EPAF Post Meeting
August 30, 2013
Ponte Vedra, FL – Sawgrass Marriott
Attendance:
Cindy Sanders
Carrie Stevenson
Heidi Copeland
Georgene Bender
Mike Sweat
Brooke Saari
Martha Maddox
Julie P Dillard
Beth Shepherd
Scott Jackson
Ron Rice
Tracy Tesdall
Larry Williams
Matt Orwat
Matt Benge
Dan Culbert
Tom Obreza
Nick Place
Treasury – Mike Sweat
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$500 was expended for limo service to and from Cabana Club
Registration – Matt Benge
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405 website registration
425-430 with guests
1 registration outstanding – no show
Facilities – Martha Maddox
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Positive and efficient staff
Overlapped room was turned over quickly and handled well
Julie will be shadowing Martha this coming year
o Martha will handle hotel rooms
o Julie will handle inservice rooms
Meals – registrants must provide any information about food allergies, issues, meal type, etc in their online
registration. If not provided at registration time, requests will not be honored.
o Matt will add clause to registration
Hospitality – security was called due to hotel placing non-EPAF guests above.
Buffets
o Significantly cheaper than plated meals
o Long lines
o One line was closed before food was gone
Initiative meetings
o Breakout sessions didn’t really work as ballroom was loud
o Associations will be notified that only hotel staff is to move furniture
Round tables were a negative in rooms/rectangular provide more room
Auction – Pat Hogue
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$9139 net
$1500 per association
Bid sheets worked well
All paid at close of EPAF
Auctioneer
o Paid $350
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o Expect to pay for auctioneer next year
Post list of silent auction winners prior to check-out to prevent unnecessary waiting in line
Abstracts & Exhibits – Brooke Saari
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Some felt the time per abstract was too long
15 minute presentation + 5 minutes for questions
12 minute presentation + 5 minutes for questions
Need clearer differentiation in program and to participants of exhibit vs poster
List both educational exhibits and poster listings in program
Posters – Tycee Prevatt & Courtney Davis
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Confusion from participants between posters and exhibits
Will define better next year as:
Educational Exhibit
Peer Reviewed Poster
Should have more prestigious presentation
Put up against ESP meeting with little attendance
Suggestion to have posters up full time along with exhibits
Space at Bay Point may be an issue
Program – Julie P Dillard
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$798.04
Worked directly with IFAS ICS with great success
Additional page listing will be added for Posters and Exhibits
Add ESP website to program that shows friends passing
Hospitality – Pat Hogue
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Costs were up this year
Tours – Cindy Sanders
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Low attendance
Only half of vans requested were needed
Suggestion to charge fee for all to encourage greater participation
Evaluation – Becky Jordi
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Email link will be sent out next week
Inservice evaluations – only one set was turned in
Inservice – Dr. Tom Obreza
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Low attendance in afternoon session
Additional bandwidth requested at last minute was $2000 but graciously waived by hotel
Ben will be consulted next year about inservice internet needs
Trainers did not bring their own materials – will be repeatedly reminded next year
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Will be looking for sponsorships for afternoon breaks
Citrus Mutual will hopefully lead to sponsorships
Turning Point –
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Becky will send out
Dr. Place encouraged use of
Cindy Sanders officially turned over the EPAF Chair role to Dan Culbert to begin discussion of 2014 EPAF.
Discussion Points:
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September 4 deadline to let the hotel know the final dates for next year.
IFAS Administration will continue to hold inservice at EPAF.
Question posed to Dr. Place about the Dean sponsoring the cost of registration.
Registration price needs to be set sooner.
Relayed Dr. Momol’s idea to include specialists in poster session.
o If specialists are not association members, could they be charged a fee?
o Table space is an added cost and would need to be addressed in hotel negotiation
Motion to set 2014 EPAF as a 5 day program – Scott
2nd received - Heidi
Discussion on motion:
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it was a very long, tiring week
would like to hear Dean earlier in the week
adjust schedule to include downtime
split heavy Tuesday schedule
encourage to include state specialists more
suggestion to review previous EPAF agendas before setting 2014 agenda
questions about getting better participation from state specialists at EPAF
how can we get state specialists to join our associations; their attendance helps the auction
Suggested to split inservice sessions between days
County issues of budget used to fund week-long event has been questioned in some counties
Continuing to add time away from office when other businesses are cutting back can be viewed as negative to
outsiders
Alternative schedules/agenda will be done by Julie
Discussion of board/EPAF board coming in on Monday to be included as a day with 4 days for all other programs
Question called – Beth
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Aye – 8
Nay – 1
Motion to hold five day EPAF passed
2015 – XXXXX
2016 – XXXXX
Larry question of where 2017 EPAF would be held
Motion to host 2017 EPAF at Sawgrass Marriot - Heidi
2nd - Georgene
Discussion on motion:
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Questions about rotating host sites between geographic regions or Extension Districts
Bylaws need to be consulted for answer
Too far out to determine 2017 date.
Question called
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Verbal vote
Motion failed
Suggestion for next year –
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Association must provide names of assigned ticket takers
# of tables needed will be determined by facilities
Inservice rooms – 15 needed for 2014
Board meetings
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December 10 - 10 am via teleconference
Feb 19 & 20 – Board meeting on site at Bay Point
Submitted by: Julie Pigott Dillard, 2014 EPAF Secretary
Approved by EPAF Board 12-10-13