Minutes of General Meeting
July 18, 2008

The July 18, 2008 meeting of USC4P&J was held at Rose's house. Present at the meeting were Maria Chiara, Becky, Stephanie, Gene, Anna, Marcia, and Rose.

Anna chaired the meeting and Rose took the minutes.

The only item on the agenda was the CCom election and the issue of whether we should change the current guidelines to increase the number of CCom members to include all six people who were elected.

There were seven candidates who ran for the CCom and all of the candidates had sufficient votes to be elected, with a three-way tie for the fifth member. Maria Vasquez, one of those elected, withdrew because it is a possibility that she will be moving from Rome in the coming months. There were six remaining people who were elected to fill five CCom positions.

Anna called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m.

Anna made a motion to change the existing CCom guidelines to allow for six members instead of five. Gene expressed concern that having more people on the committee might slow communication and response time between members. Others disagreed saying they didn't think having more CCom members would impede communication or response time. Stephanie pointed out that in any case the CCom always defers to the entire group for major decisions. Others in the discussion agreed that having more members on the CCom would be beneficial because it would bring more diversity to the committee, would generally provide the CCom with more resources and at times it could help to lighten the work load when some of the members might not be available. Stephanie proposed that we change the guidelines to allow for a maximum of seven people on the committee.

Anna made a motion to change the current guidelines to allow for a total of up to seven members on the CCom. Stephanie seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously.

Anna raised the issue of nominating CCom members for the two positions on the committee; that of the Treasurer and the Coordinator. Becky was encouraged to volunteer for the position of treasurer although she declined. Anna then volunteered for the position and all members in attendance voted to approve her as the treasurer of the CCom.

Stephanie, who has been the coordinator of the committee said that she would be happy to continue in this role but that since this will be her last year on the CCom, having already served two terms, suggested that it might be a good time for another member to assume the responsibility. Rose volunteered for the position of coordinator and all members in attendance voted to approve her as the coordinator of the CCom.

The new CCom members are: Anna, Stephanie, Maria Chiara, Gene, Becky, and Rose.

Miscellaneous business discussed:

It was mentioned that David Colbert has resigned from the film committee.

There was some discussion about how our group might gather more active participation from existing members and/or attract new members. Marcia suggested that we distribute a very brief questionnaire at the film presentations to learn more about the people who attend and to make personal contact with newcomers. She also suggested we make a short video presentation of our group. Stephanie mentioned that this could be made from photos of past events and Becky suggested we might even show it before films, if possible.

Gene also suggested handing out the film program at the beginning of the evening when people are entering and socializing (instead of doing this at the end of the evening) would provide an opportunity to make personal contact with those who attend the films. He also suggested that we write a brief description of our group on the back of the film series program. Rose suggested that CCom members make an effort to identify new faces at the films and to use this opportunity to get to know them and to make them feel included and welcome.

Anna and others said that non-US members of our group have said that they feel less inclined to participate in activities because of our group name and its specific association with the United States. We discussed how we might be able to improve this situation. Anna suggested that we can make more of an effort to involve non-US citizen members in specific events or projects.

A special thank you to Maria Chiara who brought some delicious finger food to hold us over until dinner and to Stephanie who came with a chilled bottle of wine and also to Gene for the garden fresh rhubarb.

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