Mfca Annual Business Meeting

MFCA ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

AUGUST 1ST, 2008

Introduction: The first annual MFCA Convention was held on August 1st-3rd 2008 in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Formed in May of 2007, this was the first official annual meeting of officers and MFCA members to discuss the future of the organization. Following are the minutes from that meeting, a list of sub-committees formed and actions taken.
Roll Call: Officers present-Lynn Schmidt (President), Will Travers (Vice President). Officers not present-Mike Guttmann (Treasurer), John Merida (Assistant Treasurer). Matthew Culp was acting Secretary. MFCA members present- Joe Greco, Al Dunham, Jimbo Dunagan, Mark Klingbeil, George Diamond, Ed Roche, Spike Diamond, Phil Gilliam, Joe Allore, Adrian Baxter, Corey Johnson, Andre Cogdell and John Martin.
President’s Report: Meeting was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. however it was moved back to 1 p.m. due to MFCA members coming in at noon. Meeting was called to order at 1:20 p.m. President Lynn Schmidt welcomed all present and welcomed everyone to the convention.
State of Association.
MFCA is in good shape financially with new members joining.
Membership has grown to 160+ members.
In the first group of membership renewals we have seven members who have not paid their dues as of yet.
Lynn reminded everyone that we are 1 ½ years away from election of new officers.
Treasurer’s Report: Mike Guttmann was not present for the meeting, so Lynn Schmidt gave our current status financially.
MFCA Financial Status.
Lynn reported that we currently have $2,700 in the bank before some convention expenses.
Following the second group of renewals-those moneys should produce an additional $1,200.
Our expenses have totaled over $9,000 since inception, with the majority of the expenses going towards the magazine production and mailing expense.
The MFCA has received numerous donations including a $1,000 donation by Mike Daley specifically for this convention.
Lynn announced that all financial numbers are available to any member at any time. All a member has to do is get in contact with him for a copy of the finances.
(see attached document for precise yearend financial report)
Other notes.
Due to Mike Daley’s generosity, the MFCA is going to name our Coaches Points Challenge Regional travelling trophy the ”Daley Cup”, in honor of Mike Daley.
The MFCA store and how we sell items online will possibly be changing based on our status as a 501c7 and possible changes to the dues structure.
Meeting Agenda: The agenda for this meeting included seven different issues. They are: Code of Conduct, Licensing, Dues Structure, New Committees, Future Conventions, Promotion and Goal Setting.
Code of Conduct: Currently on the MFCA forum we do not have a formal written code of conduct for language, respect to others and no formal form of penalties when users cross the line of what is appropriate behavior. Moderators of the MFCA forum have monitored the website and have taken action towards those who have either threatened physical violence towards others or said things to demean or intimidate other members. The MFCA officers are in agreement that penalties for inappropriate conduct need to be addressed, rules formed and then communicated to all members. All penalties need to be consistent. The code of conduct will not only restrict and penalize anyone who disobeys the code of conduct but will also protect the image of the MFCA to the general public, youth and prospective new coaches who may view the MFCA forum.
Discussion: Definition-What is bad conduct? All members present engaged in a discussion on what exactly is bad conduct. Several suggestions were made of where the line should be.
Guidelines: What is acceptable and what is not? For this it was decided by all that we need a committee to define how we break down the forum, so the general public can see the MFCA with its best foot forward. One suggestion was that the website be broken down into two sections-MFCA Members only and General Public.
Action:Committee needed. It was discussed and decided that we need a four member committee to do the following for this matter:
Define what bad behavior is and come up with recommendations of guidelines for members to follow.
Suggestions for penalties for those who cross the line of unacceptable behavior.
How to monitor behavior and follow up on penalties.
Do we want to split up the forum into two segments-is this a good course of action.
Action:The Code of Conduct committee had two volunteers during the meeting. They were Ed Roche and Jimbo Dunagan. Two more members are needed and will be appointed by the MFCA President at a later date.
Licensing: This subject was discussed as it relates to the Code of Conduct. The MFCA has a posted disclaimer; however are we protected if MFCA members or forum members post images of licensed, copyrighted and trademarked logos, specifically the NFL and NCAA? This agenda item was to discuss protecting ourselves against a lawsuit and actions, if any, that need to be taken to protect the officers of the MFCA
This item was added to the agenda at the request of MFCA member, Mike Pratt per a phone conversation and email.
Discussion: Does the display or sale of illegally obtained logos via decals, fieldcovers, etc by MFCA members make the MFCA liable.
Lynn Schmidt posed the question to the group…“is this a Code of Conduct issue for selling logos on line?” Lynn continued,“any reproduction of logos is illegal. Does this hold liability to the MFCA?”
George Diamond commented …“the only problem is if someone is selling at a function, but not online.”
Joe Allore commented…” there is no distinction between online and location selling. “
Lynn Schmidt commented…”posted disclaimers should put the MFCA out of liability but for instance, do the current “certificates” of ownership” being put forth by the CBSMF for college teams violate the rights of the colleges or are they just an attempt to provide more realism for the CBSMF?
Ed Roche commented…” we need to make provisions to protect the President and all officers from being sued, because manufacturers and MFCA Membersare selling NCAA/NFL logos items, this includes decal sheets and related items. We need to look into incorporation to protect the MFCA. Is this something we should consider?”
Actions: Everyone present agreed that we need to evaluate the current liability status of the MFCA in regards to licensing. Joe Allorestated that he had a relative who specializes in this type of law and will look into a non-profit incorporation status protection for officers. Ed Roche also added that we need to look at the positive good will aspect of doing charity events when contacting attorneys. Our charity work has the potential to change the organization status in regards to liability.
Dues Structure: The MFCA has some potential to get rid of liability, generate more funds and to customize each member’s participation level in the MFCA, by having a restructuring of amount of dues paid or by having different levels of membership.
Discussion: Members present already discussed dividing the forum into two parts-Members only and General Public. The buy and sell section of the current forum, along with a new newcomers section would go to the new General Public section. The members only section would contain league photos, open forum, MFCA special sections (such as the MFCA Hall of Fame section) etc.
Suggestions: Lynn Schmidt and Matthew Culp suggested that we need to have a four level membership system to help offset the rising cost of running the MFCA and so we can meet our future goals. Lynn commented that the magazine alone cost $1,200 per issue to produce, which is almost the entire budget. By offering different levels of membership we could allow each member to customize what they want out of the MFCA. For example:
Level 1 membership: Cost $15. Benefits would include access into the MFCA forum
Level 2 membership: Cost $30. Benefits would include access into the MFCA forum;the member would receive a PDF version of the magazine, access to all MFCA skills competition and special discounts and basic membership (membership card, decal etc.)
Level 3 membership: Cost $40. Benefits would include everything in level 2 and include asubscription for a hard copy of the Tweak magazine delivered to their mailbox.
Level 4 membership: Cost? Benefits would include everything in level 3 and also include a MFCA t-shirt and or a MFCA personalized mug or similar item.
Discussion: The major goal of the MFCA is to draw in more coaches. By reducing our magazine cost, while at the same time increasing our moneys threw membership levels, the MFCA could begin to focus our attention on greater promotion. Lynn Schmidt suggested that the extra moneys could go towards sanctioning tourneys, with money prizes offered for tourney winners. In addition, more money could go to help promote tourneys in the form of radio advertisement and eventual television advertisement in the future. More moneys could also be spent towards good will and charity events.
Actions: After discussion, everyone present decided to table restructuring the dues structure until time could be spent to do a cost versus reward analysis. Dues restructuring will be addressed at a later date.
New Committees: In order to make positive progress towards achieving our long term goals, the members discussed what committeesare needed and what their task would be.
Discussion: Members present, after taking a look at what tasks are ahead of us for the near future, discussed several different committee ideas. The committees decided on are as follows:
Finance Committee: This committee is needed for financial planning for the future. Currently the MFCA has been running without any form of budget our monetary direction. The duties of the finance committee are to look at the projects on the table, find new ways of bringing in moneys, research new ways to cut expenses and to keep the MFCA on track financially.
Actions: All members present agreed that for the time being the finance committee should be Mike Guttmann and John Merida.
Rules Committee: This committee will review the current rules sets for the Coaches Points Challenge, Skills competitions and Paint/Customizing contest and make suggestions for possible changes. Also, one of the future goals of the MFCA is to come up with a MFCA tournament rule set that reflects the needs and wants of the MFCA membership.
Actions: The MFCA President will appoint a committee made up of MFCA Regional Reps to begin this process.
Promotion Committee: This committees’ primary goal is to help local leagues promote at the local level. This includes the production of a DVD to introduce the MFCA; tools for leagues such as skills competition materials; tools for aiding leagues to approach local Boy Scout troops to have a one day event-etc. The promotion committee will also help the MFCA promote itself on a national level via future television, newspaper and magazine spots. Additionally, the committee will help coordinate MFCA sanctioned events as they relate to promotion of that event.
Actions: There are no volunteers at this time; however Matthew Culp volunteered to help form this committee along with Lynn Schmidt and Will Travers.
Code of Conduct Committee: This committee has already been discussed and formation begun (see section 6- Code of Conduct)
Future MFCA Conventions: Future convention locations were the purpose of this discussion. Rising travel cost and the need to make the most of our gatherings sparked this discussion.
Discussion: President Lynn Schmidt stated that the 2009 MFCA Convention is currently up in the air regarding location and dates. Lynn continued-the uncertainty of the economy, rising gas prices and increased price in hotel accommodations has made it difficult to lock down a definite location. Lynn has received several suggestions for having an extended weekend which would perhaps consolidate some tourneys (Seawall Brawl, NHFL, etc.) and play them the week of the MFCA convention. Lynn asked for options and opinions from all those present. Some questions that were asked were: Do we move the convention around every year or return to Canton? Do we use a point system, similar to the NCAA College Bowl Series, to have a national final at the MFCA convention?
Suggestions: Some suggestions made were to follow the Pro Football Ultimate Fan Association example and keep the convention consistent-same location, same weekend every year. The pros to this idea are that it reduces stress, because everyone knows what to expect, how to get around etc. Also, it allows for consistency in planning and travel arrangements.
Actions: Everyone present agreed that the MFCA Convention and all items talked about in the discussion are tabled for further evaluation. The location for the 2009 MFCA Convention will be reviewed and announced at a later date. No sub-committees were formed to address the items regarding a point system, charity events or national championship.
Promotion: It was decided that in order to begin formation of promotion strategies, the MFCA must first receive an evaluation on our financial budget for the future and determine how much moneys will be budgeted for promotional purposes. In summary, no promotion discussion can take place until we have a budget and know how much money will go towards direct promotion. Promotion actions tabled until a later date.
Goal Setting: As with any organization, setting goals is needed as a benchmark to access how much progress an organization makes. We had a lengthy discussion of where we want to be in five years and what some of the future long term goals of the MFCA are. The group present came up with nine goals for the MFCA and they are:
1,000 members by 2010: One clear goal is to increase the membership. Many members present at the meeting saw a goal of 1,000 members by 2010 as an attainable goal, provided our promotional strategy and commitment by members succeeded. 1,000 members would generate a tremendous amount of moneys and would get the MFCA the national exposure it’s needs to grow.
Every member bring in five new members: One way to reach 1,000 members would be for every current member to reach out to friends and family and bring in five new members. This is an attainable goal and it was discussed that promotion and perhaps dues restructuring could aid in bringing in new members.
Television Coverage: If Madden can get on ESPN why can’t we? One major goal that would aid in the growth of the MFCA would be to somehow find a way to get on television. It was discussed that local TV coverage can aid in getting local leagues new coaches. The question is how does the MFCA aid in making this happen? Can local leagues, for example the LAEFL who has a history of TV appearances, help other leagues to find ways to get on television? Sharing the “how too’s” is key.
Incorporation of the MFCA: There was discussion about incorporation for a couple of reasons. One was liability protection and the other was to put on bigger and better events. This discussion is ongoing and must be pursued carefully as incorporation could be a huge and difficult step.
National Charity Exposure: Howdo national organizations choose charity events to help promote their organizations? For example, the NFL has the United Way; PFUFA has the J.Babe Stearn event. The discussion was around what charity best fits our organization and how do we make it happen?
National Sponsor: Everyone present believed that a national sponsor, such as a Home Depot or Dick’s Sporting Goods, could be a key to the long term success of the MFCA. Some coaches present have been looking into making this goal a reality.
Youth Leagues/Youth Division: A MFCA sponsored youth league or event is a must. Also discussed was how we help each individual league grow in increasing youth membership.
Video Streaming on MFCA websites: This was discussed and it was recommended by members present, that the MFCA look into increasing the level of quality when broadcasting league games. If, for example, league championships could be broadcast live on the MFCA forum, then it would aid in bridging the distance gap between coaches and give new coaches to a our website a firsthand look at how we play.
MFCA Network: A long distance goal would be to have our own MFCA television network, similar to the NFL network.
Adjournment: Lynn Schmidt thanked everyone for coming, thanked everyone for their input and thanked everyone for volunteering for committees. The next MFCA Business Meeting is tentatively scheduled for the next convention, yet to be announced. The meeting was adjourned at 3:07 p.m.

TREASURERS REPORT