SLAGA Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting date: October 12, 2011

Present: Tom Wolpert, Jim Greene, Mike Henthorn, Rich Sheffold, Jim Nelson, Nathan Rover, Mary Beth Gianoli

The treasurer’s report was read. After some discussion, it was unanimously approved as submitted.

Old Business

·         SLAGA website: Some software is out-dated. Nathan and Tom will talk to Steve about this issue and bring more information to the next meeting.

·         Premium Member Award Pins:  After the Fall Picnic, there are no pins remaining in inventory. Since the old supplier is not producing pins at this time, we are continuing to explore other options. Judging on past numbers, 100 pieces of each level (100 finds and 500 finds) will last for 2-4 years.  Prices go down with larger orders, but it seems unwise to buy such a large number. Another option is to order Path Tags. Jim will ask Sarah to resize the design so it could be used on path tags. Discussion was tabled until next month.

·         Joint Events with nearby caching groups: SLAGA holds 4 events (Winter Potluck, Spring Picnic, Fall Picnic, and Summer Picnic) each year in the St. Louis area. These are the general membership meetings and are held in areas that are readily accessible for most members. The Board is excited about holding additional events in other areas. We will look into the possibility of co-sponsoring events with other geocaching groups. Nathan Rover will talk to cachers in the Springfield area to see if there is interest in this.

New Business

·         Cache of the Month (aka Favorite Local Caches): CapnSeabird posted a request on the SLAGA website. He wanted to reinstate the yearly favorites. The Board is considering a new twist ~ naming the Cache of the Month. One way to bestow this honor would be using a poll on the SLAGA site.  All are invited to submit cache nominations at the next Board meeting. Each individual can nominate one new cache and one older cache as favorites.

·         Articles from the general membership: Laurie suggested that we set up the website to allow all members to submit articles that will appear on the website. Tom and Mike will research this and determine if our site can be configured to offer that option.

·         Complete GPS Classes: Rich and Tom are working to schedule those at Queeny Park. More details to follow.

·         Q&A session: Upcoming class at Cliff Cave Library on November 16 – likely focus will be GSAK 8. A suggestion was made to consider doing hands on “1 on 1” training for GSAK 8 in 2012. Discussion and planning will follow.

·         SLAGA Fizzy Challenge: Jim suggested creating a series of new caches (81) that would meet the requirements of this challenge. He offered to get boats and gather other equipment so groups could complete this challenge together. SLAGA would provide prizes (a coin) to all who completed. The response was positive but additional information will be gathered before a decision can be made.

·         SLAGA County Challenge: The Board agreed to continue to provide coins to those who complete the challenge if we are getting additional coins minted.

·         Upcoming Events:

o   11/11/11 – sponsored by Crowesfeat30

o   Christmas Party – to be announced

o   New Year’s Event – 1/2/12 sponsored by TheMadChef

o   Winter Potluck (1/28/12) sponsored by MRS RGS