- Action Items -

• Blog Post – announcing Piggly Wiggly :: Camille
• Newsletter – BJ
• Chatlist Post – Jaime
• Send emails from theplenty@gmail regarding member offerings to BJ – Camille
• convert media list to iContact PR List – Jaime
• Reach out to Durham folks, Bounitful Backyards, Downtown Startup – BJ

- Proposals -

Newsletter, up to 2 times a month instead of weekly. Prevent unsubscribes & to stop over flooding members.

Engage with Adam Sherwood a Senior UNC Student for comission-based membership sales. $25 per membership, effective September.

- Minutes -

Piggly Wiggly – Camille talked to Blake, they are online, stickers are on the doors, has purchased with PLENTY

Decision Making – all decisions require quroum (at least 4 members out of 7) Concern was raised about the means of acquiring frame proofs which will be reviewed.

Financial Report – $620.76 in bank account

Devin – recent transplant to Carrboro from Chicago. Interested in helping the PLENTY. Works as Foreclosure Counselor. Meeting with us after Board Meeting. Possibly have Devin and Adam work together??

Education – integrate into website information regarding benefits of a cash diet, the real cost of using credit cards, value of food & local economy

Numbers…
$14,800k sold
$15,866k in account

$2,454 estimated OLD P in bank

~MOTIONS~

Exchange Rate to PAR – 1 to 1, intro rate finished

• Fully reserved thanks to Lyle
• BJ Moves, all in favor (moya second, jennifer third)
• Effective Monday, July 13th
• Publicity includes email, blog post

Pending – Launch Siler City Branch -  Monday, August 3?

• Catering for launch – Celebrity Dairy???

~ACTIONS~

BJ – will give no interest loan to PCC/Abundance to pay Melissa & Barefoot
Pecha Kucha presentation – PLENTY by the numbers & talk berkshares
Newsletter for this month

Reach out to Harrington
Hold onto Old PLENTY for future fundraising

Camille – Paying barefoot press

Jaime – framed photos & for sale on internet
Change text on website

Lyle or Moya – Mina Benas, Incubator Coffee Shop, Southern States, Ace Hardware

Melissa is finishing:
~Event @ CM
~Meeting with Piggly Wiggly

~CM Event Schedule~
10:00- 1:00 :: Lyle
12:00- 2:00 :: BJ
1:30 – 3:30 :: Jaime
2:00 – 4:00 :: Emma
3:30 – 5:30 :: Camille
5:00 – ???? :: Moya

~FINANCES~

Lyle – Need to sell/drive membership
Ask for help – community driven membership sales

Camille – re-education effort

BJ – can’t sustain

Jaime – UNC student orgs, grassroots, intern, door to door – Abundance taking this own

Camille – more important that currency gets used versus paid members, paid employee

Lyle – thinks it ran out of steam because it was all volunteer organization
keep membership drive, get fundraising up. 38 members only – heartbreak, focus is too inward

Jennifer – its not just initial contact, it is the follow up.

Lyle – we need to show more face

Moya – 1 in 10 take it right off the bat, need to know whats in it for them, keep talking over and over again. Where does $50 go to? Explain the benefits?

Currency needs printed, website needs maintained, stickers, phone number, advertising for 1 year.

BJ – transition out gracefully, finish out July. $1,500 invoice from June, estimated $1000 in July. Turn framed into cash, up to $5625.

Jennifer – hang them up at member business with price tags.
Lyle – put frames for sale at Chatham Marketplace.

~LONGEVITY~

Lyle – look at old problems.
Our job as trustees is to weigh in when we see a circulatory problem

~circulation
~organization

BJ – who keeps up with the newsletters?

Jaime – all of us, trade it out month to month

Lyle – we all update the website, newsletters?

Plenty Meeting 5/8/09 10AM

Agenda:
Flesh out plans for our April 12 official Plenty Launch
Discuss potential Plenty Party at the City Tap
Review draft articles of incorporation – Melissa
Website / Online Membership Directory
Bank Balance – who should the bank call when the account balance falls below $5k – Jennifer
On foot exchanging of old for new & selling new – Abundance
Membership solicitation – restrictions on local vs not., etc – Abundance
Confusion for people with old versus new especially as regards the ‘turtle’ – Abundance
Fundraising/Proof Sale – BJ

Attending:
BJ Lawson – President
Camille Armantrout – Secretary, Treasurer
Jaime Chandra – Vice President
Jennifer Benefield – Board Member
Lyle Estill – Board Member
Melissa Frey – Executive Director
Morgan Mihok- Interested party
Moya Hallstein – Board Member
Phil Lyons – Board Member

Actions:
Abundance Foundation to create a second account for operations
BJ to send out a revised Memorandum of Understanding between the Executive Director and the Board
Jaime will speak to Nicole, the framer about shipping framed Plenty proofs.

Minutes:
Relaunch – Jennifer said Capital Bank is ready for the May 12 relaunch at Capital Bank in Pittsboro. Angelina will cater, there’ll be food all day, Nicole, the framer is working on proofs, the press release went out. We decided to charge $150 for the complete set of framed proofs and $75 for the small set and to have the framer ship them to customers.  We set up a schedule for individuals from the board to be at the bank during the relaunch.  Emma Skurnick will sign the Plenty Proofs on the back of the frame at the bank.

Memberships – We now have 18 plenty coop members. The meeting at the General Store Cafe went well with about 8 business owners attending.  Jaime noted that the online membership directory is not search able and has been doing research for a search able software that will also track when member dues are due.  Bj will work with Jaime to find the right software.

We discussed the current by laws which state that board members must belong to the cooperative.  Melissa said that with cooperatives, membership matters in the context of governance.  We discussed a lower priced individual membership or a ‘friend of the PLENTY’ option for us in receiving donations. BJ suggested that we revise and redefine the membership rules in the by laws to include non-business owner memberships which could serve on the board.

Incorporation – Melissa said that since we plan to incorporate as a cooperative, not a non-profit, we will retain the Abundance Foundation as fiscal sponsor for donations.  However, after incorporation, the Plenty Currency Cooperative will handle all memberships and expenses. BJ moved that we try to recruit Kathie Russell as pro bono lawyer to help Melissa incorporate.  Jaime seconded this and all voted in favor.  [Update - Kathie has agreed]

Plenty Account at Capital Bank – Jennifer wanted to know who to contact when the bank balance fell below $5,000 and it was decided that she should contact Melissa.  We discussed putting the name of the bank on the next printing of currency and also discussed expanding the Plenty to the Raleigh/Durham area.  We discussed opening an second account for the Plenty.  The first account would serve as a Backstop Account and the second account as an Operating Account.

We reviewed the by-laws. Lyle moved to adopt and publish them. Jennifer seconded the motion. All voted in favor. They are posted here: http://theplenty.org/about/bylaws

The group reviewed and edited the membership application. Jaime Chandra will publish an online form with payment capability to theplenty.org site.

Printing – BJ reported that Barefoot Press needs 2 weeks to print currency.

Financial Report – Camille reported the program balance after we pay the printer. The group discussed prospects for donations.

Re-launch Timeline – Jennifer wants to make sure the Pittsboro branch of Capital Bank has a seamless process in place before we announce the official re-launch of the currency. We agreed upon an official re-launch date of May 12 with a couple of weeks to practice in ’soft launch’ mode. At that time we will publish a press release

Chatham Marketplace Local Cooperative Membership Directory – Phil is compiling online and for print versions of a directory. He will note whether businesses in the directory take Plentys. We talked about placing an advertisement for the Plenty in the directory.

BJ moved to adjourn the meeting. Jaime Chandra seconded the motion and everyone agreed that the meeting was over.