WEST MICHIGAN PARK AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
October 15, 2008 – Meeting Agenda

Location: East Grand Rapids-2312 Reeds Lake Blvd. East Grand Rapids, Mi. 49506
Time(s): 11:00am – 1:00pm (lunch served)

Welcome & Introductions:
Amber Sabala (Holland Twp.), Kenney Westrate (Wyoming), Carrie Klingelsmith (Byron Township), John Kievit (Holland Township), John Judnich (Grand Rapids), Kelli Koss (Zeeland), Susan Perry (East GR), Shannyn Fasbender (East GR), Pam Slater (East GR), Amanda Gerhardt (Cedar Springs), Val Romeo (Kentwood), Kendall Klingelsmith (Kentwood), Clay Summers (Kentwood), Darrin Duistermars (Holland Twp.)

Approval of Agenda:
Motion by Kenny Westrate, Support by Darrin Duistermars, Motion carried

Approval of September Minutes:
Motion by Darrin Duistermars, Support by Kenny Westrate, Motion carried

Board Member Reports

Treasurer’s Report:
Pam passed out report. The banquet for the WM Sports Commission was highlighted. Discussion ensued on the issue of maintaining the association with the WM Sports Commission. It was decided that it needs to continue in the hope that future endeavors with him work better as well as the idea of getting our special events listed on their web site. Pam Slater will need to be replaced as Treasurer. We thank Pam for her service. She did a great job.

Past President Report:
No Report

Secretary Report:
Darrin met with Brian Morehouse of Hope College. He and Hope College would like to develop a better relationship with local Parks & Recreation Directors. This could involve utilizing Hope College facilities for WMRPA events/programs and tickets also. Adrienne Schumacher and Darrin Duistermars will be pursuing the idea of creating more localized programs similar to Hoop Shoot and NFL PPK but for West Michigan participants. Here is where Hope College could be involved in a big way. Holland & Holland Township hosted the NFL PPK Regional this past Sunday. Seven of our eight Sectional winners qualified for the state finals at Ford Field. Grandville, Kentwood, and Grand Haven is where most of the participants were from. Holland Township’s Parks Superintendant, Brian Leach, had an idea for a forum featuring issues involving ball field preparation and the maintaining of them. Discussion ensued on other possible issues including soccer field closing, goalie area maintenance, general preventative measures, and more. Darrin Duistermars and John Judnich will put a list of topics together and Darrin Duistermars will organize a forum at a site to be determined.

Director at Large Report:
No Report

President Elect Report:
We are still in need of someone to fill this position. Please consider this option for service. It is an important part of our networking and it really helps you to be a better professional. We need to fill this by our November meeting.

Presidents Report:
1. 2009 Conference Sponsorship (Dearborn)
Information has arrived and it is “packaged” in different categories rather than having the option of supporting a particular function. It looks good. Last year we gave $1000.00. If we did that again, it would also allow us to get a booth for the Dearborn conference that we could let the Grand Rapids CVB utilize.

2. Board Officers and Nominations
By the next WMRPA meeting we need to have a slate of people for the WMRPA Board positions. These positions would take office in February of 2009. If you have any interest, please contact Darrin Duistermars, Kenny Westrate, or Shannyn Fasbender. An opportunity for Professional Development has been put together by Adrienne Schumacher in Holland. Save the date for our November "How to Become Media Worthy" program.  Friday, November 21 9am-10:30am...will have breakfast snacks and coffee available.  This is set up for City Hall, 2nd floor training room located at 270 South River Avenue in Holland ( HYPERLINK "http://www.cityofholland.com" www.cityofholland.com for directions). This program will cover building relationships with your local media to increase potential for coverage, the meaning of "newsworthy" and how to make your event or program newsworthy, writing, timing and the life cycle of press releases (just where DO they go?), what type of media should your department focus on using (benefits and drawbacks of different types), what reporters will ask on site to make their article newsworthy and why our media presence is important to the perceived value of our departments.  This is an interactive and problem solving presentation, so bring examples of past successes and/or failures for critique.  Have something you felt was solid that didn't get covered?  Bring in that press release and get feedback on why it failed.  Presenter is Brian J. Bowe, a communication specialist at Grand Valley State University, where he has also taught journalism as an adjunct instructor.  As a journalist, Bowe worked for newspapers in Michigan and New Hampshire. He has also written about music for national publications. He co-edited the anthology "CREEM: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" (Collins) and authored three books in a forthcoming series of young adult non-fiction rock biographies for Enslow Publishers. He lives near Saugatuck, Mich. 
Carrie Klingelsmith informed us that if this is an hour and a half in length we should apply for CEU’s.
Thank you to Adrienne for putting this together.

WMRPA Committee Reports

Therapeutic Committee:
112 delegates attended TRI, the most ever! It went very well. Senate Bill 921 has stalled. The word “certified” is a key issue. Our MRPA Executive Director, Dennis Schornack, was instrumental in getting this bill reviewed. It will get back on the floor, however, the changes made makes sure TR professionals are protected.

Golf Committee: 2008 Outing Review:
This year’s outing lost money due to the lack of sponsors and only 15 teams being registered. Soliciting sponsors is getting tougher. Still, maybe a stronger push in this area is needed. John Judnich asked for some feedback on this event as well as some ideas for future events. 25 teams are needed for the outing to truly succeed. Outings, in general, are down across the board and deal with the same issues. Outing featuring a “cause” do very well. The change of venue was not an issue. Teams want separate divisions MRPA needs to be more on top of this and help to make sure that these outing don’t overlap. Maybe we need to focus our attention on more local opportunities such as working with entities such as the Sports Commission and push the “cause” part of it, such as supporting the 2010 MRPA Conference. We would need a legitimate “cause” in order to get potential golfers. An outing benefitting WMRPA member scholarship options probably would not work, but possible youth scholarships would.

MRPA Committee Reports:
MRPA Election is coming up. Voting will be done online. Out of 2000 members only 200+ voted. Make sure you vote! Awards Committee is scheduled for October 30. Do we have anyone we should be submitting? Some thought it would better to submit for next year when the conference is in Grand Rapids in 2010. That’s fine, but let’s make sure it gets done.

Next Meeting: November 19 – Oak Crest 10:00am.
The WMRPA Board may change this with the professional development option in Holland on November 21. A decision will be forthcoming.

Adjournment - Motion by Darrin Duistermars, Support by Kenny Westrate, Motion carried

Minutes Submitted by, Darrin Duistermars, WMRPA Secretary