Update For Finance – Oct 2024
OIAA Finance Committee
Record of Minutes
Saturday, October 12th, 2024
8:00am – am HDT
11:00am – pm PDT
2:00pm -pm EDT
Attendees :
Felix – Alternate Treasurer
Barry – Journeyman, Longtime member of Finance Committee and Trustee at Large
Leslie A – Chair of the Communications Committee
Randy C. – Alternate of the COmmunications COmmittee – Videographer
Jeff – OIAA Secretary
Kd – Kevin
Paul – Alternate of the Communications Committee – Archivist
Nicky W. -Secretary
Susan – OIAA Chair
Felix introduces himself as the Alternate Treasurer for OIAA. Since they are supposed to start with introductions, he asks KD to lead them in the Serenity Prayer.
Felix thanks everyone and goes around the room for introductions, starting with KD. KD introduces himself as Kevin. Jeff introduces himself as OIAA’s Secretary. Randy introduces himself as the Alternate Chair of the Communications Committee, specifically helping with videos. Leslie introduces herself as the Chair of the Communications Committee. Barry introduces himself as a Journeyman, a longtime member of the Finance Committee, and Trustee At Large. Paul introduces himself as Community Alternate Chair and Archivist. Nicky introduces herself and mentions that she is just listening.
August and September Minute Review
Felix looks at the agenda and notes that the approval of minutes is next. He mentions that he will be sending out the minutes after the meeting, so he’s unsure how to proceed with their approval at this moment.
Minutes put aside for next Meeting
The next item is a review of the financial reports, which include the Budget Variance, Balance Sheet, and Contributions. He adds that they will also go over the proposed 2025 Committee Budgets. He clarifies that he only knew about the Communications Budget, but Jeff has submitted his as well. Jeff confirms that he had submitted it some time ago.
Felix asks if anyone has any business to discuss before they conclude with the Responsibility Statement. Felix finishes going over the Agenda
Review of Budget Variance
He then moves on to a quick presentation of the Budget Variance. He says that there isn’t much to discuss, as it was another good month in terms of contributions, but not much variance. He highlights that they are still doing very well, resulting in a significant decrease in organizational costs compared to the budget, especially in total administration expenses. There was also a significant reduction in what was expected to be spent on the Tech Special Worker. Felix has no additional notes and asks if anyone has questions or anything to add to the Budget Variance. Barry requests that Felix go back up to the top and scroll down slowly for review. Felix complies and asks Barry if he has any questions. Barry observes that they seem to be underspending against the budget. Felix agrees, noting they’re significantly above their anchor, with expenses consistently below projections. That concludes the discussion on the Budget Variance.
NO QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK
Review of Balance Sheet
For the Balance Sheet, Felix doesn’t have much to add. He notes that they have $84,000 in Checking, $55,000 in Market, which constitutes their prudent reserve, bringing the total cash to $140,000. Susan asks Felix to scroll back up, pointing out that their prudent reserve was established as half of their budget. Felix confirms that, adding they have a dream fund of $84,000. Their budget this year is approximately $100,000. Susan highlights that they are essentially $30,000 over and $30,000 ahead of their reserve. Felix agrees, attributing some savings to switching over to a new service for translation and interpretation.
NO QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK
Review of the Contributions Sheet
He moves on to the Contributions sheet, noting that there were no significant deviations from the norm in group contributions for the last month.
Felix asks if Susan, Barry, or anyone else has anything further to add. Susan brings up a question she’s been wondering about for some time: whether there’s a way to identify which countries the contributions are coming from. Felix answers that PayPal can provide some breakdown, but he doesn’t have the details at the moment. He offers to look into it, and Susan appreciates that. Barry inquires about individual contributions compared to the previous month, trying to assess whether they are increasingly being consolidated into group contributions. Felix notes that they had $488 last month for individuals and adds that they had contributions totaling $455 this month.
NO QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK
Felix then asks Susan if she has anything else to add. Susan shares that she was recently on a podcast for Grapevine and found it exciting. Felix jokes that they will definitely hold that against her.
The meeting then moves on to the proposed 2025 Committee Budgets. Felix asks Jeff to share his screen since Felix doesn’t seem to have the documents. However, Jeff had to leave for another meeting, so Barry reshares the screen when Jeff returns.
Communications Committee Budget
Randy mentions that Jeff is occupied with something else, so Felix turns to Leslie. Leslie states that all her alternate chairs are present to help explain any parts beyond her knowledge. She explains that the revision to the budget includes an additional $70 for two members to attend the online version of the 2025 International Convention. This will allow them to see how it’s set up, which might be useful for the next OIAA International Convention.
Moving on to dues and subscriptions, Felix asks Paul to elaborate on the metadata scrubbing service. Paul explains that this service is crucial for the archives, helping secure the identities of people sharing archival materials. Metadata, like the creator’s name attached to Word documents, can inadvertently reveal identities. The goal is to remove such data to protect anonymity. The placeholder budget for this service is $300, though costs may vary. Free solutions exist, but they carry concerns about data security, which is why they are considering a paid service.
Felix thanks Paul and Randy and says he’s sure they got this number because they’ve already looked at three or more different service providers, and that’s basically the ballpark figure. Paul agrees, saying it’s based on a real-life example and cost for metadata scrubbing software. Leslie thanks Paul and mentions that next, Google is supposed to come out over the summer with a video program that Randy is eager to start using. However, they don’t have a lot of information on it yet.
Leslie asks Randy to give more background on the associated cost. Randy begins by saying, “Thanks,” and Leslie introduces him as their video guru. Randy humorously acknowledges the title and explains that currently, Google doesn’t have a full-fledged video creation program. Google Slides is a very basic tool for movie making, not suitable for their needs. Google is rolling out Gemini, an AI platform, which includes something called Google Vid. This tool can create videos automatically based on user prompts.
Randy adds that they don’t have specific details on how this would integrate into their OIAA workspace. They don’t know if it costs anything to be part of Google’s program or if they will have access to it with their existing setup. They’ve allocated $500 as a placeholder in the budget since they don’t yet fully understand the costs. He suggests that if they decide to pursue Google Vid, their tech team would need to evaluate its fit within their workspace. Randy and Leslie plan to alternate attending tech meetings to stay informed on developments.
Leslie confirms they’ve discussed this with Mark, who has also done some research. It remains a mystery program, but if it becomes available, they want to adopt it quickly. They settled on the $500 placeholder, assuming it may not be a recurring cost but rather a one-time expense for 2024. Felix questions whether $500 might not be enough and asks if it’s an annual cost. Randy and Leslie clarify that they don’t believe it will be a yearly expense, but they’re using $500 as a placeholder until more information is available.
Barry raises a question for Leslie, wondering if this technology should be categorized under video conferencing instead of other technology. Leslie clarifies that it’s not conferencing software; it’s more akin to a video creation tool like Microsoft PowerPoint, hence why it wasn’t placed under conferencing. Barry thanks her for the clarification.
Felix asks Leslie another question, wanting to understand if this belongs under their Google Ads budget, since he initially thought it might. Leslie responds that it could be related but isn’t sure yet, especially since the program is still in alpha testing. They discuss possibly removing this from the budget and re-submitting it as an unbudgeted request once it’s available.
Susan chimes in, suggesting they leave it as a placeholder for now, considering they have funds available. If necessary, they can request additional funds later on.
Leslie moves on to discuss professional fees. They’ve created three major videos, each between three to six minutes long, which are currently on their YouTube channel. They want to embed ASL windows in these videos. The $500 allocated will pay for ASL interpreters who are also members of Alcoholics Anonymous, hence more expensive but worth it. Randy adds that the ASL interpreters will help make outward-facing videos, like “What is OIAA?” more accessible.
Leslie asks Randy if ASL interpreters are needed for their “how-to” videos, but Randy suggests it’s more critical for externally facing content. Randy explains the process involves having an interpreter join a Zoom session, recording them, and then editing the video to include ASL interpretation. Leslie acknowledges that they’ve over-budgeted slightly just in case.
Randy circles back to an earlier item about a $70 budget for attending the 2025 International Convention online. They plan to purchase a video of the event for $60, which could be useful for future events. Randy emphasizes the value of understanding how paid registrations might support self-sufficiency and bring added benefits. Leslie offers to update the budget to include this $60 expense. Randy agrees, saying it’s a minor addition that could enhance their archives.
Leslie asks Felix for guidance on whether to adjust the budget now or resubmit it later. Felix says she can resubmit it via email, as it shouldn’t be an issue for such a small amount. However, he hesitates on decisions regarding ASL interpreters due to ongoing issues. Leslie acknowledges these concerns and is prepared to address them if necessary.
They agree to resubmit their budget and revisit discussions when the treasurers return.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE BUDGET REQUEST TABLED
Felix wraps up the meeting by thanking everyone. He notes that Jeff appears to have left the call. Turning to Nicky, Felix apologizes for not yet distributing the minutes she sent him. He suggests they defer reviewing the minutes until everyone has had more time to look them over.
Felix asks Susan to close the meeting with the Responsibility Statement.
