September Meeting Minutes

Date: 9/20/08
Host: Painter's
Attendees: Bell's, Burchett's, Pedroza's, Mueller's, Penn's

- Christmas Party: the date for the Christmas Party is 1/10/09

- Ken's Presentation:
- based on current costs, we need to have 8 couples on the weekend in order to not lose money.
- we are currently averaging 10 couples per weekend
- we currently have a "sound" balance in our bank account

- Caterers
- they committed to 6 months at current rates, but would not commit to a year
- they would commit to a year if we would raise the price to $35-$40 per person plus $50 delivery fee
- we decided we would accept the $35 rate plus $50 delivery fee

- Enrichment
- we try to have the community pay half of the convention registration for the community
- do we want to have more $ for enrichment?

- Marketing Ideas
- should we put together a letter from the bishop to the parrish priests to encourage them to send couples on weekends?
- should we put something in parrish bulletins or the Intermountain Catholic?
- we could have someone from the parrish come and observe a weekend so that they have a better understanding of what the weekend offers
- Crystal will get list of parrishes and we can sign up to meet and "sell" the weekend. It would be best to have some literature that we could give them.
- Allison will write up something for the bulletins

- Registration Fee
- we are raising the registration fee to $300 or $275 if paid more than 30 days in advance.
- the goal is really to get $275 and to encourage people to not wait until the last minute to register.
- this will cover the increase in catering costs and the potential increase in hotel costs, as well as cover convention costs in order for the community to provide a better product

- 2009 Weekends
1/16-1/18
2/20-2/22
3/20-3/22
4/24-4/26
5/29-5/31
6/26-6/28
8/14-8/16
9/18-9/20
11/13-11/15
Not confirmed yet.

- Convention
- hotel needs diocese tax exempt ID Form
- according to Karen's budget, if we have 100 couples at $200 per couple, we are projected to profit $4000
- speakers are lining up nicely. Jim Healy is a possibility
- there was some discussion about day care for convention. Deer Valley day camp / babysitting
- Allison mentioned the priest at Newman Center that knows magic. Maybe we can use that for an intro at the convention and maybe the community can go to see him for an enrichment opportunity.
- website discussion - Frank checking with Wichita convention for information on how they set up their webiste and registration and ecommerce. They will get back to him after the convention.
- Sponsorships: $285, $500, $1,000 Checks mailed to JoAnna. Need to set up PO Box.