LPNOVA Board Meeting 6 August 2011 Approved Minutes

LPNOVA Board Meeting

2:00 pm on August 6, 2011

George Mason Regional Library

Annandale, VA

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 2:11pm

Credentials Check

Present

· board members (voting)

o Matt Cholko (chair)

o Rod Severson (treasurer)

o Laura Delhomme (secretary)

o Matt Helm (at-large)

· other attendants (non-voting)

o Chuck Moulton

o Andrew Schurr

o Al Alborn

o John Oliver

o Mike Kane

Approve Agenda

· Without objection, the agenda was approved at 2:14 pm.

Approve minutes of previous meetings

· May – approved without objection

· June – N/A (no meeting held the month of June)

· July – Approved without objection, with stipulation that email addresses of guests would be removed when publishing.

Board Member Reports

Chair

· Updates to be saved for a more relevant section in the meeting.

Vice-chair

· VC not present at time of reports.

Treasurer

· Presented Balance Sheet.

· We have appx $300 in donations that cannot be processed and must be returned because the donors didn’t give the required information. Chuck thinks we don’t need that info in order to accept the donations. ACTION ITEM: Treasurer will follow up on the laws surrounding donations.

Secretary

· None.

At-large

· None.

Credentials update (2:25):

· Kristin Pavelski (Vice-Chairman) arrived at the meeting.

Committee Reports

Campus Recruiting

· Chuck has identified more prospects. His goal is to have a libertarian club at GMU by the time the presidential campaign comes around, so that the candidate can come speak.

Events

· Committee has not officially met.

· There is an event coming up: Monday August 15 at Brion’s Grille in Fairfax. At this event, Robert Sarvis (Republican candidate for the 35^th district state senate election) is coming to speak. Chuck the point person on this event (introduce the speaker, etc). Laura is coordinating with the candidate.

· A tentative meetup is being planned for September 12, 2011 at Brion’s Grille. Mike Kane (LP candidate for 41^st district State Delegate) will speak at this one.

· Kristin is working with two restaurants, Vienna Amphora and Herndon Diner Deluxe to put together events.

· A tentative DVD-viewing event is being discussed. Milton Freedman’s “Free to Choose” was discussed.

· ACTION ITEM: Kristin will further explore these events.

· Kritin P & Laura D are planning a campaign training, using Kristin’s experience as Redpath’s campaign manager and Laura’s training materials from the Leadership Institute.

· ACTION ITEM: Kristin P and Mike K will chat about doing campaign events.

· Kristin P will start having meetups at Uno’s in Reston Town Center. The last event there brought out multiple (new!) people. Will be held on different nights than the Brion’s meetups.

Social Media Committee

· Committee has not officially met.

· Facebook “likes” up to 143 at time of meeting.

o Laura is posting content sporatically, which seems to be getting people to come to the board meeting.

o Kristin was added as an admin to the Facebook fan page during the meeting.

o Current admins: Kristin Pavelski, Chuck Moulton, Matt Helm, Matt Cholko, Laura Delhomme

· Twitter followers: 21.

o Posts from Facebook are automatically fed to Twitter.

· Blogging

o No activity has happened with this, except for a post about Celebrate Fairfax.

o Kristin emphasized her desire to start blogging.

o Al offered to help with blogs; referred us to his current site where he blogs about liberty topics.

Old Business

Meetup groups/events

· If the Kane campaign comes up with events they want to participate in, bring list to LPNOVA/Matt C and we’ll chat.

o Rod S moved to approve up to 3 events and up to (total) $300 for events in and around the Burke area for the Kane for Delegate campaign. Laura D seconded, no objections. Approved without objection.

o It was suggested that the Kane campaign should have a meetngreet/fundraising BBQ. Al suggested using a Fire House for a venue. Kane campaign tentatively doing a BBQ September 24^th.

Pool party

· Matt C talked to Marta H, who would be happy to host.

o Potluck style

o Weekend of September 17

o Discussion about BBQ that never happened

o Matt C will do the Meetup

o Matt H will be the point person on coordinating who’s bringing what food.

o ACTION ITEM: Cholko to talk to Marta to confirm up date.

Phone banking

· Matt C contacted Chris B, who cannot commit as he is out of the country intermittently.

· Discussion weighing benefits of everyone meeting at the same place and calling vs people calling on their own.

· ACTION ITEM: Chuck M to divide and distribute names/contact information. Matt C will ping Montoni to get the most up to date db. We’ll only do lapsed members if we figure out we have more volunteers than we think we will get.

· ACTION ITEM: Matt C will solicit volunteers, if anyone else wants to volunteer to set up a meetup/event for it, they can can take that initiative.

· A deadline of August 27 was decided on when to have calls complete.

· Chuck M wants to add an ‘I see that your membership is lapsed’ line. ACTION ITEM: Rodney will update the script and get it to the people who need it. Matt C: membership renewals will be reserved for people who meet a criteria that Matt C will make up later.

· ACTION ITEM Kristin P will write a blog as a call for volunteers.

· ACTION ITEM: Laura D will advertise on the fb fan page.

Convention

· Chris B has said he will host, but is not sure of his availability.

· November 19 is tentative date of convention.

· The board will revisit more significantly next month, including discussing a definite location.

lpnova.org email addresses

· Certain ISPs have put Chuck M’s servers on the real-time block list. These include hotmail and att.net. ACTION ITEM: Chuck will test send an email to everyone to test it. Also will make sure which ISPs will work.

-Arrival of John Fast- He is moving back to Fla the day after Labor Day.

-RECESS 15:18-

-END RECESS 15:28-

New Business

· Board Meeting Location: Kristin P brought up the idea of changing the board meeting location, as Annandale is difficult for her to get to.

o Venues weighed: Amphora’s restaurant in Vienna, Epicure Café, Vaspucci’s, school libraries, other county libraries, school cafeterias. For the time being, will stick with libraries. The venue would need wi-fi and ability to have a variable headcount, both of which might not be accomodated at every restaurant.

o Discussion regarding picking a central location vs moving it around every month. The consistency of having it in the same place every time is nice, a perk to getting newcomers to come. Place to have it should theoretically be convenient/central to people that show up.

o DECISION: we’ll stick with public/school libraries and public areas like school cafeterias that have wireless access, and Matt C will coordinate. The location will be rotated monthly.

Kane for Delegate

· Al A suggested posting on patch.com. Free, community-specific news organization, anyone can post.

· John F brought up the Leadership Institute suggestion of campaign timing: fundraising 100% of time at beginning of campaign, 0% at end, 0% campaigning at beginning, 100% campaigning at end.

· Nomination convention to be held Saturday 8/13/2011.

o Possibility of another interested candidate, contacted Matt C. Low probability.

· Discussion on how LPNOVA can help Kane For Delegate (money, events, etc)

o Kristin suggested he put together a campaign video with her help.

o Need to get website up. Chuck E (volunteer) has not been in touch. ACTION ITEM: Mike K will try to get ahold of Chuck E.

§ Back-up plan: free site via Wordpress/Blogger? ACTION ITEM: Laura to help get something set up later next week if the Chuck E plan doesn’t work.

· If Kane for Delegate wants money from LPNOVA, Kane will have to make a formal pitch.

· Kane for Delegate outreach events: If the campaign wants to do something, get word to LPNOVA as funding has already been approved

o OK to use the meetup group to promote Mike Kane campaign since he is a state-level candidate. Everybody on board agrees it’s a good idea to use the meetup group to promote Mike Kane’s campaign.

· Chuck M advice: once Mike Kane gets on the ballot, he should ask lpva for moneys. The PDC will consider, and divvy up based on how many candidates there are.

New Congressional District Chairs

· Matt C & Laura D are now CD chairs, 11^th and 8^th respectively. Chuck M is the existing 10^th CD chair.

Upcoming Events

· Next scheduled board meeting would be on Labor Day, decided to move it to 9/17, at a library within a few minutes of the pool party.

· Northern Virginia Brewfest. October 22-23. Kind of close to election day, probably too late.

· Burke Center Conservancy: September 10-11. Free booth. ACTION ITEM: Events Committee will coordinate the Burke Center booth. August 16 is the deadline for reserving a booth. Matt C will handle the paperwork.

· Convention: if the Brookover residence is not available, Kristin has a plan B: her apartment complex’s community room (Herndon). ACTION ITEM: Kristin to check out how much it costs to rent, what the process is, etc.

· Alexandria Film Festival

o November 3-6

o $500 for acknowledgement in all programs, website, etc.. ACTION ITEM: Kristin to look into the attendence level/circulation of the program. Kane thinks that $500 could be better spent elsewhere the week before the election.

Public Comment

Adjourn

LPNOVA Board Meeting 17 September 2011 Approved Minutes

LPNOVA Board Meeting

2:00 pm on September 17, 2011

The Soundry

Vienna, VA

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 2:35pm

Credentials Check

Present

· board members (voting)

o Matt Cholko (chair)

o Rod Severson (treasurer)

o Laura Delhomme (secretary)

o Matt Helm (at-large)

· other attendants (non-voting)

o Mike Kane

· FYI: Kristin Pavelski (vice chair) resigned prior to call to order.

Approve Agenda

· Without objection, the agenda was approved at 2:39 pm.

Approve minutes of previous meetings

· August minutes – approved without objection at 2:40

Board Member Reports

Chair: Report on phone banking – summary later in minutes.

Vice Chair: Resigned earlier in the meeting.

Treasurer:

-Presented balance sheet. Communicated that lpnova is running at a loss for the year, as a number of fundraisers planned for the year did not occur.

-Brought paperwork regarding Donor Town Square + social media integration. Laura D to look into integrating.

Secretary: None.

At-Large: None.

Committee Reports

Campus Recruiting

Not discussed, as no members from the committee were present.

Events

-Committee has not met.

-LPNOVA was present at the Burke Centre Festival to support the Kane for Delegate campaign. Much literature was handed out. Considered a success.

Social Media Committee

-Committee has not met.

-Facebook fan page “likes” continues to grow.

Meetups group/events

-Discussed recent meetups at Brion’s, Unos, etc.

-In Kristin’s absence, Matt H will take over scheduling the monthly Brion’s meetups, and Laura will also post things as the need arises.

-Discussion of the end goal of the meetups. Fellowship, party building, keep people interested, (ones with speakers) provide educational element.

Old Business

Phone Banking

-Did not happen (except for Paul B). Mostly due to it being something for people to do on their own. Tough for people to cold-call with no peer pressure. Net positive: we were advertising incorrect dates in the call script.

Convention

-Chris B is able to host the annual contention on Saturday 11/12 at his residence in Herndon. He will handle the chairs/tables/pizza.

-Rod S will send out an email soliciting suggested changes to the bylaws and compile the results.

-Rod s will collect/chair the portion of the convention dealing with the by-laws.

-Matt C will write a letter soliciting by-law amendments, along with convention info. We have special ‘donate’ envelopers already. Matt C will reach out to Chuck M for help on printing.

-Matt H will schedule a meetup for early October so we can stuff envelopes.

New Business

Vice Chair resignation

Since Kristin P has resigned, a motion was made (who? Does it matter for purposes of the minutes?) for Matt H to assume the position until the convention in November.

October Meeting

-The October LPNOVA Board Meeting will be October 8^th, at the George Mason library in Annandale.

November Meeting

-The November LPNOVA Board Meeting will probably be moved/skipped, due to people being otherwise engaged with Mike Kane’s election that week.

Kane for Delegate campaign

-Mike K has requested $500 from LPNOVA for help with campaign expenses.

-Mike K to come up with a proposed budget plan (or purchase orders) of how he wants to spend any monetary help from LPNOVA. (Right? I might be missing notes.)

Action Items

-Laura D and Chuck M will report any facebook ad buyings to Rod.

-Laura D to get Burke Festival pictures from Matt C and Mike K, post to website. Fill the void.

-Mike K to create budget plan to present to board/Matt C

-Rod S will send out an email soliciting suggested changes to the bylaws and compile the results.

-Matt C will write a letter about the convention to send out.

-Matt C will reach out to Chuck M for help on printing letter for convention.

-Matt H will schedule a meetup for early October so we can stuff envelopes.

LPNOVA Board Meeting 9 July 2011 Approved Minutes

LPNOVA Board Meeting

2:00 pm on July 9, 2011

George Mason Regional Library

Annandale, VA

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 2:30 pm.

Credentials Check

Present

· board members (voting)

o Matt Cholko (chair)

o Rod Severson (treasurer)

o John Fast (secretary)

· other LPNOVA members (non-voting)

o Chuck Moulton

o Ian Luria (ian.luria@gmail.com)

o James (lynxjimbo444@yahoo.com)

o Chris Parker (mrcdparker@yahoo.com)

o Laura Delhomme

Absent

· board members (voting)

o Kristin Pavelski (vice-chair)

o Matt Helm (at-large)

A quorum of 3/5 board members were present.

Without objection, Laura Delhomme was appointed to take the minutes of this meeting.

Approve Agenda

Without objection, the agenda was approved at 2:33 pm.

Board Member Reports

Chair’s report

· LPNOVA’s fundraising letter was sent since the last meeting

o Raised: $700.

o 300 letters sent, 5 returned undeliverable.

o Mailer definitively paid for itself.

· Chairman thinks it is time to do another fundraiser, but doesn’t want to ask people for more money until we have something to do with it. Some ideas presented by the group:

o Mike Kane’s campaign

§ Unsure if he is running.

o BBQ – Matt Helm spearheading, status uncertain

o November convention

Vice-chair’s report

· Kristin Pavelski did not attend the meeting.

Treasurer’s report

· We’re about even on cash for this year.

· Presented Profit & Loss Detail report.

Secretary’s report

· John Fast wishes to resign effective at the pleasure of the board, but no later than September 15, as he will be relocating to Florida in August of September.

o Discussion between board members regarding the ideal time for John to resign.

o Decision: immediate.

o Laura Delhomme has expressed interest in performing the role of Secretary, and volunteered to do so.

o A vote was taken, and Laura assumed the role of Secretary without objection.

At-large report

· Matt Helm did not attend the meeting.

Committee Reports

Events Committee

· Committee members: Kristin Pavelski (chair), Laura Delhomme, John Fast, Matt Fernandez

· Celebrate Fairfax was a success – success categorized as the booth was staffed, and lots of contact information was gathered.

o Action Item: Laura Delhomme will write a report (write-up, with metrics, and what we paid/gathered) and send this to Chuck so he can take it to the LPVA meeting in a few weeks.

Campus Organizing Committee:

· Committee members: Chuck Moulton (chair), John Fast, Matt Fernandez

· No action.

Old Business

Social media/website:

· No changes to web site since last meeting.

· Facebook ‘likes’ count went up exponentially in the last few weeks to 100 (LD: verify this, in my notebook somewhere..).

· Twitter has a few more followers (LD: Find notes on this).

Meetup groups/events:

· Defunct until someone becomes a dedicated person to be there.

o Discussion about who this person should be. Chuck was appointed. (Note: I have in my notes that Chuck was appointed, but don’t have it notated whether he accepted. Please confirm.)

· Chuck idea: for the next presidential debate, we should have a meetup/party.

Volunteer activity:

· Discussion on how to get volunteers more active

o Instead of a blanket “would anyone like to volunteer?” we should ask people specifically: “would you like to come help at this specific event?”

o Chuck to organize a phone banking event, but first we need a purpose.

§ Perks: Another source of contact, a good way to get to the magic “7 touches”, to get people to donate/vote/help, a means of generating a

§ Ideas:
-Remind them to vote for our candidates when the elections come up
-Remind them about upcoming events
-Call before convention to mind
-Call recently lapsed members

§ Discussion of places: Chris Brookover’s place was brought up but he was not in attendance, Laura’s place was brought up, but it is small.

§ Action Item: Matt Cholko will call Chris Brookover to ask if he would be amenable to hosting a phone banking event on August 2^nd or 3^rd.

§ Action Item: Rodney Severson will organize something (i.e., script) to call people with.

Without objection, the LPNOVA board recessed for 10 minutes.

The meeting was called back to order at 3:43 pm.

New Business

Newcomers:

· Talked to the newcomers about their motivations for coming, and what kind of events they would like to come to in the future.

· Advice from James: When a Libertarian runs for office, they should ask questions like “what do you think about xyz issues” instead of targeting them based solely on party. “Target the other 50%”. People should coalesce around an issue. For example, someone in NY needing a fishing license to fish in the ocean, woman in Texas going to prison for spanking her baby. Coalesce around an issue and get support.

Ideas for events:

· Pool party: a pool party was discussed, as one of our active members has a pool at her house (Vienna). Action item: Matt Cholko will speak to the member about the pool party.

· BBQ: Matt Helm has organized and funded in the past, would like to delay the BBQ due to other responsibilities right now. BBQ idea tabled for now; if pool party does not happen, the BBQ idea will be discussed again.

· At Celebrate Fairfax, we discovered we are low on every single-issue brochure except for gun rights. Have ton of gun rights, almost no others. If we do more outreach events, we need to order more brochures.

· VA Republican presidential primary idea: if Ron Paul is still in the race, but clearly not going to win nomination, we should stand outside and get peoples’ contact information.

· Discussion of having Robert Sarvis come speak to group of LPNOVA members. Ken Vaughn also interested in LP outreach. Discussion about other parties coming out to talk to LP members.

o Criteria: As long as we don’t have an LP person in the race.

o Criteria: Nobody can encourage our members to switch parties.

o Criteria: They have to take questions, and cannot restrict the type of questions. IE, no “I won’t take questions about xyz”.

o Criteria: Has to be at a social event, but not an official LP event

o Criteria: Make sure they’re not loonies. If they’re loony, they have to be a member.

· Brochures for outreach events. Drug policy, equality, FIJA, cut taxes

o Rodney: moved to authorize Matt Cholko to purchase up to 5000 brochures of each topic. Laura seconded. Approved without objection.

· Door hangers event (). Need someone to organize.

· Possible upcoming events: Arlington county fair, Northern VA Brewfest (September, Bull Run park. Site says ‘check in September’), Herndon festival.

· Chuck: we should be following up with people who ask for info at festivals, etc. Outreach like that is a means to an end. The end is to get activists and candidates. Cholko says there’s a national LP process for getting an info packet, but Chuck says we should be following up with them on a personal level, by calling them, etc. Maybe at future events we should make a note of who talked to the person requesting information, so they can make that personal connection.