HTC Executive Board Meeting –
Board Members
Present: David Purinton (President), Ashley Cain (VP-Programs), Harold Tinsley
(VP-Communications), Anne Park (Secretary), Kathy Youngren (Treasurer), Jim Oaks
(Appointed Member—Cotton Row Director) Dick Franklin (VP-Races & Equipment)
Malcolm Gillis (Appointed Member—Rocket City Marathon). Also Present:
HTC member Joe Francica, representative from the Committee on
Volunteerism.
Board Members Absent:
Craig Armstrong (Appointed Member)
David opened the
meeting at
There was a brief
discussion regarding past track club donations in memory of members whose
service to the club was particularly commendable. Jim moved and Harold seconded the motion that
we give a donation in memory of Earl Jacoby’s wife in recognition of their
having given so much of their time and assistance to the Huntsville Track Club
over a period of many years. The motion
carried.
There were a few
other brief orders of business:
·
Malcolm announced that he would be
conducting his annual nature walk on Easter Sunday, April 11, at Banyon Bottom
Wetland, and that all are welcome to come and enjoy this experience.
·
Jim announced receipt of the two new
computers. He will show them to the
board at the next board meeting and explain how these machines will be used for
HTC activities.
Since there was no
further business the meeting was turned over to Joe Francica for the purpose of
presenting ideas and suggestions from the Committee on Volunteerism. This committee conducted a series of four
meetings with the goal of generating a list of recommended actions which would
improve the number and depth of experience of HTC volunteers. Joe presented the committee’s recommendations
for each week’s in-depth focus.
Week #1: Race volunteerism and support – It was recommended that we appoint
a Committee on Volunteers, including a Committee Coordinator, which would have
a direct voice on the HTC board and which would provide assistance to Race
Directors as they secure volunteers for their race. Race packets for every HTC race should
include an information sheet requesting volunteer sign-up information from the
runner to be placed in a Volunteer box provided at the race. This volunteer form has been created and is
being reviewed by the HTC Executive Board.
It was suggested that each
HTC member be encouraged to volunteer for at least two events per year, and
many suggestions were made involving rewarding and recognizing the valuable
service that volunteers are providing.
Volunteers should also be informed of the specific procedure and time
involvement of their job, and workers should be cross-trained for key jobs,
improving our depth in “skilled” positions.
Joe presented many additional helpful suggestions which were analyzed
and discussed.
Week #2: Race Directorship
and Successorship – In order to prevent the turnover of
Race Directors, the committee assessed the duties of the Director and how we
could assist them and provide incentives for them to continue their yearly
endeavor. One suggestion was that the club enlist a Sponsor Coordinator who would recruit and
maintain sponsors for all races. The
Coordinator would assist the club/Race Directors in contacting businesses to
present them with our event list and discuss their potential sponsorship. Race Directors should, if possible, also
appoint/enlist an Assistant Race Director.
It was suggested that
we have an annual dinner for Race Directors, possibly including race
volunteers. Other expressions of Race
Director appreciation were mentioned including Harold’s
suggestion that we provide each Director with a quality shirt such as a golf
shirt containing a small and attractive Race Director logo. Additional helpful suggestions were brought
forth and discussed.
Week #3: Improving
meeting attendance at all HTC functions – This discussion
began by questioning why members would be interested in attending meetings;
that is, are social and club information needs met in other ways so that
members have no reason to attend functions other than races?
There were many
suggestions given involving changing meeting times, dates, locations, and
meeting format to engender a larger turnout.
Harold gave the Board an overview of how club meetings were held in the
1980s when attendance was substantial, and how a slow change in all aspects of
the meetings caused attendance to dwindle.
An attempt was made to understand our 2004 running culture and many
helpful suggestions were given to increase HTC meeting turnout including
finding event speakers with expertise in all areas of running and having shoe
and garment clinics and/or other programs helpful to runners.
Week #4: Marketing
the HTC to the public – The main objective here was to
understand how best to raise awareness of the HTC among the general
Other suggestions
that Joe presented from the committee were that we enlist a HTC Marketing
Coordinator with responsibility to provide information to radio, TV, newspapers
and other media outlets, and add notices in the “Things to do” column in the
Huntsville Times. We could provide
information to be announced in media sources for club meetings with notable
speakers or topics of interest. We could
also set up a kiosk at races providing race flyers & membership/volunteer
forms.
Having had much
discussion on all these issues there was no further business, and the meeting
adjourned at