CCF Executive Committee Meeting

Teleconference - May 30, 2013

AttendeesDeb Dumka (President)

Ken Wilkinson (1st Vice President)

Maegen Black (Administrative Director)

Linda Brine (Secretary)

Tom Dean (Treasurer/2nd Vice President)

RegretsSimon Wroot (Past President)


Welcome: Deb Dumka

  • thanks for coming!

MOTION: to approve the agenda.

Moved by Ken Wilkinson; 2nd by Tom Dean. Carried.

2.Review and acceptance of April minutes: Linda Brine

MOTION: to accept the minutes as presented.

Moved by Tom Dean; 2nd by Ken Wilkinson. Carried

Discussion: content of minutes - how much detail is necessary to provide context; decision-making process, accountability, for archival purposes. 2-3 pages deemed not too onerous, or 'too much information'.

3.Financial Report: Tom Dean

  • current cash situation just over $8000; see explanatory notes
  • One item that will change as per direction from the auditor and bookkeeper is where the 'operating reserve' of $10,000 is listed. There will be an adjustment made in next month's report based on direction from the auditor.

MOTION: that the adjusted Financial Statement be accepted as amended. Moved by Tom Dean; 2nd by Ken Wilkinson. Carried.
4. Administrative Report: Maegen Black

Lot of activities around upcoming projects:

  • CCF has a new summer student - Karrie Nash (who will be working on the e-news and web updates - currently undergoing some training. She will be doing communications and soon will be taking on graphic design tasks.
  • Advocacy: a petition is being circulated in the UK regarding a government position paper about creative industries that advocated the removal of 'craft' from identified 'creative industries'; thereby removing it from statistical databases, etc. Lots of opposition from the craft sector in the UK. Ironic that in Canada we have just succeeded in clarifying the definition/status of craft within the visual arts category at Statistics Canada.
  • Maegen Black has written a letter, to be reviewed by the Advocacy committee, then forwarded to Provincial and Territorial Councils, stating the CCF/FCMA position on the matter. Councils may add their voice as they see fit.

5. Project Updates: Maegen Black

2013 Vancouver Conference:

  • Maegen Black met with Vancouver Meetings and Conventions, who were very helpful in making recommendations for hotels, etc.
  • Proposals were received from 7-8 hotels, which she narrowed down to two options. Over all, costs between these two were $1000 apart. At the suggestion of Natalie Landry, Maegen Black approached each hotel to become a conference sponsor, to which they agreed! The Residence Inn by Mariott was selected as they presented the best sponsorship and package offer. (The sponsorship will contribute approx. $1200 in free rooms during the event in exchange for being cited as the 'official hotel' of conference)

2014 PEI Conference

  • Tom Dean and Laura Cole will investigate what PEI Tourism & Culture can do to promote in terms of syncing up with other events, tourism packages, advertising, promoting to CBC/other media, get more press, etc.
  • As PEI is geographically close, Maegen will look into connecting with the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University to encourage student attendance.

National Marketing Project

  • Good news on the funding front: theOCC received approval and was invited to submit a second, detailed application for the marketing project.
  • Maegen Black will meet with Emma Quin and Sandra Duprey to nail down details for the second stage application: deadline is mid-July.
  • Human Resource Skill Development Canada has proven to be a very difficult organization to get in touch with - so Maegen Black finally contacted the Ministers Office regarding the Sectoral Initiatives program
  • 'Sectoral Initiatives' effectively replaces the 'sector council' funding (ie CHRC). The program is relatively new and is evolving. The last deadline was Oct 12th 2012, and the department is still going through applications.
  • A contact was made, and information exchanged.
  • The next funding cycle might not be until 2014, but there is potential for a national study under that program in the future. Anne Manuel will chair this project committee.
  • A conversation with Sandra Alfoldy regarding her study is in the offing.

NACA Arts & Crafts Festival

  • NACA Arts and Crafts Festival dates have shifted; Maegen Black will now attending from the July 8th - 12th, 2013.
  • The time shift has impacted Maegen's responsibilities during her time there, moving further from the festival activity and more towards professional development and networking, a better aligned role with CCF mandate.

6. Nominations Update: Deb Dumka & Maegen Black

  • Maegen Black released a call for volunteers for the positions of Secretary, 2nd Vice President and Treasurer. Thus far two people have put their names forward for 2nd Vice; two for Treasurer, one for Secretary.
  • This presents an interesting situation for the CCF, asfor the first time we would be in the position of holding an 'election' for executive positions, rather than an acclamation. Therefore, a process is required and as there is no specific direction in the Policy Manual. Options for developing an appropriate vetting process were discussed.
  • Potential executive members must submit a statement describing their experience, interests, background, expectations etc. that would be circulated to the board prior to the AGM.
  • An additional challenge is whether to recruit people for executive who haven't come up through member organizations. It has been previously assumed that people would move through the provincial system and then onto the CCF executive. As a founding principle, the CCF is an organization of organizations, not individuals…which begs the question of whether it is appropriate to bring an individual into an executive position from 'outside' of provincial/territorial council members.
  • At the CCBC, for example, there is a fairly rigorous vetting process for Board members, including interviews, references etc.
  • The issue will be referred to the Nominations Committee to develop a policy, which will be forwarded to the Governance Committee.

Nominations Committee

Bronfman nomination: Jane Kidd (textile artist)

Maegen Black has amassed lots of good support materials and has interviewed the artist. The application is due on Monday, June 3rd.

7. Other Business: as required

Update on the Capilano University program cuts:

- No action from the CCF/FCMA Advocacy Committee, however the issue was highlighted through the e-news and website, encouraging the community to sign a petition and write to the school committee.

Adjournment: Ken