OCC Minutes May 19, 2015

OCC Minutes May 19, 2015

Tom Pfeffer, (our new vice-president) opened the meeting at 6:30.

Treasurer: Tim White reported the club balance is $2736.88 and the N4C balance $763.58, but we need to pay

$450 in printing.

Secretary: No news to report

Library: Ron Schmidt says to email him if there is anything you’d like to check out. Tom Pfeffer asked Ron to

make a PDF of library inventory for the website.

Equipment: no report

Old Business: Ina brought prints from the N4C contest to be picked up. Tom read the list of new officers and

board members for 2015 – 2017. He also reviewed the assigned categories for competitions in the upcoming

year. Gary asked if the new bylaws for the OCC as an incorporation had been voted on and then requested they

be posted on the website.

Photo ops in Upcoming Events (check each group’s website for details)
UNMC is sponsoring a Lauritzen Garden Walk; Tom Green questioned the fairness of their allowing easels for

artists but not tripods, although Larry Headley said tripods are allowed when he teaches a workshop.
Countryside Village
Summer Art Festival
Sand in the City
Special Olympics in Omaha
Nature Conservancy has a photo contest going on for the next month.

It’s proposed that there be a calendar of shooting events that members can easily access on our website.

OCC Summer Picnic: August 15th is the set date with Walnut Creek as a suggested site, but Linda Davis will

also investigate other places.

N4C: Tom Pfeffer is in contact with Omaha Magazine and will meet with them to further discuss how we can work

together.

Next Meeting: June 16

Break for Pizza

Post Pizza Business: Ina presented plans for the N4C convention and gave each member a handout. Ina and Tom

will meet with the lawyer this Thursday. We are behind in getting our incorporation and 5013c status because

Tom says the state of Nebraska, not the lawyer, is in control of the process. However, the status is

retroactive so we can accept donations now. We could more easily be a 5017, but that doesn’t give donors the

ability to deduct donations.

Tom spoke on donor outreach along with the importance of financial donors and how to reward them. Tim White

suggested we compile a list of activities the OCC has done in behalf of the community.

Tom spoke about the 8.5 x 11 information sheet created for the conference and also the trifold flier or a

postcard to be given to Rockbrook Camera customers. There is an extensive email list we can use to send links

to our website, to facebook, etc.

Gary Prill presented on the website “Focus on Omaha” which he created for the N4C conference. He showed us

how it can link people to popular sites in Omaha they might want to visit. Attendees can see and print the

full page flier and the trifold flier in PDF format. There is a schedule of events they can download and

print. There’s a registration page with a link to the Ramada Hotel. Attendees can read about presenters, how

to be a donor, and how to contact the OCC. The site also has the 15 minute video that Gary created about

Omaha using member photographs.

Tom put links to our Facebook page on the pages of many area professional photographers. We still need more

people to “Like” the “Focus on Omaha” Facebook site.

Tom spoke about the budget: fixed costs of about $10,000 and variable costs. We’d need 320 people to break

even, but that’s a hefty number to achieve which is why we need donors. Tom also spoke about registration

fees which will have an early registration discount and a deadline registration to get a meal. Club members

will be charged less than the general public. If a profit is made, we will decide as a club if we want to

refund part of the individual registrations of OCC members. N4C wants $1,000 back and a small percentage of

the profits.

Tom asked member Barb Smith to review his Excel program for possible errors. He presented the number of

attendees at the last 5 conferences. We need to hope for more than 132. We also need many OCC members to both

attend and help with the activities. Even with 150 attendees and 20 club members, we still need $5,000 in

donations. Tom encouraged members to recruit donors.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30.

Submitted by

Secretary Marty Barker