Minutes from January 7, 2016 Board Meeting

New business

The subjects below were proposed ahead of the meeting and were the outline of the discussion.

Elect president

Anstr nominated Alan; Tom nominated Keith. After discussion, Keith withdrew. Alan was elected president unanimously.

Board procedures — communication among ourselves (when, how, can we use e-mail, etc.), with RDs, with the membership

Discussion of ways to improve the regularity of board interaction. Agreed by all that there will be a conference call, or similar, among board members the first and third Monday of each month. Keith will explore the means that will be used.

Anstr volunteered to take the meeting notes. These notes, when approved, will be used to make a template and, probably, an online form to facilitate the making of the notes and their publication for the benefit of the membership. Notes will be short and, as required by the bylaws, list decisions, reasoning, and votes (where there was a vote – most “decisions” are by consensus without formal vote). Decisions by e-mail or telephone will be documented on the Web site. Minutes will probably be supplemented by longer comments from the president and possibly other board members to explain board actions in an informal manner. Anstr will set this mechanism up for board review.

Keith proposed an in-person meeting schedule that coincides with events on the club’s calendar. He will submit his proposed schedule. Others agreed that his idea was good, but the schedule itself was not discussed in detail.

New board member

The board is one member short. Agreed that the board will notify the membership of the vacancy, invite those interested in serving to contact any board member, but requiring that anyone wanting to be a candidate for the position to contact all board members by e-mail. (Anstr to create/update an e-mail address that sends to all board members.) Deadline to volunteer for the board vacancy is MLK Day, January 18. Pursuant to the bylaws, the board will pick the new member from those who have volunteered to serve.

Anstr will draft a notice about this for the membership and circulate it to the other board members for approval.

Discuss recruitment of new BRR RD

There was a general discussion of the need to recruit a new race director for the 2017 Bull Run Run and beyond. No decisions were made, and the recruitment process has not begun. We will include Alisa and Jim in the discussion of this subject in the future. Also, we will put the word out that we need a new RD and encourage anyone who is interested to become involved in the 2016 event to the largest extent possible.

Discussion of possible restructure of the board to include big three RDs

Keith made a proposal to include the race directors of BRR, MMT, and the WHM as voting members of the board. There was discussion of this proposal, but no vote on it and it was not adopted. The purpose of the proposal was to improve the relationship between the RDs and board. Additionally, it would recognize the central role these events play in the club and its financial welfare.

Keith’s proposal would require an amendment to the bylaws. All board members, however, share the view that measures need to be taken to include RDs in the board’s activities.

It was proposed that Alan would consult the RDs to see if they would welcome an invitation to all meetings, whether their event was on the agenda or not. Pending feedback on that, the board may revisit this issue.

It was agreed that a meeting schedule be established for the year which provides for regular meetings with RDs at times appropriate to the planning needs of their events. Keith will provide a proposed schedule. (See under “Board Procedures” above.)

Policy on Transgender Runners

There was a lengthy discussion of the policy on transgender runners that the prior board had adopted in December. No decision was taken. The prior board had adopted the transgender policy after consulting the RDs of the big three events, managers of other events, and having reached out to the member who would be most affected by it. The board did not feel it appropriate at this meeting to change the policy. It was decided, however, to reach out once again to the person involved. Keith will talk to her. The board will review the issue again after that conversation.

Awards

There was a discussion of the upcoming awards and the party. This was mainly informational. No decisions were made.

Document of Initial Guidance to our RDs

Prior boards had given a letter to each RD of the big three events that outlined the board’s expectations of them. (See attached [122kb PDF].) Despite (or maybe because of) these letters, misunderstandings have occurred.

It was decided that Anstr will prepare a generic version of this letter (with references to a specific event removed), and then Alan will send that draft to all three RDs for their comments and suggestions.

The need for a more generic document of guidance for run leaders, based on what we provide the big three event RDs

There is no document to guide those in charge of low key club events (the non-big three) like the letter mentioned above. The consensus is that there should be. Tom will draft a short, simple document that sets out club requirements for these events including safety, accountability, etc. There will also be “how to” language in the document. Other board members should send suggestions about the content of the document to Tom.

The board will review Tom’s draft, and then it will be sent to those who frequently manage these low key events for comment prior to adoption by the board.

Follow Up Items from the Meeting

• Determine mechanism for bi-weekly telephone calls – Keith
• Create template for meeting notes and to record board decisions not made in a meeting. Make Web pages for this. – Anstr
• Create e-mail address to send to all board members – Anstr
• Draft notice recruiting new board member – Anstr
• New BRR RD, consult with Alisa/Jim – Alan
• Consult with RDs, do they want to attend all board meetings? – Alan
• Outreach on transgender issue – Keith
• RD guidance letter, redraft – Anstr
• RD guidance letter, send to RDs – Alan
• Guidance for low key runs, draft – Tom
• Guidance for low key runs, send out for comment – Alan