February 21, 2013
Moscatello's Restaurant
Members Present: Debbie Gilligan, Heidi Klinowski, Grace Bulger, Timothy Stone, Kelly Grimaldi, Jeanne Keefe, Gail Landrigan, Kathy Buckley, Patrick Surace, Lizette Strait, Kristin Ayotte, Donna Vaughn
President Tim Stone called the meeting to order. There were no guests and no new members present.
Treasurer’s Report:
Lizette submitted the treasurer’s report that reads as follows: The previous balance as of January 31, 2013: $3,380.48. Expenses totaled $125 paid out in check number 1020 for the renewal of Rensselaer County Historical Society Antiquarians Membership. Deposits were made in the amount of $520. February 2013 balance is $3,775.48. Petty cash totals $21.63. Total assets are $3,797.11. Number of paid members to date is 55. In 2012 there were 80 paid members. Dues for 2013 continue to be collected.
Discussion ensued on the process of sending or posting acknowledgment of payment to members. Privacy issues dominated the conversation on whether to post the names of paid members with the calendar year. Several methods of acknowledging paid memberships were discussed.
Ultimately the President summarized the proposals in three categories and called for a vote:
1. An email acknowledgement letter on TIGS letterhead with the bottom portion of the letter serving as a receipt indicating the amount paid and the paid through date. When sending mass emails, careful consideration will be given the email addresses of members by using blind carbon copies (BCC).
2. Create a list of member’s names and post on the TIGS website as a means of acknowledging payment. This suggestion generated the most discussion on issues of privacy. Members would be contacted for permission to post their name. 3. Proposals one and two would be used in combination to serve as acknowledgement of membership dues payment. By a show of hands proposal number one received 5 votes , proposal number two received zero votes and proposal three received 5 votes. One member abstained from voting initially but then agreed of her own accord to cast a vote in favor of proposal one thus raising the number of votes to 6 in favor.
The President set policy to reflect procedures in proposal number one and Jeanne Keefe agreed to draft the acknowledgement letter template and receipt for the treasurer.
To date TIGS has 261 list members and 327 likes on Facebook. Anyone can post of the Facebook account. Kris Ayotte was recently added as an administrator for TIGS Facebook account and has assumed the primary role of updating posts. All were in agreement she is doing an excellent job and her efforts are much appreciated.
On-going Projects: Genealogy Day will be held on March 9 at the Lansingburgh branch of the Troy Library. Tim, Heidi, Donna and Jeanne will conduct the workshop. WiFi is available and Jeanne will bring the TIGS laptop, Tim will bring a laser printer and Kris will bring TIGS brochures.
Liz will provide Jeanne with a blank check made payable to the RPI computer store for the purpose of purchasing Microsoft Word software package for the TIGS laptop.
New Business: Donna Vaughn reported that St. Michael’s Parish in Troy will host “Three Irish Voices” concert on March 8 th at 7 PM. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. All proceeds go to local homeless shelters.
Donna also reported she will conduct another genealogy lecture at St. Agnes Cemetery on March 2 nd from 2 – 3:30 PM titled “Tips and Tales from an Irish Genealogist”. This lecture is free as part of St; !gnes Cemetery’s lecture series.
Kelly Grimaldi invited TIGS members to hold the July 18 th meeting in the newly renovated Map Room at St. Agnes Cemetery. The meeting will be catered at no cost to members in a show of appreciation for all that has been accomplished with regard to TIGS volunteers and the scanning and digitizing of cemetery interment records.
Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on March 21 st at Finbar’s Pub in Troy.
With no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Debbie and seconded by Jeanne. The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Kelly Grimaldi, Secretary
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