Virtual Business Meeting 2020

In consideration of current events and the inadvisability of meeting in person, I have asked the Board to allow the business for this year to be conducted electronically. Comments will be enabled on this page to post feedback and discussions.

First: I am seeking emergency authorization from the Board to conduct our annual business electronically. Since our board meetings and deliberations are intended to be public, with rare exceptions, I am posting these items on our chapter web site with comments enabled. I ask the Board, on a temporary emergency basis, to accept this in lieu of the in-person annual meeting required by our bylaws. If there is an objection we will deal with it on a case basis.

Second: Nomination and election of officers for 2021. For the past several years our slate of officers and directors has continued essentially unchanged. I am willing to entertain a motion that this be extended through 2021. If someone objects, or if one of our current officers and/or directors is unable or unwilling to continue to serve, please inform me at the earliest opportunity.

Third: Mr. Doug Hall, during a cleaning of his home, found property belonging to the Chapter from ISDC 1999. While most of it is unusable or of no value, there are a few items which need to be accounted for:

• A cash box containing $50 in small bills, apparently intended for making change during the convention. There are also deposit slips and a checkbook for an account with Harrisburg Bank which the chapter no longer controls.
• A Verifone Tranz 330 electronic credit card machine. This is an older model and unable to accept the modern “chip” credit cards. It is probably linked to the same obsolete account and would need to be reprogrammed to be of any use to anyone.
• A used Vivitar 5000AF slide projector, apparently complete but untested.
• The base (no lens and reflector) of an overhead projector.
• A manual credit card imprinter (with no data plate).
• A box with notebooks, miscellaneous paper, and other items; nothing which I judge to be of archival value.

I will entertain a motion for disposal/recycling/repurposing of these items. The credit card machine should probably be turned in for electronics recycling; as it is obviously a commercial item the City of Houston will not accept it in their household recycling program. The slide projector does have some residual value; a search of eBay auction sales listings shows results ranging from $20.50 to $99.99 (although that machine had four slide trays and ours only has one). The cash will obviously be turned over to our chapter treasurer for deposit to our account. I could potentially use the slide projector for personal purposes; I ask the Board to determine a suitable residual value and I will either pay the requested amount or else place the projector up for sale. If the Board authorizes me to recycle the credit card machine, I ask that the recycling fee plus mileage be considered as an offset to the value of the slide projector.

Finally: During our layoff I have received a grant check from The Blackbaud Giving Fund (and ultimately from Boeing) in the amount of $22.50. This will be turned over to our treasurer along with the cash from the ISDC cash box.

Our current treasurer’s report will be posted on this page when I receive it—-Eric Bowen, 2020-12-12.