CAAR Communications Master Group Minutes from February 13, 2015 Meeting Members Attended: Rachel Burns-Reynolds (Chair), Jack Crocker (Vice Chair), Debbie Cash, Pat Crabtree, Anne Burroughs, John Seidler, Helen Beth Bassett, Tammi Campbell, Pamela Whorley Members Absent Excused: Margo Jones, Karen Kehoe, Beth Wood, Karen Pape, Arleen Yobs, Ashleigh Ward, David Sloan Staff Attended: Alexandra (Ali) Sturman I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order by Chair Rachel Burns-Reynolds at 9:36 a.m. II. Approval of minutes from December & January meeting Members were asked to review December minutes. A MOTION to accept the minutes as submitted was MADE, SECONDED and APPROVED. Members were asked to review January minutes. A MOTION to accept the minutes as submitted was MADE, SECONDED and APPROVED. III. New Business (a) Introductions for first time attendees First time attendees should review the documents (e.g., roster, schedule, anti-trust statement, etc.) that are in the Resources folder of the Communications Master Group Dropbox folder. If you have any questions or concerns with the Communications Master Group Dropbox folder, contact Ali. (b) Feel the Love Volunteer Appreciation Event Recap The Operations Master Group asked that the Communications Master Group create a volunteer appreciation event. The group brainstormed ideas in the December meeting and it all came to life on Thursday, February 5 th at the CAAR office. 2014 & 2015 volunteer members wined, dined and won great prizes. Moxbox, a unique photo booth experience, and Bo s Bodacious Brownies were present at the event. The overall feedback was extremely positive. The only two improvements that can be applied for a future gathering are: 1 of 5
If Moxbox is used again, move it inside the room versus the hallway If prizes are given, do not make so many tickets ahead of time (c) Professional Honor Society Update 48 applications were received for the 2014 Professional Honor Society. The number of submissions received is consistent with the past three years (2011 = 51, 2012 = 48, 2013 = 48). The Professional Honor Society Project Team consists of the following Communications Master Group members: Rachel Burns-Reynolds Anne Burroughs Pat Crabtree John Seidler Tammi Campbell These members will review the submissions on Wednesday, February 18 th from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Professional Honor Society recipients will be honored on Thursday, March 5 th at the Honor Society Breakfast & March GMM at the Omni Charlottesville. (d) Blue Ridge Home Builder s Association (BRHBA) 42 nd Annual Home & Garden Festival Call for Volunteer Members The 42 nd Annual Home & Garden Festival will be held at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday, March 28 th and Sunday, March 29 th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission and parking is free; however a $5 donation to AHIP is suggested. 100% of the donations will go directly to AHIP. AHIP has asked that the Communications Master Group find volunteers to station the AHIP booth for two-hour shifts over the two-day event. These volunteers will help distribute marketing materials, talk about the partnership between CAAR, AHIP and BRHBA, etc. 2 of 5
The following Communications Master Group members have volunteered: Time Saturday, March 28 Sunday, March 29 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 1). Pat Crabtree Tammi Campbell 1). Beth Bassett Rachel Burns-Reynolds 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1). Anne Burroughs 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 1). Jack Crocker 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. 1). We will place a call for volunteers in a future issue of News Group and also promote this volunteer opportunity through social media. Pam Wholrey shared additional Home & Garden Festival information: BRHBA is looking for volunteers to greet attendees, point them in the right direction of specific booths, restrooms, etc. Contact Kristin O Connell Sorokti (kristin@brhba.org) if you are interested in volunteering. Still accepting booth registrations booth registration is open to all kinds of companies (e.g., landscaping, cleaning, real estate firms, etc.) Door prizes will be given every hour Click here to see the BRHBA Home & Garden Festival Facebook Page Action Item: Pam Whorley to send the booth registration packet to Ali. In addition, a list of companies that have already been contacted to register for the event will also be included. A suggestion was made that AHIP have available House Party live & silent auction literature to distribute to vendors at the Home & Garden Festival. Action Item: Rachel will ask Katie Davenport (AHIP Development and Communications Manager) and Ravi Respeto (AHIP Director of Development & Marketing) if there will be House Party live & silent auction literature available to distribute to vendors at the Home & Garden Festival. (e) Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) Project Team Update The AHIP Project Team is hitting the ground running. This year s goal is to raise 75K through multiple events, campaigns, fundraisers, etc. 3 of 5
While the logistics of the following fundraising campaigns are still being worked out, the AHIP Project Team wanted to share some ideas: Online donation A website link will be created to collect online donations. Crowdfunding Restaurants & Retail Partner with a restaurant and/or retail company and promote that a certain percent of the sales for one day or an evening would be directly donated to AHIP. Burtons, Travinia (specialty cocktail or appetizer, similar to the Children s Hospital donation), Citizen Burger, and Alex + Ani have already committed to holding an event or two. AHIP Project Team is also approaching Sedona Taphouse (Monday steak special/non-profit), Starr Hill (Cheers for Charity), and BeerRun. The hope is to schedule a restaurant and/or retail promotion every week from April 1 June 1. Real Estate Office Competition & Incentives Ask same size real estate offices to challenge one another to a volunteer/donation day. The office that has the most agents come out to a volunteer day or donate money on a particular day can win a prize (e.g., $100 for happy hour, AHIP hammer or swag, etc.). Volunteer Days There are two sets of tentative volunteer dates: o April 20 th 22 nd special tie to Earth Day (e.g., landscaping, eco-friendly material, etc.) o May 19 th 21 st Once the dates are confirmed, they will be announced and Ali will be in charge of collecting volunteer names and preferred dates and times. Anne Burroughs mentioned that the AHIP Emergency Fund is at a $0.00 balance. Action Item: Rachel to ask Jen Jacobs (AHIP Executive Director) and Ravi Respeto (AHIP Director of Development & Marketing) if the AHIP Emergency Fund is combined with the goal of 75K or a separate one. CAAR has been a supporter of the AHIP Senior Safe at Home program for years. This year, AHIP Project Team would like CAAR to expand the focus from Seniors Safe at Home to the overall Safe at Home effort to help seniors, children and neighbors. A discussion was held, and Rachel made A MOTION for CAAR to focus on the overall Safe at Home effort to help seniors, children and neighbors. The MOTION was MADE, SECONDED and APPROVED. 4 of 5
This MOTION will be passed to the Board of Directors for consideration on Thursday, February 19 th. (f) Dropbox demonstration Per the January meeting, the Communications Master Group recommended that we use a Dropbox folder to review and obtain agendas, meeting minutes, etc. You do not need to create a Dropbox account to gain access to the folder; however, if you already have a Dropbox account, you can save the Communications Master Group Dropbox folder to your account. If you have any questions about the Communications Master Group Dropbox folder, please contact Ali. IV. Additional New Business Rachel, Ali, and Arleen were part of the Strategic Planning meeting at the end of January. Once the Strategic Plan has been defined and clear objectives (e.g., Workforce Housing Fund, other events or activates, etc.) have been set, it will be shared with the Communications Master Group. The meeting was adjourned at 10:27 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Alexandra (Ali) Sturman Director of Marketing and Communications 5 of 5