AECT Board of Directors
Board Meeting Conference Call
December 13, 2006, 3 p.m. Eastern

Attending:

  Phil Harris, Executive Director* 
 Ward Cates, President*
 Wes Miller, Past President*
 Pat Miller, President-Elect*
 Lois Wilkins, Secretary-Treasurer*
 Barbara Lockee, Theory & Research Representative*
 Jenny Johnson, International Division Representative
 Bill Sugar, Multimedia Production Representative
 Ted Frick, Change Division Representative
 Susan Jones, Distance Learning Representative
 Mary Herring, Teacher Education Representative
 Mary Beth Jordan, School Media and Technology
 Hans Wennberg, ECT Representative
 Rob Branch, Appointed Affiliate Organization Representative
 Don Little, Management Representative
 Trey Martindale, Design & Development
 Ana Donaldson, Board Representative at Large B
 Scott Schaffer, Training & Performance Representative
 
 (*Executive Committee)

Unable to attend:
 
 Susan Jones, Distance Learning Representative
 David Wiley, Board Representative at Large A
 David Willard, Corporate Representative

Ward Cates called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. eastern time

I.  Approval of the Agenda

       The agenda was adjusted during the meeting as information became available.   

II. Approval of Minutes
 
 Jenny Johnson moved to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2007, meeting. Mary Beth Jordan seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Action items:

III. Cost cutting/revenue enhancement proposal

       Ward explained we are likely to have an $80,000 shortfall, and presented the this   proposal to assure cash flow:
    Rationale:
 Our goal is to meet an anticipated budget shortfall of approximately $80K caused by lower attendance at convention this year (actual versus budget).  We seek to  meet this through both cost-cutting and revenue-enhancement components. Our budgeting position should be conservative.That is, we should seek to meet or   exceed the anticipated shortfall, thus strengthening our cash position.  The goal is  to insure a positive cash flow through the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2007).
 Cost-cutting:
 Amy O’Hair has submitted her resignation.  Rather than refill this position as a fulltime position, we will reallocate membership responsibilities to Barbara Addie and then hire a 20-hour per week part-time person to handle ISMF responsibilities formerly handled by Amy.  We will target the salary for this person as falling between $12 and $15 per hour, depending on skill set.  Moving to part-time eliminates benefits and overhead costs for this position.  Further, we will ask PhilHarris to move to four days a week beginning after the first of the year and continuing through June 30, 2007.  This also reduces overhead costs charged against his position.  No other AECT person’s employment will be changed, thus ensuring there are staff at headquarters to answer phones, respond to normal inquiries, and –in particular—to handle electronic issues.  The net savings of these two cost-cutting measures is slightly more than $78,300.
 Revenue-enhancement:
 We propose to raise membership dues for the two full-rate classes of membership, regular and comprehensive.  Regular members now pay $95 per year and we propose to raise this to $99 per year.  Comprehensive members currently pay   $140 (corrected amount) per year and we propose to raise this to $145 (corrected  amount) per year. We propose no change to student membership (currently $50), retired, electronic, or any other classes of reduced-fee membership.  Since renewals and new memberships phase in across the calendar year, this fee change which should ultimately produce between $5000 and $7000 will likely produce only about $2000-$3000 in additional revenue this fiscal year.
 There are additional revenue-enhancement possibilities under discussion, but these are not included in this initial proposal.
 Summary:
 The two measures discussed above should offset the approximately $80K  shortfall.  The Exec Committee of the Board endorses this proposal and brings itforward for Board action.

       Board discussion topics included Amy’s duties and Phil’s work week. It was noted that membership rates had not be increased for the past six years.

       Wes Miller moved to raise membership rates effective January 1. Mary Beth Jordan seconded the motion. 

       Board members expressed concern about making the ISMF position part time. Phil said he is looking for a person in the Bloomington area who is a parent with ISMF experience or a retired teacher.

       Hans Wennberg called the question.

       The motion carried.

       Mary Herring moved to replace Amy O’Hair with a part time person and to move  Phil Harris to a four-day week from January 1 through June 30.  Barbara Lockee seconded the motion.

       Phil said he is willing to make this change to contribute to the plan to reduce  expenses.  If the settlement with Springer in February goes better than expected, or anything else brings in more cash than expected, Phil will return to full time before June. Phil will modify his schedule to meet the work load.

       The motion carried.
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IV. Division officer lists

       Trey Martindale has contacted the communications officers and created a list that is current. New communications officers are elected each year. Division listservswill continue as they are, with members able to opt in and out as they wish. Another mechanism, probably also a listserv, will be created to enable division officers to send messages to all members.

Executive Director’s Report

V. Site selection for 2008 convention

       Phil Harris recommended selecting The Buena Vista Palace Hotel’s bid for the 2008 convention. Buena Vista Palace, which is not a Disney property, is locatedadjacent to Downtown Disney.

       Phil reported that downtown Chicago would cost more than $200 per room for a November conference, and the Atlanta bid from Sheraton came in at $179.

       The board’s discussion of dates for the convention included issues of timing, other major conferences, transportation, suitability for ISMF and member preferences. Concern with calendar issues (Halloween and Thanksgiving) led to consideration of dates that would require room rates of $164.

       Trey Martindale moved approval of the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando for November 4 – 9, 2008, at a room rate of $164. Barbara Lockee seconded the motion. 

       Discussion concerned avoiding Halloween and Thanksgiving to attract the most members possible to the convention, the impact on ISMF, and rotating the  convention among three cities. Phil noted that conference hotels would make more concessions in exchange for a long term commitment.

       The motion carried.

VII. Status of Springer/AECT member survey about journals

       Phil reported that the survey is ready and it works. He asked board division  representatives to encourage divisions to participate.  It is important to continue to  focus on the reputation, image and improvement of Tech Trends.

VIII. Trademark infringement with T.H.E. Journal

       The journal has ignored two letters from attorney, who is now filing the case in the federal court in California. 

IX. Definition and Terminology Book Revision

       The revision will be completely finished in mid-January. It will then be ready for purchase in August in time for the 2007 school year and convention.

X. Report on Doug Mitchell, ISMF corporate coordinator

       Phil reported that Doug is getting more involved in day to day management of ISMF. Phil will remind him to focus on AECT corporate sponsors. Phil is pleased with how he’s contributing. 

XI. AECT headquarters office will close December 22 and reopen January 2, 2007.

Information items

XII. ISMF conversation update

       Ward talked to Otto Benavides, who is shepherding the steering committee, which  is talking about scheduling ISMF in the summertime. Some options will make them more central to AECT. The executive committee is guiding Otto to gather information to show whether separating ISMF’s time and place from AECT is desirable.

XIII. ESC report

       Trey Martindale reported that the website committee is starting to put together alarge and complex plan that will take a year or longer to produce a new and  improved web presence. More volunteers will be needed to assist the current  committee of Trey, Nate Lowell, David Wiley and Larry Vernon.

       Convention program planners need to communicate with division members, especially between now and March.
 
XIV. Anaheim Convention update

       Pat Miller reported that division planners met in Dallas and in two conference calls since the convention.  The committee meets the third Thursday of the month (except December) and stays in touch on its own listserv.  The call for proposalsis up on the web site, and some have come in already.  At least two divisions will do a rolling selection process.  Other divisions have figured out ways to build   their programs through the traditional review process (at end of proposal period). Special sessions and projects are under consideration by several divisions. The planners are in the process of contacting and contracting keynote speakers.Planners will meet at the hotel during the third week of January; Pat asked board  members to send space ideas and needs to her before that meeting.

XV. Revenue enhancement options discussion

       Ward will put it the issue of revenue enhancement on the January board meeting agenda . He asked board members to think about creative ways AECT might increase its revenue: a new service for which we could charge, increasing membership (by division, organization or targeted), and ways to increase revenue streams. An increase in cash flow would bring Phil back from partial leave more quickly and  help the organization absorb any shortfalls more easily.

       Phil said we need to spend considerable time on this issue to identify solutions that provide the organization with better long term prospects of financial security.
 
XVI. Adjournment

       The meeting adjourned at 4:36 p.m. 
 

Next meeting:  Wednesday, January 17, 3 p.m. eastern time