We were able to make two decisions at the March meeting. Your elected officers (Me and Greg) agreed to reduce the price of DOM's from $4 back to $3. And, after some discussion, the club determined that since the Bylaws had never been properly amended to reflect the raising of club dues from $15 to $20, we will now go back to the official $15 club dues amount, effective January 1999.
Concerning the ongoing Club Bylaws project, we found that even with a decent membership turnout at the March meeting, we still didn't have enough of us there to allow us to make any revisions to the Bylaws. So we're going to try again this month.
The requirement of 2/3 of the current membership is making it nearly impossible to bring the bylaws up to date. In March, we discussed three alternatives to make it easier to amend the bylaws.
The first is the one I came up with several months ago, to say that the bylaws can be amended by a unanimous decision of the elected officers. This idea has, very understandably, caused some concern over how much power would then reside in only two or three people.
The second idea devised at the March meeting would be that a vote of 2/3 of the members present at any given regular meeting would suffice, so long that at least 1/2 of the members were at that meeting.
The third idea would, most simply, change the present 2/3 requirement to 1/2 of the current membership, regardless of attendance at any given meeting.
We decided to have a vote on these three options in April, where any members unable to attend the meeting could simply return a ballot postcard as distributed by Michael Schmidt. Or, just let anyone who will be attending the meeting what your vote is.
But I realized this approach has a problem. If we offer 3 options, there's very little chance that one of them will get the vote of 2/3 of us. So I'm going to offer just one option, to be voted up or down:
Shall the following section of our Bylaws:
"These bylaws can be amended at any meeting of the club by a 2/3 vote of the current membership, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting and has been printed in at least one issue of the newsletter."
be amended to read:
"These bylaws can be amended at any meeting of the club by a more than 1/2 vote of the current membership, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting and has been printed in at least one issue of the newsletter."
? YES or NO
Please vote, so, hopefully, we can get on with things!
Thank you, and keep using that Atari!
The meeting started at 7:35 PM.. Michael Current, Space club president, asked for a secretary report. Mike Weist, club secretary recapped minutes that were printed in March newsletter.
Michael Current then asked for a treasurer's report. Greg Leitner, club treasurer, gave a report. Greg explained that last month's meeting and auction were good. The club took in $177, paid out $44. The club is waiting for a room rent bill for the last quarter of 1998 and the first quarter of 1999. The club may be looking for a new room rent contract for 1999. Greg will contact the city of Falcon Heights. The club treasury balance stands at $1441.
Michael Current asked for a report of the Disk of the Month. Glenn Kirschenmann, membership chair, gave a report. Glen also gave a membership report. He said there are 16 paid up members and 4 people which need to renew their memberships.
It was mentioned that 11 members are needed to change club bylaws. At the meeting only 10 paid up members were present.
OLD BUSINESS- It was decided to discuss bylaw changes at this meeting instead of making changes. Changes will be made at the April meeting.
Bill Cottter, club member said a ballot should be made up and sent out to members who can't be present at the meeting, when bylaw changes will be made. Mike Schmidt will make out these cards to sent out to these members who can't make the monthly meeting.
Since the yearly membership dues were raised to $20 from $15, with out voting on it, the dues will be reduced back to $15.
Officers and club volunteers will have the option of . paying the yearly membership or elect not to pay.
Disk of the Month will be reduced back to $3 from the current $4. Michael Current are set by the President and Vice President.
At the April meeting it will be voted to make bylaw changes.
NEW BUSINESS- Mike Weist talked about Michael Current's 1998 World of Atari Video Convention tape he viewed. Mike told the club membership interesting video to view.
Greg Leitner reported a person by the name of Carl Forham wants to have a Lynx convention in Rochester, Minnesota.
Lance Ringquist said that the show would probably be on a Friday, which might be a problem for people to attend.
Michael Current talked about having a Space booth at the show.
Mike Weist talked about attending a movie at the Plaza theater, which is owned by past Space club president, Nathan Block. Mike said Nathan asked him to say hi to everyone at the Space club. Mike also said Nathan gave him a stack of free passes for Space club meeting to come and see a free movie The tickets were handed out.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM. Club auction followed meeting.
Well it seems almost certain that we are going to be stuck on about ten members a month for our Club meetings. Having only sixteen current members that is not a bad percentage. The only problem is that in order to change anything in our Club's by-laws we need at least two-thirds of our membership in attendance to vote on the changes. Since there are a few items that need looking into in the current by-laws it would be very much appreciated if all of our current paid up members could find time in April to make the meeting. You paid your dues so you should have a say in any changes that are made.
We had a lively discussion at the March meeting and Mike is doing a great job as President in leading our meetings. He brings his desire and knowledge to the meetings and it really shows. There is a lot Mike would like to accomplish this year and you will find this out by coming to the monthly meetings.
Our treasury is looking good but I have to remind you that we have not gotten the fourth quarter room rental bill for 1998 and now we have also completed the first quarter in 1999. This means that we could get the bill for six months and that would be $390.00. Other than that our only expenses have been for the BBS and Club newsletter each month.
The auction went well again in March and we made another $110.00 clear profit. Along with the auction sales we also had three membership renewals and sold seven doms. Our total take was $176.00 and the expenses paid were only $19.37. This leaves a balance of $1,597.83 in our account at least until the room rental bill arrives. I guess I will have to call and beg for the bill as I haven't heard from the Falcon Heights Center lately. I don't usually ask for any expenses but in this case I would like to know what is going on as we need to update our contract with the Center for 1999.
Well that's all for this month as the NCAA March Madness has got hold of me and I won't be spending much time doing anything except watching sports for the next few weeks. See you all in April.
Subj: JagFest details
Date: 99-03-22 09:54:49 EST
From: mcurrent@carleton.edu (Michael Current)
March 19, 1999
For immediate release:
ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird Productions is proud to be the official sponsor of this year's JagFest. This third annual event will be held in Rochester, MN, on June 18, 1999. The theme for this year's event is "Celebrate Atari", and Songbird Productions welcomes the opportunity to expand the event to cover all Atari consoles -- from the classic VCS (2600) to the Lynx to the Jaguar.
Enthusiasts are encouraged to bring their own collections for display or trade. Special accommodations must be made with Songbird Productions for those wishing to reserve a table, TV, or sell any merchandise.
Details are as follows:
Where: Holiday Inn South
1630 South Broadway
Rochester, MN 55904
(507)288-1844
When: June 18, 1999
Set up from 7-10am
General public from 10am-10pm
Cost: Adult: $10 in advance, $12 at the door
Ages 6-12: $3
Ages 5 & under: FREE
The Holiday Inn South has a limited selection of rooms available at a special JagFest price of $79 per night. You must call the hotel directly at (507)288-1844 to receive this special pricing, and notify the representative of the discount code 'JAG'. These rooms must be reserved before May 27, 1999, to guarantee availability.
Other hotels are also available within walking distance of the Holiday Inn South. These hotels include:
Quality Inn and Suites 1620 1st Ave SE Rochester, MN 55904 (507)282-8091 Comfort Inn 1625 S. Broadway Rochester, MN 55904 (507)281-2211 Econo Lodge South 1850 S. Broadway Rochester, MN 55904 (507)282-9905----- Tickets ---------------------------------------------
Tickets may now be reserved directly with Songbird Productions. Send an email to songbird@atari.org for details.
Tickets or wristbands will be issued, allowing attendees to come and go all day long as needed. All children 12 & under must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
----- General Information ---------------------------------
Be sure to visit the JagFest '99 web site for the latest information:
http://jagfest.atari.org
For those who may wish to remain in Rochester over the weekend, more activities are currently slated:
Saturday, June 19 - Take a trip to one of the largest shopping centers in the world: the Mall of America. Try your hand at the NASCAR networked racing simulator, visit the arcade, play a round of laser tag at Starbase Omega, shop at the Starlog retail store or Electronics Boutique, or even try a roller coaster at Camp Snoopy. Plus, don't forget to visit specialty video game stores Games to Go and Raven Video Games. Directions will be provided.
Sunday, June 20 - Before you head back home, join Carl Forhan for church at New Life Worship Center (http://www.newlifewc.org). NLWC is a contemporary Christian church dedicated to the singular purpose of bringing glory to the Lord and spreading the good news of the gospel. Carl energetically leads the music team with his vocals and keyboard skills. Other instruments include bass guitar, drums, piano, and back up vocals. This is one church service you won't want to miss! Directions will be provided.
Other areas of interest in Rochester include the Mayo Clinic, IBM, Apache Mall (with arcade), Skyline Raceway and Waterslide, Cyber Cue pool hall, and more.
To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird Productions, be sure to visit the company web site at http://songbird.atari.org, or send an email to songbird@atari.org.
Copyright 1999 Songbird Productions. All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in its entirety.
Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do however ask that credit be given to the authors and to SPACE. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.