PRESENT: Thomas Meuser
GUEST: Cory Long, member of the Conference Planning Committee
Staff: M. Ashmore
Meeting started at 2:02 pm:
1. Welcome & Agenda adjustments
NOTE – E&E did not meet in March; however, members of the committee coordinated a response to an opportunity related to the Fall conference (described below).
Also, E & E invited members of the Fall conference planning group so that they could hear about the changes regarding the conference and – significantly – why they were asked to be planners and haven’t been involved in this rapid set of changes. One member attended.
2. MVLC Conference Planning
- New date, new opportunity, agenda work, what still needs to be done
TM provided a detailed explanation of the changes envisioned for this year’s Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference (MCLC), the decision-making process and the steps taken to date.
These include an offer from the Maine Department of Education to co-host MVLC on the first day of their Annual Educator Summit held in August. The positives include free use of the conference venue, central location in Augusta, opening many more learning opportunities to the Volunteer Managers in the state and Volunteer focused sessions to educators, piggy-backing on MDOE’s outreach efforts
Challenges include ensuring that MVLC doesn’t get lost in the larger conference, need to appropriate co-brand, much shorter timeline to identify presenters and coordination with MDOE conference planners – including on everything from how to coordinate registration, deal with handouts, VM location within the venue. A significant challenge is the loss of match revenue; the conference typically generates significant income and sponsorship.
The group also had a brief conversation concerning the scheduling of the upcoming informational meetings for other conference planners and the need to establish a punch list of tasks that they can be involved in
TM also shared that a meeting with the MDOE planning lead had been scheduled to clarify some of the details.
3. Upcoming events
- AC Member conference -- now on May 8th (rescheduled from April due to winter storm)
- ASC Conference, Minneapolis, April 24-26
MA provided brief updates of the listed events, describing the audience, content, and attendees. Of note, Keynote for the Member Conference is Sonali Nijhawan, Director of AmeriCorps State & National. MA and J. McFaul are attending the ASC Conference and all programs funded by the Commission are required to send staff. MA is also presenting at the conference.
Meeting Discussion ended at 3:04pm