Tim Lewis Called the Meeting to Order at 4PM. Kathy Dame of the Mountain Laurel Chapter

Wild Ones Natural Landscapers Ltd.
2010 Q4 Board Meeting,
Connecticut College Library, New London , CN
November 5, 2010

CALL TO ORDER

Tim Lewis called the meeting to order at 4PM. Kathy Dame of the Mountain Laurel Chapter, and Board member, thanked everyone attending for coming.

ATTENDING BOARD MEMBERS:GUESTS PRESENT:
Kathy DameJanet Allen
Bonnie Harper-LoreJohn Allen
Trina HayesCarol Andrews
Tim LewisClaire Calabretta
Chris McCulloughJamie Fuerst
Joe PowelkaAllen Gauthier

Marilyn Jones

Sandy Morse

Janis Solomon
Bret RappaportJuliae Vanatta
Marty RiceDoug Vanstrom

Mike Wuenscher
Karen SyversonTELECONFERENCING BOARD MEMBERS:
Donna VanBuecken (Executive Director)Pat Armstrong

Bonnie Harper-Lore
Michelle VanstromBrian Parsons
Steve WindsorMaryann Whittman

Not attending:

Trish Hacker-Hennig

The 3rd Quarter minutes were approved without objection.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Tim Lewis welcomed Katrina Hayes who is a Partner-at-Large to the Board. We are looking for a first quarter Board meeting on January 15th or 22nd. The first quarter meeting will be held in two parts. There is a new function created: , the Coordinator for Honorary Directors. Bonnie Harper –Lore will be the coordinator, being assisted by Lorraine Johnson (Ontario) and Daryl Morrison (New York). At the upcoming National Meeting the main topic will be the Marketing plan. What Tim would like to do in the remainder of 2010 is to work on updating setting up the website committees and finish the marketing plan including getting back on track upgrading the website.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Maryann Whittman said that Bonnie Harper-Lore will be assisting with thehas agreed to become a contributing editor for the Journal. The current issue is to be a double issue, due to the Sep/Oct issue being delayed due tobecause of a tornado at her home. She is still trying to figure out her role as VP.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Joe Powelka stated that we are 8-10% over budget for membership dues (account # 3200) and 30% over under on Journal advertising. Expenses have increased by $34,000 due to hail damage. We have borrowed from saving and have paid back only $20,000 out of $35Kso far. We are 3k under when netting this out. He is recommending we freezeWe have also frozen the national supplies purchases. Web design costs (8891)are at 156%. Wild Center Miscellaneous costs (7768) are at 340%. For the 2011 budget he is working with Donna VanBuecken and the committee chairs to have committee budget requests to Donna so a proposed budget can be submitted communicated to the Finance Committee by December 15th. He is also working on setting up a list of expectations and oversight issues. He named the members of the Finance Committee as himself, Marty Rice, Kathy McDonald, Brian Parsons, and Lisa Sturgis.

Discussion: Donna VanBuecken corrected that we haven’t had to dip into savings as much as projected. She also said that the Wild Center has purchased blinds to reduce the energy costs. And she stated that Nan Calvert will issue another appeal to have the Root River Chapter’s $6,000 challenge grant fully matched. Brian Parsons voiced concern that the national office should have supplies within reason to operate with.

PAST PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Carol Andrews has plans for developing a new Board member orientation and an officer’s duties work chart.

EXECUTIVE DIRERCTOR’S REPORT

Donna VanBuecken stated she is happy to see the membership total at 2876, the highest in over two years. Two new chapters expect to charter soon- Front Range CO and Central IL. Chapters have done a good job of reminding members to renew. An email campaign has resulted in many members returning after being reminded that they have been deleted from active status. She mentioned damaged items that are being repaired at full replacement value at the Wild Center due to previous hail damage. All repairs were approved by the insurance adjusteor. And the special mailing to NE USA members encouraging them to attendthe Annual Meeting whas been completed in advance of the Annual. We will see the results Meeting tomorrow.

Discussion: Carol Andrews asked about the statussuggested that we set up for chapter mentors to the new chapters. Tim Lewis said this is an excellent idea and he will refer this to the Membership Committee.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

President Lewis is asking that the committees submit a written report to the Board each quarter, whether or not they have met. He said that the committees are becoming more active and involved. He reported that the Merchandise Committee was getting started. He also stated that he would like to see a Youth Education Committee formed. He further stated that Chan Mahanta had conducted the Photo Contest successfully after receiving 134 entries. Chris McCullough reported that the Membership Committee was being reestablished. Karen Syverson wants to get the Governance Committee going and would like to help in getting grant money for a retreat.

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MARKETING COMMITTEE

Carol Andrews made a detailed report on the Marketing Committee’s activities. She thanked other Committee members Roger Miller, Juliae Vanatta, Jamie Fuerst, and Donna VanBuecken and stated that Katrina Hayes has joined and Chris Nelson has rejoinedstarted with the Committee. The Grow Wild Ones Marketing Plan that the Marketing Committee has come up with has been a product of several years of work. In 2008 they developed theira Mission Statement, in 2009 they stated developed a Wild Ones Vision, and in 2010 they developed the Grow Wild Ones Marketing Plan draft. They are now at the wrap up point and are working to implement the plan and looking will be looking for grants to do so.

Her recommendations to the Board weare 1)the Marketing Committee should report to the Executive Director, 2)that the Board approve funds for the Marketing Plan suggestions, and 3)HQ should plan for high levels of growth should be planned for. The Plan calls for growth of 15% per year for the next 5 years.

The Board should also acknowledge that the surveys showed that we should not be should not be so purist and not strictly Midwestern in our approach as indicated by the survey results. We shouldacknowledge that the committee canapprove looking for fundinggrants for a part-time person for promoting Wild Ones for one or two years. The Executive Committee should be kept in the loop on any such grantsfunding.

Discussion: Juliae Vanatta mentioned ways to help promote Wild Ones. One is that we could have a photo competition which features before and after pictures of lawns redone in a wild way. Another consideration is that our website is the most important tool for outreach because the Journal doesn’t come along until after members join. We should look to partners to help us become cost effective, for example we don’t need to reinvent the wheel with ecoregion maps when the government already provides this information on their websites. We should also look to develop partnerships with other like-minded organizations so our mission can be spread that much more quickly.

Michelle Vanstrom would like to see an internal speaker bureau for chapters to use and capacity grants to help existing chapters become more successful. Carol Andrews echoed the idea of grants for chapters, suggesting a $200 amount. Carol added that Willems Marketing donated time beyond what we paid them for to complete the survey. Donna VanBuecken also mentioned that the Marketing Plan can be located in the guidebook section under Marketing Committee.

Joe Powelka stated the Marketing Committee did a good job and asked that they continue to keep the Board informed. He motioned to accept the Marketing Committee’s Marketing Plan. It was accepted by voice vote with none opposed.

OLD BUSINESS

Ad hoc Bylaws update: Tim is chairing work in this area with Donna VanBuecken and Constance McCarthy. Brian Parsons suggested the Governance Committee should be in chargevolved.

Wild Center Advisory: Karen Syverson is working on proposing a new Wild Ones guideline (policy statement) clarifying the WILD Center Steering Committee's role and the Board's policy on management of the WILD Center.management responsibilities at the Wild Center along with Steve Windsor, Joe Powelka and Donna VanBuecken.

NEW BUSINESS

Landscape membership level : Carol Andrews mentioned that the Marketing Plan also calls for new Member categories. Juliae Vanatta explained that this would include a small business lLandscaper category which would be a professional category with a blog or discussion group. For the wholesaleexample, through the blog they business category (nursery) we could have a discussion or conference focusing on how the native nurseries market themselves. Kathy Dame expressed the hope that those in the landscaper category be offered something special. Brett Rappaport suggested a professionals conference. Tim Lewis would like to see the Marketing Committee work with Membership for further recommendations. Carol Andrews responded that she would work with Bonnie Harper-LoreChris McCullough. Michelle Vanstrom requested that this category exclude large-scale retailers and wholesalers.

Other: Tim Lewis mentioned our new name tags are to be used to give us added visibility.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 PM.