Affiliate Council Minutes

Committee Minutes
IAFP 2010 – Sunday, August 1
Anaheim, CA

Affiliates Present:

Board Members and IAFP Staff Present: Vickie Lewandowski, Lee-Ann Jaykus, Isabel Walls, Katie Swanson, Stan Bailey, David Tharp, Lisa Hovey and Susan Smith.

Visitors/Guests Present: Deon Mahoney, Eric Martin, Zeb Blanton, Mariza Landgraf, Ed Chianini, Mario Killner, Leila Montero, Fritz Buss, Zhinong Yan, Anna Jesus, Csaba Nemeth and Christa Schlosser.

Meeting Called to Order: 7:08 a.m., Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Recording Secretary of Minutes: David Lloyd.

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:08 a.m. by Affiliate Council Chair Dan Erickson. There were 49 members and guests present. The agenda was approved with no added items (so moved and seconded).

Approval of Minutes for 2009 Meeting: The minutes for the 2009 Affiliate Council meeting were approved and duly seconded.

Report from Affiliate Council Chairperson: Dan Erickson announced and congratulated the 2010 Affiliate Award winners and new Affiliates from Nebraska and the Chinese–North America delegation. He informed the council that out of 47 Affiliates, annual reports had been received from 38. He also commented that this year’s judges were scattered across the globe, making for a challenging process due to the quantity of material received from Affiliates but recognized the work involved by the IAFP staff in facilitating the judging of the awards.

Dan also thanked Margaret Burton and the Local Arrangements Committee.

Old Business: Dan Erickson informed the delegate group that all recommendations from last year’s meeting had been accomplished. 2009’s FAQ request was incorporated into the Web site and both new Affiliates (Nebraska and Chinese–NA) stated that they valued its presence in developing their Affiliates. Dan also indicated that 25 Affiliates have developed Web sites with direct links to IAFP’s. The chair was keen to develop this type of link and urged Affiliates wishing to progress through this route to utilize the expertise offered by IAFP support staff.

Report from IAFP President: Vickie Lewandowski thanked delegates for numerous invitations to speak at their Affiliate meetings and Dan Erickson for his work in support of the Affiliate Delegate Council throughout his year in office. Vickie confirmed the strength of the organization, with membership currently at a record 3,418, despite a slight reduction in Member numbers in 2008–2009, but not as dramatic as memberships in similar organizations. She mentioned that international membership has doubled to 725 since 2004 and urged delegates to communicate the base rate of membership, as this is still not widely known.

IAFP currently has 19 Gold Sustaining Members and 13 Silver, with 105 Sustaining Members in total.

The 2009 meeting saw a 5% reduction in attendees but Vickie stated it was hoped that 2010’s meeting will break the previous attendance record, with 154 booth spaces occupied at this meeting, representing a 30% increase.

She outlined the contrasting profits of the two European conferences, with Berlin (215 attendees) making for a slight loss but compensated by an extremely successful spring conference in Dublin (300 attendees), making it our most successful European meeting financially. Conferences in Korea and Dubai were successful and Vickie reminded the group of upcoming conferences in Bogota, China, and Dubai.

Vickie thanked David Tharp for substituting for her last minute at the Turkey Affiliate meeting and more widely for the work undertaken by him and the IAFP staff on international profile-raising on behalf of IAFP, helping increase international membership to 21% of the total.

Council members were encouraged to work with their Affiliate Members to develop ideas to celebrate IAFP’s 100-year Anniversary and Affiliates were asked to focus on what the meeting means to them and the organization.

Report from the IAFP Office: David Tharp, Executive Director, presented the 2009 Financial Report, highlighting some of the difficulties encountered in operational activities, such as Grapevine’s expenses and the decline in exhibit booth numbers. He outlined work undertaken by Affiliate groups in Korea and Colombia to host international conferences under the IAFP umbrella and announced that Australia will host an international conference in the fall of 2011.

David outlined a proposal raised by the Executive Board to increase fees to $55 in September to regain revenue loss.

Questions from Affiliate delegates were discussed and answered.

Report from IAFP Affiliate Liaison Staff: Dan introduced Susan Smith, who replaced Leilani McDonald in January. Susan noted that 47 Annual Reports were submitted in 2009, an 80% submission rate, but required by 100% of Affiliates. She urged Affiliates to submit reports and reminded them about the flexible deadline. Photographs of Affiliate activity were also encouraged to be included with Annual Reports. More communication of calendar events from Affiliates was requested so materials can be dispatched on a timely basis. She asked that delegates inform her of Web site launches or updates and send meeting summary information to be included in Affiliate View. She also discussed the non-compliancy of several Affiliates regarding Membership and Annual Report submission requirements.

Election of the Affiliate Council Secretary: Dan Erickson announced that Gloria Swick-Brown of the Ohio Association for Food Protection received the sole nomination for Affiliate Council Secretary. (So moved and seconded.) Gloria Swick-Brown was voted by acclamation.

New Business:

• Affiliate Networking: Dan Erickson informed the council that Room 201A in the Conference Center was available for networking and discussions during the Conference.
• Committee and PDG Concerns: Tom McCaskey and Anna Jesus both commented on about the overlap of committee meetings and PDG groups, which limits full attendance. Jill Kuzo suggested PDGs be rotated from morning to afternoon on alternate years. David Tharp explained that, given the growth in committee and PDG numbers, this was unavoidable, especially with the higher number of groups in 2010. The Dairy group can recommend an afternoon meeting for next year but IAFP staff should be informed on which meetings should avoid overlap. David Lloyd will discuss with the Board.
• Affiliate Membership: The Washington Affiliate started taking credit card information for new or renewing members, facilitating membership uptake. Darren Bowling (MI Affiliate) created Google accounts for Members and placed the Affiliate’s profile on Facebook.

Affiliate Reports: Delegates offered a summary of their Affiliate’s activities and accomplishments in the past year.

Recommendations to the Executive Board: None.

Passing of the Gavel: Chairperson Dan Erickson passed the gavel to David Lloyd, signifying the beginning of his term as Affiliate Council Chair.

Next Meeting Date: 7:00 a.m., Sunday, July 31, 2011 in Milwaukee, WI.

Meeting Adjourned:  9:54 a.m.

Chairperson: Dan Erickson.

View 2009 Minutes »