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NAMHSA - September 16-30, 2012 News

NAMHSA News for the period of September 16-30, 2012 based on the minutes compiled by Jackie Arns-Rossi, Recording Secretary.

SEPTEMBER 16
-Teresa Buzzell (President) posted an updated Board agenda:

Needing follow up:

1. Finish up the Fundraising Coordinator position - approve the job description & advertise - Waiting on information regarding the bonding issue.

2. NAN Recap - appraisal of the new judge may show by proxy policy, financials, etc.

Under discussion:
3. NAN Card/Results Changes - missing NAN results page/posting, standardizing results format, etc - All this is done, currently working on the NAN Card extension.

Yet to be discussed:
4. Merit Awards - New Award levels
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-Teresa Buzzell posted a final call for discussion about the NAN card extension, in particular asking those who were against making the extension retroactive to explain their reasons against it. Discussion continued about the NAN card extension, in particular on whether or not it was a good idea to make previously expired cards valid again with the extension.

-Teresa Buzzell posted an updated to do list,advising a new list would be up October 1st:

Items 1 - 5 are DONE so are not repeated. Thank you everyone!

6. Beth - Please draft up your MA new award ideas for discussion to have it ready when we get to that agenda item.

7. Kate - please give a status update on the potential bylaws changes as to when they may be ready for the BOD to discuss/comment upon.

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-Carmen Robertson (Treasurer) reminded the Board that she posted NAN financials to the files section the previous week. Pauline Entin (R3 Representative and Interim PR) requested a more detailed version of the report.

-Jackie Arns-Rossi (Recording Secretary) posted the September 1-15 minutes. Teresa Buzzell approved these on September 17.

-Tracy Eilers (Region 1 Representative) advised she was back from vacation and catching up on BOD business.

-Lynn Weber (Website Manager) advised that she had a request from July 23 to add a thank you page for volunteers for the 2012 NAN. She had asked for names of all volunteers, but at this point did not have them all. Stacy Faraci (Region 7 Representative) offered to get that list ASAP.

-Lynn Weber asked for bios from all members on the BOD for posting on the NAMHSA Blog.

-Pauline Entin asked if she could create a post about NAN financials, and asked if Individual Membership (IM) fees should be considered part of NAN income or not. Carmen Robertson advised it was not possible for her to tease out the IM fees from the entry fees, due to how the fees are currently collected. She offered to put together a report of NAN financials in greater detail (e.g., how much was spent at MVS vs Aulds vs postage, rather than a single sum for awards).

-Pauline Entin advised she had posted the Equilocity show results post immediately, due to its time sensitive nature.

-Teresa Buzzell asked for final discussions about the NAN card extension. Pauline Entin questioned the need for an emergency change vote. The need for an emergency change would depend on exactly how the card extension is formatted. An emergency change would be required to implement a change for the current NAN cycle (if the BOD allowed older cards to be extended, this could affect entries for the 2013 NAN). Otherwise, the change would go in effect the following show year. Discussion began about allowing older cards (previously expired) to be extended, and proved to be the major point of contention.

SEPTEMBER 17
-Stacy Faraci offered some thoughts about the NAN 2012 financial report. She noted that there were fewer entrants this year, the need to ship trophies from Aulds (in past years, these were picked up enroute), the need for more judges due to the new proxy rules, the increased NAN staff stipends, and the new stipend for the position of Head Steward, and finally, the lack of a sponsorship program this year all likely contributed to the larger than typical loss for a KY NAN.

-Amy Peck (Show Secretary) advised she would hold cards for The Little Horse Show pending confirmation from Teresa Buzzell that the results from Equilocity actually arrived on Septemeber 18.

-Amy Peck posted an update on her discussion with NAMHSA's lawyer about bonding for the Fundraising Coordinator position:

She said that the lawyer thinks bonding insurance is a good idea, and is "gently steering" us towards an insurance person. He also pointed out that NAMHSA needs to think about what we need to insure against. The lawyer referred Amy to an insurance agent with First Texas Insurance Service, LC. Amy reported that the insurance agent suggested Crime Coverage, and the position being covered would need to be discussed with the insurance agent (employee vs. non-employee - either could be covered, but it would need to be defined in the policy). The price estimate was in the range of $500 - $2,500 per year. Amy referred the insurance agent to Teresa Buzzell. The lawyer also suggested a phone conference with a future board meeting, regarding some ideas he has for NAMHSA, including more checks and balances on any financial position.

-Stacy Faraci questioned whether the benefits of insuring the Fundraiser position was going to be worth the expense. She was clear she was not against insurance, just wondered about the cost/benefit.

-Beth Lamm (Merit Award Coordinator) posted the Merit Award winners from the Breyerfest drive. This extensive list is available on the website.

-Lynn Weber advised that she would need weekly questions for the FaceBook page.

-Teresa Buzzell suggested that Carmen Robertson talk to Danielle Miller (Individual Membership Secretary) to help tease out the IM fees from the NAN income.

SEPTEMBER 18
-Amy Peck posted the newest list of NAMHSA approved shows. This list is available on the NAMHSA website. Amy also posted a correction to the previous list - Correction to the 8/17/2012 approved list: IL-IA Live Xmas Show should be Region 8, not Region 4 as listed.

-Teresa Buzzell asked Pauline Entin for a draft PR post for the Treasurer position.

-Teresa Buzzell advised the BOD that she had the results from Equilocity. A discussion ensued regarding whether or not Lindsey Hall (in her capacity as Results Coordinator) allowed changes to results after the 30 day deadline. Lindsey stated that she did allow corrections.

SEPTEMBER 19
-Terri Wright (Region 11 Representative ) advised that she was having issues with her email.

-Lyn Norbury (Region 5 Representative) made a motion to extend the validity dates of NAN cards:

“I move that we vote for the following options to change the validity dates of NAN cards to a four year term:

Option 1: No change in NAN card validity dates.

Option 2: Change NAN card validity dates to reflect an expiration term of four years, starting retrospectively:

Cards marked NAN 2011-2012 are now good for 2013-2014
Cards marked NAN 2012-2013 are now good for 2013 thru 2015
Cards marked NAN 2013-2014 are now good for 2013 thru 2016, and forward.

Option 3: Change NAN card validity dates to reflect an expiration term of four years, starting with cards dated current 2012-2013.
Cards marked NAN 2012-2013 are now good for 2013 thru 2015.
Cards marked NAN 2013-2014 are now good for 2013 thru 2016, and forward.”

The motion was seconded by Pauline Entin and the floor opened for discussion.

-Jackie Moore (Region 6 Representative) requested that option 2 be changed to allow cards from 2010, and advised the wording should be “starting retroactively.” Lyn Norbury pointed out that cards from 2010 would still be expired. Jackie Moore countered that a 2010 card would be marked 2010-2011, and would be good for 2013 with a 2 year extension.

-There was discussion regarding whether or not the retroactive option would actually encourage people to enter more horses at NAN, and if it would help Show Holders and people who volunteered at recent NANs and consequently had not been able to show.

SEPTEMBER 20
-Stacy Faraci asked where she could send unused/leftover NAN cards for recycling. Amy Peck offered to take them.

SEPTEMBER 21
-Teresa Buzzell solicited guest blog ideas from the Board.

-Lyn Norbury made a revised motion regarding NAN card validity dates:

“I move that we vote for one the following options to change the validity dates of NAN cards to a four year term:

Option 1: No change in NAN card validity dates.

Option 2: Change NAN card validity dates to reflect an expiration term of four years, starting retroactively:

Cards marked NAN 2011-2012 are now good for 2013-2014
Cards marked NAN 2012-2013 are now good for 2013 through 2015
Cards marked NAN 2013-2014 are now good for 2013 through 2016, and forward.

Option 3: Change NAN card validity dates to reflect an expiration term of four years, starting with cards dated current 2012-2013.

Cards marked NAN 2012-2013 are now good for 2013 through 2015.
Cards marked NAN 2013-2014 are now good for 2013 through 2016, and forward.”

This was seconded by Pauline Entin and Eleanor Harvey (Parliamentarian) opened the floor for discussion.

SEPTEMBER 23
-Pauline Entin posted a draft of the September 1-15 NAMHSA News. This was approved on September 26 by Teresa Buzzell after corrections of typos, etc.

SEPTEMBER 24
-Carra McClelland (Region 4 Representative) advised that a shower in her region had emailed her a concern regarding the benefit show held for Lynn Fraley. The proceeds from this show have not yet been transferred to Lynn, although the show holder had turned in her results to NAMHSA. The consensus was that NAMHSA did not have a formal role regarding the benefit component, but Carra did plan on emailing the showholder about the show. Pauline Entin reported there was a Yahoogroup started to gather information regarding the show.

-As part of the ongoing NAN card extension discussion, Jackie Moore suggested that the quesiton of whether or not to make retroactive changes be presented to the membership.

SEPTEMBER 25
-- Pauline Entin asked if it was time to vote on the NAN card extension, as it appeared that Board members had entrenched opinions on the subject.

SEPTEMBER 26
-Teresa Buzzell called for a vote on the NAN card extension.

-Lynn Weber advised that Cafe Press was having a sale and requested a PR announcement to go out. Pauline Entin posted this information to the lists.

-Teresa Buzzell requested a PR post reminding the public that the NAN Registrar position was still open for applications, and a draft of the Treasurer solicitation post. She also thanked Pauline for how quickly the Cafe Post sale post went out.

-Jackie Arns-Rossi started a poll for the Board to vote on the NAN card extension policy (per the motion).

-Teresa Buzzell called for discussion about bonding, or other protection for NAMHSA as part of the Fundraising Coordinator position, as this was the only question preventing posting for the position. Discussion ensued about the merits of bonding both the potential Fundraising Coordinator and the Treasurer. Some expressed concern that if the person being bonded needs to pay for the service (not uncommon), this might result in no applicants for either post.

-Chris Wallbruch (Region 8 Representative) asked if it was OK to poll her region on the NAN card extension. Teresa Buzzell advised that since the vote was underway, it was late to do this, but Chris could and should use input she had from her region to make her decision.

-Teresa Buzzell uploaded a file about NAN 2013 from NAN Chair Niki Hertzog. The file information was relevant to the need to change rooms for the 2013 NAN as the original space did not have air conditioning (in contrast to what the venue had stated previously). Also discussed was an analysis of the pros and cons of using the alternate space she recommended (the Banquet Hall).

SEPTEMBER 27
-Pauline Entin posted a draft of the Treasurer solicitation post. Teresa Buzzell asked Carmen Robertson to review the post. Carmen did and approved it, but recommended adding regular reporting requirements, and the need to live near a Bank of America branch.

-Discussion continued about bonding, who should pay for it, as well as considering Crime Insurance/Employee Theft Insurance as an alternative to bonding.

SEPTEMBER 29
-Pauline Entin posted a second draft for the Treasurer solicitation. This was approved by Teresa Buzzell on September 30.

SEMPTEMBER 30
-Carra McClelland offered to ask an insurance underwriter she knew about the merits of the insurance options for the Fundraising Coordinator.

Posted by Pauline Entin, Interim NAMHSA PR 10/27/2012
Last updated on October 27, 2012