Feb 1st, 2025 Board Retreat Meeting
California Writers Club
San Francisco/Peninsula Branch
February 1st, 2025, at 4:00 pm
Vibha Akkaraju’s home
Retreat Minutes:
Members present: Vibha Akkaraju (President), Tim Flood (via phone), Margaret Nalbach, Sue Barizon, Megan McDonald, Eva Barrows, Geri Spieler, Tice Swackhamer, Alisha Willis, Nirmy Kang
Filling Board Positions - the Nominating Committee this year consists of Margaret Nalbach, Sue Barizon and Tim Flood. They have requested that those elected Board Members who are considering re-running for their current positions let them know within a week. It was reiterated that all elected positions are open to everyone in the Club.
The possibility of “Board Buddies” ie. Job share in elected roles was discussed.
Please see Addendum A1 for the timelines for the election Process. A
Descriptions of Board jobs should be updated in Google docs in the next week.
We will need a new Parliamentarian to oversee the June 2025 Election. Tim has very kindly stepped up to do so.
Voting Members: There is a slight confusion in our by-laws as to exactly how many voting members we are allowed to have - 9 or 11? We currently have seven - four elected Execs (Vibha, Eva, Nirmy, Alisha), Membership Chair (Margaret), Immediate Past President (Geri)and Critique Group Matchmaker (Miera). A motion was put forward to add the following positions/people as Voting members - Communications Director (Tice), Web Manager (Megan), Senior Advisor (Tim), Hospitality Chair (Sue). Motion passed.
Membership Renewal - we will discuss in either the May or June meeting to see what our projected expenses and costs are going to so we can set our membership fees for next year.
Responsibility for maintaining the following two files have been assigned as follows: Official Board Contacts to the Secretary and Official Branch Access Information to the Web Manager.
Expenses for the running of the website which were originally being charged to Tim’s credit card will now be moved to Megan’s credit card. There was discussion around whether we should have a dedicated Club credit/debit card. Decided not to do this.
Club email addresses are being set up for all Board positions that need them.
Website Video for Club PR: Since Tom Adams is going to keep his equipment there is no longer as much of a rush to get this done. Approximate timeline: a rough script by April, completion in July. The current production team is Megan, Tom, Doug and Daniel.
There was discussion around walling off [putting behind a paywall] part of the website which would then be for members only and password protected ie. exclusive content, money generating options [masterclasses offered to members created by members], FaultZone etc
A possible regular in person Open Mic was discussed. Nirmy showed interest in this.
Vibha suggested we have a repository of future possible speakers. We could have a submission form for people to suggest speaker ideas.
Going forward Board Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of the month.
Eva suggested the possibility of Becky Geist [an audio book producer and narrator] for a special Zoom workshop on audio book production.
There will be 2 new member orientations on Feb 4 @7pm and Feb 12th @7pm. Please let Margaret or Vibha know if you're interested in participating.
Nirmy Kang (Secretary): Taken February 1st, 2025.
Addendum A1: Election Process:
Here's the link to bylaws on our website:
https://www.cwc-sfpeninsula.org/bylaws
1. In March, voting members of the board, excluding the four elected officers, appoint a nominating committee of no more than three branch members. The Committee should have a chairperson. The board should submit to the Committee a list of all positions that need to be filled.
2. The Nominating Committee, including contact info of the chairperson, should be posted in the April branch newsletter so interested members can put their names forward. (Not included in bylaws: We should also announce this at the April General Meeting. We should consider having each of the current elected officers to get up and speak briefly about what their position entails).
3. The Nominating Committee should also prepare a list of candidates for other voting positions on the board (NorCal rep, CWC rep, Membership Chair. (Past president serves by default)
4. The slate of candidates for the four elected positions should be presented at the May General Meeting and Published in the branch newsletter at least two weeks before the June General Meeting. Note: Nominations are considered closed as of the May General Meeting.
5. At the June General/Election Meeting, the Nominating Committee Chair announces the candidates. The Parliamentarian gives each candidate five to speak before a voice vote.
6. The incoming and outgoing officers and directors meet within 30 days of the election to affect an orderly transfer or responsibilities.
7. At the September General Meeting, the incoming president introduces the incoming officers and directors.