International Costumers Guild Board of Directors and Annual Meeting

May 26, 2006

CostumeCon 24

Hotel Fort Des Moines

Des Moine, IA

Minutes provided by Jan Price (SiliconWeb Costumers Guild)

The Board of Directors portion of the meeting was called to order by Nora Mai, Acting President, at 9:05 AM.

Attending: Nora Mai, Acting President; Dora Buck, Treasurer; Sandy Pettinger, Corresponding Secretary and representing Costumers Guild West; Pierre Pettinger Jr., Parliamentarian & Archivist; Janice Dallas, Northern Lights Costumers Guild; Randall Whitlock, Southwest Costumers Guild; Byron Connell, NJ/NY Costumers Guild and representing Beyond Reality Costumers Guild; Judy Mitchell, Greater Columbia Fantasy Costumers Guild; Bruce Mai, St. Louis Costumers Guild; Michele Jaye Solomon, Chicagoland Costumers Guild; Jan Price, SiliconWebCG (also acting for Diane Harris as Recording Secretary)

2006 Budget

The budget was formally adopted by unanimous vote. It was originally presented in late March 2006 and discussed during the ICG online Board meeting. A motion to adopt was made and seconded on May 4, 2006 (by Byron Connell-NJ/NYCG and Bruce Mai-SLCG, respectively) however insufficient time to complete the formal vote remained before the official recess of the online meeting.

Officer Election Activities

Membership status of Board members and the individuals represented by proxies each carried were validated and ballots to be used for the officer election during the Annual Meeting were distributed.

An overview of the ballot process was given by Nora Mai. She and Kevin Roche (SiliconWebCG) developed a ballot which can be used to represent not only a single member vote but also all proxy votes carried by an individual on a single document. The ballot notes the total number of votes the holder entitled to cast for each officer position. Each potential voter's membership is validated, along with the membership status of individuals represented by proxies they carry to the Annual Meeting. The number of votes is confirmed by the Parliamentarian or the Treasurer.

Online Board Meeting Voting

Judy Mitchell-GCFCG introduced a request to use the Poll feature in Yahoo Groups for online Board meeting votes. After a brief discussion of the capabilities, the Acting President, with the support of the Directors, made an executive decision to utilize the feature.

Nora Mai recessed this portion of the meeting at 9:35 AM.

The general session of the Annual Meeting was called to order by Nora Mai at 10:05 AM, welcoming all in attendance, and noting that hand-outs, including the agenda, were available at the head table.

NOTES:

1. Copies of officer and committee statements and reports, and a copy of the agenda are available on the ICG web site and are not included in these minutes.

2. As members arrived at the Annual Meeting, their membership and voting status was validated and their ballots were distributed by Dora Buck (Treasurer).

3. Role call for the general membership was not taken.

Minutes of Last Meeting

A motion was made and seconded that reading the meetings of the 2005 Annual Meeting be waived prior to voting to approve the minutes (by Elaine Mami, NJ/NYCG and Jeff Morris, SLCG, respectively). A show of hands votes was taken. Results: 23 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. Minutes, as approved, are viewable on the ICG web site.

New Chapters

Nora Mai announced each of 5 potential new chapters, located in Texas, Canada, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Tennessee. Paperwork has been received from the first 3 listed and motions to approve the new chapters were requested.

Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas Costumer Guild: moved - Byron Connell (NJ/NYCG), seconded - Bruce Mai (SLCG). A show of hands vote was taken. Results: 28 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. Approved and welcomed!

Fibre Fantasy Artists of Canada : moved - Steve Swope (SLCG), seconded - Genie Hillen (SLCG) A show of hands vote was taken. Results: 27 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. Approved and welcomed! We are international again!

Costumers Guild of Western Pennsylvania: moved - Michele Jaye Solomon (CCG), seconded - Dora Buck (NJ/NYCG). A show of hands vote was taken. Results: 28 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain. Approved and welcomed!

The other 2 potential chapters (Connecticut Costumers Guild and Tennessee Valley Costumers Guild) will be voted on by the Board of Directors when paperwork is received.

Reports from the Executive Board

President: Nora Mai read her “State of the Corporation” report which reviewed the past year‘s activities, including Carl Mami’s resignation, the loss of the GBACG, the deactivation of 2 other chapters, the 501(c)(3) issue, and the decision to open the online board meetings to observers. No President’s Awards were given, instead Nora thanked numerous individuals. (statement available online)

Treasurer: Dora Buck provided copies of the 2006 budget, as approved, and the ICG 2005-2006 bank statement which showed, as of 5/22/06, a balance of $7,793.84. She reported that the 2005 newsletter deficit was resolved by a change in the mailing methods, and that the 2005 Archives budget was depleted. We are doing well and the new chapters will bring additional revenue. (report available online)

Corresponding Secretary: Sandy Pettinger reported that she had responded to 50-60 inquiries over the last year and had handled correspondence between the ICG and the deactivated chapters . Sandy is transferring all the correspondence to disk for her successor.

Recording Secretary: No report.

Parliamentarian: No report.

Archivist: Pierre Pettinger reported the archive material was in transition and that he was working with Carl Mami to complete as soon as possible.

Reports from Committees

Budget and Finance: Dora Buck reported that while the chapter treasurers list was still operating, it was inactive however the chapter treasurers had been invited to join the BOD list.

Newsletter: Denisen Hart love (SiliconWebCG) sent a written report, read by Nora Mai, which thanked the ICG Editorial Board members and listed highlights of the 2005-2006 publications. (report available online)

Fundraising: Elaine Mami showed and talked about the ICG items available at Café Press, encouraging members to visit the site and make purchases! And embroidered patch is in the works. The ICG has already made a small profit from sales.

ICG Guidelines: Andy Trembley (SiliconWebCG) reported on the progress made in the development of the Guidelines which would be voted on later in the meeting. The final draft of the proposed guidelines has been online for some time. He requested that the committee not be dissolved as they believe there are 2 additional areas to work on: Masquerade Safety and Behavior Standards for Masquerade Staff. The committee was continued by the Acting President and charged with exploring the additional topics.

Multi-Chapter Membership: Nora Mai read the motion which would be voted on later in the meeting. (motion available online)

Archives Online: Bruce Mai reported on the immediate (resolving legal and access issues), the short-term (permissions and organization), the medium-term (archive size and video implementation issues), and the long-term (video archives online) goals for the committee. (report available online)

Other Old Business

Website, Member Photos and Forums: Jeff Morris reported that he opening both the ICG-BOD and ICG-D groups for observers, and that the RSS feed for Live Journal was operational. He also reported that John O‘Halloran was stepping down officially after CC24. John was thanked for all of his work and dedication over the years. Jeff also asked for more moderators and that the Board considers establishing standing rules for the “web guy” and an oversight committee for ICG online activities. (report available online)

New Business

Submitted Motion - ICG Guidelines: Andy Trembley presented a revised motion (available online) which retired or obsoleted the existing guidelines and replaced them with his committee’s proposed document. The revised motion was seconded by Steve Swope. A general discussion took place regarding how guidelines are implemented in various venues, including CostumeCons. A show of hands vote was taken. Results: 32 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstain. Motion passed.

Submitted Motion - Multi-Chapter Memberships: Steve Swope moved to accept the previously read motion which provides for an individual to designate a primary chapter for purposes of ICG membership (removing potential multiple expiration dates from ICG records). Kevin Roche seconded the motion. A general discussion took place that also answered questions regarding whether or not multiple chapter memberships meant multiple votes (answer: no, one vote per member, period) and how chapter dues structures might be impacted (answer: each chapter must decide whether or not to offer a membership that does not include ICG dues). A show of hands was taken. Results: 29 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstain. Motion passed.

Other New Business

Formation of a new committee to address “ICG refugee” (members of defunct chapters) issue: Nora Mai introduced the item. Kevin Roche made a motion to establish a committee of the whole for discussion, seconded by Steve Swope. Hearing no objections, the meeting went into committee for discussion. The committee rose after no solution was developed. It was determined that the President has the discretion to establish a committee to recommend a policy and best practices to address this issue. Nora Mai stated that the new President should make that decision.

Officer Nominations

Nora Mai introduced and explained the balloting process to the attendees. It was determined that either an “X” (for a single vote) or number (for single or combined proxy votes) was allowable on the ballots. Each candidate made brief statements to the group. Representing candidates who were unable to attend, Kevin Roche read statements from Bruce MacDermott and Carole Parker and Randal Whitlock made a statement on behalf of Frances Burns. Dora Buck declined her nomination for President, asking her supporters to vote for Nora Mai, however she remained in the race for Treasurer. Voting took place. (candidate list available online)

Nora Mai adjourned the Annual Meeting for all except the Board members at 12:15 PM.

Votes were counted by non-Board member volunteers (Steve Swope, Dany Sloane, Jackie Bowen, and Sheril Harper), overseen by Pierre Pettinger. Results were reported to the Board members by Pierre as follows:

President - Nora Mai

Vice President - Jan Price

Treasurer - Bruce MacDermott

Corresponding Secretary - Karen Heim

Recording Secretary - Frances Burns

Sandy Pettinger moved to accept the election results, Michele Jaye Solomon seconded. The results were passed unanimously . Nora Mai officially thanked the outgoing officers for their service to the ICG and congratulated the incoming group, ending the meeting.