Minutes of the Board of Governors Meeting
June 21, 2000

The Cash Flow Report through 5/31/00 shows income of $88,065.50 and expenses of $87,798.24 (total income^expenses: $267.26). The income includes $4000 transferred from the Merrill Lynch Money Market Account in May, bringing the total investment income utilized this year to $8000. The board authorized an additional withdrawal of up to $6000 from the Merrill Lynch account to cover expenses. The board also voted to require the signatures of two officers on future withdrawals from asset accounts.

Financial report on Club Competitions: The freeskating competition earned $3440 in entry fees (deposited in June); the cost of ice rental was $1750 and expenses for the announcement and judges were under $200.

Because entries were down, the Sunday Moves and Family sessions were converted back to pick-up sessions and lost $173. The dance competition (in March) took in $845 in entry fees; ice rental was $700 and expenses for the announcement totaled $110. For both events the costs for medals and engraving are not complete. (A three-year supply of medals was purchased in April for $2643.43.)

Spring session attendance figures show that all sessions continue to operate at a loss: The Saturday Dance at Reston (-13%) and Sunday Family Session (-17%) were the most utilized, followed by Monday Dance at Cabin John (-29%) and Thursday Dance at Mt. Vernon (-31%). The other sessions lost 40% or more: Sunday Dance at Mt. Vernon (-40%), Sunday Moves at Cabin John (-46%), Tuesday at Mt. Vernon (A: -47%, B: -45%), and Sunday freestyle at Reston (-48%).

The club has 713 members (656 home club). Following a complaint by a member who noticed a number on his ballot, future ballots will be marked with the stamp of a red skate rather than numbers. (The mark is used to ensure that the ballot was generated by the membership chair.)

Contracts are in place at the rinks as follows: Mt. Vernon RECenter through August 31 at $175/hour (Sunday and Tuesday sessions through June; Thursday session through August); Cabin John Ice Rink through September 30 at $200/hour (Sunday session not held in August, resumes Sept. 10-24; Monday dance continues through September); SkateNation of Reston through September 30 at $200/hour (Saturday continues through September; Sunday excluded in July and August, resumes Sept. 10-24). A request has been submitted to Cabin John for Sundays and Mondays, Oct. 1, 2000 through March 31, 2001, at $210/hour.

There has been one response to the session survey published in The Blade. A dance session subscriber proposed special programming such as edge classes (grouped by level~high vs. low), adult moves in the field or "power moveso/oo instruction, and special classes such as Rob McBrien,s Plié Power class scheduled on weekends. She suggested that even informal classes would help skaters get to know one another while improving their skills.

Concern about under-utilization of sessions continues. The board is considering discontinuing freestyle sessions now that rinks offer sessions throughout the week. The board will vote at the July meeting on whether to eliminate the Tuesday afternoon and Sunday morning freestyle sessions. The board defeated a motion to put the Sunday afternoon dance session on probation during the fall. Discussion indicated that there is sufficient interest in the session to enable it to grow.

There will be a meeting of club professionals at Reston on August 14 at 6:30 p.m. The pros have concerns about the Club Competition, particularly the need to separate skaters by age at the lower levels. The board is also looking into updating the club,s warm-up suit. Trina Graham,s application to teach on club sessions was approved and Andrew Newberry was welcomed as a guest coach.

Special features such as the Crossover Carnival, Exhibition by the Potomac Ice Theatre and the Pot-luck supper resulted in good attendance at the Annual Meeting. The Pro-Am Competition also attracted an enthusiastic group of skaters from across the country.

The following officers were elected for 2000-2001:
President - Konrad Huppi
Vice President - Linda Laurel
Treasurer - Judy Reiner
Secretary - Barbara Shaw
and Member-at-Large - Florence Sifferd.

Florence moved to adopt the slate. Roy Wu seconded and the motion passed.

The board voted to increase the moves in the field and freestyle test fees by $5 across the board (effective September 1, 2000). The increase is needed to offset rising costs for ice rental and to cover the $3-per-test fee levied by USFSA.