Meeting Minutes General Membership Meeting January 30, 2011 Meeting called to order at 3:20 p.m. Greetings from Gail Eggeman, chapter chair; discussed the goals of this meeting and need for assistance in setting and reaching our goals. Board members present: Gail Eggeman, Noreen Kinney, Pam Sindlinger, Lianne McDonnell-Kruger, Jaye Williams. (Absent: Mary LouJanson) Participants present (SFUSA members in bold): Robert and Penny Simone Emanuel Roux (food business owner), DeserieValloreo(herbalist), Barbara Moritz, Emily Golden (personal chef), Olga Bof(opening a children’s bookstore in St. P) Polly Frush(backyard gardener, health-related eating), Marty Lentz (market vendor, cook, gardener), Carla Jimenez (loves good, healthy food), Brooke Warner(Holistic network of Tampa Bay), Anita Jimenez (former chef, interested in children’s nutrition, teacher), Sherry Jacobs (foods teacher at St. Pete High School), KraylFunch, June Kittay (health and fitness professional), George Bonez Diane Willis Pete Schatscheneider Gail introduced Ann Wykell, former cultural affairs manager and consultant, an invited guest to help facilitate organization of our chapter, next steps. Informal goal to be the “Proudest Chapter in Florida.”Ann asked the participants to consider their entry point for joining our organization, and their connecting point for joining with others of like mind to further our goals. How can Slow Food be an organization that you can all connect to? Crossing the bridges between counties is a barrier. About ¼ of the people here today are from Hillsborough County. We need to be able to connect without having to travel great distances or necessarily meet face to face frequently. Ann distributed a form to all participants to complete to brainstorm ideas for activity and resources, reflecting the priorities of our chapter, including: -food events and themes -education for children and families -promote healthy processing of local products (ex: off-season co-op) Ann distributed a second form related to how we might want to organize ourselves with four possible visions: #1the “big tent” where people share ideas and information #2organizers of projects and activities as prioritized by its leadership #3 as a primary source of advocacy for Slow Food principles #4 as a “meeting place” where people with their own projects can find support A poll was taken that showed that #3 was the greatest priority (13 votes), followed by #4 (5 votes) of the people who are here today. This pattern was strengthened by participants’ second choices. We will need to agree on how to use our resources (finances and people). A poll was taken to see how much time the participants would be willing to devote to meetings per month. Most would be willing to attend 1-2 meetings per month. The suggestion was made that technology can help to create connections without having to have face-to-face meetings as frequently. Ann showed a sample organizational chart based on St. Petersburg city management as a top down hierarchy that prevails despite reshuffling. Communications are usually downward.Another model chosen by some organizations calls for a “flattening” of the hierarchy in order to give the workers more of an opportunity to provide feedback and participate in decision-making. A third example (such as Wikipedia)is one where everyone has equal opportunity to provide input and/or feedback (without intermediaries). Ideas for organization: Balance creativity and support by creating committees. Organize around a web-based community. We have to respect the goals of the larger organization (we cannot act too independently and still maintain our affiliation) One participant questioned how Slow Food is “expected to operate.” Gail responded that each chapter has latitude to determine how priorities are set. Lianne stated that we have a lot of ideas, but need to have a plan of how to bring those ideas to fruition. The need for clear leadership was something that most people agreed is needed. How do we decide what activities we want to pursue: who is interested in helping, how do we make it happen, what resources are needed? We need to decide how this is to come about. Gail gave an example of the time it takes for her to find a meeting space, especially in Hillsborough County. Ann suggested that each area might need a liaison that is not a board member who can be responsible for finding local meeting spaces. Lianne discussed the need for assistance with the websiteand the need for help with promoting events and adding content. Jaye mentioned that we need to know who is the most invested in order to target requests for assistance with specific issues: preferably members, who by virtue of their membership are most invested in the organization. One participantoffered a diagram that illustrates an organizational model showed a “solar system” model, with a central group and each committee contributing to the central leadership group. Ann pointed out that we need to accept the reality of the different locations and not resist it, establishing sub-groups in different locations. Ultimately, the events and activities have to further our goals and we need to accept suggestions both from within and outside of the organization. Another participant stated that we need guidelines regarding activities that are appropriate and would be supported by the organization. Ideas generated by the participants: Monthly meetings that include either lecture or a movie and dinner; Demonstrations of how to use foods that are in season; Help teachers create edible schoolyard gardens; Urban or backyard gardening workshops; Farm to table events; Workshop to teach food processing according traditional methods; Lecture on food sensitivities; Creation of a newsletter; Find corporate sponsors; Assisting school gardens in providing food for school kitchens; Conduct healthy eating classes to families with children; Set up a celebrity chef event; Have a presence at relevant events that feature food and food producers; Collaborate with existing like-minded organizations; Hold a discussion at the social justice round table; Add more links to our website: Develop an information clearinghouse on food sources; Sponsor lectures/programs about edible native plants; Noreen discussed the fact that Sarasota has a large geographical area and is able to attract members from their whole area. Emphasized the need for a monthly meeting with a particular topic, which has worked well for the Sarasota group in establishing their membership base. Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m. Most participants stayed to talk with others.