MN GIS/LIS Consortium Board Meeting

June 27, 2003 - 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

SEH - St. Paul, MN

Mission - The Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium is a forum for communicating information to, and improving cooperation among, those interested in GIS and LIS in the State of Minnesota. Members include GIS users in local, state, and federal government agencies; business and industry; and educational institutions. Membership is free.

* Action Items are underlined.

Minutes

Call to order

The meeting was called to order at 10:45. Board members present: Becky Blue, Joella Givens, Blaine Hackett, Matt Koukol, Kimberly Kowal, Banette Kritzky, Alan Laumeyer, Mark Thomas; Ex Officio Board members present: Will Craig, Don Yeager ; Staff present: Susan Church.

Board members absent: Chris Cialek,Lonnie Meinke, Charlie Parson, Sally Wakefield

Approval of Agenda

Givens moved to approve the agenda and Craig seconded the motion. The motion prevailed.

Secretary's Report

There was a motion and second to approve the Minutes as presented (Craig/Laumeyer).

Craig reported that the legislative GIS office was diminished. The motion prevailed.

Treasurer's Report

Laumeyer reported that money was transferred from the scholarship/money market fund in order to pay bills. (Laumeyer looks at it as borrowing from the scholarship fund and transferring from money market.) This was due to 1) shortfall of dollars from the Spring Workshops; and 2) most of revenue comes in from the Fall Conference. Bills are now paid - there might need to be another transfer to pay deposit to the ScienceMuseum for the Fall Conference.

Laumeyer reported on the action item to establish a cash flow budget with Ewald. Some ideas for revenue generation/cost cutting were: no more newsletter mailings; marketing on web site; increase conference fees; directors/officers insurance (last year it was $750 -want to increase it to $850 this year).

There was a motion and second (Kritzsky/Givens) to approve the Treasurer's report. The motion prevailed.

Action Items - New/Follow-up Business

MembershipPostcard-Church reported that approximately 1,000 postcards have been returned.

Newsletter Redistribution- Yaeger reported that everyone on US list was mailed the newsletter.

Events Calendar on the Web Page

Blue reported that Parson was taking care of this. Tabled until next month. Kritzky reported that Wakefield, Hackett, and Kritzky met to determine what was needed on the web page. Wakefield was going to check with Sjerven to see what he had been asked to do (contract).

Web Updates

Craig suggested there be a board member/s (web committee) to determine the content and structure of the GIS/LIS home page. He suggested that the web needs an overall review, strategies to keepit updated, and monitoring of download speed. This issue was tabled until the August board meeting. Secretary's note: There is already a web committee.

Polaris Nominations

Craig reported on the nominations received, and distributed copies of the letters of recommendation. The first deadline was 15 June, at which time there were 3 nominations. Since the deadline extension to 30 June, a fourth has come in. Candidates include: Al Laumeyer,Tim Loesch, Robert Maki, and Dan Ross. (No nominations accepted after July 3.)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Yaeger reported that there will be an article in the Newsletter calling for nominations.

Spring Workshops South

Kritzky reported on the Spring Workshops, and handed out copies of financials and evaluation summaries. There is presently a loss of $5,482.28 with accounts receivables of $1,330. Considering the revenue loss, there was discussion of possibly having only one spring workshop next year. There was also discussion of looking at training facilities with low to no cost. Other possible locations to consider are MnSCU, St. Cloud, MankatoState, St. Thomas, or UMn during Spring Break. It was suggested that at the August meeting, the Board be provided with a list of instructors (especially those more advanced) to consider for future workshops.

Strategic Planning

Blue reported on list of items to discuss at the upcoming August Strategic Planning session: expenses, items to cut, advertising, increasing conference fees, grants, insurance, and Board interaction with Sjerven - look at web page, instructor list. Kritzky recalled that for a past Strategic Planning event, ideas for discussion were drawn from past Board meetings. Planning committee will assign a Board member to be responsible for each of the items and send the list out prior to the meeting. Meeting will be 8am-5pm.

Bill Marken Board Position

Marken has resigned from the board. Bylaw 3.11 states that,"upon the approval of a majority of the directors present at a duly held meeting,"the Chair will appoint a successor to fill the vacant position for the remainder of the term. It was determined that the Board should come up and contact some potential candidates and submit their names to Parson. Yeager stated that Les Maki might know of some people at DNR.

University of Minnesota - Purchase of GIS/LIS Mailing List

There has been a request from the College of Natural Resources to purchase the GIS/LIS mailing list in order to advertise their GIS and GPS workshops September 18 - 19. Givens made a motion to sell the labels for $50/Kowal seconded. Motion prevailed with one abstention. Givens then made motion to investigate the cost of printing labels and then increase cost to $100 for future requests. Craig seconded the motion. The motion prevailed. Ewald will look into the costs of printing the labels.

Committee/subcommittee reports

Fall Conference 2003

Givens reported on the Fall conference: Plenary speakers (Jonie Mines/Becky Ritchie) and Friday closing speaker Bill Holland (GeoAnalyists) have been confirmed. Exhibitor packets have been sent out- six exhibitors to date. Workshops will be held in both the ScienceMuseum (8 rooms) and the RiverCentre (9 rooms). The Welcome Reception will be held in the Discovery Room at the ScienceMuseum followed by the movie,Great Barrier Reef. Sessions have all been determined, and contracts negotiated. Still under negotiation - parking at the ScienceMuseum.

"Birds of a Feather" - topic discussion groups. This will not be an additional function following the exhibitor receptionas it was last year. The Board determined that there will be some topic tables set aside during Friday's lunch. There will be a sign-up sheet at the registration table for people to register and tables will have signs with designated topics.

GIS Science Bowl - Craig thought this would be good to host and offered to organize it. Givens will talk with Mike Dolbow to see if there will be time available at the Beer Tasting Party on Thursday evening.

Communication/Education Outreach
Wakefield/Thomas met with their committee 19 June, where there was discussion on marketing the conference and reaching other groups interested in GIS. Hackett will research this and contact the Association of MnCounties, League of Mn Cities, and the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors. He will report at the next meeting.

Newsletter

Yeager reported that today is the deadline for the Newsletter. Thus far, ten articles have been received; input is needed from the private sector and from outside Minnesota. Yeager extended the deadline to Wednesday, July 2.

Scholarship Committee

Kritzky reported that the Committee has not yet met, but hopes to do so before August Strategic Planning. Eight schools will be awarded scholarships.

Governor's Council

Craig reported that at least seven people are interested in filling the threeavailable positions. Committee has met and discussed nominations. Executive order for the Council requires an annual report. The abbreviated report will be included in the next Newsletter.

LMIC Update

No report.

There being no further business there was a motion and second (Craig/Givens) to adjourn the meeting at 2:00 p.m. The motion prevailed.

Respectfully submitted,

Kimberly C. Kowal