ADCA Meetings & Minutes Archives

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JULY-SEPTEMBER ’08 ADCA WorkYoke

Information - Interpretation Issue

Discussion involved ADCA membership and positions on the BOD and Staff or Officer positions.  It was the consensus that "Only 1 person per household could serve on the Board or hold Staff &/or Officer positions.”   This was a very clear directive from the membership in the past..... and was stated in the old R&R document.

New Vice President, Marcia Read

Marcia was welcomed with messages from the current Officers and BOD members.

She stated:  “I am delighted to be able to work with so many people that are dedicated to the breed and our association. I am sure I have a lot to learn.”

AGM Sale Results

Sale results were to be posted to give an accurate description of the animals sold.

Bulletin Publication

Rather than rush to the press with incorrect info and get shot down for mistakes -  the editor is making every attempt to get it correct.  Tracking down the correct info is not always as quick as we'd like because people can be hard to find - especially during the summer.  Everyone was encouraged to meet the submission deadlines as printed.

Upcoming Elections

A new time schedule to assure the notification deadlines etc. were met was established.

Nomination letters and notification of Regional Meetings were sent to the membership in Regions 9, 10 & 12 on Friday (9/19). 

Information – Lawyer Contact /Work Yoke

·        Issue of deciding how or if we are going to continue with the WorkYoke.

-  Option one with Robert Seddon as a "web master or host for it after he leaves the BOD.

-  Option 2 outside host (seemed pretty difficult and cost prohibitive to go that route). 

·        Using for voting or not voting.  Before spending any money on the attorney for WorkYoke we need to analyze those cost and options then try to tailor the system if we decide to continue. 

·        This may be something we want to give to a task force to work with Robert on to analyze the options and cost (including thoughts from our treasurer).

Dexters in the Wall Street Journal

Sally and Warren Coad and their Dexter cattle operation were featured in an article, Prime Cutbacks:  Seeking A Little Less Bull With Minicattle, in the August 12^th edition of The Wall Street Journal,    Addressing the growing costs of feed and the production of proportionately more beef per pound of feed, the article addressed the growing market for smaller framed cattle and the family appeal.  CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COADS!

National Public Radio was working on a segment about economic issues for small and big farms at the present time and costs of beef on the open market....Robert Seddon provided them with a lot of Dexter information including your cost estimate differences between Dexters and big critters.  He also forwarded the link to the WSJ article and video to NPR, along with an invite to use him to get contacts to talk with case they decided to do an article themselves.  

Certificate and ByLaws

The funds that were pre-approved by the BOD for attorney fees have been spent and a BOD decision needs to be made on how to proceed from this juncture.

AGM Show Premiums

Working with the 2008 AGM Show Committee, the results were compiled with pay outs. Jim Smith, ADCA Treasurer, wrote out checks and mailed them on August 9^th.

Information – Promotional Items/Café Press.com

In order to streamline promotional items as well as offer a larger variety to the membership, the BOD decided to try using CaféPress.com.

• A Premium Shop can be opened for $6.00 a month, or $59.95 a year. This will allow ADCA to set up more than one logo to be used (Chuck’s two head bull/cow and our usual logo) and they can be segregated in the store….pick your logo, then click and see all of the items that have it, and you can get a large view of the item etc. With the premium store, we can have over 100 things on display for each logo, without segregating it can get confusing for the customer.
• The “Profit Margin” will need to be set for each item, and whatever profit we have at the end of a month gets mailed to Jim Smith on the 15th of the following month. We can ALSO get volume discounts, ie. If we sell over $100.00 of a particular item, our cost for that item drops, and the overage from that gets put in our account and gets sent to Jim as stated above.
• There is ALSO a 30 day money back guarantee of any item purchased!!  Don’t like the color? Wrong size (thought you were a 30’ and you really are an Adkins 36’) Just send it back and exchange it within 30 days of receipt. Sales taxes are collected for California and Kentucky, but no where else, and ADCA does NOT have to worry about sales tax anyway, that is CafePress’s problem, as they are actually selling the items.
• Robert will be available to look after the store, as he will also be looking after Workyoke for a year or two, if needed, and has offered to work with whoever takes over the advertising/promo committee.

Breed Guidelines/Standards

Pat Mitchell, IPP, is working to update the current information for a Judges Information Guide that will address height, weight, color designation, polledness and anything else that should be revised in a document describing the ‘Standard Dexter’. It will be done in such a way that both the old version and the revised wording can be compared.  This information guide would be given to all Dexter Judges as an official ADCA presentation with the emphasis on confirmation and soundness for the individual, letting  judges know we accept the full height spectrum of 36-40++++? since our height standard isn’t currently a requirement for registration.

Information – BOD Voting Procedure

Currently, the BOD is "working" on a LOT of things, but no final decision can be made on anything until clarification is made on how the BOD can vote to adopt measures. 

• Warren Coad suggested that the BOD hold the vote according to existing WorkYoke guidelines, and then, if necessary have ADCA President, David Jones,  hold a conference call with enough directors to make the vote legal.
• President, David Jones stated that only the membership may vote by proxy, BOD members cannot.
• For membership voting, David proposed trying to limit it to one time per year outside the AGM - logically falling in mid-way between the AGM's  (Dec. or January)  - unless there is something that absolutely requiring a membership vote. 
  • Again a meeting would be called with a chair (presumably in the state of the ADCA President) and secretary required.  Those that attend address only the items on the agenda, and the balance vote by proxy just like the regional elections
  •  We have to be mindful of the timing of notice required etc. but should not be all that hard to make happen.  
• For BOD votes, David suggested the following:

1. The easiest is written consensus of the entire board.  There will be some items that this would work for, but probably not going to be 100%.  For the time being, the WorkYoke could be used for a "straw" vote to dictate BOD movement.  If the straw vote was unanimous then each board member would forward written agreement and the vote would be accomplished.
2. If agreement is not 100%, the next step would be a conference call meeting. The cost is $15 set up,  and 92cents per minute per person, so yes it could get pricey.   Discussion on issues needs to be completed in advance via the WorkYoke. The procedure would then be to simply read the item, do a roll call, and then vote.  Should be able to do that in approximately 10 minutes, with 15 people it would cost about $150, if we don’t have a bunch of items. 

• Robert Seddon asked if the chat room function on WorkYoke could fulfill the “Meeting Requirement”.  The vote could be set up prior to the chat room session, and each voter could post their vote during the chat session.  All members would be “in the same place at the same time”, thus fulfilling the meeting requirement.  Notes of the meeting and voting results would be recorded by the secretary.  The cost would be a lot cheaper than a conference call. 
• Robert also suggested the option of becoming a LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) be looked at closely, as that might end a lot of these major problems that the BOD is currently unable to act upon.

Judges for AGM Shows

Rick Seydel inquired about selection of judges for the 2009 AGM show. 

Clay Adams asked if there is a requirement that the judge at the AGM be a classifier which was implied in Jim Smith's list of how to do an AGM.

David Jones replied that consideration be given to using a classifier as the AGM show judge, but that it was not required.  He requested input from those who show regularly.

Request for Registration Information

A request for ADCA intervention was received from an individual who purchased some animals and was having difficulty getting information in order to register them with another Dexter association. 

Although members of the BOD are discouraged from getting involved with sale transactions between members, the Regional Director for the member in question was going to try to mediate the problem.

2008 AGM Minutes

• Following BOD review, the minutes for the 2008 AGM were released to the Bulletin editor for publication in the Summer edition.  
• Following BOD review, the minutes for the 2008 AGM BOD Meetings were released to the Bulletin editor for publication in the Fall edition.

Request for ADCA Funds  Procedure – Jim Smith, Treasurer

The procedure is intended when budgeted area of expense is approved but the specific expenditure for whom or what is not known.  (Example:  fairs or other non-routine activity expenditures). 

Information needed on the request:

• Requested by whom & date of request
• Who to make the check out to & address to mail to
• Amount of funds requested
• When are funds needed
• What is the nature of the expenditure so I can do proper account coding.
• The invoice if you are requesting funds to pay an invoice.  

This request procedure would not be needed for routine activity like paying Bulletin printing costs, AGM committee requests to put on the AGM, etc.

ADCA Website

Chuck Daggett explained why he feels the registry and the website are very related.

Most website information is taken directly from the registry. What is done in the registry is then sent to the website on a daily basis.

In hiring another person to do the website, he/she charges a fee every time changes are made and it will be on that individual’s time schedule. (If you remember the former website, changing your information sometimes took months before it came up because the webmaster made changes only when she felt there was enough material to make the use of her time worthwhile – charging for each minute she spent doing it.)  

The ADCA membership is much better served by a breeder that does it as a hobby and does both the registry and website. If one does just the registry, the information would have to be sent to another person which would take more time than it currently takes.

ADCA Youth Program

There were two different venues addressed regarding the Youth Program.

      General Youth Program

A program designed to get youth more involved within the separate regions by encouraging their youth to actively participate in a separate youth driven "club" (if you will) rather like the 4H group only geared to Dexters.

Standardization of Youth Events at Future AGM’s

It was suggested that some standardization be made in the youth portion of the AGM as,  most likely, a different group of youth would be involved due to the AGM being held in a different section of the country every year.

• Showmanship Workshop for the youth (or anyone else interested) at every AGM as a standard part of the program using a form similar to the showmanship/grooming/family participation that the local AG agent- along with Elissa Emmons - was excellent. It was then taken form the workshop to work hands-on with the kids. 
• The youth showing class (open to all) would also really work I think. Simple ideas answer BIG problems most of the time.
• The ’08 MooLympics were a big hit and and really inspired involvement. As long as there are sufficient adults (Kids in BIG bodies playing too) in case a cow gets rowdy, this idea could work beautifully!

ALBC Article

 Patti Adams has submitted an excellent article for publication to the ALBC for inclusion in the winter issue....GREAT JOB PATTI!