Lynn Ryder
Lynn has had difficulty booking sponsors. We
should all help her. October is the Expo,
November the Silent Auction, and December
is Dark. She has not yet decided on a January
program and is considering applications.
ABSENT: Linda Wall, Jim Nicoll, Ferne
Ross
Medical leave: Shirley Jones Snyder
President Sue called the meeting to order at
6:20 pm.
Finance –Shirley Jones Snyder, Linda Wall
Linda sent the information that the new bank
signatories must be listed in the minutes and
one is required to sign the minutes for
presentation at the bank. The four signers will
be as follows: Darian, Mary Gabriels, Lynn
Ryder, and Linda Wall. For the period while
she is on medical leave, Shirley Jones Snyder
will be removed as a signer.
Linda emailed Sue a request to change our
fiscal year, which is currently the board year,
to a calendar year. An explanation is needed
for the request.
Questions arose regarding the financial report
Linda submitted in her absence.
Darian moved that Minutes of the August
meeting be approved, Micki 2nd. The Minutes
were approved as submitted.
DIRECTOR REPORTS:
President - Sue Osborn
Mary Gabriels was welcomed by all as a
returning board member. She will serve as the
second Member at Large.
Sue is scheduled to meet with prospective
VCPWN member, Candice Imbler, who is a
WEV graduate, and Natalie Bradley of the
Chamber’s Young Professionals. Their
discussion will center on what younger
women need from a networking organization.
Secretary/Web Manager –Sheila Lowe
Nothing new to report.
Immediate Past President – Darian Taylor
No essays were submitted for the Wind
Beneath My Wings award. In January she will
start reading from the essays of past recipients
in order to make newer members more aware
Membership – Jann Huling
Jann announced that the membership
committee will begin meeting again. They will
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convene on the 1st Monday of each month at
Marie Callender in Ventura, 5:30 pm. Previous
members of the committee are invited to
remain.
Two members are needed to handle the
check-in desk and two more to sell raffle
tickets.
Mary is talking to a photographer about taking
photos at the event.
To save money, no bags will be provided and
no grand prize.
Last year we ordered food for 150, which was
overly optimistic. This year we will order for
125.
Menu: meatballs in bbq sauce, mini crab
cakes, puff pastry pinwheels, deviled eggs,
spinach/artichoke dip, crudité, fresh fruit
platter. It was decided not to include cookies,
which would cost an additional $300.
Networking- Anna Kittleson
It was decided to set this policy: Blow Your
Horn is a privilege of membership. Who Did
Business With Whom is open both for
members and guests who did business with
members.
Like the Wind Award, our most prestigious
award, The Spirit of Networking, needs to be
better understood by newer members. Anna
will promote it and announce that members
who have previously won will now be eligible
again after five years. Darian made a motion
to accept the new policy. Sheila 2nd The
motion passed.
Silent auction: Massage therapist Donna Lee
has once again offered a gift certificate. Celia
is waiting to hear from Trader Joes and
others. It was suggested she contact Sam
Hishmeh at Dominoes and Ashley Pope at
Spicetopia.
Hospitality – Micki Rickard
Micki volunteered to follow up with
nonmember guests to find out where they
learned about our meetings.
There was good feedback from visitors
regarding the personalized name tags Micki
provided. Having board members as hostesses
was well-received. They set the tone for the
table networking.
The quick introductions (no commercials)
worked well, too.
Communications - Ferne Ross
Teri Domier and one other member have
agreed to help Ferne with non-Facebook
publicity. They will submit press releases to
the print media. This needs to be done
immediately for the October Expo.
Celia will connect Ferne with her contact at
CAPS TV to get our announcements into
their rotation. We have had good success with
this form of free advertising in the past.
Special Events – Celia Cortez
Expo: we currently have 24 vendors and need
to sell at least 8 more tables. We can continue
booking vendors until the day before the
event. Celia will find out what tables are
available at the Wedgewood.
A hot sheet will be needed for the vendor list.
Celia will send an email to vendors a week in
advance.
A drawing will be held for a free dinner.
Member at Large – Jim Nicoll
No report
Old Business –
It was finally determined that VCPWN is an
unincorporated tax exempt entity. We must
not refer to VCPWN as a CA corporation.
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January meeting. The certificate is valid for 90
days and is non-transferable. The certificate
must be provided to Linda for her records.
Website: We have a quote of $500 from Rick
Taylor for the website update. Two additional
quotes are needed. A separate meeting with
Elaine and Lauren will be scheduled to discuss
our needs and their services.
WEV graduates may pay the member price
(using the Donate button) for their first
dinner as a guest. We are still offering
graduates a first year 50% discounted
membership and waived application fee if
they join within six months of graduation.
The board’s gmail addresses, which Ferne
publicizes in the newsletter, are to be used for
the outside world only. We will continue to
use our personal addresses for board business.
Reminder for everyone to regularly check
those accounts for email.
Sue requested that unless a board member
needs to participate in the discussion,
whenever possible, we discontinue the
practice of responding to all. The purpose is
to cut down on unnecessary emails.
The requirement for members and guests to
register before 5:00 pm Monday in order to be
listed on the host sheet will be enforced.
Corrections to the hot sheet are to be sent to
Sheila.
Meeting adjourned 8:06 pm
New Business –
A detailed discussion was held regarding the
large number of free dinners being awarded,
which costs VCPWN more money than we
can reasonably justify.
Micki made a motion to eliminate free dinners
for new members. The motion included that
board members and Navigators will pay the
regular member price of $28, rather than at
cost. Lynn seconded. Two abstained. The
motion carried and will be effective
immediately. Sheila will ask Rick to change the
member/Navigator PayPal button before the
November meeting (Expo prices are not
affected).
The November Progressive Networking
dinner and silent auction will feature “heavy”
hors d’oeuvres and the price will remain as
usual: $28/$38.
Free dinners will not be provided for guest
photographers as they can hand out cards and
get free publicity for their services.
New members will continue to receive a
certificate for $10 off their first dinner after
joining. A new certificate is needed for the
Respectfully submitted by. Sheila Lowe
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