Present: Allen, Bennett, Covelli, Hunjadi, McCarrier, Merrill, Schilder, TeStroete, Werner
Notified Absent: Meeker, Teale
Called to order on time by Vice-President TeStroete at 12:00 PM.
Motion by Schilder second by McCarrier to approve the October 2004 minutes with the addition of Bennett being listed as attending. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
President: Absent
Vice President: TeStroete thanked Blaine Werner and Grace Merrill for their service on the board. This is their last meeting as board members. He welcomed Joe Covelli as the newest member of the board with his term officially starting in April.
Secretary/Treasurer: Nothing
Executive Director: Hunjadi provided a review of 2004. Total gross income for the year was $633,000. Membership ended at 6,593 individual members and 331 Service/Corporate members. The EMS Professionals publication for the first time was at a break even level. The Third Edition CD Resource Kit has been completed with a total of 500 copies. All Service and Corporate members will receive a copy of the latest edition when they renew their membership or join the association. The PayPal Internet commerce system has been installed on the web site and is in use for new individual memberships, new Hot Sheet subscriptions and merchandise. The system is one of the largest and most trusted in the world. Already the amount of sales has been much higher than anticipated with at least a 100% increase in new memberships versus through mail from the old web site order form. Merchandise sales have marginally increased. The re-design of EMS Professionals magazine has been completed and has started with the January-February 2005 issue. The web site re-design is in production. Hunjadi provided copies of the new design and briefly discussed the new features. The target date to have the new site active is April 1st.
Sales/Public Relations Director: Joe Covelli handed out detailed information on Service/Corporate membership for 2004. 60 New services joined in 2004 and 99.5% (all but one service) renewed their membership. This is the largest number of new Service/Corporate members to join since Joe began selling with the Association. He briefly commented on magazine sales.
Conference: Hunjadi provided information on the conference in Richard Meeker’s absence. Currently we are anticipating a reduction in attendance at classes of about 250 participants over the four days. It is possible that there will be an increase in expo-only attendance which will help make up total attendance but will be a problem if such a trend were to continue due to greatly reduced revenue and the cost to produce the conference. Currently a $40,000 reduction in gross revenue is anticipated. It has become clear that attendees are waiting much longer to register as they believe there is no longer any urgency to register early because class space is no longer a problem. Plans are already well underway for the 20th annual conference in 2006. Several of the most popular speakers from previous conferences have already been booked. including Baxter Larmon, Ken Bouvier, Steve Murphy, Steve Berry, Dan Limmer and others. Meeker hopes to have additional speaker agreements in place to announce at the 2005 conference.
OLD BUSINESS
Meetings with Wisconsin State Fire Chief’s Association: A second meeting was held with the representatives from the State Fire Chief’s Association. When discussions began it was the intention of the Wisconsin EMS Association Board of Directors to explore ways to partner and work closer together. It was WEMSA’s intention to combine efforts on a Chiefing 101 program and perhaps discuss and consider other areas of collaboration. The Chief’s Association stated they were interested in much higher levels of collaboration including the potential to combine publications, conferences and infrastructure. Following several meetings, it does not appear that this course is being followed. They have booked conference locations through 2009 and have not yet approved a Chiefing 101 partnership. Discussion was held on the issue. The WEMSA Board remains interested in working together but at this point, given the lack of productive movement, we will wait for them to come to us for future plans.
Group Buying Program: Covelli reported on the proposals received for the AED Group Buying Program contracts. A total of four companies provided pricing and proposals. All were reviewed by WEMSA Staff and the Executive Board prior to the meeting. Board members reviewed the proposals. Motion by Werner to name ZOLL Medical Corp. as the sole source provider for AEDs and that WEMSA continue negotiations with ZOLL Medical Corp. and Philips Medical for full model defibrillators. Second Bennett. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried. Covelli reported that only one bid was received on batteries. Given the lack of comparison it is hard to make a decision on adding batteries to the Group Buying Program. Board members suggest that we continue to compare other prices for possible inclusion in the Group Buying Program in the future.
Bylaw Changes Committee: Allen stated that there was nothing to report at this time as the committee is waiting for approval of the strategic plan to provide them with necessary direction.
Annual Meeting: Hunjadi reported on the status of the Informational and Annual Meeting scheduled for April 16, 2005 at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells. A detailed feature article will be included in the next edition of EMS Professionals. The room block is open at $99 on Friday Night with the regular room rate being $279. Brief information will be provided in an update letter being sent to Service and Corporate members shortly. Hunjadi will finalize the agenda with the Executive Board.
Headquarters Office: Hunjadi reported on the search for land for the proposed WEMSA office building. A variety of locations have been explored within the area identified. Several members of the Executive Board have had the opportunity to view the various land parcels. At the current time it appears that only one area meets all of our criteria including cost, location, availability, and zoning. Motion by Schilder second by McCarrier to enter into negotiations with CK Development for purchase of one acre of land for the WEMSA headquarters. Board members to be polled for final vote prior to purchase. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
National Scope of Practice Document: Hunjadi provided an update on the response to the National Scope of Practice document. WEMSA and the EMS Advisory Board submitted a combined response. Other organizations were offered the ability to sign on to the document as well. None did so by the December 1, 2004 deadline. A post card response has been received from the committee acknowledging their receipt of our letter. Several national EMS publications have begun to report responses similar to WEMSA’s by other state organizations and state EMS offices. It appears likely that changes will be made to the draft.
Strategic Plan Document: Board members were previously provided with a draft copy of the strategic plan completed in October. Motion by Allen, second by Schilder to approve the strategic planning document as drafted. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Cruise Comp Cabins: The question was raised whether board members not participating in the EMS Cruise should be provided with a cash equivalent in place of a complimentary cruise. A short discussion was held. The issue died for lack of a motion.
NEW BUSINESS
Wisconsin Bureau of Procurement: Covelli reported on a meeting with the Wisconsin Bureau of Procurement on their request for the purposes of combining efforts in writing group buying contracts with the State of Wisconsin. He will report on the outcome of the meeting.
Telephone Fund Raising: Hunjadi and Covelli reported on a meeting with a telephone fund raising company. The company contacted the association to request the meeting and currently provides telephone fund raising efforts for several of Wisconsin’s firefighting and law enforcement organizations. Hunjadi raised the possibility of using such an organization to help in EMT and First Responder recruitment efforts by providing information on becoming a volunteer during telephone calls. People with interest would be sent printed information and referred to local EMS services. Funds raised could then be used for television, radio, billboard and other recruitment advertising campaigns or could potentially fund a grant program to be administered by the Association. Telephone campaigns typically net no less than $100,000 annually for the sponsoring organizations. Discussion was held. Board members would like this idea discussed at the annual meeting. Motion by Schilder that further investigation be completed on telephone solicitation for a report back to the Board of Directors. Second by Allen. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
2005 Annual Budget: The proposed general association budget for 2005 was previously provided to all board members. The general budget is separate from the annual conference budget. Gross income of $323,600 and general and administrative expenses of $300,630 is budgeted. The budget does not include capital equipment expenditures. Motion by Bennett to approve the 2005 annual budget as presented. Second by McCarrier. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Conference Contest: Winners were selected at random from conference registrants meeting the contest deadline. A free hotel stay, $50 dinner gift certificate and 2006 conference gift certificate was provided to three winners.
Hybrid Car Warning Labels: The issue of potential legislation requiring the placement of warning labels on hybrid cars was briefly discussed. The issue will be placed on the agenda for the April meeting.
Motion by Werner second by Merrill to adjourn. All in favor none opposed. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 3:48 PM.