Minutes from the STRIMA Executive Committee Mid-Year Board Meeting March 24-27, 2015 Meeting Participants Robert Fisher, President West Virginia Tani Downing, Secretary and President-Elect Utah Carla Ahrens, Past President - Missouri Patti Hayden, Past, Past President Maine Debra Lawhead, Treasurer Delaware Jason Gates, Conference Host Wisconsin Ana Andrews, Conference Host-elect Nevada Anne Macon Smith, Deputy Member South Carolina Bruce Donaldson, Deputy Member Mississippi Jeff Bitz, Deputy Member North Dakota March 24, 2015 1. Robert called the meeting to order at 8:30 am EST and excused Jean Demchak. He reviewed the schedule in the book. 2. Minutes 2/9/15 Patti moved they be accepted, Deb seconded and the minutes passed unanimously. 3. President s Report Robert reviewed the Administrative Budget for FY2015 including specific revenue and expenses so far. Updates were made to the report, adding $4153 for the website and adjusting the total spent for FY2014 to $19,449. Additions were made to add actuals to date on the report. Robert also reported that the insurance policies have been renewed. The committee discussed the need for a liquor license liability policy. Ana moved that going forward the liquor liability insurance premium be added to the Administrative Budget rather than the Conference budget. Carla seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The only insurance policy that needed to be renewed this year was the Crime policy through 2018 and the limit was increased to $300,000 last year. Patti offered to provide the AM Best for all three policies to Robert. Patti thinks the CGL is a one year, and the bond and the D&O is a multi-year policy. Robert will check when those policies expire. 4. Treasurers Report Deb reviewed the report 2015 Domestic and Nonprofit annual report completed and check mailed 2014 fed income taxes filing required accounting docs will begin when she gets back and will be filed by May 15 2015 memberships received as of 3/9 25 paid state members and 22 associate members paid. One more state and two more associates members came in after that report. Robert will follow up with state and associate members who have not paid. Deb also reviewed the end of February 2015 bank statement and reconciliation for US Bank, checks issued and cleared, payments made, Profit and Loss detail from September 15, 2014 through March 2015 and Profit and Loss Detail Report from January through December 2014.
Finally, Deb reviewed the STRIMA reserve report as of March 9, 2015. Take the minimum reserve at last conference, take ending balance as of 12/31/14, take the 2014 Operating Expenses and 20% of highest conference expenses over last 5 years which totals $59,314.19. Patti suggested that we increase the minimum reserve to $100,000 to have money on hand to pay for website upgrade and Cost of Risk survey. Patti made a motion that the minimum reserve next year be $100,000, Ana seconded with the motion passing unanimously. 5. AFIRM Award Committee report Carla reported that there were three submissions, Colorado (Geo-coding building locations), Alabama (GAP and GAP Plus Coverage), and Alaska (RAIN program). The award will go Alabama because it is a unique, out-of-the box solution that other states can look at as a possibility. She indicated that the committee members were very engaged. Carla moved that we award the AFIRM award to Alabama, Jeff Bitz seconded and it passed unanimously. Patti suggested putting historical list of the AFIRM and Peer awards on the website. 6. Cost of Risk Committee report Bruce Donaldson reviewed the last AON survey and Joe Rippard s survey from 2009. This program will need to be revamped since AON will no longer do it for free. Considering taking a combination of the two surveys and the information from the Marsh report on what states use the most. He will put together a survey of all the fields from the previous surveys. Then the committee can identify those fields they think most helpful for the STRIMA membership. Jason will forward out the Marsh survey to the Committee members. 7. Outreach Committee Jeff Bitz discussed his committee members and suggested perhaps that STRIMA offer a scholarship to the conference to states that haven t participated. His committee is just getting started on their work and hopes to have it completed by May 1 to report at our May committee meeting. 8. Policies and Procedures Patti emailed all her drafts to committee members prior to this meeting for review. She is focusing today on the summaries. Ana had a question on the Best Practices Committee where it says the committee was suspended. Patti said that means the committee can vote to remove that committee. Deb moved that all revisions made by Patti be approved. Carla seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Patti will finalize them and send to Anne Macon for posting on the website. Patti hasn t started Website. She needs to work with Carla and Deb on the Treasurer Position document. These documents are not going to be any good unless they stay updated by the person leaving the position. 9. Scholarship and Sponsorship Robert reviewed the Associate Member Conference Sponsorship Financial Report and the Scholarship Income Detail. 10. Website Anne Macon is taking notes on things that need to be improved on the site. The committee discussed changes they would like to see be made. Patti mentioned that after the membership drive the document needs to be updated by the President and memberships revoked. Robert will ask John Fernatt to run a report of who is no longer a member so their access to the website is revoked.
11. 2016 Reno Conference Report Ana toured five properties in the Reno/Sparks area. Drawback for Carson City is distance from airport and quality of a venue. She has settled on Peppermill in Reno for September 17-22. Room rate is $93+tax, all resort fees waived. Free shuttle from airport. Meeting rooms are removed from the casino area. Distance to Capitol is 35 minutes. A discussion ensued regarding who would be a bartender since Bruce Donaldson will not be doing it going forward. Decision was made to see which retirees sign up for the conference then approach them about their willingness to serve in return for a comped room. Ana asked some event companies to bid. Possibilities include going out on Lake Tahoe for a paddle boat dinner for Tuesday evening; automobile museum, Capitol tour, Historical tour followed by dinner. For field trip on Thursday, Virginia City mining tour. Opening Keynote possibility is a Mark Twain impersonator that gives history of Nevada. 12. 2015 Madison Wisconsin Conference Report Jason and Rollie Boeding presented the plans for the conference. They went over the Conference agenda with information about venues and handed out a document STRIMA 2015 Conference Main Events September 20-24. First time attendee document almost done, President s letter in draft form, working on a conference logo that incorporates the Capitol dome. Rollie has been hard at work booking the main events. Sunday golf contract being reviewed and will be signed soon. Sunday excursion Frank Lloyd Wright s Taliesen campus. Sunday Reception at Concourse Hotel. Monday evening reception and dinner at Overture Center for the Arts. Contract being reviewed now and will be signed soon. Tuesday evening will be one hour tour of State Capitol. Reception and dinner on the rooftop at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Contract signed. Wednesday s President s Banquet will be at the Concourse Hotel. Thursday Field trip depart for Devil s Lake State Park, the oldest state park on the Register of National Historic places. Park ranger will give history of park. Then travel to Circus World, site of Ringling Brothers Circus home owned by the State Historical Society, and full collection of circus wagons from around the world. Then travel to Wisconsin Dells with two hour boat excursion on the Wisconsin River. Companion events planned include Monday tour of dairy farm, Cambridge Wisconsin lunch, visit Stoughton which is an old Norwegian community. Tour of the Stoughton Opera House. Tuesday events include a morning cruise on Lake Mendota. Wednesday events include cheese tasting, tour of Capital Brewery and tour of the Mustard Museum in downtown Middleton. Rollie and Jason reviewed their conference budget. They will be estimating 165 attendees. Once they know what the Executive Committee approves as the conference fee, they will be able to estimate revenue and Jason will provide it to the Executive Committee. Last year s revenue was $67,500 for Associates conference fees; $ 15,350 for State Associates conference fees; and Corporate sponsorship revenue was $107,800. Ana moved to approve the 2015 Wisconsin conference budget. Deb seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 13. Old Business Robert received a request to revisit the Committee s decision not to accept Mesirow Financial as an Associate Member since we have since received information that Mesirow has been acting in the Risk Manager s position for the State of Illinois. Deb made a motion to accept Mesirow as an Associate Member. Carla seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Patti would like to see the application changed to add a company website line to make it easier to check out the company.
14. New Business Robert led the discussion on the following items. a. Paradigm Outcomes Associate Membership Application - Robert brought forward the Paradigm Outcomes application for Associate Member. After committee discussion regarding whether the company fit the types of companies STRIMA is looking for as Associate Members, Carla moved to accept Paradigm Outcomes as an Associate Member. Deb seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Patti mentioned that we should consider getting more insurance companies as Associate Members. b. CRM Scholarship This has been offered to STRIMA members for the last two years by CRM which is not a member of STRIMA but is an educational vendor. It usually comes to us at the last minute before the conference. Patti suggested we proactively contact the company to see if they will be offering the scholarship this year. c. 2015 Peer Recognition Award Nominations No nominations have come forward from the Executive Committee so far this year. Patti distributed a history of the award. Anne Macon will get this put on the Executive Committee website. d. Nominations for 2017 Conference Host and 2016-2017 President no nominations have been received so far. The Committee discussed recruiting possibilities. e. Establish and vote on 2015 conference registration fees and deadlines - $800 Associate Members and $800 their companions, $300 State Members, Retirees for free and $550 Province Members. Patti moved that registration fees remain the same as last year. Jeff Bitz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. f. Establish and vote on 2015 scholarship levels - Robert reviewed this year s sponsorship and scholarship levels: Level 1 $1250 sponsorship; Level 1 Plus $1250 Sponsorship Plus Minimum $250 Scholarship Contribution; Level 2 $3,000 Sponsorship; Level 2 Plus $3,000 Sponsorship Plus Minimum $500 Scholarship Contribution; Level 3 $4500 Sponsorship, Level 3 Plus Minimum $1,000 Scholarship Contribution; Level 4 $6500 Sponsorship, Level 4 Plus $6500 Sponsorship Plus Minimum $1500 Scholarship Contribution; Level 5 $8500 or above sponsorship; Level 5 Plus $8500 or above Plus Minimum $1500 Scholarship Contribution. Carla moved that we leave the current sponsorship and scholarship levels at the same levels as last year. Jason seconded and the motion passed unanimously. g. Establish and vote on 2015 scholarship award monetary limits Robert reviewed the 2014 State Member Conference Scholarship Application. Jason moved to leave the scholarship amount at $2000. Deb seconded and the motion passed unanimously. h. Discuss 2015 Roundtable plans The Executive Committee discussed feedback from past roundtables and possible moderators. Robert suggested asking the Associates by email to send in questions they would like State Members to discuss at a Reverse
Roundtable. Patti suggested reminding State Members what to include on their handouts and in their five minute presentation. March 26, 2015 The meeting began at 8:30 am EST. Ana Andrews led the development of Conference Educational Sessions today. Ana distributed information that the committee would use to determine the educational sessions for the annual conference. The handouts included the master spreadsheet with Executive Committee rankings made prior to the meeting, each individual member s rankings, topic submissions from membership received through the online survey, STRIMA Historical Educational Sessions Sorted by Year, STRIMA Historical Educational Sessions By Category, and STRIMA Historical Educational Sessions by Session Name. The committee then added up the weighting given each vote and added it to the master spreadsheet. A committee discussion ensued regarding each of the proposed topics, how they could be fleshed out or combined with other similar topics in educational sessions and possible speakers. The Executive Committee then voted to narrow down the top 14 topics to those that would be the final topics. Finally the Executive Committee created titles and descriptions for each session. The Executive Committee meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm EST.