Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday afternoon
On Friday afternoon, I had the honor of being part of a panel on fundraising. I worked with Ryan Janke, Susi Werli, and Elizabeth Harty, a charitable organization officianido when it comes to what you can and cannot do regarding the IRS.
The first to present was Ryan who told us about Myskatingmall.com. This is a program of fundraising for clubs. I plan on presenting this to the SMISC membership sometime in the near future.
Next up was Susi Werli. She talked about hosting a skate-a-thon. It sounded like a lot of fun and a great way to raise funds in an afternoon. That is something we could explore with the Jr. Board.
I was up next and talked about Destination Vancouver and the events that were hosted by the Jr. Board in the last year.
Elizabeth Harty ended the session with a Q&A regarding what restrictions apply to a non-profit pursuant to IRS rules.
It was a great session and I am honored that USFS asked me to participate.
Friday Afternoon session
We were then surprised (well not really surprised--I saw him in the lobby) by a special guest speaker--Frank Carroll. He spoke for a few minutes. I thought it was pretty good.
We then started the actual meeting. It went not as usual--rather quickly--which is so unusual. We isolated the items on the agenda that we want to discuss and went through the exhibits. The session went very quickly and we adjourned early. All the exhibits that came up before the council were approved with very little controversy.
Tonight is the AAC dinner which several of us are planning on attending. It is usually a very fun evening and we're promised that we will play "skating bingo". This is Justin Dillon's last year as chair of the AAC so it sounds like he will go out with his usual flair. Good for Justin. We are taking a quick break to regroup, then it's off to get "gussied up" for dinner. Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora are reportedly going to sit with the SMISC contingent so it should be fun.
There will be pictures.
Off to the AAC Dinner!!!!
Suziesk8s
Friday Afternoon General Meeting
The athlete welcome speech was given by Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig who recounted some of their memories from competing at the Olympic Games.
President Pat St. Peter gave a welcome speech that included some milestones in membership and renewals of contract with sponsors and the renewal of our contract with NBC for the next four years.
Pacific Coast Section Meeting
Running a Successful Competition Workshop
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Non-Qual Competition Meeting
Lisa, Katie, Susan and I just attended the meeting on how to run a successful competition. The presenters were chairs, chief referees and accountants of large competitions around the country. They addressed many issues that affect competitions. It was interesting to find out that most of the competitions are switching to online registration and some are experimenting with having the skaters turn in their music online. It certainly make volunteering at the registration desk at Skate St Moritz a whole lot easier………. That’s a hint to you reading this that there are plenty of volunteer opportunities coming up in September during our compeititon.
Rink Relations Meeting
This afternoon I attended the Rink Relations meeting. It was presented by STAR (Serving the American Rinks) which is a membership association that provides education, training and new resources to facilities, individuals and vendors. It is a joint venture of USFS and USA Hockey to help promote and support all figure skating and hockey events as well as train and certify rink employees in management and ice maintenance.
My first day at GC
We are on a lunch break at the moment and have our afternoon sessions coming up.