First Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Informal Meeting Notes - Monday, April 21, 1997

The eleventh session of the First Board of Directors of the Blue Line Club was convened by Vice President Henry Okleshen at 4:11 p.m. on Monday, April 21, 1997, in the Warren Street Center conference room on the campus of Mankato State University. A quorum was not obtained but Board members present proceeded to deal with agenda items in an informal discussion setting.

Voting Board Members Present

3 of 7 Seats

• Henry Okleshen, Club Vice President
• Larry Morales
• Jim Bullard

Voting Board Members Absent

4 of 7 Seats

• Kent Schwickert, Club President
• Steve Duea (Excused)
• Jim Turk
• Brad Reeves

Ex-officio Nonvoting Board Members Present

5 of 6 Seats

• Ron Hybertson - Conference Faculty Representative (NCC)
• Don Amiot - MSU Men's Athletics Director
• David Cowan, Club Secretary/Treasurer - Maverick Boosters Club Liaison
• Cheryl Regan - MSU Athletics Promotions
• Don Brose - MSU Men's Ice Hockey Coach

Ex-officio Nonvoting Board Members Absent

1 of 6 Seats

• Margaret Healy (Excused) - MSU Student Affairs Vice President

Agenda Items Reviewed

The Board's April 21, 1997 meeting agenda was reviewed but could not be approved as a quorum was not present.

Minutes of Previous Meeting Distributed

The meeting minutes of the Board's March 24, 1997 regular session were distributed at the session but not approved as a quorum was not present.

Secretary-Treasurer's Report

Club Secretary-Treasurer David Cowan then provided the Board with an overview of the Club's existing 1996-97 income and expenditure budget. Of the $23,081 spending plan now in place for the 12 months of 1996-97, $20,567.70 (89.2%) has been paid to various vendors and $1,372.24 (5.9%) is "encumbered" to handle payments being processed.

The balance of $1,141.06 (4.9%) will be required to print more letterhead and envelopes as well as honor a $1,000 proposed contribution to the Mankato Area Hockey Association (MAHA) as the Club's "direct" contribution to the community's $1.7 million 2nd sheet of ice. (Consistent with a February 10th Board vote, that $1,000 would be forwarded only if uncommitted funds existed after all other bills are paid. The check would be the first of three dedicated to MAHA's 2nd sheet of ice project .) Cowan wasn't absolutely sure if the $1,000 for MAHA would be available when the books closed June 30, 1997, but felt that $700 or so might be left.

Cowan reported that $8,865.13 was the total of sixteen apparel orders given to Promotion Works for embroidered Blue Line Club clothing. 381 items had been ordered by club members of which 309 were the memento sweatshirts. Had everyone just accepted the memento sweatshirts we would have only needed 295 sweatshirts (102 corporate members x 2 memento sweatshirts = 204 items; plus 91 individual members x 1 memento = 91 items). In short, an inventory of 381 items was created or 86 items more than what would have otherwise been needed had we not given our members a wider apparel line from which to choose.

In a six column financial summary document distributed to the Board, Cowan showed how the Club's original $18,901 spending plan had been adjusted to incorporate self-generated receipts from the sale of Club embroidered wearing apparel. New income elements allowed the spending plan to increase mid-year by $4,180 to a new level of $23,081.

Those income elements included $507 in luncheon receipts from a 12/30/96 event with the Notre Dame hockey coach, and an estimated $3,673 in predicted receipts from the sale of wearing apparel over and above the memento credits given free to each club corporate and individual member. $143.50 remains to be collected from the $3,673 in sales.

Men's Ice Hockey Program Budget Briefing

Don Amiot then provided an overview of the proposed 1997-98 ice hockey budget. This was an oral presentation. Written details will be provided to the Board at a later date for their information. Don noted that the University would probably be hiring a coach for the developing women's ice hockey program with state funds, and that the overhaul budget for hockey next year did not include elements for a women's program. He said his home hockey game gate receipts were estimated at $2,700 for next season, and that it was a critical part of a $655,000 revenue plan for 1997-98. Proposed spending next year totaled $552,000 which includes at least $45,000 for gender equity purposes.

Blue Line Club Budget for 1997-98

It was noted that the Board at its March 24th meeting had recommended a spending plan of $23,000 to handle Club membership needs next year. Amiot provided detail which added to $21,850 financed directly from membership dues. The $1,150 difference would be covered in "net" income from wearing apparel sales. Again, $1,000 of that sum from self-generated sales would be committed to MAHA and the community's 2nd sheet of ice project.

WCHA Watch

Amiot reported that on Thursday, April 24, MSU President Richard Rush, Faculty Representative Ron Hybertson, and he would be in Margo, Florida, at the Annual Spring Meeting of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Conference. It is hoped that MSU would become a full member of the WCHA by the 1999 season now that MSU has met virtually all of the membership criteria set forth by the WCHA Conference. Amiot said that MSU would be allowed to make a 30 minute presentation with 15 additional minutes for any questions from the delegates representing the existing nine WCHA member schools. Current members of the WCHA include:

• U of Minnesota Gophers U. of Wisconsin Badgers
• Colorado College Tigers St. Cloud State Huskies
• U of M Duluth Bulldogs University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux
• Michigan Tech Huskies Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves
• Denver Pioneers

Amiot indicated that Mankato State still needed to hire a second assistant coach for the men's ice hockey program to be in compliance with the WCHA criteria.

Membership Recruitment and Retention Drive & Season Ticket Sales

Cheryl Regan provided the Board with an update on season ticket sales and Blue Line Club membership purchases for next season. She indicated that 432 orders had been received from a giant mailing that was dated April 4, 1997. The deadline for returns remains May 15th.

Apparel Update & Future Civic Center Floor Sales Management

David Cowan circulated a April 21, 1997, dated "letter of intent" from the University Bookstore that it was going to submit a formal proposal requesting that the University Bookstore be designated as the official vendor to sell hockey clothing during the hockey home games next year at the Mankato Civic Center. The University Bookstore, which is located in the Student Union on the campus of Mankato State University, handled the general public clothing concessions during this past season. Promotions Works handled the Blue Line Club special embroidered apparel needs.

Board members asked David Cowan and Don Amiot to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a bid document of some sort that could be circulated to local vendors to see if they were interested to handling the general public novelty sales in 1997-98 working from a table on the second floor of the Mankato Civic Center. Probable vendors who would submit a proposal include: University Bookstore, Promotion Works, and MGA Graphics. Board members felt that whatever contract is awarded by MSU should be for a three year time period with another one year automatic renewal if MSU so chose. It was believed that a base guarantee and a percent of gross sales should be part of the RFP document; the guaranteed base or percent, whichever was larger, would be the amount given annually to MSU to use for athletic scholarships.

Next Board Meeting - Monday, May 19th

It was agreed to have the next Board meeting on Monday, May 19th, at 4 p.m.

Adjournment

Without objection the meeting then adjourned at 5:07 p.m.