PHG Board Meeting 01-24-19

Agenda
PHG Board Meeting
7 PM, January 24, 2019
Room 4, Multnomah Art Center

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 19:00 at the Multnomah Arts Center
   1. Roll Call: Sue Walsh, Janis Johnson, Robin Korybski, Megan Rothstein, Sylvia Emard, Ladella Williams, Dan Steves, Margaret Patterson and Pat Zimmerman
   2. Determination of Quorum
   3. Any changes to the agenda
2. Minutes from previous board meeting: We still need to approve the November minutes, but August, September and October are now approved via e-mail.
3. Correspondence: None
4. Old Business
   1. Grants/Projects: 
      1. Dorothy Scott Family grant interest: Dorothy Scott’s family would like to come up with a memorial grant or scholarship for weavers to honor Dorothy. The family might be willing to tie into the revised grant project and provide partial funding for that grant. The family is specifically looking to support folks interested in traveling and learning about weaving in other cultures and countries.
      2. Updated Proposal: Sue then presented the updated proposal for the grant process which was sent out to the board in the past week via e-mail. A lot of the format of the process was taken from the ANWG grant process, which is focused on personal development of a guild and/or a specific member. Also, we were looking for something administratively simple since the PHG guild process had become so complicated. The ANWG process makes applying simple and doesn’t require a CV and other documentation. Discussion followed over how often and how long the application process would be open to applicants. Discussed the possibility of splitting it up into one process in the fall and one in the spring, although this could be subject to change year by year. Also, discussed approval process, should it be a committee, the director of education or the board and how much money should be dispersed. Based on allocated funding right now there would be two rounds of grant dispersal for this year totaling in 500 dollars. For 2019, the first application window will be February 1^st to April 1^st. At the April board meeting the committee’s decision on grant dispersal will be approved or disapproved and the funds will be dispersed in May. Sue will write a paragraph for the newsletter in February and share it with Amy so it can be posted on the website. There was some followup discussion over some details of the grant and how it would be worded specifically regarding new weavers and new members applying for the grant. Also a discussion promoting the grant outside the guild to attract new members. In conclusion, at the start of every year the director of education will determine amount of grant and date parameters for applications for that year. Dan will communicate back to Dorothy’s family and let them know we are restarting the grant in order to see if they want to give money to the grant. 
   2. Barbara Walker Workshop – There are not anywhere near enough people signed up and the Mill End store wants 30 days to remove reservation. The cost of the workshop is too high (plus the materials fee of 50 dollars) for many participants. Tried changing the topic of the workshop, but then some signed up for the workshop weren’t interested in the new topic. The workshop is canceled due to low enrollment. 
5. New Business
   1. Equipment Insurance and Rental Policies – This discussion was to explore whether and under what conditions insurance covers rental equipment when it isn’t in the possession of the guild. Dan spoke with the insurance agent who clarified the equipment is only covered when on MAC property. Once it is off the property it is the liability of the member renting it. It would be 220-275 extra dollars a year to add coverage (depending on deductible) off the property. Renters would need to be notified their insurance would cover the value of the loom since our deposit rates are so slow if we don’t change our insurance coverage. Then discussion led to the fact we haven’t had an issue with property being damaged so maybe we don’t need to worry about this unless something happens. Basically, PHG can self insure. Then there was discussion of the fact the guild does not make a tremendous amount of money on equipment rental so the board should discuss whether they want to rent equipment for free for certain projects. Also discussion of better control of how and when things should be leaving the closet and if the marudai have a fee to rent or not. After some discussion about details, it was decided Dan and Ladella will work on equipment rental prices and polices etc. and have further discussion over specific pieces of equipment and details of their rental. 
   2. Bylaws and job description updates – There were no volunteers to help with this process. Dan suggested a get together outside of the board meeting to start working on this or perhaps reviewing it at the retreat. Suggested to start discussion at breakfast meeting next month and then involve some people at the retreat. Dan’s goal is to take a step back and look at the mission or goals of the group. Questions such as how are we structured, are we set up to be successful at those missions and goals, do we have a board structure that will help us accomplish these goals. Per Sue we should look at the bylaws at least to update the fact we do many of these things electronically at the very least. This meeting will take place Feb 24^th at 10am meet at Dan’s house. It will be a couple hours long and very structured.
   3. ANWG meeting – Discussed whether PHG offer an award at the conference and if so what should it cover. Not many PHG members are attending the conference. Decided we will not offer and award and Ladella will communicate this to the person from ANWG who was in touch with her. We will also decide who will be representing PHG at a later date. Also decided we will not have a guild booth due to  issues of getting things transported up there and lack of participation. 
   4. Lifetime member status – Dan worked this issue out w/ Amy and Barbara so there is actually nothing else to discuss.
6. Director Reports (Time Permitting)
   1. Treasurer Report – The fall sale netted a little less than last year. The weftover sale brought in about 150 dollars. Discussion over the weftover sale concluding in the assessment that even if it isn’t extremely financially lucrative, people look forward to it and enjoy making projects from the yarn they get at the sale. 
   2. New Weaver boot camp – Per Sue we have lots of requests from people who want to learn to weave. Ruthies has a long waiting list, MAC classes are hard to get into, OCAC is more art focused and other classes don’t teach students how to warp. PHG could offer a weavers bootcamp in a weekend (like eugene textile center does). Participants could weave something simple like a scarf. The board should think about if it is possible to do since interested people are having a hard time getting into classes. Discussed some of the logistics and possible locations and timing (such as timing with Portland textile month). Concluded that the board should think about it and when we do the budget building process we could put a placeholder in.
   3. GOTG – Janis reported several people from last year didn’t apply, but a lot of people want more space and several new people applied this year. There are requests for two more booths than available. Janis noted the high quality of applications and that many were high level professionals in the fiber arts. 
   4. New Member Tea – A bunch of new members were at the October tea and it was well received. Dan would like to do another new member tea in March since some new members couldn’t attend. It will take place 3/24 at 1pm at Dan’s house. We will need to do some more invitations again. Additional people could help Janis with this and have a get together to complete the invitations.
7. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be February 28, 2019
8. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 20:16