Board of Directors Meeting
Military Writers Society of America
Minutes of the Meeting
May 10, 2023
1. The meeting was called to order at 12:04pm EST via Zoom by President Jim Greenwald.
Also attending were: Valerie Ormond, Vice President; Ruth W. Crocker, Secretary; Hugh Simpson, Treasurer; Kathleen Rodgers, Gary Zelinski, Dane Zeller and John Cathcart, Directors at Large; Bob Doerr, Past President; Rev. Bill McDonald, Founder.
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting were approved on motion duly made by Bill McDonald and seconded by Bob Doerr.
3. Treasurer’s Report was provided by Hugh Simpson, Treasurer:
(see separate financial report distributed by Hugh)
There is an advertising budget of $1000 with potential uses discussed. Suggestions were: A tribute to award winners, boosting a post on Facebook, offering a cash prize along with each book award. Kathleen Rodgers said that she had boosted a post from her public author page and shared it. Questions were raised about how to do a paid press release. Valerie Ormond said that she would send out an email to the board with a summary of possibilities for use of the advertising budget.
4. Old Business:
a. Scholarship Program Winner 2023 - Jim Greenwald reported that Faith Nunez was the winner of the scholarship and an article will be published in Dispatches.
b. Scholarship Program – John Cathcart suggested that we need to disseminate information more broadly about the program – website, Facebook, Dispatches, email blast. Jim Greenwald said that three people have stepped up to help with social media.
c. Zoom Classes – Gary Zelinski described upcoming workshop on May 20 and said that he has received good advice from Jack London regarding the organization of classes. Gary is currently looking for internal and external speakers.
d. Write Your Story (Update) – Bob Doerr is presently organizing this program.
5. New Business
a. 2024 Conference – Jim Greenwald suggested Denver, CO. Others suggested Austin, TX, because it is a central location, and Orlando, Florida, because it is the cheapest place to fly to. Another poll of the membership as to place preference was suggested along with a survey at the next conference in September, 2023 to find out if people want to help out with the 2024 conference.
b. Registration for upcoming conference – Jim Greenwald said that there are presently 32 registrants.
c. MWSA email addresses – (See read ahead addendum: “Emails, Email Forwarding and Wjho’s Doing What – Organizational Correspondence”)
John Cathcart reported that the website works better with the forwarding system in place. This enables emails to go directly to the person who is in charge of each subject. Presently, John is the only person who knows how to configure the forwarding process and there is a need for board members to learn how to enter and utilize the admin section of the website .
d. MWSA Dispatches discussion – Bob Doerr and Valerie Ormond said that Dispatches needs to be referenced on our email blast. Kathleen Rodgers recalled that, in the past, writers were paid $25 per article in Dispatches. John Cathcart confirmed that Kathleen’s recollection is indicated on the website. The board was supportive of payment for feature articles. Gary Zelinski and John Cathcart will work on procedures re:payment for articles. John added that author payment should be an automatic agenda item to discuss which author will be paid. Gary Zelinski is concerned about the need for organizational structure around Dispatches and the need for more oversight by the board. Bob Doerr mentioned that there are occasional requests for hard copies of Dispatches mainly from authors whose work is being published.
e. MWSA Facebook Page – John Cathcart said that Joe Badal is no longer a poster and should be removed. Presently, Bob Doerr, Valerie Ormond and John Cathcart are posters to the page.
6. Buckaroo Auction – (See read ahead addendum – “MWSA’s ‘Buckaroo’ Auction Program Policy.” ) A committee will organize the event for the auction at the annual conference. Valerie Ormond will head the committee. Items for the auction are still needed. Jim Greenwald presently has 27 prizes secured. Discussion began about whether board members should forfeit their buckaroos but no resolutions at this point.
7. Open Discussion –
a. June 30th is the deadline for nominations for Writer of the Year.
b. Regarding the President’s Award, we do not currently have criterion in writing. Valerie Ormond will send out to the board a set of criteria for review before the conference in September.
c. A discussion was held about a member’s (Giocomo) accusation that book awards committee behaved in an unethical way towards her. The Book Awards committee will no longer accept books for consideration from Giocomo because of her unacceptable behavior towards the committee and false accusations made. Gary Zelinski will draft a letter re: her expulsion from membership, for review by the board, and Bill McDonald will send her the final version.
d. Regarding public participation in the Zoom classes, this is a member benefit but presenters can invite nonmembers as their guests.
e. John Cathcart reviewed how to go to the Adminstration page on the MWSA website which involves going to the bottom of the home page on the site and clicking on “Adminstration.” The password this year is: MWSA2023. The Adminstration section is where documents relevant to the board are kept, e.g. board meeting agenda, minutes, etc. John encourages all board members to visit the section and become familiar with it.
8. The meeting was adjourned at 2:40pm EST. The next board meeting will be held on Friday morning, September 15, at the annual conference in New London, CT.
Documents for meeting
Treasurer’s Report
MWSA Treasury Report Apr-23
Acct: 23-Mar 23-Apr
Program 7,026.46 9,856.46
Awards 8,092.98 8,684.11
Operations 44,659.76 44,439.54
Total $59,779.20 $62,980.11
Notes: $1500 Tendered for Dispatches Production
Buckeroos
Emails — Process and Forwarding emails
Plz excuse the formatting and ignore the last two columns and extraneous details. John
Giacomo (confidential)