(Tarrie S. Co, March 26, 2011)
Date: March 26, 2011
Location: Residence of Ferdinand Meram
1352 Waterloo Street, Los Angeles, California
Attendees:
Board Members: Tarrie S. Co, President, Loreto (Boysie) Bermejo, First VP, Ferdinand Meram, Treasurer, Janet Macatiag, Secretary, Fe Reyes, Auditor, and Antonio Mallari, Area West Representative.
Other Members: James and Elisa Acoba, Celie Meram, Estelita Purino, Elnora Florendo, Zeny Bermejo, Ferdie Rabaja, Mr. & Mrs. Ramon Valera, and Domingo Barga (all the way from San Diego).
The meeting was called to order at 2:00 pm
Having been distributed by email, and no objections or corrections received, reading of the minutes of the last board meeting was dispensed with.
Agenda:
President’s Report on the Overall Status of Homecoming Reunion Events
· The schedule of events has been confirmed and remains the same. In addition, Congressman Juan Ponce C. Enrile, Jr. has confirmed as Keynote speaker at the event.
· Souvenir Program
o The March 12, 2011 deadline has passed and we are no longer accepting applications for sponsorship pages,
o The booklet has been compiled and the Souvenir committee has already reviewed one set of proofs and the final proof is available here at the meeting for final review and corrections. (In the course of the meeting, a recess was taken and all members present reviewed the proofs and suggested corrections as needed.) Once all corrections have been made, the printer will be given the go ahead to print the booklets and the booklets should be ready for distribution at our next board meeting. Attendees at the next board meeting will be given 15-30 booklets to bring to the Philippines where we will be handing out the souvenir program booklets at the grand ball event.
o The souvenir program should result in a gain of funds of between $3500 and $4000. Essentially all funds to be received have already been received and the printing costs are all that need to be paid.
· The update report on the reunion was emailed to our master list and responses are coming in.
· Grand Ball Attendance Status
o There has been no change in the number of US tickets sold and paid for since the last meeting: we are still at 30 tickets.
o According to the Philippines committee, 100 Philippines tickets have been sold.
o Since sending out the last update, the Ticket Sales committee has been actively calling members to determine attendance. There are approximately 60-70 people who indicated that they were attending from the U.S., but they have yet to provide formal confirmation or to make reservations. Most of these have indicated that they will most likely pay at the door. Many of these also indicated that they would be bringing Philippines resident guests with them.
o Once the April 12, 2011 deadline has passed, at our next board meeting, we will have better indications of US and Philippines tickets sales and reservations. We will then have to decide on whether we need to decrease our confirmed attendance numbers with the Manila Hotel to avoid incurring unnecessary expenses. If it looks like we will be too far away from the 400 attendance goal, we may have to reduce our commitment number which will cause us to have to pay for the additional cost of use of the ballroom for not meeting the 400 number. In an abundance of caution, the board assumed an attendance of only 300 in carrying out its further financial analysis.
o We will send a final update on the reunion to our master email list early next week.
· With the 30 US tickets and 100 Philippines tickets sold and paid for, the association is still in good financial position for the ballroom event as it is faced with only about a $300 loss of funds plus the cost of renting the room if it only reserves for 300 and has no further ticket sales. The sales of the souvenir ad pages have provided us with a buffer zone against losses. However, since our purpose is to raise funds to use for our projects, all attendees were urged to communicate with their contacts to encourage all potential attendees to at least call and make reservations so that we can make better decisions. In addition, the overall sense of the board is that we will still at least double the current ticket sales by the date of the event when we include those who indicated they would attend but pay at the door. If absolutely needed, the association can cut the commitment number further, to 250 or 200 if we see no more ticket sales or reservations by the deadline. Of course, this will increase the risk that people without reservations will have to be turned away at the door.
President’s Report on Executive Decisions made since last Board Meeting:
President Tarrie Co advised the board of Executive Decisions had had to make in the interim since the last Board Meeting and asked that they be ratified.
Background: As a result of two factors, he had made executive decisions concerning the reunion ball which will be held at the Manila Hotel. First, the Philippine committee had a telephone conference and recommended that the board “reverse its position of Manila group by helping us other than just selling tickets” while noting that “Time is of the essence as there is not much time.” The full text of the minutes of the Philippine Committee teleconference meeting which was attended by Gin Cababa and Titang Leabres is attached to these minutes. The second factor was that the last board meeting was postponed due to the potential lack of a quorum as many board members had prior commitments.
The Philippine committee raised the following issues:
· Manila Group assigned tasks:
o Ticket Sales – Manila group was to sell tickets only with no other tasks
o 100 tickets have been sold to date
o There is a problem on how the checks are to be deposited as the association does not have a Philippine bank account.
· Manila Hotel Arrangements
o Reservation has been confirmed for a minimum of 400 guests, deposit has been made, and contract has been received by the association. The Manila group assumed 100 US based attendees and 300 Philippine based attendees.
o Manila hotel needs information about motif for standard arrangements, etc., whether to have a presidential table, number of microphones needed, flowers, and size of dance floor.
o Dinner selection still needs to be made.
· Music
o Aware that the board had previously decided that music would be provided only by a DJ, the group suggested adding a live band noting that a 3 man live band would only cost around P 15,000 or $300.
· Program – the group complained that it had not yet received the program for the event. It also suggested a cadet marching band for the national anthem, and wanted to know if souvenir programs were going to be sold at the event.
Decisions Made: Since the Manila group correctly pointed out that Time is of the Essence, President Co made the following executive decisions, and seeks ratification of them by the board:
1. Using his inherent authority under the original resolution authorizing the association to have and maintain a bank account, he initiated the opening of a Philippine National Bank peso account with the PNB branch here in West Covina, California. Once this account is opened in the next few days, Philippine peso instruments can be deposited into this account, both here and in the Philippines. Once funds are in this account, the funds will be subject to the legal and fiduciary rules governed by the associations Article of Incorporation and governing California laws and regulations.
2. He authorized a budget of P5, 000 and requested the Manila group to arrange for a food tasting and arrange for a buffet dinner within the range of the previously board approved P 1,300 per person price range.
3. He advised the Manila group that the board still needed to decide on the details for the set up with the Manila hotel.
4. He advised the Manila group that we had P 40,000 budgeted for music, which would include both a DJ and a live band providing all required music services, and, relying on the representation that a 3 man band would only cost P 15,000 asked them to solicit a proposal to see if we could add a live band to our music vendors.
5. He made the executive decision to request that the Manila group solicit proposals from videography/photography providers.
6. He made the executive decision to decline utilizing a marching band in the reunion ball ceremonies.
President Co then advised the board that he had received a request from the Manila group that we remit P 20,000 immediately as down payment to retain a 7 man band and that we remit P 12,500 immediately as down payment to retain a videographer/photographer for P 25,000. He was not given any details on the terms of engagement for either the band or the videographer/photographer.
Much board discussion ensued.
Board ACTION on the President’s request for ratification of executive decisions:
1. The board unanimously ratified the executive decision to open a Philippine bank account.
2. The board unanimously ratified the executive decision to conduct a food-tasting and delegate the menu selection to the Manila group.
3. The board unanimously concurred with the decision to defer hotel settings to the board. It was also noted during the discussion, that Ferdie Rabaja will be in Manila a week prior to the event, and that he was going to take care of flower arrangements. It was suggested that Ferdie Rabaja also be given authority to make final last minute changes to the arrangements. For example, it was noted that the Manila hotel may have the capacity to provide a much larger dance floor size (up to 80 by 160 feet) if we request it. He should be authorized to make necessary venue settings arrangements if it does not add too much to the overall costs. Further discussion will be held on this issue at the April 16th board meeting.
4. The board, by a 4 to2 vote, refused to ratify any changes to the music arrangements and re-affirmed its prior decision to have only a DJ provide the music. It directed the President to request that the Manila group solicit a bid from a DJ, if it desires, making sure that any bid from the DJ also guarantees that the DJ will provide an adequate sound system for the Manila Hotel ballroom, as the contract with the Manila Hotel only includes a basic sound system which is not adequate for dance music. Final decision on the music is deferred to the April 16th board meeting.
5. The board made a unanimous qualified ratification of the decision to utilize the services of a videographer/photographer. First, it reduced the amount the association will pay for a video disc to no more that P 15,000. It was the sense of the board that it is willing to pay the videographer to videotape the event and produce a 2 hour video of the event that includes the approximately one and one-half hour of the ceremonies and one-half hour of random shots of the attendees participating in the event. However, the end product video shall become the exclusive property of the association, with all rights of reproduction and sale. It is also willing to grant the videographer/photographer exclusive right to take and sell photographs of attendees to the attendees with no consignment fees, provided that the photographs will be available for delivery to purchasers by the end of the reunion event, and that no funds will be accepted from purchasers except at the time the photographs are delivered. It directed the president to request the Manila group to solicit a formal bid from a videographer/photographer that clearly comports with the above requirements. In light of the generous extension of the right to make photograph sales, the board expressed its expectation that a proposal will most likely be far less than the amount budgeted, if not in fact, free.
6. The board unanimously concurred in the decision to not utilize the services of a marching band.
The next Board Meeting will be held on April 16, 2011 at the residence of Manny & Girlie Calusa, 139 E. 234th St., Carson, California.
The President’s Report and the above board decisions, having covered all of the topics that would have otherwise been on the agenda, the meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm.
