Board Meeting Minutes
12 July 2013
Location: Mike Shannon’s
Order of Business
1. Call to Order: 11:40 PM
a. Present:
i. Joe Thompson, Tracy Beckette, Megan Richter, Rick Seiler, Frank Tucker,
Peter Mason, Emily Brennan, Doug Stuart, Meisha Wallace, Captain
Michelle Matthews, Rick Katz, Kyle Bosworth, Alper Oztok and Molly
Guller.
b. Excused:
i. Molly Barrett, Jim Barrett, Jon Bopp, Jaime Torres, Brett Cox, Keith Guller,
Bill Hammerschmidt, Dan Schoenekase, Ken Liescheidt, Kathleen
Jolivette, Kent Schien, Dan Arakelian, Gus Winkler, Jack Stapleton, Scott
Ross and Stephanie Bass.
2. Welcome and Introductions: Doug thanked everyone for attending the meeting, and
welcomed the following guests: Captain Michelle Mathews (Crime Victim Advocacy
Center), Rick Katz and Kyle Bosworth (Western & Southern Life) Alper Oztok (Four
Seasons Hotel) and Molly Guller (Seiler Instruments and co-chair of AUSA Golf
Tournament.) All attendees shared their name, place of employment and relationship to
AUSA. Doug apologized to those individuals who were not informed of the meeting in
advance, or who did not receive copies of the June Meeting Minutes and Agenda. He
asked Emily to ensure that the future distribution list is updated to include new
members and guests.
3. June Minutes Report: The June Meeting Minutes were reviewed and approved.
4. Treasurer’s Report: Tracy explained that the chapter currently has $22,500 in treasury.
He further noted that Marc Bulger’s January contribution of $2,500 will be used to
support the Military Appreciation Day. While there are no outstanding checks at this
time; Tracy will be following up with individuals and corporations whose checks have
not yet been cleared. Peter Mason volunteered to support Tracy with the Treasurer’s
Report as the new Assistant Treasurer. The treasurer’s report was approved.
5. Membership Report: Megan informed attendees that our chapter has 499 members as
of July 2013. Although our chapter has surpassed its membership goal of 485 members,
Megan explained that 8 memberships are pending expiration in August and 2
memberships are pending expiration in September. The chapter recruited two new
corporate members this month (Sam’s Club and Twin Oaks), which brings the total
number of corporate members to 19. Doug mentioned that the chapter desires an
informal target of 25 corporate members. In order to increase our corporate members,
Doug challenged board members and guests to speak to at least 3 companies about
becoming a corporate member. A list of local corporations was distributed, appointing
individuals to contact specific. He encouraged all board members to review the list of
contacts and suggest which companies should be added or deleted. Doug clarified that
commercial and nonprofit entities (both educational and institutional) should be
targeted. He would like the list to be completed by next month. Rick Katz volunteered to
engage The Saint Louis Symphony as a corporate member, and Rick Seiler noted that
when we are contacting companies about memberships, we should also encourage
them to become involved in the golf tournament.
6. MO State Fair Military Appreciation Day: Joe explained that he received a phone call
from the Department of Agriculture, asking our chapter to help raise part of $13,000 in
support of the Missouri State Fair Military Appreciation Day on August 11, 2013. A
motion for the chapter was approved for AUSA to contribute $1,000. Doug mentioned
that he will contact Ft. Leonard Wood regarding the possibility of receiving matching
funds from National. Rick Katz volunteered to contact AUSA’s Kansas City chapter about
contributing funds. A proposal was made for AUSA to have a booth at the fair in order to
increase our visibility. More to come as to whether AUSA will have a booth.
7. Military Appreciation Day: Tracy mentioned that our chapter is financially sound for the
Military Appreciation Day. Doug explained that Gus is organizing this event, and she has
already contacted Ft. Leonard Wood, Scott Air Force Base and Anhauser Busch about
this event.
8. PAO Report: Frank explained that he has recently reinstituted the newsletter using Real
Magnet Mail System. He noted that all of the membership information can be found on
the system; he will email us a link to the newsletter. In addition to the newsletter, Frank
explained that he and Emily are currently working on redesigning the website as a
marketing tool for recruiting and retaining memberships. They would like to compile
and post testimonies of individual and corporate members that will be posted on the
website (such as EverBank and Sam’s Club); any suggestions for testimonies or content
redesign are welcomed and appreciated. In terms of the CAR reports, Frank was pleased
that we finished the year with 70 CARs. This has improved significantly from previous
years.
9. Partner’s Appreciation Reception: Although the goal to host Partnership Appreciation
Events on a quarterly basis was not met, Doug would like to host two more events
before the end of the year. He would like to host the first event sometime in the near
future; the location of the event should be confirmed by the next board meeting. Doug
explained that the goal is to have 30-50 attendees, and he encouraged all to think of
new corporations and individuals to invite.
10. Golf Tournament: Molly informed all that invitations were sent to individual and
corporate members. She specifically asked corporate members to attend the event and
donate contributions of auction items and door prizes. Members were encouraged to
bring in 1 or 2 auction items and/or sponsor a hole. Molly will collect all auction items,
and she will be sending periodic emails about who has signed up to donate items and
what items she currently has. Molly also indicated that the deadline of big gift items is
August 1st.
11. Corporate Membership Drive: Megan and Frank mentioned some of the difficulties of
using Real Magnet Mail, however they explained that this program offers a number of
benefits that will be advantageous to our chapter.
12. Sam’s Club Update: Meisha informed all that a $1,500 grant was approved, and
explained that Sam’s check should come in before Military Appreciation Day. She is
willing to conduct another Open House. She proposed hosting an Open House on or
around Veteran’s Day as a means to receive a high turnout. In addition, she mentioned
Sam’s involvement in Operation Home Front; a regional effort by Sam’s to collect school
supplies from August 2nd through August 5th. All Operation Home Front items may be
dropped off at all Sam’s locations. She concluded her update by briefly noting that she
has detailed cards about Sam’s Veteran’s Welcome Home Commitment. If anyone has
questions or would like more information about these agenda items, please contact
Meisha.
13. Around the Room: Alper suggested that future Partnership Appreciation Events may be
held at The Four Season’s wine room, which can hold between 30 to 50 people. He also
mentioned that both Pinnacle Properties and the Lumiere offer employment
opportunities for veterans. Rick Seiler suggested that AUSA could expand its public
visibility by contributing $2,000 to other nonprofit organizations with a focus on defense
operations. Rick Katz shared a brief synopsis of AUSA KC’s mission, finances and
fundraising events. He explained that AUSA KC, successfully built relationships with local
newspapers, whereby area businesses paid for sponsorships in exchange for advertising.
Megan noted that the solicitation letter needs to be updated. Tracy explained that he
recently met the new CG Lesi Smith at Ft. Leonard Wood. He was impressed with CG
Smith, and is looking forward to increasing our chapter’s awareness at Ft. Leonard
Wood. Tracy also noted that CG Smith will be attending an ESGR event in Saint Louis in
August.
14. Adjournment: Meeting was ended at 1:15PM.