OCC Minutes - January 20, 2015
President Paul Bellinger called the meeting to order at 6:30.
Treasurer: $2,847.43 in the club account and $463.66 in the N4C Conference account.
Library: no report
Secretary: Marty Barker asked for people to sign up to bring cookies in the coming months.
Equipment: Tom Pfeffer has the color monkey. The scanner is available.
Club Survey: Larry is waiting for more survey results to come in before publishing the results.
Snacks: provided by Nikki McDonald
N4C: Nikki took 1st place in the pictoral category for her beautiful graduation photo called “Lydia.”
N4C Conference: Tonight we are holding our first club meeting at OHB in which half the time is dedicated to
conference planning. We are still trying to determine the number and cost of plaques and awards needed in
September. Gary Prill is still open to receiving photos for his 15 minute presentation about Omaha, both the
metro and rural areas, attractions, and events. He will accept members’ photos til the end of the month. He
has 250 photos now and needs about 50 more.
March print competition: On the first Tuesday of March, Jerry Bartek of Lincoln will be the judge. Four
entries per person now seems like a manageable number to have. Nikki proposed selling the photos to other
members at the meeting. We’ll continue to think about this.
Events: Through March 27, Paul Evans has pictures representing 5 themes on display at Metro College on 30th
and Fort Streets. The display is in the front hall of Building 10. The St. Cecilia flower show is this
weekend. Paul Bellinger said sometimes you can go in on Friday during setup to take photos. No Offutt air
show this year. Lauritzen Gardens has a Lego show. Bald eagles are at the power plant south of CB, and
there’s a white owl north of sioux city.
PSA Competition: Paul Bellinger said Don Loseke’s Phoenix club (a 500 member club!) has a contest we can
enter through the PSA. Fee $25. Contact Paul for more information about stringent rules and our club’s PSA
number which our members will need to use when entering.
Tonight’s program: Show and Tell, but each member is limited to 6 photos because we will discuss the 2015 N4C
Conference plans during the second half of the meeting.
Cookie Break
Planning Meeting for 2015 N4C Conference
7:45 – 8:30
Should we file for 5013C status? Myers Burmeister and Tom Pfeffer met with Attorney Dave Wilson who
recommended we proceed with this. He’s a member of a large firm and has taken our case pro bono, so we would
only pay the cost of filing. As conference hosts, we need this “charitable educational institution” status
to avoid financial liabilities as individuals. The status will let us take donations as a charity. The
complete process takes at least 100 days, although once we have filed we can begin to advertise ourselves as
being a 5013C. Dave works with many nonprofits in the area. The cost for obtaining the 5013C status is $800
– 1,000. We need an address to use on the form but would be allowed to use the attorney’s address.
We also would like to incorporate which requires the filing of papers and also electing officers and a board
of directors. Two year reports would need to be filed with the state.
Reasons for the above actions are 1) some members may not want to participate in the conference if we are
subject to individual liability; 2) we wouldn’t have to pay 7% sales tax on expenses such as meals. 3)
provide incentive for donations
Other options are to:
1. stay as we are
2. get event insurance, but it will cost about as much as the 5013c
3. incorporate only and get insurance; cost will be investigated.
Because 21 members were present out of 42 (50%), we took a unanimous but tentative vote by show of hands to
move forward with becoming a 5013C and incorporating. Because a majority vote was needed, Dave Tollesfrud
voted yes by phone.
Fundraising: Ina asked for a fundraising coordinator to contact businesses for donations. However, no one
has officially taken the position yet.
N4C BUDGET: Tom Pfeffer provided a budget framework for expenses such as meals, hotels, sites to visit,
sponsored trips, door prizes, trophies, plaques, awards, etc. He also had a list of possible businesses to
contact for donations. These groups could then receive compensation - for example x number of meal tickets
for x numbers of dollars donated. It’s possible we will have to mark up some prices as a cushion. There is
an early estimate for $165 for a meal package for the weekend but that may change. We might cover some
expenses such as rooms, travel costs, etc. for the N4C president and special speakers.
Tom has put this model together and now we need to deal with its specifics along with other topics such as
how much to charge walkins who want no meals, students, etc.
Our OCC members will also have to pay to attend the conference, but they will only buy meals if they are
staying at the hotel.
Suggested keynote speakers are Dr. Lee Simmons or Dennis Pate (past and present zoo directors). Dhruba
suggested a Chinese photographer named Lim as a special presenter.
Paul Bellinger is invited to speak at the Au Clair and Minneapolis clubs in Minnesota. He might be able to
get some speakers from them.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45.
Submitted by Secretary Marty Barker
