Minutes of 2014 Conference Meeting
AMERICAN WORKING MALINOIS ASSOCIATION
January 8, 2015
Minutes of Conference
[Held in Lieu of General Board Meeting]
:: .pdf file ::
AWMABOARD:Anne Camper, Christopher Smith, Cynthia LaPointe, Dana McMahan, Teny Miller, Donna McGinnis, Les Flores, Waine Singleton and Paul Konschak
DELEGATES:Angie Stark, Midwest Working Dog; John Wiitanen, Motor City Working Dogs; Carol and Tim Karchnak, Three Mountains Working Dog Club; Glen Crawford, Cache Valley Working Dog Club; Janice Bogy, Big Sky Working Dogs; James Downey and Wendy Schmitt, Sacramento Schutzhund Club; Hardy Ernsting, Podium Belgian Shepherd Working Dog1. Call to Order and Introductions
Ms. Camper called the conference to order at 9:00 p.m. EST. Roll call and introductions commenced.
2. Reading of the Previous Meeting Minutes
Ms. Camper asked for a motion to approve the minutes as they had been posted for a period of time and were already approved by the board. Second by Mr. Singleton, and the reading of the minutes was waived.
3. Officer Reports
President's Report: Ms. Camper noted she would provide updates to the various topics as the meeting progressed.
Vice President's Report: No report.
Secretary's Report: Greetings AWMA members. I'd like to begin by thanking all the clubs and members that have been supportive of the AWMA during the past year and for all your cooperation in responding to my requests as secretary.
We had two new clubs become part of our association this year and as of this writing a third club is in the process of formation. Please join me in welcoming Big Sky Working Dogs and Central Florida Working Malinois Club.
The following is a chronological accounting of AWMA national events and club trials for the preceding year:
This past year the full member clubs of AWMA collectively held 9 trials, thereby providing 84 dogs and handlers the opportunity to attain titles, as follows: [Listed trials and entries can be found on the AWMA Website].
Congratulations to all that participated in making the past year memorable for the AWMA.
Donna McGinnis, AWMA Secretary
Treasurer's Report: AWMA Treasurer's Report as of January 1, 2015.
1. Treasury Update:
2. Please see 2014 Profit & Loss and Sales Summary statements for detailed breakdown of income and expenses. Please note that the numbers are based on when checks were received and deposited by Treasurer, not necessarily when submissions were made to individual officers so membership/club/scorebook totals may be different than other officer reports.
3. Two notes about this past year's finances. We had a large donation at the end of last year causing our taxes to be much higher than usual. We also had a jam packed FMBB team so those expenses were higher than budgeted. Those were the two main reasons we were so over budget, however since they were not usual occurrences, I believe neither of those warrant an increase in their respective budgets.
4. 2015 Budget: Nothing new added except for the $100 AWDF catalog ad. Please note that I did not include the AWDF Championship Entries into the totals as those income and expense lines cancel each other out each year (in case you are wondering why the "2014 Actual" column totals on the budget are different than those in the P&L and Sales statements).
5. There are three pending checks that I just sent out (I'm sooo sorry for the delay) to Steve Gregalunas for the third Nationals payment, Kristina Carmody for Arizona Corp Fee, and Terry Miller for postage.
Warmly submitted, Kristina Carmody, AWMA Treasurer
Membership Chair: For the 2013-2014 Membership Cycle we have a total of 179 Memberships, of those 24 are Family Memberships. We have moved the membership position over to the Zooza database program which has been a welcome transition. There are still delays with people who send in checks as we still maintain the online database and a paper/binder database system for those who mail in checks or money orders. At some point I think it would be in the clubs best interest to look into moving completely to an online membership position as we have had problems in the past with
- 2 -
lost checks/money orders, handwritten applications which cannot be read, and the delay in processing with having to send the check on to the treasurer. At this point in time we process about 1/3 of our memberships via check/money order, and the majority are done online. We still have some work to do getting Zooza to set up acceptance for IP03 and Scorebook applications but once those items are done, we could start using Zooza to mail cards electronically, send renewal reminders electronically, etc. Overall I think Zooza has improved the processing time, improved communication between myself, Donna and Terry since they can now log in to see membership status, and improved the speed at which I can send out renewals in May.
Since this is my last term as the AWMA Membership Chair, I just wanted to say I appreciate working with everyone on the executive board of this Club these past 7 years. This is by far the most functional, organized and professional Executive Boards of all the dog clubs I have been on and it's been a pleasure working with everyone! I have already put together a "how-to" package for whomever is voted in for the Membership Chair position so hopefully we can make the transition as seamless as possible.
Dana McMahan, Membership Chair
I. Scorebook Report: Scorebook Policy of May 16, 2013 still in effect.
- 3 -
II. Scorebook Sales
2014: 62 Scorebooks as of December 5 2015
1 each MIX, Corgi, Terv, Cattle Dog, GSD, Rott
AWMA WPL's - 5
2013: 79 Scorebooks:
MIX - 2, Rott - 3, GSD - 3, Beauceron - 1, Belgians - 6
AWMA WPL's - 5
2012: 64 Scorebooks:
MIX -1, Belgians - 2,
AWMA WPL's - 4
2011: 85 Scorebooks
2010: 61 Scorebooks
2009: 48 Scorebooks
2008: 39 Scorebooks
2007: 24 Scorebooks
2006: 35 Scorebooks
2005: 21 Scorebooks
Teny Miller, Scorebook Chair
World Championship/ National Events: No report.
Judge's Committee: [Report was read during the meeting, although not provided for inclusion].
Website Report: I took over the website in January of 2014. The site was upgraded to the then current version of Joomla and needs one more upgrade. It required cutting and pasting all the information one page at a time, as the previous version was so out of date, a simple migration was not possible. Consequently, there may be a few broken links still and I ask all members who use the site to please let me know if they find anything wrong!
I fixed the Paypal links so they should be working now.
I don't know how much leeway I have on changing things, but would like to do a new banner at the top that changes seasonally, or maybe a rotating image banner. Of course, I would solicit photos from members. I would also like some input on the breed standard that is currently on the site. I was unable to find the original source for what is on the site, so I assume someone in AWMA wrote it? I added the FCI standard underneath, but understand that because we don't offer conformation titles, we shouldn't have the standard on the site? Some clarification would be nice. I am always available for comments, criticism, ideas, etc. My goal is to have all information in an easily accessible format. Navigation should be clear; no one should have to hunt for information. So any time you have trouble finding something, please let me know!
Thanks, Samie Jones, Website Committee Chair
- 4 -
Regional Director Reports:
Western Region:
In 2014, the AWMA Western Region held two (2) trials. One by the Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club and one by the Big Sky WDC.
April 13-14, 2014 - Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club, Judge DVG Jennifer Reid
October 22, 2014 - Big Sky Working Dogs, Judge AWMA Cynthia LaPointe
[Listed results can be found on the AWMA website]
2015 scheduled events so far:
Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club
May 29 -31, 2015 - Seminar with Yannick Kaiser from Germany
June 13-14, 2015 - IPO Trial with FCI Judge Lars Czylwick from Sweden
In 2015 we will welcome a new club to the Western Region: Sacramento Schutzhund Club.
Respectfully submitted, Les Flores, Western Region Director
North Region:
Hello all, below please find my report for the AWMA North Region. First, I'd like to say that it's been a pleasure to serve AWMA as the director for the North Region. I'm looking forward to serving again in 2015 and an even better year for AWMA.
Since I've been a member of AWMA, I believe that this is the first year that each club in the North Region has hosted a trial. Fortunately, I was able to attend 2 of the trials and was able to apprentice judge them. Below you will find a spreadsheet of trials and entries from 2013 vs. 2014. [Listed trials can be found on the AWMA Website].
Currently we have two clubs who are submitting for trials in 2015, Midwest Working Dog Association and Metro Detroit. Dates and judges TBA.
We had several people show interest in forming an AWMA club. Although the new club packets are available on the website, I printed them and mailed them to the interested parties. I also followed up with them but to date, they have not returned the paperwork. Hopefully they will follow thru soon and we can add some new clubs to the region.
I wish everyone safe traveling to the 2014 Nationals a safe trip and good Championship.
Yours in the Sport, Waine Singleton, North Region Director
- 5 -
4. Elections
Officers
Standing Committees:
Auditing Committee (Christopher Smith, Michelle Kutelis, Paul Konschak) to continue as filled.
Board of Inquiry (Dana Miller, Mario Gomes, Tim Karchnak, Christopher Smith, alternate), to continue as filled.
Judges Committee (Cynthia LaPointe, Glenn Stephenson, Christopher Smith, Carol Karchnak, Waine Singleton, and Anne Camper) to continue as filled.
World Championship/National Events Committee (Nicole Kelly and Kim Yeager (even year) and Jim Honda and Shari Lipski (odd year)).
5. Old Business
AWDF Information. Tim Karchnak, as a delegate for Three Mountains Working Dog Club and also serving as Director at Large for the AWDF, reported a conference call was pending with the AWDF board and we would see many positive changes in the future. He could not elaborate, but reiterated we would be appreciative of the future direction of the AWDF. Ms. Camper mentioned the clubs would like to see more transparency in the actions of the AWDF and that the date of the FMBB championship be considered when setting the date of the AWDF championship.
FCI and FMBB Updates. The FMBB championship would be held in the Czech Republic.
New Business.
Motions and actions taken by the board the previous year. Ms. Camper mentioned the board actions and motions have been removed from their former position on the discussion forum to the News page of the website and were available for review.
- 6 -
AWMA National Event. A request for bids from prospective host clubs for the 2015 AWMA National event will be placed on the website and also on the Facebook page. All bids are due February 1, 2015. Ms. Camper commented that our 2014 championship was a very well run trial, but for timing and distance, we might have had more competitor participation.
Dues for Junior Members. Dana McMahan, departing Membership Chair, presented a proposal to establish a free membership for youth/junior handlers. Discussion commenced regarding the definition of a junior, whether that be up to the age of 18 or 21, and how proof of age could be verified, that being a student identification card. Ms. Miller asked if rush fees would be waived as well. After discussion, Dana moved to establish a youth membership which would be free of charge up to the age of 18 contingent upon appropriate proof of age being provided. The motion received a second by Glen Crawford and with no opposition, carried.
Direction for the AWMA. Discussion commenced regarding the future direction and ways to promote and grow the organization. It was mentioned that younger people have busy lives and with limited time and finances, are not committing to the club culture. A variety of suggestions were offered: engaging potential members with more visibility and value (by having lower dues for individual/club membership), expanding our newsletter, include RH events, breed tests, temperament tests, consider offering regional events, regional seminars, and promoting a stronger sense of sport community by offering social events, possibly by having an event similar to Dogstock which is held in the west. Discussion concluded with Christopher Smith, Jim Downey, John Wiitanen and Waine Singleton to explore hosting a Dogstock-type event at some time in the future.
Ms. Camper concluded we could hold additional conference calls in the future if people found that to be helpful, and everyone could always reach out to her by email as well.
Mr. Smith moved to adjourn, the motion seconded, and with no opposition the call concluded at 10:00 pm EST.
January 8, 2015
Minutes of Conference
[Held in Lieu of General Board Meeting]
:: .pdf file ::
AWMABOARD:Anne Camper, Christopher Smith, Cynthia LaPointe, Dana McMahan, Teny Miller, Donna McGinnis, Les Flores, Waine Singleton and Paul Konschak
DELEGATES:Angie Stark, Midwest Working Dog; John Wiitanen, Motor City Working Dogs; Carol and Tim Karchnak, Three Mountains Working Dog Club; Glen Crawford, Cache Valley Working Dog Club; Janice Bogy, Big Sky Working Dogs; James Downey and Wendy Schmitt, Sacramento Schutzhund Club; Hardy Ernsting, Podium Belgian Shepherd Working Dog1. Call to Order and Introductions
Ms. Camper called the conference to order at 9:00 p.m. EST. Roll call and introductions commenced.
2. Reading of the Previous Meeting Minutes
Ms. Camper asked for a motion to approve the minutes as they had been posted for a period of time and were already approved by the board. Second by Mr. Singleton, and the reading of the minutes was waived.
3. Officer Reports
President's Report: Ms. Camper noted she would provide updates to the various topics as the meeting progressed.
Vice President's Report: No report.
Secretary's Report: Greetings AWMA members. I'd like to begin by thanking all the clubs and members that have been supportive of the AWMA during the past year and for all your cooperation in responding to my requests as secretary.
We had two new clubs become part of our association this year and as of this writing a third club is in the process of formation. Please join me in welcoming Big Sky Working Dogs and Central Florida Working Malinois Club.
The following is a chronological accounting of AWMA national events and club trials for the preceding year:
- The 2013 AWMA National Championship hosted by Midwest Working Dog Association in St. Anne, Illinois, included 28 entries (21 IPO 3; 2 IPO 2; 3 IPO 1; and 2 BH); and
- The 2014 AWDF Championship included 13 AWMA entries (12 IP03, 1 IP02).
This past year the full member clubs of AWMA collectively held 9 trials, thereby providing 84 dogs and handlers the opportunity to attain titles, as follows: [Listed trials and entries can be found on the AWMA Website].
Congratulations to all that participated in making the past year memorable for the AWMA.
Donna McGinnis, AWMA Secretary
Treasurer's Report: AWMA Treasurer's Report as of January 1, 2015.
1. Treasury Update:
- Bank Balance as of Dec 31, 2014: $27,489.97 ($14,545.77 Bank; $12,944.20 Paypal)
- Bank Balances on Jan 1,2015: $24,285.06 ($22,534.63 Bank; $1,750.43 Paypal)
- Actual Balance after $952.77 of Pending Checks (see below): $23,332.29
2. Please see 2014 Profit & Loss and Sales Summary statements for detailed breakdown of income and expenses. Please note that the numbers are based on when checks were received and deposited by Treasurer, not necessarily when submissions were made to individual officers so membership/club/scorebook totals may be different than other officer reports.
3. Two notes about this past year's finances. We had a large donation at the end of last year causing our taxes to be much higher than usual. We also had a jam packed FMBB team so those expenses were higher than budgeted. Those were the two main reasons we were so over budget, however since they were not usual occurrences, I believe neither of those warrant an increase in their respective budgets.
4. 2015 Budget: Nothing new added except for the $100 AWDF catalog ad. Please note that I did not include the AWDF Championship Entries into the totals as those income and expense lines cancel each other out each year (in case you are wondering why the "2014 Actual" column totals on the budget are different than those in the P&L and Sales statements).
5. There are three pending checks that I just sent out (I'm sooo sorry for the delay) to Steve Gregalunas for the third Nationals payment, Kristina Carmody for Arizona Corp Fee, and Terry Miller for postage.
Warmly submitted, Kristina Carmody, AWMA Treasurer
Membership Chair: For the 2013-2014 Membership Cycle we have a total of 179 Memberships, of those 24 are Family Memberships. We have moved the membership position over to the Zooza database program which has been a welcome transition. There are still delays with people who send in checks as we still maintain the online database and a paper/binder database system for those who mail in checks or money orders. At some point I think it would be in the clubs best interest to look into moving completely to an online membership position as we have had problems in the past with
- 2 -
lost checks/money orders, handwritten applications which cannot be read, and the delay in processing with having to send the check on to the treasurer. At this point in time we process about 1/3 of our memberships via check/money order, and the majority are done online. We still have some work to do getting Zooza to set up acceptance for IP03 and Scorebook applications but once those items are done, we could start using Zooza to mail cards electronically, send renewal reminders electronically, etc. Overall I think Zooza has improved the processing time, improved communication between myself, Donna and Terry since they can now log in to see membership status, and improved the speed at which I can send out renewals in May.
Since this is my last term as the AWMA Membership Chair, I just wanted to say I appreciate working with everyone on the executive board of this Club these past 7 years. This is by far the most functional, organized and professional Executive Boards of all the dog clubs I have been on and it's been a pleasure working with everyone! I have already put together a "how-to" package for whomever is voted in for the Membership Chair position so hopefully we can make the transition as seamless as possible.
Dana McMahan, Membership Chair
I. Scorebook Report: Scorebook Policy of May 16, 2013 still in effect.
- Effective immediately, AWDF member clubs can issue scorebooks to any breed of dog owned by their members and list the dog's breed on the scorebook provided that proof of FCI recognized registration accompanies the application. Score book application processes used by each member club will be followed.
- Dogs for which no FCI recognized registration is submitted can receive a scorebook from any AWDF organization but the dog will be listed as a mix.
- Breeds not recognized by the FCI (for example, American Bulldog) must have their scorebooks issued by their breed organization or the dog will be listed as a mix.
- Clubs that offer the opportunity to have a non-FCI registered dog's breed listed in the scorebook via a working privilege listing (for example Malinois with the AWMA) must have the scorebook issued by that club.
- Effective March 21, 2013, USCA eliminated the requirement for scorebooks to be certified by USCA, thus also removing scorebook certification fees. USCA will accept scorebooks from all AWDF, WUSV, or FCI organizations.
- Effective with the 2014 AWDF Championship, the requirement to use an AWDF scorebook is removed. This was done to accommodate the use of foreign scorebooks issued by FCI organizations and therefore complies with the FCI regulation of one scorebook per dog.
- 3 -
II. Scorebook Sales
2014: 62 Scorebooks as of December 5 2015
1 each MIX, Corgi, Terv, Cattle Dog, GSD, Rott
AWMA WPL's - 5
2013: 79 Scorebooks:
MIX - 2, Rott - 3, GSD - 3, Beauceron - 1, Belgians - 6
AWMA WPL's - 5
2012: 64 Scorebooks:
MIX -1, Belgians - 2,
AWMA WPL's - 4
2011: 85 Scorebooks
2010: 61 Scorebooks
2009: 48 Scorebooks
2008: 39 Scorebooks
2007: 24 Scorebooks
2006: 35 Scorebooks
2005: 21 Scorebooks
Teny Miller, Scorebook Chair
World Championship/ National Events: No report.
Judge's Committee: [Report was read during the meeting, although not provided for inclusion].
Website Report: I took over the website in January of 2014. The site was upgraded to the then current version of Joomla and needs one more upgrade. It required cutting and pasting all the information one page at a time, as the previous version was so out of date, a simple migration was not possible. Consequently, there may be a few broken links still and I ask all members who use the site to please let me know if they find anything wrong!
I fixed the Paypal links so they should be working now.
I don't know how much leeway I have on changing things, but would like to do a new banner at the top that changes seasonally, or maybe a rotating image banner. Of course, I would solicit photos from members. I would also like some input on the breed standard that is currently on the site. I was unable to find the original source for what is on the site, so I assume someone in AWMA wrote it? I added the FCI standard underneath, but understand that because we don't offer conformation titles, we shouldn't have the standard on the site? Some clarification would be nice. I am always available for comments, criticism, ideas, etc. My goal is to have all information in an easily accessible format. Navigation should be clear; no one should have to hunt for information. So any time you have trouble finding something, please let me know!
Thanks, Samie Jones, Website Committee Chair
- 4 -
Regional Director Reports:
Western Region:
In 2014, the AWMA Western Region held two (2) trials. One by the Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club and one by the Big Sky WDC.
April 13-14, 2014 - Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club, Judge DVG Jennifer Reid
October 22, 2014 - Big Sky Working Dogs, Judge AWMA Cynthia LaPointe
[Listed results can be found on the AWMA website]
2015 scheduled events so far:
Cascade Belgian Shepherd Club
May 29 -31, 2015 - Seminar with Yannick Kaiser from Germany
June 13-14, 2015 - IPO Trial with FCI Judge Lars Czylwick from Sweden
In 2015 we will welcome a new club to the Western Region: Sacramento Schutzhund Club.
Respectfully submitted, Les Flores, Western Region Director
North Region:
Hello all, below please find my report for the AWMA North Region. First, I'd like to say that it's been a pleasure to serve AWMA as the director for the North Region. I'm looking forward to serving again in 2015 and an even better year for AWMA.
Since I've been a member of AWMA, I believe that this is the first year that each club in the North Region has hosted a trial. Fortunately, I was able to attend 2 of the trials and was able to apprentice judge them. Below you will find a spreadsheet of trials and entries from 2013 vs. 2014. [Listed trials can be found on the AWMA Website].
Currently we have two clubs who are submitting for trials in 2015, Midwest Working Dog Association and Metro Detroit. Dates and judges TBA.
We had several people show interest in forming an AWMA club. Although the new club packets are available on the website, I printed them and mailed them to the interested parties. I also followed up with them but to date, they have not returned the paperwork. Hopefully they will follow thru soon and we can add some new clubs to the region.
I wish everyone safe traveling to the 2014 Nationals a safe trip and good Championship.
Yours in the Sport, Waine Singleton, North Region Director
- 5 -
4. Elections
Officers
- President - to continue
- Vice President - to continue
- Secretary - to continue
- Treasurer - (Carol Karchnak to replace Kristina Carmody)
- Director At Large (Michelle Kutelis)
- Membership Chair (Katie Finlay or Angie Stark)
Standing Committees:
Auditing Committee (Christopher Smith, Michelle Kutelis, Paul Konschak) to continue as filled.
Board of Inquiry (Dana Miller, Mario Gomes, Tim Karchnak, Christopher Smith, alternate), to continue as filled.
Judges Committee (Cynthia LaPointe, Glenn Stephenson, Christopher Smith, Carol Karchnak, Waine Singleton, and Anne Camper) to continue as filled.
World Championship/National Events Committee (Nicole Kelly and Kim Yeager (even year) and Jim Honda and Shari Lipski (odd year)).
5. Old Business
AWDF Information. Tim Karchnak, as a delegate for Three Mountains Working Dog Club and also serving as Director at Large for the AWDF, reported a conference call was pending with the AWDF board and we would see many positive changes in the future. He could not elaborate, but reiterated we would be appreciative of the future direction of the AWDF. Ms. Camper mentioned the clubs would like to see more transparency in the actions of the AWDF and that the date of the FMBB championship be considered when setting the date of the AWDF championship.
FCI and FMBB Updates. The FMBB championship would be held in the Czech Republic.
New Business.
Motions and actions taken by the board the previous year. Ms. Camper mentioned the board actions and motions have been removed from their former position on the discussion forum to the News page of the website and were available for review.
- 6 -
AWMA National Event. A request for bids from prospective host clubs for the 2015 AWMA National event will be placed on the website and also on the Facebook page. All bids are due February 1, 2015. Ms. Camper commented that our 2014 championship was a very well run trial, but for timing and distance, we might have had more competitor participation.
Dues for Junior Members. Dana McMahan, departing Membership Chair, presented a proposal to establish a free membership for youth/junior handlers. Discussion commenced regarding the definition of a junior, whether that be up to the age of 18 or 21, and how proof of age could be verified, that being a student identification card. Ms. Miller asked if rush fees would be waived as well. After discussion, Dana moved to establish a youth membership which would be free of charge up to the age of 18 contingent upon appropriate proof of age being provided. The motion received a second by Glen Crawford and with no opposition, carried.
Direction for the AWMA. Discussion commenced regarding the future direction and ways to promote and grow the organization. It was mentioned that younger people have busy lives and with limited time and finances, are not committing to the club culture. A variety of suggestions were offered: engaging potential members with more visibility and value (by having lower dues for individual/club membership), expanding our newsletter, include RH events, breed tests, temperament tests, consider offering regional events, regional seminars, and promoting a stronger sense of sport community by offering social events, possibly by having an event similar to Dogstock which is held in the west. Discussion concluded with Christopher Smith, Jim Downey, John Wiitanen and Waine Singleton to explore hosting a Dogstock-type event at some time in the future.
Ms. Camper concluded we could hold additional conference calls in the future if people found that to be helpful, and everyone could always reach out to her by email as well.
Mr. Smith moved to adjourn, the motion seconded, and with no opposition the call concluded at 10:00 pm EST.