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Davidson C Room, Renaissance Hotel -- Nashville, Tennessee While additional members were also present, these members signed the attendance sheet: Dick Davies, Bill Davidson, Ralph Dear, Ron Dionne, Toban Dvoretzky, Bob Folk, Ed Hartley, Fred Hinesley, Ed Hinkley, Tom Millot, John Plazek, Phil Richards, Dave Rislove, Russ Seely, Paul Shannon, Larry Shelton, Mike Stoll, and Ken Wheeler. President Dvoretzky called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. and led the group in singing "Down Mobile." KANSAS CITY MINUTES Plazek moved that the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as read. Wheeler seconded the motion, which passed. MANAGER/TREASURER'S REPORT Hartley presented the Manager/Treasurer's report. He noted that at the time of the report we had 1457 members -- exactly the same number of members that we had a year ago. This was not good, he said, because we were behind on renewals, and it marked the first time that we had not shown an increase in membership since 1994. We were, however, sound financially, with assets totaling $19,392.28. He read the names of the following AHSOW members who had passed away during the previous year: Bob Bower 96 N.C., Thomas Gay 83 Ill., Frank Heffernan 87 Mich., Wayne Lowell 96 Ore., Bill Mac Devitt 82 N.Y., David F. Mell 94 Pa./Fla., Bob Rouse, N.J., Allen Smith 79 Calif., Chet Svensen 94, Fla. A moment of silence was held. Wheeler moved that the Manager/Treasurer's report be approved. Seely seconded the motion, which passed. ELECTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS Dvoretzky announced that Bud Hillier, who had served on the AHSOW Board of Directors since its beginning, had decided to vacate his position in April and that the Board of Directors had honored him with a special plaque and a standing ovation. Former Society President Gil Lefholz had been named to replace him. Terry Clarke had also vacated his AHSOW board position, and Don Dobson had been named as his replacement. All officer positions and two at-large positions, Dvoretzky announced, would come open this year. Dvoretzky and Steve Shannon had agreed to continue as President and Vice-President, respectively. Hinesley would continue to serve as Secretary for a special one-year term. Hartley would continue as Manager/Treasurer for another year, and Plazek would continue as Past President. The at-large position held by Dobson was open for a three-year renewal. Tom Millot had consented to step off the board in favor of Bob Folk, editor of the AHSOW newsletter. Dear made a motion that the named individuals be elected to the AHSOW Board of Directors and that the nominations be closed. Rislove seconded the motion, which passed. Tom Millot was given a standing ovation for his contributions. PRESIDENT'S REPORT Dvoretzky announced that, for another year, the AHSOW leadership had continued to accomplish great things. At the Jacksonville Mid-Winter convention, Seely had proposed the establishment of an AHSOW Marketing & Public Relations vice-presidency. Its purpose was to identify talented and motivated AHSOW members in each district to supplement the musical efforts of the District Educators & Certifiers, who have been appointed for their musical abilities above all else. Dvoretzky placed the members present on notice that Seely might be getting in touch with them in the near future. He also suggested that members might want to see Seely after the meeting and volunteer. Seely noted that the need for volunteers was obvious. At the present time, he pointed out, we are dependent on the DECs to do every thing from cleaning up district meeting rooms to placement of materials and running the rooms in the various districts. They are also expected to handle publicity -- a duty which might be better handled by marketing people. The large numbers of things for which DECs are responsible, Seely pointed out, are beyond the call of duty. He noted that there are many capable men in the Society who are supportive of AHSOW; he asked the members to supply him with the names of able men in their districts, and he called on the members to volunteer. He promised to be getting in touch with the membership and ask for their ideas. Dvoretzky expressed appreciation for Seely's efforts and reminded the membership that their e-mail addresses are needed to expedite communication. He noted that members who have submitted their e-mail addresses were aware that AHSOW had been considering developing a vision and mission statement. The Board, he said, was continuing to work on this matter and would come up with something based on ideas submitted by the membership. Dvoretzky announced that Wheeler had been elected to the AHSOW Hall of Fame for his years of consistent musical and administrative service beyond the expected. At this convention, he said, the Board had named someone else, Phil Richards of Connecticut, to the Hall of Fame. Richards established the AHSOW website and was scrupulously maintaining it. He had opened the door for AHSOW to participate in electronic commerce, and had even devised a system whereby members could vote electronically on issues submitted to a vote of the members. "It is," he said, "exceptionally pleasing that a man of Phil's caliber is in our hall of fame." He also reported that there had been an ongoing discussion of the need to overhaul the membership-renewal process. Several possibilities had been explored, he said, in an effort to find the best way to do this. He asked members who had ideas to write him as soon as they returned home. The Board of Directors, he said, was again revising the AHSOW blaws in order to keep them up-to-date with the organization's present state. Some of the changes were simply housekeeping language revisions. Others included the possibility of creating new officer positions without increasing the number of voting positions on the Board of Directors. Officer positions had been redefined. For example, the old Vice-President's position had been renamed "Executive Vice-President & Chief Educator," and the District Educators & Certifiers would thus once again be under the supervision of the Executive Vice-President. The Marketing & Public Relations Vice-President would have the duties previously described by Seely. Probably the most important change, he said, was that the rule that two years of membership in the Society were required to become a member of AHSOW had been abolished, and ability to woodshed had become the sole criterion for any Society member to become a member of AHSOW. The most exciting news, he said, was the AHSOW Board's approval of the production of a new recording of woodsheddable melodies with an accompanying pocket-sized folio. The recording featured 14 melodies for all levels of expertise; the folio contained tips and encouragement about woodshedding, the lyrics for the 14 melodies, and histories of the songs and biographical sketches of the composers. The purposes of the project were to promote woodshedding, to provide AHSOW members a way to maintain their woodshedding skills in between functions where other AHSOW members are present, and to allow newcomers to the art of woodshedding to try their hands without pressure. The purchase price had not been set. Dvoretzky mentioned that there were three cards for the members to sign. One was a "missing you" card for Bob Bokman of Ohio, who was housebound. Another was a "get well" card for past AHSOW President Al Holloway, who had been suffering from health problems, and the third was a "thank you" card to John Schneider of Kenosha for his help with the AHSOW bylaws. All members who had not done so were asked to sign them before they left the meeting. Dvoretzky also reviewed AHSOW's specific organizational goals: To promote the dickens out of the growth that Barbershoppers can achieve through woodshedding. At every opportunity, he said, we've been promoting the 18 specific benefits of woodshedding. He added that these benefits enhance member interest and make chapters everywhere even stronger. To promote the dickens out of AHSOW as one's own vehicle to growth through woodshedding. We continue to differentiate AHSOW, he noted, from common misconceptions of woodshedding -- singing tags, Polecat numbers, or other arrangements with no attention to quality. While those kinds of activities can be fun, they occupy separate parts of our Barbershop activities from what AHSOW intends to convey and deliver. He pointed out that the term "woodshedding" does not automatically equate with "casual singing" in all its forms, and that we have taken great pains to educate Barbershoppers about these distinctions. To employ sensibly and consistently every publicity avenue available to us (international, district, chapter, internal, individual). We have, he noted, made further strides toward achieving this goal by going public with a scripted mini-show entitled "Woodshedding: How It All Began," the brainchild of Steve Shannon. A vitally important goal, Dvoretzky said, is that AHSOW build and maintain desirable standards of musicality and deportment and to insist on nothing less. The cornerstone of our wherewithal, he said, is to grow and to be respected -- to maintain the differentiation of our service and the resultant growth from other types of Barbershop singing. Woodshedding, he continued, is absolutely the best singing that we must ever do. That means employing the best breath support, continuous sound, and matched vowel targets that we know how to do, and always to avoid any possibility of drawing justified criticism. Dvoretzky's personal goal, he reported, was to do one thing every day, however simple, to support AHSOW. He promised to continue to do this. A continuing goal was to get as many AHSOW members onto e-mail as possible. He asked that those who knew of AHSOW members in their chapters with e-mail addresses to encourage them to make sure that their addresses were on the AHSOW list. He also asked those without computers to ask their friends who owned computers to receive periodic AHSOW correspondence for them. Dvoretzky observed that more and more illustrious Barbershoppers continue to join our ranks. Ben Ayling of The Ritz and Burt Staffen and Dick Bek of Fatherly Advice were inducted at the Jacksonville Mid-Winter convention. In closing his report, Dvoretzky observed that AHSOW's renewal rate last year was in the high 80% range and that we continued to receive inquiries from many people who want to join. These clearly show, he said, that our proactive steps are working. In response to a question regarding whether or not deceased members were included in reports of the numbers nonrenewing members, Hartley replied that deceased members were included in these numbers. Paul Shannon, who directs the Zanesville, Ohio, chapter chorus, related that he owned a history of the Society, published in 1948. The account of the first Society chapter meeting, which occurred on April 11, 1938, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, recorded that "Down Mobile" was the first song sung at that meeting, and that the bass of the quartet that sang that song was E.J. Lawyer. Lawyer's son married a Zanesville girl, and their daughter-in-law has a brother who is a member of the Zanesville chapter. One of the daughter-in-law's sisters is married to a Zanesville chapter member, and another of her sisters has a son who is a member of the Zanesville chapter. Dvoretzky reported that Plazek had been elected to the Land O'Lakes Hall of Fame and that Hinesley had been named the Dixie District Barbershopper of the Year. He also reminded the group that each member should be an active advocate of quality, authentic woodshedding at every opportunity. OLD/NEW BUSINESS There was no old business. Mike Stoll, noting that the idea of having greeters in AHSOW rooms at conventions had been discussed at the DEC meeting on the previous day, suggested that a sign or badge that would identify its wearer as a greeter should be created. Someone, he said, should wear it at all times. When the person wearing the sign/badge had to leave the room, he should give it to somebody else. This would ensure that a greeter would always be on hand. Dvoretzky agreed that someone should be on hand to greet people who come into the room so that no one who visits an AHOW room will be ignored. He related that attempts had been made in Kansas City to have greeters on hand at all times, and that those who had acted as greeters had been very positive about their experiences. The attempts, however, had not met with complete success. So many things were going on that it was impossible to have someone on hand at all times. It had therefore been decided not to try to schedule greeters at all times at this convention. Following a discussion, it was decided that Dvoretzky would give Bruce Dibble's ideas (distributed at the July 3 Board meeting and the July 6 DEC Powwow) to Stoll so that they could make plans for having greeters in Portland. Dvoretzky also reminded the group that when people are auditioned for AHSOW, the only member of the team who should make comments about the candidate's performance is the person running the audition. Seely suggested that the Board discuss the concept of greeters at its next meeting, and that this should be a priority item on the agenda. There is, he observed, a need to establish guidelines for those who act in this capacity. Plazek suggested that members take the responsibility of reporting to President Dvoretzky the good things that AHSOW members throughout the Society do so that the rest of the membership can be made aware of their accomplishments. Dvoretzky agreed, and added that we should also let him know when AHSOW members experience difficulties or illnesses. Wheeler reminded the group that, at every convention, there is a DEC meeting, which is usually held on Friday morning. He urged everyone to attend this meeting because, he pointed out, a broad exchange of ideas is beneficial. Wheeler moved that the meeting be adjourned. There were several seconds to the motion, which passed. The meeting ended with the singing of "I Wish I Had Died in My Cradle." Respectfully submitted, Fred Hinesley, Secretary Click here for the minutes of the Board Meeting. Click here for the minutes of the DEC Powwow. Click here for the minutes of the previous General Meeting. |