Lexington Shambhala Council Meeting Minutes

Sept. 3, 2013

Present: Judith Broadus, Krista Callahan-Caudill, Joe Fiala, Lucia Gilchrist, Neil Griggs, Cheryl Coovert (scribe). Susan Smith-Sargent was not in attendance.

Minutes for prior meeting in June were reviewed and approved.

There is a Director’s Executive committee which will meet every other month (alternate to Council meeting months).

Executive Committee Reports – Lucia Gilchrist

Finance - A new contribution level to Shambhala International was discussed. The suggested goal is 25% of the center’s gross income. Currently we donate $250 per month. The group proposed raising this amount to $300 per month. This motion was approved and will take effect next month.

Neil distributed financial reports for discussion.

Expansion – the Council approved moving ahead on contracting for a feasibility study for expanding the current building.

Sarva – The new name for this position is “Program Support.” Some of the responsibilities of the old position will be transferred to other areas. Cheryl Gibson will serve in this position and will help with coordinators and follow-up with participants in the Shambhala database. She is not yet qualified to train coordinators, but can recruit them and can update staff lists.

ACTION: In order to carry out job tasks the Coordinator of Program Support will need access to the Shambhala database. The database administrator and office manager will be given database administrator access and the Coordinator of Program Support will be given a secondary level of access.

Publicity and Communications – Lucia met with a representative of the marketing firm Bullhorn Creative. He had advice on where to start with a marketing campaign. Because of the high cost of a marketing campaign, the following would need to be considered:

1. A clear statement of what we are trying to achieve.

2. Which goals are best achieved by a marketing campaign and which are better achieved by

other, less expensive means.

3. We can make use of public service announcements on WUKY, WEKU, WRFL.

Future actions: Need to write the announcement copy for these and decide how long the

campaigns should last.

4. How will the success of these campaigns be evaluated, for example, adding a

line to our meditation instruction card re “How did you hear of us?”

5. A baseline attendance will need to be developed now (front door programs), especially

of new visitors, in order to evaluate any future increase.

6. There was a discussion of the factors involved in sponsoring larger programs at a site other

than the Center, including the use of all forms of publicity.

Council Reports

Practice and Education – Report given by Lucia Gilchrist

The class/program calendar is now in order. Susan Smith-Sargent, Susan Smith and Connie Courts have been reviewing programs at other centers on mindfulness programs for children and what certifications are required.

Susan SS requested a scholarship to cover the cost of the Meditation Instruction training program fee in Atlanta. The Council approved her request.

Judith Broadus renewed the request for a second Acharya visit this year, and all were in favor.

Kasung – Krista Callahan-Caudill

Krista is getting started on her new role as Rusung and has been in communication with her commander about offering Essential Heart of Kasungship. There is a large amount of material to read for this training, which may be done across five weeks (one night per week).

Culture and Decorum – Joe Fiala

Joe has talked with the Practice Coordinator about holding a Shambhala Sadhana Feast as part of the Harvest of Peace weekend. All will be welcome to attend, including children. There was some discussion as to what activities would be offered to children during the practice.

The schedule for Saturday’s Harvest of Peace will include a community gathering with presentations by the area coordinators.

Societal Health and Wellbeing – Judith Broadus

The second of Judith Simmer-Brown’s Exploring Diversity talk series is ready, and Judith B. would like to do this as a Center function, perhaps at Open House. It was agreed to enter the program on the calendar and begin publicity.

NEXT MEETING: NOVEMBER 5, 2013