Princeton-Trenton Chapter Special Libraries Association Board Meeting
DATE: June 25, 2002
PLACE: Siemens Corp, Princeton
TOPIC: Officer Transition meeting; report from Conference in LA

ATTENDEES: Susan Moss, Ruth Weitezenfeld, Claire McInerney, Mary Jane Miller, Susan Bales, Janet Cooper Weiss, Mary Steiner, Mitchell Brown, Jan Watterworth, Carol Feltes

1. The meeting was called to order at 4:45 p.m. and introductions were made around the table.
2. There were no additions to the agenda.
   
3. Comments from the Annual meeting in Los Angeles.
   Ruth attended Chapter Cabinet meeting.
   Attendance was significantly down at the conference this year.
   Transportation around L.A. for attendees was difficult.
   Reaction to the keynote speaker, Peter Drucker, was mixed. Mitchell though he was difficult to follow. A memorable thought from his presentation concerned loyalty - you only owe loyalty to God, your country and your family. You do not owe loyalty to your company - you owe them fulfillment of your contractual obligation as an employee.
   The leadership round table was good; the speaker was Mary Boone.
   Mitchell commented that dominant threads of the meetings were the by-laws issues and branding. The bottom line is that the by-laws must meet the requirements of the State of New York, which is where the Association is incorporated.
   There was good attendance at the New Jersey Chapters reception.
   The vendor show was very good.
4. President's report. Susan commented that the year was challenging with both attendance and fund raising down. Everyone is encouraged to contact Mary Jane with leads on sponsors for meetings in the upcoming program year. Susan will assume the role of chair of the nominations committee for 2003.
5. President Elect Report. Attendance for the February meeting on "Marketing Tips" was 33. The March meeting, title "Libraries of the 21st Century: drew 43 members to tour two new libraries on the Princeton campus. Claire McInerney spoke on "Gender and Technology" for the April meeting, which was attended by 44 members. The May business meeting featured Susan DiMattia; she spoke on "Change Leadership" to 47 attendees.
6. Fund Raising. Mary Jane reported that an average of $525 was raised per meeting which is down 44% from last year. We need to think about raising money for the September meeting in the very near future. The September meeting is slated to be a joint meeting with the New Jersey Chapter. Susan commented that communications difficulties contributed to some problems last year, which we should seek to avoid.
7. Hospitality. Jan Watterworth's report highlighted the functions of "meet and greet" as well as managing meal choices for attendees from meeting to meeting. She submitted some suggestions for improvements, including a committee to mingle with new members and first time attendees to make them feel welcome. It is also time to think about obtaining a new supply of name badges. Jan suggested that we change the type of badge used to make it easier to identify attendee status ( i.e. student member, speaker, guest, new member, etc). Susan commented that she prefers the chapter NOT use the necklace style.
8. Archives. Jan also reported for Archives. She has boxes of unorganized materials that need processing and then to be deposited for permanent keeping in some publicly accessible repository. It was suggested that all available past presidents of the chapter sort and organize the materials from their chapter year in office.
9. Membership. Susan Bales commented the job really needed a committee. the year was frustrating with communication difficulties and delays.
10. Consulting. Janet Weiss reported that there was just one inquiry for assistance - to establish a functional library with nothing.
11. SCILS liaison. Comments that students should be more involved, and ways should be sought to integrate students in chapter activities.
12. Treasurer's Reports. The meetings are getting more expensive. It is possible cost is part of the equation on falling attendance. Recent staff cutbacks and library closure also are factors. Several suggestions were made including being able to attend the program portion of a meeting without the expense of a meal, or having a meeting without a full meal, perhaps only dessert and coffee.
13. Webmaster/Employment report. Mitchell reported that there had been no significant changes since January, and that there have been difficulties accessing the Association servers.
14. Networking. Miranda Scott reported on changes to the NJ list. The REPLY function has been changed so that it is NOT to the entire list. Also there is debate over the issue of automatically adding new chapter members to the list, rather than waiting for them to subscribe.
15. Old Business. Changes to chapter by-laws are now in limbo pending resolution of the national by-laws. The bills for the San Antonio meeting reception still are unresolved with headquarters. A new type of account is available at Fleet Bank, and the treasurer should investigate possible advantages of changing our account. There is also the issue of the chapter CD. Do we want to pool it with the national organization's?
16. New Business. Janet Weiss proposed that we establish an award committee and create an in the name of Rosemary Little. Ruth suggested that we could establish an endowment. The money would fund an annual lecture event, like the Alice Rankin event. Mary made the motion and Ruth seconded.
17. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.