Virginia State AFA 17 September 2011

Quarterly Meeting/National Convention Gaylord Convention Center

Quarterly Meeting CY11 Q3 (Jul-Sep) National Harbor Convention Center, MD

MEETING MINUTES

1. OPENING

· The meeting was called to order by State President, James “Randy” Hobbs. Randy welcomed the attendees to the 3^rd quarter VA State AFA Meeting and led the assembled group in the pledge of allegiance.

· State Chaplain, Bill Cuthriell provided the invocation.

· Steele Chapter President, Peter Jones, welcomed the State EXCOM and reviewed the logistical details for the meeting and working lunch.

· 2 Awards were presented: AFA Medal of Merit (Gina Giles) and Exceptional Service Award (Gavin “Mac” MacAloon).

2. OFFICERS’ REPORTS:

· Secretary’s report/roll call – Gina Giles

· Notice and Agenda was provided by State President, Randy Hobbs, at Tab 0.

· Chapter roll call was completed with all chapters represented by their president or designated vice.

· State Officer roll call was completed with a majority of officers present or represented by proxy.

· A quorum, as defined in the Constitution and Bylaws, Article X, section 6, was confirmed.

· Minutes from the 4 June, 2011, 2nd Quarter Meeting in Danville, Virginia, as posted on the VA State website, were reviewed and approved on motion by Jim Hannam, second by Ken Spencer and a voice acclamation of the EXCOM.

· Treasurer’s report –Jim Holt

· Reviewed the 2^nd Quarter VA State Financial Report, at Tab 1. The balance as of the 15 August was $14, 563. 15. The operating account is out of the red. The budget will support $ 0.14 per mile and ½ of one night’s stay in local hotels.

· VP/Admin – Al Berg

· Al Berg reminded all Chapter Presidents to submit new officer rosters to Randy as soon as possible after upcoming elections. This information is due to National NLT 31 Oct.

· Provide revisions to the EXCOM social roster by 20 Sep.

Next meeting 12 Nov: Leigh Wade Chapter #169 will host the 4th Quarter AFA Virginia State Meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn, Colonial Heights, VA. Members are requested to plan to come and stay for the full day of activities on Saturday, 12 November 2011.

3. STATE REPORT: Randy Hobbs presented the state of the State and reflected on the following topics:

• VA has one less than required for Delegate Slate for National Convention and will contact backups to achieve full slate.

• Virginia AFA Hospitality Suite is up and running.

4. REGIONAL REPORTS:

• VP North: no report
• VP East: verbal report at paragraph 6
• VP West: no report

5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:

• Aerospace Education: Jim Hannam presented the briefing at Tab 18. He emphasized the following topics:
• AFA Education Objectives
• Ed funding: Field, National and Cyber Patriot (contributions from NG).
• State TOY, Dr Nancy Hoover, attended National AFA Meetings.
• Grants are available, SMART rec’d $2,000 this year. State will match CP grants.
• Cyber Patriot IV currently has 650 of 2500 of goal registered teams to date.

• Fundraising: Mac MacAloon provided an update briefing on the status of the Virginia Suite at the National Convention. He noted that the negotiations with the Gaylord had gone well but prices had increased.

• Awards: Nick Abate was commended for best program ever. Nick provided the Chapter Presidents a report and turned over the job.

• Communications: Randy Hobbs gave a quick review of website plans in Julie’s absence. Free web services are available and Julie will give us an update next meeting.

• Membership – Chip Moran presented a report that current membership had dropped by 10,000 members. He encouraged a focused campaign to meet goals/quotas. Breakout session will have VA members. Discussion by Jeff Platte on the issue. Read notes on marketing AFA. This is not just chapter responsibility but HQ must have a message. Need better communication and to target the audience. Al Berg stated that one of the biggest problems is lack of encouragement by AD AF members. JR Ruth stated CSAF policy for AF members do not allow gov’t participation. (CSAF Letter at Tab 19). Only 5% of the AD AF are members now. This is an issue for change. ATA is grass roots and AMC pays to airlift AD members to conference every year. Discussion followed and Jim White captured the issue in a motion.
• Motion: Jim White introduced a motion to formulate 2 questions for VA State Pres to address the membership issue at the Sep 17 national meeting membership:

• 1. Request changes to Air Force policy to allow AF participation in AFA.

• 2. Why is the AFA different from other service organizations like the AUSA, Navy League?

• Virginia Joint Leadership Council of VSOs: Jeff Platte presented 6 tentative exemptions we are pursuing. One is to allow the American Legion and other veterans to run tax exempt organizations.

• Government Relations: Jim Holt noted that the Congressional visits are encouraged. Bus transportation will be provided. Next meeting we’ll have discussions on having a VA AFA breakfast with invited Congressmen on a date TBD. There are over 7,000 AFA members in VA. Some discussion ensued on how to engage with Congressmen and a suggestion was made to move the engagement efforts to Springtime when there are fewer activities.

• Approved Motion by Peter Jones, new State President, to form an ad hoc committee to develop an annual operational schedule focused on Congressional action interface and execution of the 2012 3rd quarterly state meeting with a report by the 2011 (Nov 12) 4^th quarterly meeting. Discussion on a teleconference system to conduct the meeting.

6. CENTRAL EAST REGION: Jeff Platte provided a Congressional engagement brief by Marv Tooman. We need to advertise and encourage these engagements by AFA chapters. Museum programs--contact Linda McMahan if your chapter has any education ties to museums.

Action Item:

• Lamar Advertising Company will give free advertising for Cyber Patriot. (Contact Lamar Advertising Company 5321 Corporate Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, Phone: 1-800 235-2627.)

• State Presidents need to RSVP to HQ AFA to attend the State Presidents/Region Presidents (SP/RP) Fall Meeting.

7. OLD BUSINESS:

• State Meeting Hospitality Suite (Closed); Chip Moran wrote the SOP.
• License Plates: 103 License plates were sold but we need about 350. (Open action for Nov Meeting)
• Chapter Alignment: Jim Holt (Open action for Nov Meeting—present the advantages and disadvantages for each chapter of Chapter Alignment in new zipcode areas) Tab 13

8. NEW BUSINESS:

• Quarterly Newsletter Excusals: Randy noted he had not received any to date and none were brought forward from the floor. If you can’t make it get an alibi.

• AFF funding for McGuire Meals for vets. Funding will end in Dec and Jim appealed to retired military to ask for corporate funds. Goal is to raise $500 to $700 which will fund 75 to 150 people month. ($1500 can fund 3 meals.)

• STEM Street: Jim White discussed criteria—2 after school programs of 6-week sessions on robotics. Needs to increase participation. Beta test soon. Lego League sponsors one robotics program and Linda McMahan said there is a competition in Nov. Jim Hannan said CSAF asked AFA to consider support programs similar to Cyber Patriot in aerospace and rockets. Jim White has a package on Rocketry, Airplanes, and ships. We can facilitate this. Jim Hannan suggested that the Museum program could be involved in this. Starbase is a DoD-sponsored at DoD facilities (secure locations). CAP facilities don’t qualify. Randy Hobbs asked Linda McMahan to bring these together and tell us how our education money can help us with these programs.

• AFA new scholarship program like the MOA program with a no-interest loan program (5-year payoff) which starts at the second year of college. Part is a grant, the rest is a loan. The program may start next Spring and will be open to AFA members down to their grandchildren.

• About 5 state presidents signed the petition against the new Search process for Nominating Committee membership selection.

• Motion Carried: That the State of VA vote as a block against the Search/Nominating Committee membership process changes.

9. CHAPTER REPORTS:

• Leigh Wade #169, Tab 2—hosting meeting on 12 Nov—send in registration for self or send a rep and pay for the cost of a dinner for a veteran (if you can’t attend) Propose to start meeting at 8 am for Breakfast Buffet.(Gary)

• Steele #239--no written report submitted. Peter Jones discussed guest speakers (CSAF), scholarship programs, membership, newsletter. “Mac” Macaloon is the new Steele Chapter president.

• Danville #240, Tab 4—Jerry Hovatter. Thanked everyone for attendance. 2 CP teams and possibility of 2 more. Jerry is new Chapter president.

• Tidewater #242—no report submitted.

• Richmond #243, Tab 6—Harper Alford

• Roanoke #285, Tab 7--Jim Tubbs: Tracey Carter will be new president. Needs ideas on how to give Community Partners awards to Elizabeth Arden who donated colognes and perfumes. Randy Hobbs will write a short thank you and we’ll get suite photos of the donated products.
• Langley #323 Tab 8 —no written report submitted.–JR Ruth is the new president. Concerns; membership challenges—we need a message that AFA is a viable organization. Senior AFA leader support is required. Fund raising: golf tournaments would gain more revenue if we join forces with other orgs in the Langley área to cooperate/combine efforts for AFA and AFCEA. Langley Chapter is partnering with the Dedalians to welcome the new COMACC. Hampton mayor’s book club was highlighted for contributions.

• Jones #345, Tab 10—Tom Shepherd: Kevin did an admirable job of closing the chapter.

• Gabriel #433, Tab 11—Ken Spencer: Salute to Space (NRO) innovative. The chapter gave each nominee a banner with a medal to recognize each nominee before the winner trophies were presented. Bruce Carlson decided to bus about 50 people daily to the AF Symposium. The chapter can provide assistance to State with the website initiative. Since Space AQ is organizationally realligning SAF/AQ,Steele chapter will absorb them.

• N. Shenandoah #435, Tab 12—Norm Brander: will become president. He discussed the Starbase units and stated that matching grants are available for Smart responders. Letters to soldiers program is going well, they get soldiers names from website, one POC validates the list for letters to deployed members. Congressional engagement: Congressman Wolf was responsive but elusive.

10. DISCUSSION:

• Only 4 chapters met recruiting goals. Arizona has a great program to consider as a model.

• Al Berg introduced discussion on the need for focus on support to Veterans. The 3^rd part of AFA Mission: Advocate, Educate and Support. USMC league sponsored a golf tournament in DC with top USMC Active Duty leadership support. This open support helped the fund raising efforts and sent a strong message to US Marines.

• Chapter alignment maps: Jim Holt: displayed maps and discussed several adjustments. JROTC and SROTC units are included. Tab 19

11. ADJOURNMENT:

• Randy Hobbs reminded the group that the next quarterly EXCOM Meeting would be hosted by the Leigh Wade Chapter at the Hilton Garden Inn, Colonial Heights, VA.

• Having completed all the official business on the approved agenda of the EXCOM, a motion to adjourn was forwarded by Kevin Lavin, seconded by Al Berg and approved by voice acclimation.

• The chapters thanked Randy Hobbs for his service as State President.

Respectfully submitted,

Gina Giles, Virginia State Secretary