LEONARDO/ISAST BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
May 19, 2008 at the downtown offices of San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

MINUTES

Board Present: Jeff Babcock, Greg Harper, Steve Wilson, Meredith Tromble, Darlene Tong, Tami Spector

Staff Present: Pam Grant-Ryan, Pat Bentson, Kathleen Quillian

Attended by phone: Roger Malina

Absent: None

Meeting start time: 6:25pm (Jeff Babcock chaired the meeting.)

1. Approval of minutes from November 2008 meeting: (All voted in favor, none opposed.)

2. Finances and Budget: The board reviewed the 2008 Profit & Loss statement, the 2008 Balance statement, the 2009 proposed budget and cash flow statements. A cash flow problem is projected from mid-April to mid-June. The board had voted previously to extend the 2008 budget through February. The proposed 2009 budget projects income from adding or renewing two Affiliate Members per month; results to date have met or exceeded the goal each month. Jeff moved that the board accept the proposed 2009 budget for the period from March through June, but with monthly reviews of cash flow and income-generation results. (VOTE: Greg seconded; all voted in favor; none opposed). MIT Press has indicated that the 2010 fiscal year may be difficult for academic journals; Journals Director Rebecca McLeod sent a memo to the office stating that MIT Press would be reviewing subscriptions and projections in early March. Regarding the annual interest payment on Roger's loan to ISAST, Greg said it’s possible to defer payment, but it needs to be handled formally. Greg will draft a statement. Jeff will work with Pat on the worst-case budget, which the organization can move to if income goals are not met. The board will be given monthly updates tied to trigger dates for the decision to move to the worst-case budget.

3. Fundraising: Although the 2008 end-of-year fundraising letter went to a larger number of recipients this year (most via email), it brought in fewer donations. Tami volunteered to make follow-up phone calls to individual lapsed donors. A letter of Intent was sent to IBM Almaden, who had responded to our Affiliate membership program invitation that they interested in information about specific projects to consider funding. Kathleen will send a message to Facebook to ask for donations.

4. Publications

a. Web Architect Position: We received about 7 proposals for the web architect position. There are differing opinions about how to proceed. Steve and Roger think that it’s critical to build Leonardo’s web presence. Pam, Darlene and Pat are worried about working with a large outside group, particularly when our fundraising and community-building efforts are dependent on access to and functionality of the web site. Concerns about the cost were discussed. The board decided it would be best to start small by having the outside group start with a scaled-down project. Steve motioned that the board open discussions with the Aceti web group and solicit a revised proposal that focuses on the creation of a Leonardo web-zine as a first step. (VOTE: all voted in favor; none opposed.)

b. Publications Committee Procedure: Steve brought up again the question of how the publication committee should handle proposals. It was decided to continue with the original plan, which was that the publications committee review proposals 4 times a year and make recommendations to the board about adopting new publishing projects. For very small projects, the committee has the authority to make decisions on proposals without a full board vote, but larger projects, particularly those with financial implications, will be brought to the board for a vote. (VOTE: all in favor; none opposed.)

c. MIT Press relations: While the MIT Press-Leonardo publishing contract needs updating, it is not a good time to renegotiate the contract while the economy is down.

d. Siggraph Special Issue: The issue looks good. There will be a large influx of manuscripts to review in February. Siggraph is promoting the Leonardo connection. Siggraph has made the first payment to Leonardo/ISAST; the second payment is expected.

5. LASER: There was general discussion about how LASER events could be improved and how to handle communications and collaboration between Piero Scaruffi and Leonardo/ISAST. It was decided that the organization should create a plan with specific goals for what we want to achieve with LASERs and evaluate the plan every year.

6. Board Development and Nominations, process and procedure: Jeff recommended that the board go through its customary process of requesting statements and bios from nominees prior to a vote. The office or board chair will send each nominee a board information pack that outlines requirements and expectations. Meredith Tromble moved to renew Darlene Tong’s position on board; Tami seconded. (VOTE: All in favor; none opposed.)

Meeting end time: 9:10pm

posted 4 March 2009