The Board met on April 30, 2020. Sixteen board members and one non-member attended.
For a complete list of the officers and committee members that comprise the Board, see the Officers and Committee Chairs section from the menu, under “About,” on the main website.
Committee Chair Reports:
Secretary: Maude Svensson reviewed March Board Meeting Minutes.
Treasurer: Bruce Schaefer presented the revised SSCC Budget Projections for the current club year. He is forecasting a $1,156 surplus by the end of June, and a $5,029 carryover balance to next club year.
The total number of members is now 98, including 26 new members who have joined since the start of the club year last September. At the same time, 21 members left or did not renew their memberships, which leaves the net increase of members to 5.
The George DeBuchanne Community Service Fund has a balance of $489 after executing two projects within the “Wider Circle” and “Shepherd’s Table” (amounting to $291).
Catherine Honigsberg asked Bruce to add a deposit column in the club’s financial records to show on what date checks were deposited. She will mail the disbursement sheet to Bruce.
Other Reports:
Programming: Renee Schaefer and Karen Finkelman have contracted speakers and judges for the rest of the club year, that is, a speaker and a judge for the May meetings and a judge for the Year End event. All meetings will take place via Zoom. Renee will send information about the Year End event judge to Catherine, who in turn will announce the judge in a blast to all members.
Cable Release: Sherm Edwards is about to publish the May issue of the Cable Release. This is the last issue for the current club year. Dennis Freeman will update the club handbook during this summer.
Field Trips: All field trips are currently cancelled, but Phil Boyer and Andrew Rein have some exiting trips in the pipeline to be announced when the situation is sufficiently improved.
Website, Meetup, Facebook, Twitter: Mark Paster has updated the SSCC website. He informed us that the last Zoom event on “A Closer Focus” had three participants from the Meetup group.
Nominations and Elections Committee: All candidates apart from the secretary have been nominated to be presented on the slate for elections. Catherine will send out a blast to all members to change the voting to the first Thursday in May. Bruce will announce the slate and ask for nominations at the meeting.
Competition: The May Competition Night and the Year End event in June will comprise digital submissions only. A broad discussion followed on whether the judge would get access to the images in advance. Larry Gold pointed out that it is not the SSCC policy to send them out in advance, but as this is a special situation he proposed to do so only on request of the judge.
Larry asked the board members to send him suggestions for new competition themes for next club year’s Competition Nights. He will then put those on a list for voting at the May Board Meeting.
Membership: Marc and Lisa Auerbach have checked that new members’ application forms are consistent with the club website. Due to all changes following the Corona situation, Lisa proposed to write an explanatory letter to all new members.
Michael Koren suggested that Zoom sessions may continue for a long time, even after the Corona virus situation has improved. Catherine pointed out the good response the club has had from last zoom meetings. A discussion followed on technical requirements and whether those were fulfilled at the Silver Spring United Methodist Church. Catherine proposed that the club acquire a yearly Zoom membership.
After a discussion, we agreed to continue board meetings by Zoom even after we are back to other meetings at Silver Spring United Methodist Church.
Year End Event: The event will take place via Zoom on June 11, at 7:30 pm. Renee has contracted a judge, who will judge digital submissions prior to June 11 so that awards can be given on that date. The evaluation of printed images and if it will be done by the same judge, is still unresolved. The decision will be postponed until we have new information, likely at the beginning of next club year. Dennis will be the Master of Ceremonies. Catherine will arrange with the printing of certificates. Larry will investigate if trophies can be ordered on-line at a favorable price.
PSA: Pete Morton informed us that the annual conference of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) has been cancelled. Those who had registered and paid will be reimbursed automatically without any fees being incurred. He recommended that SSCC members check out the PSA on-line tutorials and presentations that are of excellent quality.
Communication Committee: Catherine will send out the Communication proposed outline.
Other Topics:
Year End Task Breakdowns: See above under “Year End Event”.
Letter for Speaker Criteria: There is a need for a letter that specifies the club’s technical facilities, practical details and expectations for presenters. Mark Paster will update his draft “Silver Spring Camera Club Information for Presenters” from February 2019.
Judge Survey by Pete and send out test via Mail Champ: Pete has drafted evaluation forms that would be available for members to fill out at Competition Night. These forms now need to be adapted to events via Zoom. Bruce volunteered to set up a test group in Mail Chimp in order to learn how to proceed with the survey.
Action Items from last meeting: All action items with a stop date have been performed.