IABA BOARD MEETING MINUTES

SEPT. 28, 2019 HELD AT ANDREW MURANO’S OFFICE

IN ATTENDANCE: ANDREW MURANO, SIMONA FAVA, ANNE CUCCHI, JANET LOMBARDI, JOY LAWRANCE, ANN BOSSO-JOHNSON

The meeting was called to order at 1:30pm

Andrew has gathered thoughts and ideas and presented a list of issues and questions for us to consider as we go forward. These will be addressed at our meetings to come.

Founder of IABA Joe Aiello has a renewed interest in the group. He’s not been a member for a while, but is back now, and would like to bring some ideas to grow the club. Some email exchanges have made a few board members uneasy, so Joy suggested that a letter be written to him, acknowledging his experience and history. Andrew agreed to write one, with Joy reviewing. We’ll invite him to a board meeting, put him on the agenda, and give him time to present his ideas.

Discussed the issue of confusion over payment to Gary Cucarola for our Sept. meeting. Janet moved that we give Gary a check, Joy seconded, all approved. Ann and Janet will take this to him personally.

Discussed “donations” for our events/meetings. It was suggested that instead of selling items, we request that people make a donation, which keeps records clear for our non-profit status.

Discussed meeting agendas – Andrew would like to make them more interesting and suggests changing things up a bit. We need to encourage more networking and testimonials since we are a BUSINESS organization. Perhaps we don’t always need the “60 second” intro/elevator pitch – which too often takes more time. We like the Biz Bites – giving one or two members a chance to spotlight their services. We might want to include some “mixer games” to get people talking to those they don’t know so well. And we do want to attract younger members, so these will be good ideas making our meetings more interesting.

Janet talked about elections, which need to happen by the end of the year. It is her understanding that board positions are for a two-year term. She also talked about awards – business of the year and member of the year – that we have, in the past, presented at the Christmas party. (no conclusion)

Our board meeting in November will focus on Bylaws and continue discussion on our future progress.

Meeting adjourned at 3:20pm.