Regular Meeting -- January 17, 2016
The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 2:30 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee, Secretary John McGarey (by phone), and Treasurer Penny Chambers (by phone). Robert McGarey (Executive Director) and Wayne Ewen (Guest) were also present at the meeting.
The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved as read.
Temperature Reading. We appreciate Lia making the Center look beautiful and Bonnie and Austin put a new info board together. The Movie Night is a great function of the center and is worth focusing upon because it's low pressure and can be quite transformative. We need to have more interested and active people on the board. How to get more people involved? Bob needs more help, since there are a number of things that he is well aware of that do not get done.
Computer System. We haven't been able to post our workshops or wheelchairs online for four months because applescript is broken. As a result we haven't made much income from GoodwheelChairs. However, Oscar (a high school student) solved the PHP problem.
Insurance. Bob has requested quotes from three companies and two of them have replied with quotes. Bob is reviewing the quotes and will decide soon. Meanwhile we have saved $1,500 on insurance fees.
Finances. Over the year GoodwheelChairs merely broke even, which is partly due to the $300 monthly stipend for Lesleigh and partly due to the web problems that kept us from posting wheelchair ads on Craigslist. Workshops for 2015 brought in only $938 total, and one full workshop during the whole year would make more than that. So there is substantial potential for growth here. Our $11,000 loss for the year was unfortunate. The refinance just barely covered the loss. Nine months of no income from the garage apartment really hurt.
Elevator Speech. When someone is a battered wife, she knows to go to the Battered Women's Shelter.. A homelessness organization can say "Help the Homeless." A cancer organization can say "Cure Cancer!" What is it, that when someone experiences it, this is the place to be?
Because the scope of the Center is so enormous -- human potential is essentially unlimited -- how do we say it so a person knows this is their place? What could we have said to Wayne at a party that he would have said "Wow, this is the place for me!" We have an optimistic view on the nature of human beings; we don't believe we are "worms" (inherently sinful).
John's Draft Speech:"It's a non-profit with a comfortable building in South Austin <Super Quick Summary of the location like: "A few blocks from ____"> which holds events such as Saturday Night Video Explorations where we watch a movie and instead of having a "Siskel & Ebert" style discussion we discuss how the movie affected us personal-growth ways like love, courage, hope, family, career and relationships. In a nutshell the HPC exists to help spark people's Creativity, Love and Playfulness and help people reach their potential ... does that make sense?"
One of Bob's elevator speeches: "If you've ever been in a career where you dreaded waking up on Monday morning, or if you've ever been in a relationship -- with a sweetheart or friends, relatives or co-workers -- where you felt like you were slowly dying inside, then you know what it feels like to really want to live up to your potential as a human being but for whatever reason not be able to make that happen. The Center provides the necessary tools and resources to help you live in a new way."
Another one: "We provide workshops and classes that help people create healthier connections with themselves, with each other, and with the world."
An image (From Wayne) Turn magnets the right way and they connect and attract.
Board Homework: Come back with ideas next month. Here is an Elevator Pitch Exercise.
Each Board Member should write up "Why we care" and send our thoughts to Board@humanpotentialcenter.org
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at around 4:30 pm.
Minutes submitted by John McGarey, Secretary, January 17, 2016.