Minutes of the Tuesday, June 9, 2015 / Meeting of the Board of

 Our Mission: To improve the quality of life for GLBTQ individuals by building community through the sport of volleyball. Minutes of the Tuesday, June 9, 2015 / Meeting of the Board of Directors rd
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Location: New York University / 150 West 33 Street – 4t Floor / New York, New York 10001 Meeting Attendance
Trevor Cano – Commissioner
Eric Eichenholtz – Vice Commissioner
Manny Ciccone – Secretary
Lew Smith – Treasurer
Rich Reid – Division 1 Rep
Ron Medina – Division 2 Rep
Royce Bugarin – Division 3 Rep
Rich Tucker – Division 4 Rep
Clay Burch – Division 5 Rep
Henry Mui - Division 6 Rep
Erik Johnson – Division 7 Rep
Mark Ski – Division 8 Rep
Patrick Callahan – Division 9 Rep
Michael McDerman – Division 10 Rep
I)
Doug Christian – Director of Training and Saturday/Monday Rep
Rafael De Arce – Member-At-Large / Dir. Of Communications
Seth Eichenholtz– Member-At-Large / Dir. of Strategic Planning
Dave Fredericks – Member-At-Large / Open Play Director
Mike Hess – Member-At-Large / Assistant Treasurer
Leah Hughey – Power-At-Large Rep
Patrick So – Member-At-Large / Director of Division Play
Yuxiang Sun – Power Sunday Rep
Max Szadek – Director of Community Outreach & Social Events
John Wetsell – Member-At-Large / Webmaster
Josh Christensen – Man. of Historical Records (Non-Voting)
Daniel Miron – Tournaments Director (Non-Voting)
Clovis Thorn – Grievance Chair (Non-Voting)
Bold = Present
Call to Order
a. Trevor called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm
II)
Approval of Minutes – May 2015
a. No minutes to approve. The minutes will be presented during the July 2015 meeting.
III)
Public Comment
a. No comments.
IV) Officers’ Reports
A) Commissioner
i) Opening Remarks
• Trevor is looking forward to a good year, and looking forward to working with the with
all of the board members. Trevor thanked Clovis for all his work. Trevor also thanked
everyone for all of the hard work. Trevor asked everyone to volunteer as much as
possible so that the so that we don’t over work a few board members. Trevor wants us to
be as communicative as possible. Trevor told the board not to hesitate to contact any of
the members of the Executive Board. The focus for this year is to continue building the
community and stay on focus for the upcoming changes.
ii) Appointment of At-Large Board Members
• Trevor introduced the slate of new appointments. He detailed what expects the new
appointees to do.
• Doug introduced himself; he’s excited for the opportunity to volunteer for the League.
Rich Tucker has been a captain for quite some time; he loves Gotham. Rich has been a
part of Gotham for quite sometime. Erik Johnson started in Gotham the first time
Division 10 started playing. Erik has been in Division 7 for a while. Erik thought this
Page 1 of 4 Gotham Volleyball Board of Directors Minutes – June 9, 2015 opportunity, to be Division 7 Rep, would be a great way for him to give back to the
league. Motion to approve the slate of new at-large appointments made by Lew. I
seconded. Motion passes by acclamation. Motion to approve the new Division Reps
made by Eric. Rafael seconded. Passed by acclamation. Seth / Michael motion for
grievance committee members. Motion passes by acclamation. Trevor appointed Clovis
as Chair of the Grievance Committee. Lew explained to the new members how meetings
are run. Eric / Patrick motion to appoint Dough as Power Rep. Passed by acclamation.
iii) Summer Spaces Update
• Things are going smoothly so far. Trevor has gotten in touch with the custodian at Howe.
Trevor reported that we are set at Rustin and that he will follow up to see how everything
is going at O.Henry.
B) Vice Commissioner
i) Summer Working Groups
• Eric spoke about his idea of summer working groups. These groups would work during
the months of June, July, and August. Eric setup different groups, one of which includes
creating the net setup video. Eric would also like to have a better Captain introduction
package, especially for Divisions 7 through 10. A third group will work on a coaching
clinic so that more coaches and captain feel better prepare for the new seasons Eric
stated, that if anyone was interested in any of the groups, they can add their names to the
spreadsheet.
C) Secretary
• Will report under old business.
D) Treasurer
•
Lew reported on our financial status: Total assets: $233,000 (including Big Apple and
Fire Island tournaments). Lew then explained the budgeted numbers versus actual
numbers. Lew explained that we underestimated our income from friendship tournaments
and overestimated our members’ dues. In equipment we spent the actual budgeted
amount. For facilities we spent 30,000 less than last year. Lew said it was a good year for
the League. Patrick suggested adding percentages so we can see how we actually do. Seth
asked if we could invest in a CD. Lew said he will check but that the rates are not great.
V) Old Business
A) EOS Party – Lew
• Lew heard nothing but good things about the venue. Lew asked for feedback from the
board. Seth said he got screamed at for lack of bartenders. John said the food was better
this time. Josh suggested limiting the amount of drinks a person could take at a time.
Rafael stated that the female members of our league suggested female performers. We
took in about 900 dollars.
B) Spring Fling – Eric
• Eric reported that Spring Fling was a success. There were nine teams. Eric reported that
there is a little surplus, which will be rolled over to next year. Eric thanked everyone
who helped.
C) Summer League Tryouts – Trevor
• 160 people tried, about 60+ people did not get elected. Things were a little bit slow at
first but the pace picked up. The draft ended at about 1:40 in the morning. I explained to
the board that moving forward we will be asking board members (with the exception of
Division Reps) to volunteer three times during tryouts, not including theirs. We could
have used more volunteers during the Summer League tryouts. Trevor reported that we
received very nice emails complimenting the league for how well organized the tryouts
were. Mark said that the captains packet was a little confusing because it looked like it
was copy pasted form the regular season.
Page 2 of 4 Gotham Volleyball Board of Directors Minutes – June 9, 2015 D) Summer Power – Trevor
• Trevor reported that things are going well within the classes. The Summer Power
program is a continuation of the Spring season. Trevor said we were getting a lot of
emails for people who were interested in joining power. Trevor explained that should we
get space at Howe, Power will be extended or the League can offer a second power class.
Seth said that we need to communicate, with everyone, about all of our activities
(whether is for Power or league play). Yuxiang said we did not do a good job at reaching
out to people who were not part of Power. Yuxiang said we should offer a Power 3 class
because there is a lot of interest. Trevor will like to first hear from Howe before
committing to any new activities.
VI) New Business
A) Pride March – Raf and Trevor
i) Pride Parties
• We are getting a float for this year’s Pride parade. Trevor showed a sketch of what our
float would look like. Trevor asked board members to volunteer. Raf would like the
Division Reps to help spread the word. Lew was connected with one of the promoters of
Matinee. The promoter wanted to give Gotham members a discount for the Pride parties.
Seth said that we have traditionally allowed company to give us discounts to events as
long as we are not promoting them ourselves.
B) Summer League D3-6 – Trevor
• 75 percent (130 people) would participate in Summer League if given the option. We
would only do this if we get the space at Howe. Seth made it clear that we should
communicate our plans to the membership. Mark asked about eligibility requirement.
Trevor said we would use the same as the regular summer league.
C) Fall Schedule
• Josh made a suggestion to move the Power tryouts because of the Boston Tournament.
Seth said that we should communicate these dates as soon as possible so that it does not
come as a shock to the membership. Leah stated that if we move Power W to another
night then Power F will be interested in starting at a later time. Trevor will come up with
two different calendars to be discussed at the next meeting.
VII) Reports
A) Grievance Committee
a. Clovis is stepping into big shoes. Third Chair of the GC.
B) League Manager
a. Patrick said that everything needs to be put away in our cage (except for the uprights). North
facing windows should always be closed.
C) Power
a. Yuxiang said everything is going well, but that part of the ceiling fell off. Yuxiang said
because of the composition of the summer classes some players are condescending so we
should include the sportsmanship policy in her next communication email. John suggested
sending our power coaches for training.
D) Open Play
a. Dave reported that Summer Open play are in full swing. Wednesday evenings, from 730 pm –
1030 pm, we have intermediate summer open plays for divisions 4 – 6 and members of
power. Thursday evenings at 7 for divisions 1-3. There’s a summer attendance challenge for
both B and BB level open plays.
E) Tournaments
Page 3 of 4 Gotham Volleyball Board of Directors Minutes – June 9, 2015 a.
Eric said that he’s beginning to plan the fall schedule. There will be a drag tournament and a
couple of mixers.
F) Communications
a. Raf reported that a lot of stuff going out in the next week or so, especially about pride.
G) Social
a.
Max is honored to be taking on the new role as community and social director. Max started
shooting the video for coming out night. Max reported that one member said how much the
league means to him and how it changed his life. Picnic in the Park: Sunday, June 21st for pet
owners. Max’s goal in community is to do something purposeful and empowering for our
members.
H) Community
a. Nothing to report.
I)
Strategic Planning
a. Seth said that he is tentatively planning the retreat for January 9th and 10th (venue to be
determined). 501c work is moving along. Seth explained the new governance structure to the
new members. Seth also said that he and Lew are working the new structure into the bylaws.
He is creating a little introduction to explain the process and the new structure of the league.
He hopes to have reports by the August - October meetings. At some point during the Fall
Season he will have meetings with all the divisions to explain the new structure of the league.
He would like to hold forums (Facebook / Twitter) where he would answer questions from
members. Seth wants the membership to vote on the new bylaws in December. But they will
not take place until September.
J) Historian
a. Josh has a write up of the introduction for the hall of fame. Josh spoke about the mission
statement for the hall of fame. He asked for feedback. Josh added a couple of things for the
eligibility to be part of the Hall of Fame. Nominations will open up sometime during the
summer.
K) Webmaster
a. John wants to fix our log in to make it more secure. Everyone will be assigned a bogus
password to be changed to a permanent one. John is looking for another hosting solution, a
cheaper alternative that can save us a few dollars a month. John would like to update the
website for mobile use.
VIII) Announcements
a. Clovis doesn’t recognize his inbox. Ron doesn’t get Gotham emails. Patrick thanked everyone
for appointing him. Same for Doug. Rich is glad to be here. Yuxiang is getting married on
Saturday. John had a good time in Seattle. Patrick had a blast at the End of Season party.
Dave is good to be back. Erik thanked everyone. Raf is excited for next year. Max is grateful
that Rich is the new Division 4 Rep. Josh is going to Wimbledon in July. Seth congratulated
the e-board and all the new board members. Michael will need knee surgery and will be
officiating a wedding on October 2nd. The Fire Island fire fighters honored Mark. I am
looking forward to having Clovis as my assistant. Lew is looking forward to having minutes
on time!
IX) Next Board meeting – July 14, 2015
X) Adjournment
a. Motion to adjourn the meeting, made by Raf. Seconded by Dave. Meeting adjourned at 9:45pm.
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