Meeting of the Board of Directors CRA Quarter Century Club

August 30 , 2017 – Minutes

Present

Guy Proulx
Josée Dussault, DAC
Teri Carucci
Lisa Rondeau
Joanne St-Georges
Odette Beaubien
J-F Normand
Robert Way (A/Secretary)

Absent

Lucie Houle
Ann Perry
Wendy Potvin
Sheila Willis
Brian McCauley
Michael Snaauw

Introduction

Guy Proulx welcomed the directors to the meeting and introduced Josée Dussault who will replace Michael Snaauw as our AC Champion

Minutes of the meeting of May 24, 2017

The minutes of the meeting of May 24, 2017 were approved and have been posted on the QCC website.

General comments

Guy summarized the club’s recent activities including the boat cruise as very positive, both in participation and in revenue for the club. He also mentioned that the visits to the various branches to spread awareness of the club were in the planning stages and would commence shortly.

Financial Overview

  • Teri reported that the free balance is now at a new high $7,756.97, a most comfortable situation considering where we once stood and our goal to have a minimum bank balance is $5,000.
  • The new Event Organizer’s financial Report has been finalized and will now be translated by Joanne St. Georges.
  • E-transfer cannot be used with our account (not for profit status and without fees), due to our need for 2 signatures on each expenditure cheque. After committee discussion, it was agreed to allow Event Organizers to accept e-transfers personally and redeposit the funds, including cash and cheques, into the QCC account.
  • Guy mentioned that the Youth Network uses Eventbrite, an activitiy website to sell tickets and manage registration for events, to simplify planning, easily manage with 24/7 access to progress, data and reports, and even uses the built-in event promotion and social sharing. The event is announced on that medium, and people sign up and pay through the web page. Eventbrite charges the registrant for credit card fees and keeps a small percentage of the event revenue for the service. Jean-François Normand will investigate further and report to the committee on Eventbrite.
  • Teri also reported that there had been an online attempt to break into our bank account, but that her combination of passwords and test questions had foiled the attempt. New passwords would be applied immediately.

Calendar of Events

Update of Past Events

Golf tournament at Hammond Golf Club – June 5, 2017

  • Lucie Houle was absent so the financial summary will be presented at the next meeting.
  • It was reported that attendees at one table had claimed they had asked for chicken for supper but could only get beef when they presented their tickets. This could not be resolved to their satisfaction. However, after some checking it was determined that the meals provided by Pineview corresponded to those indicated on the registration forms so it came down to a misunderstanding.
  • When registering for the tournament participants do not get an acknowledgement. This point was raised at a prior meeting. Event organizers should perhaps confirm registration details with participants.
  • The weather was not perfect this year, but most had a good day of golfing. Committee members agreed to organize another tournament for June 4, 2018, again at Pineview, and that Robert would make the first contact with the golf course to reserve that date.

August Boat Cruise – August 16, 2017

  • This event was coordinated by Guy Proulx, Lisa Rondeau and Joanne St. Georges a night of Les Grand Feux du Casino that featured Alberta.
  • The financial outcome was as follows: 207 passengers had registered @ $30 each, 6 were refunded (4 left before departure, 2 were no-shows), and the 50/30/20 draw raised an additional $275 for the club, resulting in a profit after all expenses of $2,287.19.
  • The committee members praised the organization of this event and agreed to organize another cruise in mid-August 2018, to rent the same boat again and keep the limit of registrations at 200. Limiting the cruise to 3 hours was appreciated by all.
  • The members who chose to take supper at the restaurant Le Forum with a 5% discount and free parking found it frustratingly long to get fed and had to argue for the discount. As the cruise was beginning.
  • Guy presented the Annual General Meeting information over the PA system including a financial report, and a summary of activities that included support by the Youth Network. The YN representative Vicky Leblanc also briefly addressed the passengers.

Planning and Task Assignment 2017 Activities

Annual General Meeting – Future Plans

The AGM information was shared during the boat cruise event. As agreed the former version of the AGM with a formal dinner and a comedian or entertainer, was abandoned due to lack of participation at the last event. This item will be removed from future meetings agenda.

September Happy Hour 5 à 7 – September 20, 2017

Joanne and Lucie have organized the event at the RA Centre. Details to follow by email.

Curling – October 20, 2017

Ann Perry is the event coordinator.

Christmas Lunch – December 7, 2017

Wendy Potvin and Robert Way will coordinate this event.

Potential New Activities

It had been hoped that the survey circulated on the boat cruise would shed some light on club member preferences. Only 29 surveys were submitted – 15 employees, 12 retirees. On average, the most-preferred future events were a Paint Nite event and the gastronomic dinner.

A new survey will be announced on the club website as soon as the translation is ready, and Joanne has asked that all replies be sent directly to her for collation of results. Joanne will bring a summary of results to that date when we meet next.

Luncheon on the Quebec Side

A suggestion was made at the previous meeting regarding having a luncheon at the Lac Lemay Casino in Gatineau. Guy and Jean-François Normand are exploring that possibility. Apparently Banco Bistro at the casino has a reasonable lunch menu.

Paint Nite

Lucie mentioned that she has communicated directly with one of the artists and is still waiting for the information on how to set up an event exclusively for QCC members. Joanne had information regarding a restaurant that would entertain such an event. The new Royal Oak Pub on Beechwood. has 1/2 price chicken wings on Monday evenings as an inducement. More to come.

Gastronomic Dinner with Wine Pairing

Joanne had disappointing results in contacting Canvas Resto-Bar on Holland, and will explore other possible venues. Joanne, Lucie, and Brian McCauley will work together to make this happen. No date was mentioned at this time.

Beer tasting

Guy and Brian will explore possibilities and costs and, if ready, may report next meeting. Kraft beer was mentioned as a possibility.

2018 activities

The 2018 calendar of activities will be discussed at the next meeting so it can be loaded on serve to update our calendar of events for 2018.

QCC Executives

Guy reported that one person came forward during the boat cruise and expressed an interest in serving on the board of directors. The person is working in Audit Branch. Guy reminded participants that all QCC executives must be able to work independently and with others and that the QCC ensures personal suitability and confirms interest before welcoming new executives. Our goal is to have adequate representation from various branches, a suitable mix of retired and working members. Guy will follow up with the individual to confirm interest and suitability.

QCC Website

The new on line survey will be posted in two unilingual documents, English and French separate in order to ease summarizing results. Joanne has asked for all survey replies to be sent directly to her rather than to Sheila, and she will report on the results periodically.

Other Items

QCC Visibility

Guy briefly reminded the committee about the presentations that will take place to the Branches’ management teams after his return from a trip on October 2nd. Guy invited all directors to submit contacts they may know to whom Guy can make presentations along with another QCC director with appropriate background.

Drop Box

Drop box will be discussed next meeting. Ann Perry to lead the discussion.

Items to be discussed at future meetings

The item for consideration about having more Qs&As for the Website was left for next meeting.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 5:00 pm at the Train Yards.