27 September 2005 Waynet Annual Meeting Minutes

Waynet Annual Meeting
September 27, 2005

Present: WayNet Executive Board

Randy Baker, President (Richmond Power & Light)
Misty Hollis, Vice-President/Treasurer (Wayne County Visioning)
Jim Buckler, Secretary (WorkOne)
Jane Holman, Executive Director, Ex Officio (WayNet.org)
Gary Arndts (Marketing & Creative Services)
Dudley Fetzer (First Richmond)
Robin Henry (West End Bank)
Jodi Johnson (Western Wayne Schools)
Bill Pendley (Potter’s Wheel Bed & Breakfast)
Rodger Smith (Richmond Community Schools)

Also Present:

Valerie Biggs (Richmond Community Schools)
Aaron Hill (City of Richmond)
Otis Johnson (Guest)

Call to Order
President Randy Baker called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM and welcomed all attending to the annual WayNet membership meeting. The meeting was held at the auditorium of Richmond Power & Light.

Business Meeting Agenda

President’s Report – Randy Baker presented an overview of the two years he was President. He framed his report in relation to issues in the three areas of technical, social and financial. In the technical area WayNet moved hosting from Infocom to AM Hosting. This resulted in a decrease in the number of hits reported. However trends demonstrated this was due to the new host’s different method of reporting web trend analysis. Use of WayNet continues to grow at a rate of 4% over last year. In the social area he stated there was some lively discussion in board meetings related to issues of censoring of materials on the site and what can be allowed on the site. Also he noted R P & L was closing their cafeteria September 30th. This would end the “free lunch” for the bimonthly board meetings. Issues in the financial area remain with the conversion to 501c-3 status. This status change will be a key to the financial future of WayNet. He commented on the ever changing field of technology and the need to keep abreast of those changes.

Treasurer’s Report – Jim Buckler presented the current financial balance sheet. Running balance at the end of August was $15,086.08. This compared to $15,033.30, the beginning balance January 1, 2005. He noted the balance remained relatively the same even with the increase of Jane’s salary for this year. He also compared this to the running balance last year in August which was $15,539.87. Dependency on higher level memberships is still critical to WayNet.

Executive Director’s Report – Jane presented an overview of the highlights and activities of the past year. She was excited to begin her eighth year as Executive Director at WayNet. She remarked that many of the day to day challenges result in growth in the long run. She offered many examples that have shown that challenges turn into opportunities that result in benefits. One example was the bug in the calendaring software that forced WayNet into one hosting site. Also decrease in memberships has forced some new approaches to creative advertising. The demise of the Indiana Community Network may result in a financial benefit to WayNet. The frustration with the 501c-3 designation has forced us to reanalyze our organization.

She mentioned many of the organizations who support WayNet through “services in kind”, for example; City of Richmond, IU East, Morrison Reeves and Palladium Item. Organizations such as the Civic Theater, Richmond Art Museum and Morrison Reeves have collaborated on projects.

She expressed her appreciation for many individuals who have supported her and given assistance whenever asked, such as; Chris Hardie (a former Board President), Jayne Beers (cemetery web page and genealogy) and Rich Jackson at the Palladium-Item who has given blanket approval to reprint any articles. Also visitors to the web site’s comments and questions help to stretch one’s approach and creativity.

She challenged board members to tell others about WayNet and recruit especially high-end memberships to maintain the financial stability of WayNet.

Presentation of Slate of Nominees and Election of Officers

Slate of Nominees – Term 2005-2007

Randy Baker, Richmond Power & Light
Jim Buckler, WorkOne Richmond
Thomas G. Kirk, Earlham College
William Pendley, The Potter’s Wheel Bed & Breakfast
Valerie Biggs, Richmond Community Schools
Aaron Hill, City of Richmond

Misty Hollis made the motion to accept the nominees. Jodi Johnson seconded the motion. Motion approved.

Slate of Officers – Term 2005-2006

President – Misty Hollis, Wayne County Visioning
Vice-President/Treasurer – Gary Arndts, Marketing and Creative Services
Secretary – Jim Buckler, WorkOne

Rodger Smith made the motion to accept the nominees. Aaron Hill seconded the motion. Motion approved and officers were elected as nominated.

New Business Items / Discussion of Upcoming Changes
Clarification was made that the bimonthly meetings will be held at R P & L; just no lunch will be available due to the cafeteria closing. As there was no further business, the business portion of the meeting adjourned around 7:40 PM.

Program “The State of Rural Technology in Wayne County”
Misty Hollis presented the program about broadband access in Wayne County. The United States is ranked 6th in the world in broadband access. She shared documents and maps showing service providers and coverage currently available in Wayne County. The study was done to find what is now available and investigate what broadband systems to bring to rural areas. The next step will be to bring together interested stakeholders and seek a public/private partnership to fund it. High speed Internet access is a vital tool to economic development as much as any other form of infrastructure. INdiana INterconnect is a statewide initiative through the Office of Rural Affairs.

Adjournment
The annual meeting adjourned at 8:03 PM and refreshments were available for attendees.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Buckler
Secretary

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