Excellence and Expertise Task Force: May 2024

PRESENT:  Lisa Morin, Julia Van Steenberghe

GUEST: Cory Long, member of the Conference Planning Committee
Staff: M. Ashmore

Meeting started at 2:02 pm:    

1.    Welcome
       a.    Meeting began at 2:05pm. No agenda adjustments were made

2.    Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference Planning
       a.    Where we are: Committee reviewed current status of agenda and plans to co-locate with MDOE summer Ed Summit. The group looked at the draft agenda for the day and the presentation descriptions
       b.    What still needs to be done: Group discussed the role(s) to be played by the conference planning committee who were largely uninvolved in the rapid decision-making that precipitated the change is timing and venue, as well as the identification of speakers and presenters.
       c.    What roles the Planning Committee members can take on: Committee identified a number of potential roles for the nascent planning committee - Marketing is important, need for fundraising to support travel for some presenters, door prizes, social networking, day-of support, 

3.    Recent Event Wrap-ups/Follow-ups
       a.    ASC Conference, Minneapolis, April 24-26: MA shared overview of conference, participation by VM staff and staff of funded programs.  Also shared was a brief summary of specific take-aways from various sessions.
       b.    Governor's Service Awards, May 5th: Group brainstormed ideas for how to increase participation in the two Roll of Honors, including ideas on how to get the word out early enough for agencies to recognize the value of collecting volunteer hours.  Possibility of hosting training was raised.
       c.    AC Member conference May 8th:  MA shared overview of how conference went and initial feedback collected anecdotally.  More formal event and presenter feedback will be shared at June meeting.

4.   ME Vol Managers’ Network presentation on using AI and some expressed concerns from the field 
      a.    MA reviewed the content of a email received in response to the topic of using AI for creating position descriptions scheduled for the Maine Volunteer Managers’ Network. A member expressed a variety of concerns about the nature of AI and the potential negatives for artists and creators. Also shared was the response from Commission staff to the individual.  E&E members felt that no additional response was warranted.

Meeting ended at 3:01pm