One of our club members, David Lasdon, recently met Brooks and Kate Firestone and they’ve invited the club to come up to Paso Robles to visit Firestone Walker Brewing Company. Firestone was GABF 2011 Mid-size brewery of the year and they’ve promised to treat us to some of their rarer beers.

Dave is planning a trip Saturday March 24th and will most likely be staying overnight at the Melody Ranch Motel, which is only about 2 miles from the brewery.  The club is not organizing this event or renting a bus, but all members are welcome to make the trip, carpooling encouraged and you can even make a weekend of it in beautiful Paso Robles.

If you’re interested in joining Dave and checking out Firestone, please email him directly at DBLasdon@ca.rr.com

www.firestonebeer.com

Pacific Gravity Board Meeting Minutes from January 5^th 2011

If you have questions, concerns, or any other feedback, please either post your comments after this article or send an email to any of our Board Members individually or to the board as a whole (Board@pacificgravity.com).

I.  Call to Order

• In attendance: Audrey Hill-Lindsay, Dave Mauceli, Craig Corley, Carl Townsend, Victor Macias, Terry Malloy, Kurt Periolat, Dave Stickel

II.  Discussion & Approval of New Board

• New structure & positions (see addendum). Create new position: Communications Director (Duties include: oversee website & its re-design, newsletter/pamphlets, social networking, activities calendar, photo sharing). Unfilled/Hiatus positions: Activities Director (Duties divided up among other board members for balanced sharing of duties. Create committees for events- food, supplies, transportation, shopping).  New Appointees: Communications Director- Victor Macias.
• Reactions & Concerns to changes: Ability to make these changes? No formal procedures or by-laws to dictate this process (Elected board members (Pres, VP, Treasurer) appoint other board members as part of their “cabinet.” Past precedent- no consistent manner based upon review of past practices (previous board meeting agendas/minutes). Sometimes discussion has taken place at end of year within out-going board, voting may have occurred at times, past presidents have been able to create fill or not fill positions.  Concerns presented by previous board members: Requested 2011 board to vote on proposed changes- did not take place.  Concerns that past precedent not followed: that out-going board must vote upon proposed structural changes to board.  One request to attend board meeting to discuss this point- all membership not notified directly yet & therefore not all allowed fair opportunity to present approval or concerns.  Plan to post in minutes to general membership for feedback, concerns or objections as best practice of fairness & revisit at February board meeting as necessary
• Consensus vs. voting: Board members in attendance will work to come to consensus regarding decisions, if consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken; however, attempts will be made at compromise prior to a vote.
• Consensus was arrived at regarding structural changes to board positions: 1) “Appointed Board” is at discretion of Elected Board Members in the absence of formalized procedures & by-laws, 2) New:  Communications Director (Victor), 3) Continuing: Competitions Coordinator (Carl), Road Trip Coordinator (Kurt), Fundraiser (Terry), Webmaster (Dave S.), 4) Unfilled: Activities Director
• Club Email Addresses- minor changes to shorten length, but all forward to old addresses, will post with 2012 Board Members on website.

III.  Reports of Board Members

President- Audrey

• Transparency & Communications with general membership: 1) Publish summary of board meeting minutes each month with at least quarterly treasury summary, then general membership can review & submit feedback so that minutes can be approved by board at subsequent board meeting.  2) Nels Brown comment on PG website: Addressed transparency issues with monthly minutes publication, board holiday party cost $350, for board members who have served the club during course of year (2011- other attendees included Tom Rierson & Neil Saund for their great contributions, board members who resigned before end of year were not included).  Plan to remove comment from “About” section per his approval: questions like this can be directed to the board, posted to website in response to specific posts or in soon-to-be-developed “Discussion Forum.”  3) Tom Rierson’s AHA Notes re: Homebrew Club Construction- will include with by-laws drafts
• Club Legal Status: necessary in terms of tax purposes, liability for club & board members, and formalization of club procedures (Non-Profit status & TIN- Legal status procedure after by-laws ratified- Kurt to look into, Audrey will also investigate).
• By-Laws: Current draft includes comments from 2011 meeting.  Who to include in review process- all past board members and Tom Rierson due to past involvement with club and by-laws process. Timeline: 1)Send out draft, feedback due by end of January, 2)Compile feedback & resend for review, feedback due end of Feb, 3)Compile feedback for general membership review in March, 4)Send to membership for review in April & vote at May club meeting.
• 2012 Calendar of Events– discussed potential activities & dates
• Club Meeting Agenda: Food for meeting- alternate each month (board members & volunteers).  Other option: El Rincon- Victor to look into

Vice President- Dave

• Club meeting kegs– sign-up sheets- put near kegs & walk around with.  Voting process – utilize white board.
• Style Tasting Schedule (on website): Procedure & setup – directly after announcements, pairs to help with pouring.  “Guidelines for volunteers” handout available (from Dean Sussman).
• Anchor Trip-( Kurt):Details- sent in emails, need to promote on website (Audrey in Pres message 7 Jan meeting announcement).  Payment options ($85)- leave cash/check & CCHBS.  Kurt not @ Jan meeting- promote ahead & collect $ for him.  Cost: $2,900- bus, $250- bus driver lodging, tip (need at least 40 people to break even make $).  Liability- modify “PG Rules of Conduct” from by-laws draft to utilize as liability waiver for this trip to protect club (Audrey).  Contact Bruce Joseph @ Anchor (bruce.anchor@gmail.com or info@anchorbrewing.com) for details of CPY party- Audrey

Treasury- Craig

• Expenses: Submit any outstanding expenses to Craig via email – can provide receipts at meeting.  Need to add up all expenses & provide some breakdown of expense categories- required if you want a check!
• Current Balance: $4884.92 as of 1/5/12. 
• 2011 Holiday Party actuals as of 1/5/12: Expenses- $1125 ( vs $3200 budgeted), Income- $0
• Annual Budget: 2012 Budget – March 2012 to Feb 2013.  Draft at Feb 2012 and approve at March 2012 board meeting based on previous years income/expenses & proposed calendar.  Budget requests beyond normal planning (equipment, etc)- need to submit and discuss these in Jan / Feb timeframe.  Basic budget plan (very rough draft): Income = $7800 (60 new members = $1800, 140 dues renewals = $4200, Raffle = $1800, Fund Raisers = ?, Other = ?), Expenses = $7800 (Admin / Supplies = $400, Awards = $400, Board = $250, Club Brews = 3 X $200 = $600 {Food = $150, Supplies = $50}, Club Meetings = 10 X $250 = $2500 {Food/Supplies = $50, Beer = $150, Raffle/Awards = $50}, Competitions = $300, Equipment = ?, Parties {Summer = $2000, Holiday = $1200}, Road Trips = $0, Website = $150, Storage = ?
• Storage – need for club assets, plan to obtain by March, Craig & Terry to continue research of cost.  Inventory needs to be taken (much @ Neil’s house), Craig will send out email to assess assets.
• PayPal: Need Tax ID ASAP for reported income for 2011 pending. Audrey will give info to Craig who will apply for TAX ID & be contact (must attach personal SSN & address, hope to transfer TIN to legal club entity later).
• Membership: 233 members including 4 lifetime members as of 1/5/12.  New Members: 6 new members in Dec 2011 ( $180), 61 new members in 2011 ( $1792.67 ) – target 78 new members.  Current Members: 14 members due or past due in Dec 2011 ( $207.50), 3 members due Jan 2012 to Feb 2012 ( $10), 205 members paid thru March 2012.  Membership Dues Collection: 2011 Annual DuesCollected – 155 renewals for $4280 as of 1/5/12, 2012 Dues Collection- start promoting in Feb 2012, send renewal notices & start collection – March 2012, plan to include “PG Rules of Conduct” from by-laws draft as liability waiver with renewal & new members.
• Name tags / membership cards: Craig will send latest batch to Audrey by Friday before monthly meeting w/new board ID tags, remind members to get these in meeting announcements – Audrey (new hole-punch for ID tags?).  Board business cards- Craig to work on. 
• Membership Database Update (Craig): Still need to update for couples membership, maybe I’ll finish this before I retire!  Terry interested in Treasury next year…
• Fundraising– (Terry) We have raffle items for January meeting & will continue to work on for future meetings.
• Merchandise: 1) COY shirts- order ½ gross by end of January (Terry & Craig), Long sleeve @ $25 each, Promote & Pre-pay/order w/size @ January club meeting, Receive by & sell @ Feb club meeting & in SF that weekend. 2) New glasses- plan to order in March, Contest for new “glass design,” Promote after Jan club meeting (Audrey). 3) Leashes- plan to make more in March & for SCHBF (Audrey). 4) Hats- requested, could do pre-order in spring? 5) Shirts inventory- still need sell

Competitions- Carl

• 2012 Tasting Schedule– posted to website
• COC Schedule– place on club calendar (Carl), 1) January 19^th– Dark Lagers (Carl won’t be at meeting- need to pick up entries for him). 2) February 16^th– Stouts. 3) April 19^th– Scottish & Irish Ales. 4) July or August- TBD, depends on AHA & Summer Party. 5) August or September- TBD, depends on AHA & Summer Party.  6) October 18^th– Old Ales.
• 2012 Competition Schedule– place due date/place on club calendar (Carl), 1) February- America’s Finest City- 1^st wk March, due mid-Feb, Drop off @ CCHBS, Audrey’s parents drop off @ Alesmith? 2) April- AHA Nationals. 3) April- Mayfaire. 4) May- California State Fair. 5) June- AHA Finals. 6) July- Los Angeles County Fair. 7) September- Pacific Brewers Cup- Strand Brewers hosting this year. 8)October- California State Homebrew Competition.
• Big Brews: Last Year- Feb, May, Aug, Nov. This year: Sun 1/29/12 @ Neil’s, March/April in preparation for SCHBF?
• Monster Brew: Tustin- will conflict with Anchor Trip, Carl will talk to Jon Porter.  El Segundo Brewing- suggested Monster Brew opportunity, Terry will do after Tustin- maybe in April?
• AHA Conference: Seattle June 21-23, Anyone going?- Carl

Communications- Victor

• Website– (Dave S.) Re-design: already in progress.  Intend to dress-up the site considerably: More color, more engaging content (articles and posts with photos), Front “landing” page will be static (like PBC page) with old and very colorful PG “wave” logo & include updated COY info and a short intro / bio, along with other pertinent info, Menu buttons and links will enable navigation from this static page and give the front page a less “bloggy” look and functionality, Menu buttons at top need readjustment in order & content, Changing “Officers” page to “Board Members” to be  consistent with wording in potential by-laws draft, Need to update 2012 Board Members, keeping all history on website, need to emphasize how to “sign-up” to receive emails/posts, Possible member login section- discussion forum, event RSVP & sign-ups, Include “Privacy Policy” with limitations & expectations, Newsletter Archives & Board Meeting Minutes- pdf upload capability (ftp site?).
• Social Networking: Twitter and Facebook syndication already in effect, Yahoo Group is more complicated- if we can create a “message board” type functionality on the PG site, we may be able to steer folks away from Yahoo Group.  Creating “Discussion Forum” on website (Dave S.).
• Photo sharing – Flickr page can be reinstated- In the interest of appropriateness/privacy, there should be some oversight to posting of pix.
• Access: WordPress- current board members, Admin of website- Dave S., need to include Victor
• Email– change hosting? Security?- need to look into further
• Newsletter: Frequency/Content/Purpose – announce “landmark” and big events or club news, coordinating publication to those events may be prudent, monthly events can be “bundled” each issue – meetings & FFs, quarterly or bimonthly. 1^st Publication date – landing early during week of monthly meeting could help alert members to upcoming events and improve sign-ups at meeting, Articles can be submitted / approved / added on an individual basis, Emphasis on homebrewing for these articles? Event recaps can be posted on the website with a new emphasis on photos for recaps, Deadlines for all submissions would be 2-3 weeks out from pub date.  Editing – If I’m to continue in that role, I would request that workflow be as follows:  Article / piece is submitted, I proofread all submissions and lay out newsletter, Approval proof would then be sent to interested parties for review / approval.
• Pamphlets:1 page handouts of events @ club meetings a possibility, also for handout new members in CCHBS.

IV.  Upcoming Events

• First Fridays: January 6^th– Four Points Sheraton, February 3^rd– Overland Café?, March 2^nd– ?, Dan’s Carriage House FF?, Pub Crawls or Road Trips in place of FF sometimes- April First Sat- OC Road Trip
• SCHBF: (Victor) Cost: previously $50 (w/food), $25 (w/o food), consider $40- food & $20- no food? Sign-up begin in Feb- indicate Veg/Allergies.  Committees for transportation, supplies, food:  Transportation of all necessary equipment / CDS – Past and ever-reliable Gear Haulers, additional recruitment, if necessary, will follow; Food – to be executed organized by the “Captains of Food” for each meal- directing crew and helping with preparation of meals.  “KP” duty will also be assigned for all eaters, Friday night- potluck as it was in the distant past, Coffee for both mornings – me again? Saturday Breakfast – Captains: Dave, Kurt, Me?  – simple but substantial, Saturday Dinner – Captains: Beth, Noelle, Michael, Dianne? – Burgers & other grilling items, Carbonnades/Chili/Crockpot, Sunday breakfast – Captains: TBD – keep it simple
• Summer Party: Location- Sent email to Dean to assess possibility of his house, will explore possibilities of parks that allow beer/CDS, alternately- X-Mas in July @ Neil’s?  Plan to do fundraiser- Need to select local Culver City charity- Senior Center? Raffle-off club brew system in store, Carnival games- “Dunk The Durnk” tank?

V. Unfinished Business

• Holiday Party Recap- article for website with pics?

VI. New Business

• Club Brew & Style Tastings: Select BJCP Category to demonstrate brewing & style tasting for
• “Thank You” parties 3-4x/year for recent volunteers, may be alternative to only Board Holiday Party

VII. Announcements

VIII. Adjourn

IX. Addendums

For those of us who have spent hours, or days, at Lucky Baldwin’s or the Delirium Cafe,  we all have our memories of  talking to Dave. He could be curt, at times appearing to be a bit annoyed by some of the questions we asked or requests we made. However, he could also be quite generous, as he once was when he gifted us with a 1.5 litre bottle of Belgian beer (I believe it was Chimay Reserve), at the end of one of our road trips. He ran one of the premier Belgian beer bars in SoCal, but also had time for IPA, and Barleywine Festivals, most of which we attended as a club, or on our own.

Dave came early to the local beer scene, and many of the local establishments we now patronize owe a debt of gratitude to him for paving the way. He will be sorely missed. Thanks for all the outstanding beer, Dave.

Michael Steinberg, President