Previous Minutes

Annual Meeting at St. Louis, MO
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Meeting Minutes

Minutes Submitted September 5, 2018

ATTENDANCE:

POSITION NAME PRESENT/ABSENT COMMENT
President Howard Spencer Present  
Vice President Mark Rater Proxy to Chris Gates Medical Restrictions
Secretary Ray Sotore Not Present Medical Issues Conflict
Treasurer Jack Hirschman Present  
Director/ Ambassador Warren Brown Present  
Director/Ambassador Nigel Ellis Present  
Director/Ambassador Wendell Wahlstedt Present  
Director/Ambassador Chris Gates Present  
Ambassador Pat Conroy Absent Medical
Director Jimmy Zane Absent  
Director Walter Y. T. Chun Absent  

 

  1. The meeting was convened at 9:30 AM in the JoAnne Wayne Conference Room in Terminal 1 of the Lambert Airport in St. Louis, MO. A quorum was established.
  2. The President offered an invocation.
  3. The President opened the meeting be expressing his thanks to those who were in attendance. He also made general remarks about the need to recruit new members and the ongoing process of updating the web site. 
  4. The minutes of the Directors’ conference call on July 19, 2018, were approved. Motion to accept minutes by Chris Gates; second by Nigel Ellis.  PASSED
  5. The current financial report was submitted verbally by Jack Hirschmann. An abbreviated financial report is at the end of these minutes.  The Board of Directors agreed to move $5,000.00 (USD) to the ASSP Foundation to be added to the current balance in the VOS scholarship account.  Motion by Jack Hirschman/Second by Warren Brown.  PASSED
  6.   Jack Hirschman reported that there had not been significant additions to the membership rolls.   Jack provided a hard copy of the current membership roster to Howard Spencer.  VOS currently has 75 members (including Life members).
  7. The consensus of the Board of Directors was that the update to the web site is working well. There were some questions about whether material that had been sent to Nigel Ellis had been forwarded to the web master.  (Nigel Ellis had departed the meeting to travel home.)
  8. Election of Officers. Howard Spencer was elected to serve another one year term.  Mark Rater was elected to serve as Vice President.  Ray Sortore was confirmed as Secretary and Jack Hirschmann was confirmed as Treasurer.
  9. Warren Brown solicited material for the newsletter not later than October 31st for a December publication date.    Jack Hirschman reminded the members present that submissions should be in Word documents in 12 point Arial type font.
  10. Ambassadors Report. Nigel Ellis and Warren Brown provided an update on activities sponsored by the Ambassadors.  They reported that four Board members had just completed an interesting cruise of the Upper Mississippi River.  There was discussion that there might be a desire for an Ohio River cruise in 2019.  Warren reported that the ASSP Foundation continues to administer VOS scholarship funds; he also reported that the investment dividends on the VOS donations to the Foundation exceeded the cost of the scholarship and the administrative costs.  It was agreed that the website upgrade needed continued attention.
  11. Safety and Health Hall of Fame International (SHHOFI). Patrick Conroy was not present or represented to submit a report on the current status of efforts to find a new home for SHHOFI and provide a venue for future Hall of Fame inductions.  Chris Gates agreed to contact Pat on these issues and to provide a report during a future conference call.
  12. By Laws Committee. The Board of Directors directed the By Laws Committee to draft suggested changes to the VOS By Laws to address procedures for the use of proxies when Directors are not able to participate in meetings and to revise the language on chapters and student chapters.
    ACTION:  By Laws Committee to prepare suggested changes to VOS By Laws.  Contact appropriate individuals to determine the status of the only known chapter and student chapter.
  13. Strategic Planning.
    1. Howard Spencer encouraged the Directors to join the VOS LinkedIn page. He agreed to provide instructions for joining by email.
      ACTION:  Provide Directors and members with instructions for joining the VOS LinkedIn page – Howard Spencer.
    2. There was a discussion about avenues for increasing VOS membership numbers. In connection with this discussion, Warren Brown reported that he had developed a QR code that members can print on the back of a business card or on a self-developed flyer that can be handed to potential members.  The QR code is linked directly to our website.
    3. There was a discussion of potential liability from Board of Directors actions. There was no resolution on this issue.  It was agreed that the cost of insurance for this exposure was in excess of VOS funds.
  1. Memorial Service. A Memorial Service was held to acknowledge the loss of Jeane’ Furber and James Brown.  There were no other lost members known.
  2. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 PM
  3. The next Board of Directors meeting will be by conference call on September 20, 2018, starting at 3:00 PM Central time.

SUBMITTED
Christopher M. Gates
Ambassador