All posts by Deb Zannelli

Meeting Minutes January 14, 2021

MINUTES

ASSOCIATION OF RHODE ISLAND ATHORS

Zoom

January 14, 2021

Call to Order 7:00 p.m.

 

 

PRESENT

Michael Squatritro, Debra Zannelli, Guy Natelli, Mary Catherine Volk, Judith Glynn,

Tabitha Lord, Wayne Barber, Robert Bentley, Jim Dyer, Deborah Katz, Don Deluca, Katiya Watts, Risa Nyman, Paul Caranci, Ray Wolf, Angelina Singer, Kevin Duarte, Pamela, Chris Paniccia, Richard Rezendes, Debbie  Howarth, Janet DeLeo, Therese Zink, Pamela Carey

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

            — Motion to approve minutes

                – Paul Caranci, first

                – Kevin seconded

                – Motion approved

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

  • Membership

             — 288 members as of January 13, 2021

    — 105 paid members

             — Membership open until January 31, 2021

             — New Board Member  Angelina Singer

  • Go Fund Me

    — Money will be used for rebranding

    — Judith Glynn will reactivate

           – She is getting a go grant about $5,300

           – She is getting together with the team from RISD job board, she will try to get in touch                          – withNew England Tech students and Don Hags- he designed web pages

           – She would like to hear from anyone with ideas

           – hope to have project completed in 3 or 4 months.

           – Rob Bentley will be an integral part of website building

           – Website needs to be more interactive

           – Judith will react

    .  Guy suggests we use all our social media like Facebook and Linked in to direct people to the ARIA website

    .  Mike announced new board member Angelina Singer

 

 

 

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • Treasurer’s Report (Guy)

— ARIA credit card versus Debit Card  Credit card calls for personal responsibility a Debit card has been set up.

     – Any use of the debit card must be forwarded to Guy

—  Amount in checking account will only cover month to month cost.  General Savings and Go fund

        me account are separate from checking

     – checking account $11,696.00

     –  Savings $2096.00

     –  Go fund Me  $5316.00, Includes money from Robert D. Gray Charitable trust

. Guy balanced all accounts as of December 31, 2020, a tax statement can now be prepared

REPORTS

  • RI Expo Committee (Mike)

       — Virtual event success but live event is a better format, everything worked fairly smoothly

       — times were tight, registration was difficult for some.  More work needs to be done.  More training

         Is needed.

       — Expo next year will be a live event on December 11th from 10:30 – 4:30  A decision to change will be

         made same time as this past year.  If needed we will learn from what was done this year.

       — J. Glynn asked if the raffle was worth the effort.  It brings in $1,200 – $1,600 and may not be worth

         worthwhile.

       — More people are need on the committee and to help with the work.  Steve and Dawn have stepped

         aside.  Steve will help with guest speakers. Vickie and Lee are stepping down. 

       — Therese is stepping away from her work  in the resource area where other groups join us.

           – Look at this as an opportunity to become more involved

       — Angelina suggested having musicians join us

       — Virtual expo is not a book selling event

  • Lively Literati (Guy)

– still on hold

– Joanne in East Greenwich still wants to hold the event

– when it restarts, there are places who want to host the events.  There is a possibility of having one in Providence, looking to build a schedule and hopefully start up again in June

  • ARIA Catalog (Rob)

— Catalogs have been sent to all RI books stores and libraries

    –  a future format is being thought of in the future

  • Anthology (Martha)

   –  Opens March first The theme is green, same guidelines as before cut off is 5,000 words

  • Monthly Meeting Guest Speakers (Mike)

—  Mick suggests speakers from both inside and outside the organization

—  Judith would like meetings to be both virtual and in person

     –  Rob says this is possible.  He and Mike believe they can make this happen

     –  Kevin asked if non-members are welcome

     – (Mike) they are welcome, Rob will post it everywhere he can to make information available

  • YA (Young Adult) Leadership (Angelina)

— Angelina will start up an Instagram page, with a special logo

— Angelina is looking for assistance, Rob will help with set-up

— There is a possibility of having specialized events

— Mike is looking to bring more people into the organization, have possible sub groups with

   Information broadcast to all members

— Guy will pass on any connections he has

PAST EVENTS

  • Comic con RI Authors Virtual Expo (Mike)

— It is not a book selling event

FORTHCOMING EVENT

  • Comic com (Mike)

— Terra Con ( an early version of RI Comic  Con) is scheduled for June

             — Tampa Bay is scheduled for June

             — RI Comic Con is scheduled for November

             — Boskone will be a virtual even

NEEDS, REFERRALS & OPEN FORUM

  • Next Meeting Thursday, February 11, 2021
  • Kevin suggested a mentorship program
  • Janet suggested more information available about ARIA itself ARIA 101
  • Guy suggested having a presence on Linked In

— Rob will set up

  • Janet suggested making more education available for members

— Debra Zannelli thinks this is an excellent idea

  • Rob is working with authors for book formatting

–RKBwrites.com

  • Angelina is working as a freelance editor information is listed on website in information on author services

— if you have services you’d like listed, send information to Rob

ADJOURN

. Motion to adjourn

                        – Guy first

                        – Kevin seconded

                        – motion approved