<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal">All,</p><p class="MsoNormal">I appreciate Tanya’s thoughts on how the conference planning
can be improved. There are many
things that do need to be improved and the EOB and conference committee are
actively working on these changes.
However, I do take exception to the implication that there was a
conflict of interest in my role as the Chair of the standing Conference
Committee because I am employed by Equinox. This hits me particularly hard because this is not at all how
Tanya clarified her statements to me, in person, after the EOB meeting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I take my Board responsibilities very seriously and I strive
to ensure that, as a representative of the Project, regardless of my personal
or professional relationship with any group or individual, I treat them
equitably. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I invite the current EOB, former EOB members, and any
previous Evergreen conference organizers to please weigh in with your opinions
on the guidelines and statements I provided in the course of the 2016
conference process.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Below I have detailed, as best as my memory and fast email
scraping allows, the issues that involved other vendors and sponsorships for
the conference. Please note
that some of the issues that are detailed below are issues where the Project,
if not following the guidelines, could inadvertently get the SFC in trouble
with the IRS and they could potentially lose their 501c3 status. Hence, the issues have implications
outside our community.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>On
May 13, 2015 GPLS broached the idea of a PINES Birthday Party (separate from
the reception). Tanya asked me how
this should be included in the budget and she and I agreed that since this was
branded as a PINES birthday party with specific money they wanted to put
towards it, GPLS should handle that separately – in other words, don’t put it
in your budget if you’re not in control of how the money is spent. We agreed that it sounded like a good
“after hours” event separate from the Reception. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">a.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>In October, the SFC weighed in on the idea of a
PINES birthday party when it was brought up again. In essence, the SFC stated that the conference should add a
specific sponsorship for the “Evergreen birthday party” and allow all sponsors
to participate, inviting members from PINES to assist in the planning. I echoed the concerns the SFC had about
the birthday party and gave my support to the SFC’s plan.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">b.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>In January, the Hosts stated that GPLS would be
sponsoring “cake, champagne, and a band” for the reception. In email I asked Tanya not to make
statements of this nature since sponsors do not get to dictate exactly how
their contributions are spent. I also expressed concern over two issues.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>i.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>The
conference was in the red and the Hosts were committing funds to
non-essentials. For those who have
never done a conference of this size, there is a food and beverage minimum of
tens of thousands of dollars that must be satisfied in house. I suggested that it was irresponsible
to spend money on bands and cake from outside sources instead of satisfying the
food and beverage minimum.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>ii.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>GPLS
wanted to support the party monetarily; however, they were unable to provide a
sponsorship. They emailed the SFC
in February, restating the intent to provide “cake, champagne, and a band” for
the “birthday party” with a plan to sell PINES t-shirts and have the proceeds
go toward the “extras” at the reception.
Tony at the SFC and I both voiced concerns over earmarked donations for
the conference that wasn’t part of the offered conference sponsorships. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:2in">1.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>To paraphrase something we have heard from the
SFC in the past regarding conferences, “…allowing sponsors to circumvent the
project's budget would prevent the project from using sponsorship income to
guard against shortfalls.”</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>iii.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>My
suggestion at this point to the Hosts was to offer a special Birthday Party
sponsorship to ALL sponsors. The
Host committee chose not to pursue that option but agreed on March 3 to strike
the cake and champagne. The Host proposed that the EOB or NC Cardinal recognize
the ten years of Evergreen at the Reception and invite someone from GPLS to say
a few words. I agreed with that
approach.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:2in">1.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>Note that the cake was later ordered without any
notification to the conference committee.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>iv.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>The
Host later stated that Emerald Data, who was the actual sponsor of the
Reception, would provide a “welcome speech” before introducing someone from
GPLS. I stated that it was
inappropriate for a vendor to receive a platform of this nature when other
vendors did not. The Breakfast
sponsors and the Hackfest sponsors did not get to speak at their sponsored
events so I suggested (strongly) that NC Cardinal provide the welcome and
introduction for GPLS to speak.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">c.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>Emerald Data then requested to provide a “giveaway”
at the reception. The conference
committee was not informed as to what the nature of this giveaway was and so my
recommendation was to not provide that option. The conference provides space in the exhibits area for
giveaways and we traditionally don’t allow sponsors to use their sponsored
event as advertising. Also, the
SFC needs the opportunity to “vet” giveaways.</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>There
was an issue that was not well understood regarding tote bag inserts.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">a.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>I did not specifically cover tote bag inserts
with the Hosts until February when I sent a reminder of ‘Phase Three things to
do before the conference’.
There was confusion over a previous email that listed the SFC
constraints on “swag” that is given out at the conference and swag was
conflated with tote bag inserts.
The official position of the conference (both the conference committee
and the SFC) is that we do not allow non-conference inserts into the official
bags/packets.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">b.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>Unfortunately, the Hosts had already accepted
some tote bag inserts form a local organization NC Live and the NC Library for
the Blind. To further complicate
matters, representatives from that NC Live were being given complimentary
registrations to the conference. I
suggested removing the inserts and making them freely available on a
table. The SFC agreed with the
solution. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>i.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>I
also requested that the free registrations be rescinded and offered to “be the
bad guy” and explain it to the registrants. The Host assured me that they would handle correcting this. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>ii.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>One
NC Live free registration was never corrected.</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>Free
registrations</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">a.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>There were two complimentary registrations
provided by the Hosts to two presenters – David Singleton (Charlotte
Mecklenburg) and Julie Walker (GPLS).
I notified the Hosts that presenters were not provided free
registrations (with the exception of keynote speakers) and asked the Host to
correct it or to allow me to correct it. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>i.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>The
Host indicated in email that it was corrected, however, these were never corrected and these registrants did not pay registration fees.</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>Emerald
Data “wrote in” a sponsorship for $500 for Tote Bags on their Sponsorship
form. This wasn’t a sponsorship
that was offered on the official form that went to all the potential sponsors
and it wasn’t on the Conference web site. Tanya stated that Emerald received an
outdated form with a Tote Bag sponsorship on it, however, tote bags were never
discussed as an official sponsorship. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">a.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>I asked Tanya to remove that sponsorship because
we don’t offer special sponsorships outside the official list lest we (the
Project or the Host) be accused of vendor bias. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">b.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>Tony Sebro, the SFC counsel also advocated for
this course of action.</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">c.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>The sponsorship was removed.</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>Due
to issues with inclusion of “extras” in a budget that was in the red, I sent a
request on February 24 to the Hosts to strike the Band from the budget until
such time as we could prove enough profit to pay for the extra expense. The Hosts responded, “ Right
now the Band expense is in the budget and I’m confident that we will be able to
meet all expenses. Since we are using the Conservancy to pay bills, I
would assume that the Conservancy will pay the band bill out of the Band
lineitem. I thought that general sponsorships paid for items like
this.”</p>
<p class="">My response stated, “The funds that are
brought in to cover the costs of the conference are not to be spent at the
discretion of the local conference committee. Those funds belong to the
SFC who directs them to our project. Our project expenditures are
directed by the EOB, not the local conference committee. We allow the
local committees a lot of leeway in conference planning since they know their
area and the venue best. However, the final decision on any budgetary
matters rests with the EOB and SFC, not the local committee. As of now,
with the budget still in the red and the matter of how certain sponsorships are
being handled, please put the entertainment on hold until we can resolve this
matter.”</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">6.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>Tanya
stated in her clarification, “This conflict created a need for another contact
point very late in the planning process.”</p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">a.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>On February 17, I was notified by the Board
Secretary, Chris Sharp, that Tanya had been going to him privately to resolve
issues for the conference and to deal with the SFC, excluding the conference
committee altogether. </p>
<p class="" style="margin-left:1in">b.<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'">
</span>If the issues discussed between Tanya, Chris,
and the SFC included the PINES sponsorship issues or anything regarding the
Emerald Data sponsorships, I would point out that there is a potential conflict
of interest in that involvement since GPLS is Chris’ employer and Emerald Data is
their vendor.</p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">7.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>Lastly,
it is clear that the EOB needs to be more transparent about issues surrounding
past conferences. This is not the
first year that a conference committee has been asked by Emerald Data to make
concessions or provide changes to sponsorships. The reason my responses were so firm on these issues was
because of past problems with this vendor at the Vancouver conference, the
Cambridge conference, and the Hood River conference. The EOB has not discussed these issues openly in order to
preserve community harmony; however, it seems it’s past time to bring more
transparency to the process. </p>
<p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8.)<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span>The
conference ultimately had a slim margin of profit, roughly $1,023.00. In my role as conference committee
chair, I felt that I did my best to uphold the conference values and structure
in accordance with past precedent, Project guidelines, and the SFC rules. The conference money is Project money
and utmost care should be taken by the Hosts to ensure each conference is
adding, rather than subtracting from the Evergreen Project’s coffers. Should, heaven forbid, we end up in
some kind of a legal battle over the Evergreen name or Trademark, we would need
every dime the Project has and then some. </p><p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> I hope this clarifies any vendor/sponsor related issues that I managed as the chair of the conference committee. I am, of course, available for questions and clarifications.</p><p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Sincerely,</p><p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Grace</p><p class="" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:0.5in"> </p>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Ruth Frasur <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:director@hagerstownlibrary.org" target="_blank">director@hagerstownlibrary.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Tanya Prokrym has sent this Statement of Clarification regarding comments made during the Evergreen Oversight Board meeting at the 2016 Evergreen International Conference in Raleigh, N.C. This statement will be discussed during the next EOB meeting in the #evergreen channel of IRC on Thursday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m.<span class=""><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:12.8000001907349px">Ruth Frasur</span><br style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><span style="font-size:12.8000001907349px">Director of the Historic(ally Awesome) Hagerstown - Jefferson Township Library</span><br style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><span style="font-size:12.8000001907349px">10 W. College Street in Hagerstown, Indiana (47346)</span><br style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><span style="font-size:12.8000001907349px">p <a href="tel:%28765%29%20489-5632" value="+17654895632" target="_blank">(765) 489-5632</a>; f <a href="tel:%28765%29%20489-5808" value="+17654895808" target="_blank">(765) 489-5808</a></span><br style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><br style="font-size:12.8000001907349px"><b><a href="http://hagerstownlibrary.org" target="_blank">Our Kickin' Website</a>, <a href="http://facebook.com/hjtplibrary" target="_blank">Our Rockin' Facebook Page</a>, and <a href="http://nettlecreekplayers.com" target="_blank">The Nettle Creek Players</a></b><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</span></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
eg-oversight-board mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:eg-oversight-board@list.evergreen-ils.org">eg-oversight-board@list.evergreen-ils.org</a><br>
<a href="http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eg-oversight-board" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eg-oversight-board</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:x-small">Grace Dunbar, Vice President</span></div><font size="1">
Equinox - Open Your Library<br><a href="mailto:gdunbar@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">gdunbar@esilibrary.com</a></font>
<font size="1"> <br>
1-877-OPEN-ILS | </font><font size="1"><a href="http://www.esilibrary.com" target="_blank">www.esilibrary.com</a></font><span style="font-size:12.8px">
</span><font size="1"> </font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="1"> </font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>