Board Members
Heidi Hawkins – President
Ron Blanchett – Vice President
Chelle Silas/Lloyd Williams – Treasurer
Gillian Mayman – Secretary
Paul Keys – IT Officer
Jessica McQuiston – Communications Officer
James Hice – Member
James Brown – Member
Meph(Norm Witte) – Member
Attendees
Heidi Hawkins, James Brown, James Hice, Paul Keyes, Chelle Green, Heather Williams, Ian, Jessica McQuiston, Lloyd Williams, Ska Green, Wayne
Called to order: Heidi
Old Business
Michigan Sales Tax Update
- No response yet from accountant; last communication was a request for officer list for 2024.
Update of Official Address
- Legal follow-up still pending.
- Organization will continue using “Penguicorp” as a DBA.
New Business
Meeting Minutes Updates
- August minutes confirmed as updated on website.
Penguicon 2026
Conchair/Concom Update
- Email setup needed for Makers Market lead.
- Hotel contract requires adjustment if selling out the block is desired. Current contract: 250 rooms per night, hotel has 375 rooms.
- Discussion on kids’ attendance, plan to implement reduced pricing.
- Guest of Honor confirmed, additional confirmations pending.
- List of unfilled roles to be created; call for volunteers to be posted on social media and website.
Budget
- Budget reviewed and discussed.
- Potential cuts: ConSuite and A/V.
- Sponsorship officer needed; call to go out soon.
- Without sponsorships, break-even is at 700 attendees at $90/person.
- Sponsorship expectations: $15–20k.
Motion: Approve $76,000 budget
- Proposed by Heather
- Seconded by Jessica
- Vote:
- Ron – Absent
- Chelle – Aye
- Lloyd – Aye
- Gillian – Aye
- Paul – Aye
- Jessica – Aye
- James H – Aye
- James B – Aye
- Meph – Absent
- Heidi – Aye
- Result: Motion Passed
Tickets
- Pricing set: $80 pre-registration / $90 regular (post-December) / $100 at the door.
- Goal to launch tickets and hotel link by Friday.
Website & Hotel
- Updates ongoing.
Merch
- Vendor set up; contract signed.
Proposal to Rename Business
- Legal review still pending.
Revised Code of Conduct
- Draft under review.
Upcoming Events
- Workshop on Accessible Meetings: Postponed until later.
- Board D&D Fundraiser (streaming): To be organized, call for volunteers planned.
- Tech Event (Bluetooth Speaker): Organizer absent.
- Horror-based Role-Playing Event: Interest expressed, possible venues under consideration.
Officer/Subcommittee Updates
- Conchair/Concom: No additional updates.
- Operations Subcommittee: Working on charters; members encouraged to participate.
- Communications Subcommittee:
- Next newsletter: Oct 5 (deadline: Oct 2).
- Rookery discount discussion ongoing.
- Social media and website updates in progress.
- Technology Subcommittee:
- Email problem resolved in Bitwarden; system ready to manage passwords.
- Mail routing ensures backups of all Google Mail.
- Additional IT staff being considered.
- Five laptops set up for ConCom use.
- Sponsorship Subcommittee: Lead not yet confirmed.
- Community Events Subcommittee: Covered earlier in meeting.
End of Meeting
Motion to Adjourn
- Proposed by Heidi
- Seconded by Multiple
- Result: Approved unanimously