MINUTES FROM THE HOUSTON AREA ROAD RUNNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING

MAY 21, 2007

The following people were in attendance: Anna Helm, Jon Walk, Joe Carey, Tom McBrayer, Audrey Christiansen, JoAnn Luco, Bruce Mansur, Caroline Burum, Ted Traynor, Annie Hadow, Mark Fraser, Eddie Rodriguez, Roger Boak, and Travis Green.

Anna called the meeting to order at 6:05.

Bayou Bash Relay: The Board discussed the situation surrounding the awards categories and decided to establish minimum standards for awards categories for HARRA relays. The awards categories will align with the ROTS divisions: Men Under 40, Women Under 40, Men 40-49, Women 40-49, Men 50+, and Women 50+. Having awards for additional divisions such as mixed or youth will be at the Race Director’s discretion. The Board discussed other items related to this year’s Bayou Bash. A comment was made concerning the availability of bathrooms. Bear Creek Park does not allow for outside Porta Potties to be brought in. The race day instructions for next year could include information on additional bathrooms, which are close to the start/finish. It was mentioned that there were a few car break-ins in the parking area, and that having someone, not necessarily a security guard, but someone who is visible in the parking area could help mitigate this next year.

Family Fun Day: Anna announced that the attendance was good this year; we estimate that a couple hundred people were there. The event was a good vehicle for getting membership renewals. Anna raised the idea of combining the Bayou Bash Relay and the Family Fun Day next year. The Board will consider at a later date.   

Awards Banquet: Anna confirmed that the banquet is set for June 16^th. Mark is looking into food providers and speakers. We will have a slideshow as well. The cost will be $15 for members and $10 for children 10 and under; the price increases to $20 on the day of the event. Registration will be available on the HARRA website by Wednesday.

Elections: Anna reminded everyone of the upcoming elections. Anyone who is a HARRA member can serve on the Board. We are looking for nominations for Member At Large - VVIP (Bruce is considering taking this on), Member At Large – HARRA Discount Program, as well as 2 additional At Large positions.

Footprints: Jon reported that he is currently working on the July/ August issue. He is working with Lance with the goal of setting up a process to capture members lost in sequence, meaning that if their membership expires at the end of June, we want them to still receive the July/ August issue.

Membership No report

Website: Anna reported that Sarah is working hard on the new site. She e-mailed out a link for preview before going live.

Treasurer’s Report: Audrey had no report due to technical issues. She will follow up at the June meeting.

Tour de Bayou and ROTS: Roger reported that we are averaging 116 per TdB stage. We had 215 different participants during the series and 43 runners did all 5 races. Regarding ROTS, Roger brought up that a member had suggested to him that we consider rounding in tenths. There were some very closely contested divisions this year. The Board discussed rounding the results in tenths and decided to keep the rounding as is.

PIM: Anna reported for Jack. The Spring session is complete and all is well, although attendance was a little down.

VVIP: Cheryl was unable to attend. In her absence, Anna requested that race and event directors please submit volunteer information from races and events to Cheryl so she can compile VVIP points before the banquet.

Just For Kids Run: Anna reported that there is no update. Anna, Erin, and Randy haven’t had a chance to meet since the last Board meeting.

There was no additional business to discuss. Anna adjourned the meeting at 7:40.