2021 Fall Meeting Minutes October 28, 2021
Jason Pullis, Beth Keene, Jason Lloyd, Betsey Gerber Howland, Tom Harkenrider, Larry Hill, Anita Menzi, Patsy Gifford, Devin Kuhn, Mike Miller, George Merrill, Cathy LittlefieldBush, Justine Kelsey, Lynnette Wright, Deb Quackenbush, Alan Danforth, David King, Curtis Nolan, Hal Lusk, Cameron Davis, Marvin Luders, Kennedy Crothers, Melissa Hart, Stacie Sherman President Jason Pullis called the meeting to order at 11:08 am on October 28th, 2021. Pullis thanked everyone for joining the meeting and asked Vice President Beth Keene to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pullis then asked Executive Manager, Chelsea Hanselman, to do roll call. Tom Harkenrider made a motion to dispense the secretary’s minutes of the previous meeting from the Spring as they were published in the New York Holstein News and accept them as written. Alan Danforth seconded this; motion passed. President Pullis then called on treasurer, Betsey Howland Gerber, to give the financial report for the association. Gerber reported that for Profit and Loss we are on target in a few areas; membership, personnel, sales will be on target after this week’s sale. We are in the red on shows and NY News. Event sponsors show to be in the red but this is because the funds were recategorized and put in with the specific event being sponsored. Gerber opened the floor for discussion; Lynnette Wright asked about the loss of funds at shows (State show about a $2,000 loss and Spring show about a $7,000 loss). Hanselman explained that the cost of awards contributed to loss at State Show and Walton Webcast contributed to loss at Spring Show. Keene asked if the plan is to use Walton Webcast again or if we can look at other options for live streaming. Hanselman explained that this was discussed in the Show committee meeting and the plan for the 2022 show is to look at other options. Gerber then moved on to the Reserve funds. The association took a 5% deposit from the reserve funds for operating costs. Patsy Gifford asked if this money is supposed to be repaid and what the plan is. Gerber asked Hanselman to comment on this. Hanselman explained that the policy does state that there needs to be a plan in place each time money is taken from the reserve funds yet to-date there has not been any money paid back and money has been taken each year since 2018. President Pullis commented that the fund continues to grow at a healthy pace but there does need to be a plan in place to pay 22 - NYN November-December 2021
back some of the money. Wright asked if we are taking less money from the reserves than the account makes in a year if we need to pay it back. Gerber commented that although it isn’t as big of a deal because the reserves made money this year, we do still need to talk about a plan moving forward so this does not become a regular practice. Gifford asked if the motion that Johnathan Lamb made several years ago stating that the association will not use reserve money for operating expenses- only for special projects and emergencies- was ever amended. Hanselman said to her knowledge it had not and she would try to find those meeting minutes so a formal amendment could be done. Wright asked about the Dairy Bowl fund that seems to not be making or losing any money. Hanselman explained that the dairy bowl, futurity and scholarship funds all have not taken from in a while and all funds are going through our checking account with Tompkins. The Dairy Bowl account is under the Junior reserve funds so specific account is not invested. Keene said these accounts will be moved over by the annual meeting so their will be accurate reports then. Kelsey asked if there is a place where we can total all sponsorship and then break it up based on what events it was used for. Hanselman said she agrees and this is something that should be done. Gifford made a motion to accept the financial report, Wright seconded it; motion passed. Justine Kelsey then presented her Publications committee report. In reviewing the financials, Kelsey explained the association is down about $20,000 on advertising this year, which is a sign of our economy and how we are going about soliciting advertisements. Historically the association has always used subscription money (a portion of the membership money) as income for the News and if we look at those numbers then the News shows to be in the black overall. However, if you take that out and focus solely on the income and expenses of the News then there was a significant loss of money (almost $19,000). Kelsey went on to explain that due to COVID the cost of paper has increased, which is making the cost of printing a magazine more expensive. She reported that during the committee meeting there was discussion about what steps can be taken to lose less money. The committee proposed and asked for the approval of downsizing to six issues. Kelsey reported that the issues and themes would be January (AllNY Awards and ET Sale), March (Red & White, Youth & advertisers for Spring Sale), June (goes to National convention, covers Spring
Show results and Mid-East Holstein issue that will go out to multiple states or the directory issue), August (Bull stud issue), October (Expo, Fall Sales and Show results) and December (Holiday, Master Breeder, and NY Convention prep issue). The committee recognizes that they are losing money but they believe it is important to have a magazine to get information out to members. Kelsey went on to say that the committee agreed to have Melissa Hart look into a new design for the News to give it a fresher look. In addition, Kelsey mentioned that the January News will include more transparent rates published; which will include the removal of black and white rates and rates that already factor in the price of color. Keene asked Kelsey about what feedback has been received from faithful advertisers about the proposal of going down to six issues. Kelsey said since the committee just met there hasn’t been time to talk with those advertisers but this is something that could be done. Keene said conversations in the past about going down to six issues have resulted in these advertisers wanting to not advertise. Pullis spoke up and said he is one of those faithful advertisers and he understands the reason for needing to decrease to six issues and he supports it. Jason Lloyd spoke up and said he believes that members are missing the face-to-face contact with someone and he believes if there was more direct contact then more members would advertise. Anita Menzi concurred with Lloyd and said her family loves having visits from others. Melissa Hart said she will continue to explain to people the importance of print media and advertising and also mentioned that this generation does not see the value in this, especially when they can post something on social media. Hart also said that she agrees with Lloyd; face-to-face visits make all the difference with people and she recognizes she did not see as many people as she should have in 2021 and her goal in 2022 is to see more people in New York and not just at shows. Gerber asked from a financial standpoint if the committee looked into whether there were other benefits financially from dropping down to six issues, other than not losing money each month. Kelsey responded that the percentage of advertising versus editorial needs to be evaluated and if more advertising is needed then we need to look at sponsors for certain issues. Hart expects that with fewer issues there will be more editorial and the goal for advertising is 65% per issue. Gifford commented that by going to six issues there will need to be more pre-planning and organizing so that members are informed of events going on and sales are being advertised as they should, since fewer issues requires thinking ahead. Hart proposed
