Board Activities

BoD Conference Call, Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Will Beemer, Joel McCarty, Susan Witter representing the staff

Arvel Aldridge, Tom Southworth, Andrea Warchaizer, Chris Madigan, Grigg Mullen, Rudy Christian, Donna Williams, Sandy A. Bennett

NH Office report submitted before hand, and is available as an addendum.

Andrea proposes a smaller meeting concerning the proposed tour schedules for the next few years.

Randy Churchill and Calvin Rice have volunteered to put together a little New Orleans tour, at an undetermined date.

New Orleans, having been mentioned before as a conference site. This tour idea gives us a chance to explore the venue without committing to a larger event.

John MacFarland joins.

Will proposes that we consider a joint conference with the ILBA (International Log Builders Association) that is out of, and in addition to, our regular conference cycle. Joel will follow up with the ILBA. General agreement with the concept, perhaps including a link to TTRAG, the natural companion to hand-crafter log builders. Plus, since the attendance would likely be smaller, the exposure is also less. We will not be accepting their generous offer to hold a joint conference in MO, in the Fall of 2002, because our planning (can you believe it?) is more long range. As a parting shot, Rudy suggests we explore the concept of a joint project to test the marriage.

Guild budget report shows that we are right on target, with a tiny variance of $130! Does this mean we are on track, or just good guessers? We conclude that we are where we ought to be for the moment. Treasurer Madigan has some more detailed inquiries that will be handled one on one.

Will is working on site in Chicago, with 50 volunteers, on an old barn project headed by Rick Collins. His report is brief, and upbeat. There will be pictures on the website before these minutes are published. Another excellent example of how the Guild works as an informal network.

The Board expressed a mild level of unhappiness about the web service. Joel promises to make it better, one way or another.

'Design Expo' proposal received from Deb McIntee. Reviewed by Susan Witter, generally smiled upon by the Board. A moderate discussion followed regarding the proposed name change, use of photo albums, and more. Joel & Will will make the call on compensation for the organizer(s).

Susan will continue to move this forward, and report back.

Regarding the By-Laws and their revisions, Susan will publish the by laws in the Member Directory, with the proposed revisions in BOLD. Balloting will occur in October, in person and by mail. Andrea will review, with Susan, and make sure it's all intact before publication.

Susan Witter departs.

General, and wide-ranging discussion regarding the proposal from Paul Cooper that we partner with the Hersey Foundation and Rice University for one vision of the Apprenticeshop site. We like the concept just fine, but we may not be able to move as quickly as Paul would like. Joel is hesitant to embark on a major building campaign outside of our regular instructional activities. BUT, this may prove too good an opportunity to postpone, so Joel is directed to keep this ball in the air, and Will will continue to develop the curriculum, and the connection with the US Department of Labor.

Andrea proposed a future discussion topic for whole board on goals and overall policy for trips (i.e. always have a local to help organize, etc)- then Executive Directors can set schedule based on this. Joel will make this happen.

Nancy has asked us to review our policy for timber frame company ads in the resource guide. And that we will be talking with her about this.

The new Executive Director of the Timber Frame Business Council (Nancy Wilkins) has asked us to review our policy regarding the TFG resource Guide. The Board briefly reviewed the history and issues; Rudy and Joel agreed to keep the lines of communication open, and the rest of the board on the cc line, for this on-going discussion with our sister organization.

Things are progressing well at the Smithsonian and we will be displaying timber frames both in the tent where we will be working and at the gate we will be cutting up ahead of time which will serve as the entrance to the Masters of the Building Arts area at the Folklife Festival. The gate will also have the Guild name and logo carved into the header. The frame we will be cutting appears to be sold, and fund raising efforts are under way to offset miscellaneous expenses. Should be fun for all.

Short discussion about pike poles, anyone need any?

Next conference call is set for June 13th, Wednesday, 7:30PM EDT

Adjourned 8:37pm, a record for brevity.