Special Operations Association Office of the Secretary soasecretary@specialoperations.org April 7, 2014 Board of Directors Minutes Mid Year Conference Las Vegas, NV Number - 2014-07 Call to Order: 4-7-2014 @ 0812 hrs Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Silence Roll Call was called by Secretary Lucier and all directors were present except Motsett and Furbish. A quorum was present. Guests were Sincere and Hepner. President Meyer: A motion regarding the rules of conduct and business was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote. AGENDA ITEMS: SOAR 2014 Theme(s) o Patriotism would be a theme in conjunction with the 50 th anniversary of MACVSOG o 50 th Anniversary & Commemoration of MACVSOG Coin for the 50 th was discussed and determined that Buscetto would submit designs for approval at a later date. Chief of SOG Acknowledgement as an honor to the living Chiefs. Suggested video interviews of Singlaub & Cavanaugh to video Start sending out press releases for local coverage in Las Vegas Facebook presence was mentioned as possible info outlet
SOA branding was discussed - Terry English is President - SF Charitable Trust. Kickoff at SOAR and present the concept in the PRP. Get photo of Singlaub from Clyde Letter of SOA intro to thought leaders Video for Facebook and Website pitching SOA/SOAR Received back plan from Clyde for PRP Agreed to have no guest speaker for SOAR Beam seminar as part of PRP was suggested and will be followed up Follow up with the Budweiser & Beam sponsorship Pete and Bill will look into sponsorship shirts Pre Reunion Package (PRP) by Patrick Hepner See Early warning order (see Exhibit A) o Jimmy Nguyen made remarks regarding the Entertainment: Proposal for improvements and comments Flag protocol comments: see Exhibit B Head table protocol BoD order, Guest Speakers, discuss pros & cons., but the consensus was to do the same as in previous years. Buscetto was opposed to the head or special table. Master of Ceremonies was proposed to create more of a professional format, but the MC should be knowledgeable about the SOA could mitigate by pre dinner discussion and coaching session. Motion and seconded, discussed. Find professional MC with emphasis, but not restricted to internal MC only, for the dinner event. Voted and approved unanimously, with one opposition. o Timing of the PRP is an issue General Members Meeting (GMM) is on Wednesday Oct 22, 2014 Allow for approximately 12 days for delivery Tentative target date for completion is 1 JULY 2014 Lucier to get with Pete and Lisa on schedule Other Major Elements Hotel: any problems with the hotel see Hepner as THE POC 717-608-8333 Vendors: Photographer was an issue; Hepner to communicate with Cameron Registration: Registration form to be reformatted. Seating assignments concern was voiced for first time attendees Name Tags No more pocket calendars eliminate one more expense Entertainment Chair: further discussion will be covered later at a later date
COMMITTEE REPORTS General Membership Meeting is scheduled for Oct 22 nd, Wednesday Other: Banquet singer John Messana Chaplain: need minimal info name, NOK with address. Need ways to motivate/remind members to fill out NOK. Perhaps put NOK on filing/registration form. Work with The Hawaiian. See list as Exhibit C. Membership: accept as filed Brightlight report: one candidate under review. Request to reach out. Multiple: see Clyde s packet. Clyde mentioned increase in ad rates. Increase America Remembers initiative. No raffles in LV because of gaming regulations. Savings bond option if marketed in a particular way. Nomination: Annex H approved. Nominations process on track for offices. Bios recommended at 150 words. What is a member in good standing to qualify for office? Brian to redefine and put in the SOP. Follow up with email to nominees with verbiage from the Bylaws to manage expectations. Tally: Mike Keel new Chair and a member for three years. Ballot disposition is an issue. Need specific wording on timeframe for destruction and the deadline for ballot count. A motion was made to rename the tally Committee the SOA Bill Sylvester Tally Committee seconded, discussion followed and unanimously approved. Scholarship: Issue of active duty interruption of educational scholarship was discussed. Motion to defer an approved candidate to a future year subject to financial and board approval she will be reinstated as eligible for scholarship funding. seconded, unanimously approved. Archive Report was deferred to discuss during Day 2. Entertainment Committee (Jimmy Nguyen: see Exhibit D) Entertainment element. Music after dinner. Band in separate room (Esplanade) Board to review the band event. Cost is an issue. A 4 piece band for 2 hours is about $1,600; a motion was made to include an after dinner band, seconded, discussed and unanimously approved. Suggested to invite the Mayor of Las Vegas and coordinate SOA exposure to local news media. Media handler is required; talking points to be listed by Brian and approved Hoover Dam and China Town trip to plan on Tuesday Centerpieces with American Flags is a talking point Rob Garrett to sing Comin to America
Other items related to committee reports: Gold Coin to be raffled with cost not to exceed $3,000 motion, 2 nd, discussion. Approved by unanimous vote. Clyde will ask his contact for coin purchase. It was agreed that there would be No change to words regarding start of membership date. Valor Awards: see Clyde s report. Involvement in this issue should be approached with caution as there are many pitfalls. Executive Session began at 1600 hrs. Executive Session closes & meeting adjourned at 17:30 hrs. Day 2 Meeting Opens at 0800 hrs ANNEX DISCUSSION: see notes NEW BUSINESS Get Out the Vote Campaign: o Put it in the President s letter o Reoccurring message for email and website with ballots attached at the end o Video of candidates o PRP announcement in English and Vietnamese QM Process and Policy o Henceforth, no handwritten/email credit cards will be accepted due to security and control and bank costs. Watkins Event o Sincere, Vines, Calafell (MC) and Godshall is a maybe. Thank you letter to 7 th Group for their support of Watkins event. SOA Financial Support Policy: Any member can ask the Board for approval of any incident and fund through Family Warrior Fund (Bill Wither). Vetting Candidate for SOA BoD o Nominating Committee put on hold and address the bylaws and Annex Post Service Awards Policy and Process Motion: Valor awards only to be given out at the dinner all others to be given at the GMM (so note in the PRP) discussion, seconded, vote, Unanimous approval; except Director Vines abstained. Resource Development & Branding (note: fundraising is an outcome) o Social media: website, Facebook, LinkedIn need consistent Check Facebook (open group) SOA and address the issue
Have the JAG (Luke Dove) address this issue o Trademark of logo is most likely OK. Calafell is researching; one official agent in Texas; request in for original certificate in place. o Licensing o Need for 501c3 to broaden available donation pool. Use SFCT/GBF as models. Letterhead & Business Cards: see Business card of President Meyer as model. Special Forces Charitable Trust Relationship o Contact Terry English by Doug Godshall to begin the process of establishing a relationship. SOA Archives o Dennis Cummings recording history o Oral history (Personal/SOA History Project) o Currently have 56 histories in hand o Archiving materials/items is an issue o Not only what is controlled but who has access o Plan records search prior to SOAR determination of man hours to sort. Get determination of retention from Texas SoS, etc. o Follow up on potential of scanning retained documents SOAR GIFT ideas: o Coin for 50 anniversary on one side and SOA on opposite; o high end money clip; o leather wallet o Zippo lighter with SOA Logo Tape video of Singlaub and Kavanaugh 1.5 minutes each to show at the dinner Good of the Order Thursday noon start all day on Friday for review docs in storage Dues collection is up using the internet. Calafell will reword the membership dues due date for clarification. SOA Ambassador Program to enhance the relationship between units and SOA to be discussed next BoD meeting. POW/MIA to merge DoD & JPAC for POW/MIA. Motion from Burg to repeal plaque and honorary membership. Denied. Furbish: send Jean Tong a notice to attend Eglin event on May 22 for Watkins Hepner: suggested bconnected membership sign up at the Orleans; Sincere: new book on Spec Ops. See insert in Clyde s folder. PRP story. Godshall: Recurring contributions on the next agenda.
Vines: summed up the salient points relative to his responsibilities as outlined throughout the MTC Lucier: No comment Ajourned at 1509 hrs 8 April 2014