DDC Board Meeting, - Dallas Dressage Club

DDC Board Meeting, 5 December 2006
Meeting Minutes
Las Colinas Equestrian Centre
Dallas, TX
Present:
Shelly Vaughan
Proxies:
Apologies:
Quorum:
Opened:
Next meeting:
Closed:
Doreen Cutts, Barbara Clarke, Jennie Bohart, Lisa Blackmon, Jackie Blackmon, Barbara Lewis,
None
Anne Essig
Met
7:25pm
9 January 2007 at LCEC
9:23pmMoved: B Lewis, 2 nd : J Bohart
Presidents Report:
1. Informal report on USDF convention as attended by Doreen Cutts, Jackie Blackmon, Lisa Blackmon. DDC basket
as assembled by Horse of Course was great.
2. Ann Essig has formally resigned as Recognized Show Manager.
3. Membership renewal packets are ready to send. Doreen will try to send via bulk with Kinkos or USPS. Will add
date of award banquet to packet, highlighting “free clinic” for members in 2007.
4. Member Perks: What do you give members when they renew or join All agreed stickers are great and can be
used in other applications for DDC identification, too. Key chains were another item which members would use
and enjoy which were also cost minimal. Doreen presented info from a promo company and all present were in
agreement.
Action: Order a large quantity of DDC stickers for membership and other uses.
Move: B Lewis, 2 nd : J Bohart
Action: Order a large quantity of DDC keychains, better quality, for membership perks.
Move: J Bohart, 2 nd : B Lewis
5. Newsletter Revamp: For a one-time only will mail out Dec or Jan newsletter out to ALL membership 2 weeks
after membership drive. See General Business for more discussion.
6. Board jackets, volunteer incentives: Beth of HOC agreed to provide DDC jackets (Kyra K “Traveler”) at cost for
volunteer incentives plus also to be provided to exec board members. Jackets will be on display at the DDC
Awards Banquet in Jan. Will also provide hats, polo shirts for DDC volunteer incentives. Volunteer incentives
are: 12 hours = baseball cap, 24 hours = polo shirt, 50 hours = jacket
7. Awards: Suggested providing an award of “DDC Dollars” to the silent auction at the awards banquet. The DDC
Dollars will provide: Recognized show entry fees for one horse to one weekend show for all three recognized
shows (May, July, and Sept) plus tack stall.
Move: B Lewis, 2 nd : J Bohart
8. Banquet Tickets: DDC to provide Beth (Horse of Course) and Ann Counts (Silent Auction) with 2 tickets to
annual DDC banquet at Lone Star Park, Sat 20 Jan.
Move: J Bohart, 2 nd : B Lewis
Vice Presidents Report
Secretary Report:
1. Spoke with local embroidery and screen-printing shop re: Young Riders table covers for fund raising. B Clarke
will contact Michelle Voorhees or Clare Darnell with Central Texas Dressage Society to get logo then will get
quotes on table covers.
Treasurer Report:
1. Barbara Lewis reports the current Bank Balances as of 5 Dec 2006:
Vanguard $17,993.42 (9/29/2006)
Guaranty $ 1,033.85 (11/08/06)
Equity $38,651.89 (10/31/06)

2. Have a selection of other insurance policies/quotes. Will review with attorneys this month to see if/how we can
get the best, most comprehensive coverage for DDC activities going forward.
3. Have contracts with Marriott for the Region 9 Meeting in-hand, ready to be signed.
4. Suggest that DDC buy or pay for photocopying/binding of the USDF Competition Managers and Secretaries
Clinic book for ALL executive board members. Book provided to Jackie Blackmon at USDF convention and will
be very useful to all DDC exec board members.
Move: B Lewis, 2 nd : J Bohart
Committee Member Input (Lisa Blackman)
1. Was not able to confirm Betsy Berry for 2007 Test Clinics. Have confirmed Natalie Lamping for 17-18
March for 2007 Tests. No venue confirmed yet – Barbara Lewis will check with Highgate Equestrian
Centre to see if it’s available on those dates. Sat 17 March: Training-4 th Level tests. Sun 18 March: FEI
tests. Riders to provide scores or other references to be able to ride in the clinic. Free to audit for DDC
members, or $40 to audit for non-members. Free to demo riders.
2. Would still like to have a Freestyle Clinic and as yet no other alternative to Lunatunes seems more
affordable and viable. Will keep in mind for October timeframe with “lull” in competition schedule.
3. Would like to have an Exec Board offsite/teambuilding to review and work on the events for 2007 plus
review videos from the USDF convention.
Committee Member Input (Shelly Vaughan)
1. Please correct phone number on newsletter side-bar to reflect correct: 214-477-7439.
Committee Member Input (Recognized Show Chair, Jackie Blackmon)
1. With resignation of Ann Essig, Jackie and Lisa Blackmon will review national championship schedule
and all contracts. Currently Show Secretary on record for all three DDC Recognized shows are Lew and
Julie Harkness.
2. Presented a general Organizational Chart outlining the roles/responsibilities for the board in the
organizing and running of a DDC Recognized show. Shows the Employees, Volunteers, Judges, TD, and
Presenters as on same level – equal partners. Mission Statement suggested: To serve our customer,
preserve the integrity of dressage, promote the sport of dressage and promote the spirit of competition.
General Business:
1. Newsletter: Barbara Lewis suggested all board members look at www.thehorse.com for an example of a
low-bandwidth on-line newsletter. Has a good format, live-links.
2. It was suggested that the web person be the same person as the newsletter person for consistency in
format and information.
3. Bruce Lawry and Ann Nelson both can do electronic formats. Mary Sticken has offered to do December
for free then $200 per month thereafter for newsletter. It was suggested that paying for someone to do
newsletter may increase the commitment to doing the newsletter. Frances Luse has also said she can do
the newsletter temporarily.
4. Online-only questions: What other options do we have What about those who pay for/prefer the
hardcopy What if we do not have any ads temporarily until new format is finalized
5. It was suggested we do a 3 month trial with Frances Luse – Doreen Cutts will contact – to give DDC time
to revamp new format. Need to keep newsletter published in the meantime while exploring other options
such as on-line only format, monthly updates, handling of id/password for restricted access, and possible
email format.
6. The DDC still needs contributors and articles for the newsletter: Horse Shows Don’t Just Happen series.