Meeting Minutes

New York State Court Reporters Association

December 15, 2007 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Board Members:

Present: (via telephone conference call)

	President Jean Beskin
	Vice-President Stephen Zinone
	Chair of the Board Lori Strong
	Immediate Past President Anthony Frisolone
	Executive Director Larry Donnelly
	Adam Alweis, Mary Jo Dean, John Pisano, Kerry Meegan, Victoria Torres-Butler, Alan Bowin

Absent:

	Secretary/Treasurer Jennifer Buccheri
	James Allocca, Diane Quartlebaum, David Mayo, Ellen Gianoulakos-Cruz, Myron Calderon, Michelle Houston

A quorum was present.

Proceedings:

	Meeting called to order at 9:56 a.m.
	Roll called
	Reading of minutes: Motion to dispense the reading of the prior minutes by Anthony Frisolone
	Discussion regarding the prior minutes begun by Lori Strong.
	Steve Zinone has or will email them to Jean Beskin.
	Jean Beskin will forward to Kerry Meegan to put on website.
	Motion to dispense reading seconded by Steve Zinone. All in favor.

President’s Report:

Jean Beskin. (Also submitted a written report which can be viewed in President’s Message on website.)

	Discussed membership renewal progress.
	Working on process to obtain security ID’s for freelancers and interpreters to come into the courthouses more easily. John Pisano suggested that it should be for members only. All agreed.

Review of Committee Assignments:

	Legislative Committee - Steve Zinone
	Website Committee - Kerry Meegan
	Membership Committee - Mary Jo Dean
	Hall of Fame Committee - Lori Strong, Felicia Biase, Ellen Gianoulakos-Cruz
	Audio-video Committee - Adam Alweis
	Bylaws - Alan Bowin
	Nominations and Elections Committee - Anthony Frisolone, Kathy Hoffman and Michelle Houston
	Mentoring Committee - Anthony Frisolone
	Freelance Committee - John Pisano
	Volunteer Committee - Lori Strong
	Seminar Committee - will depend on location

** Larry Donnelly suggested the Communications Committee be absorbed into the Website Committee and Kerry Meegan accepted responsibility.

Discussion was had concerning the idea of a tri-state or bi-state convention and possibly being involved with New Jersey’s Atlantic City Convention. Jean Beskin discussed the problem that some associations dues include fees for convention and ours does not, which would present a problem. Anthony Frisolone suggested that we speak to people who were involved in a tri-state or bi-state project in the 1970's to see how it worked and get some guidance. Larry Donnelly suggested Long Island being the logical choice for the next convention. It was agreed by all to explore options.

Steve Zinone will be allotted some time to speak to the group at the OCA seminar in Syracuse on December 28, 2007 and will hand out flyers to promote membership. Jean Beskin will do the same in New York City.

Treasurer’s Report

	Larry Donnelly prepared a Profit & Loss Statement (8/1/06 - 7/31/07)
	Secretary/Treasurer Jennifer Buccheri is ill.
	Discussion was had on ways to earn more income for the Association. One-day seminars were discussed. Lori Strong reminded everyone that the phone drive was successful in years past. Larry Donnelly had taken on the job of calling 500 people personally in the last attempt and had trouble getting people to answer their phones. Lori suggested going straight to the people we all work with and seeing them face-to-face.
	Adam Alweis suggested keeping people informed of legislative issues and keeping them up to date on what’s going on so they know what the Association does for them.
	Larry Donnelly asked for more articles to be written by members for “The Transcript.” Steve Zinone will write an article for “The Transcript” regarding Leadership, including statistics.
	Adam Alweis brought up the issue of NCSA representation from our Association on the issue of Electronic Recording and Voice Recording. Mary Jo Dean agreed we always need to have representation at the NCSA meetings. Adam Alweis said we must stress that we don’t agree with NCRA’s position on ER and VR. Steve Zinone suggested reporters go to www.concernedreporters.com to become educated on the topic. Further discussion was had concerning ER, VR, and NCRA’s position.
	Mary Jo Dean discussed a recent email she composed asking for a closer look at our finances and how bills are being paid late, i.e. the website payments.
	Jean Beskin stated that Jennifer is in the hospital and will be for a while. She will not continue to serve as Secretary/Treasurer. (We all wish her well.) Anthony Frisolone and Jean Beskin are signatories on the account. Jean will make sure the website payment is taken care of ASAP. Larry Donnelly will take care of the payment of bills in the future. Jean will train him on the accounting program.

Convention Results:

The Niagara Falls Convention made approximately $6,000, the most ever made on a NYSCRA convention. Steve Zinone has gotten positive feedback by the people in Rochester who attended. Jean Beskin has gotten positive feedback as well.

Election of Directors

	Adam nominated Alan Bowin for the First Department. Motion seconded by Steve Zinone. All in favor.
	Lynette Cruz will no longer be on the Board.
	There remains an open spot in each Department.
	Steve Zinone will reach out to freelancers he recently met to see if they are willing to serve.
	Larry Donnelly indicated that we need more Board members from Albany.

Committee Reports

	Membership - Membership Report submitted by Larry Donnelly. Can’t compare years until March.
	Website - Written report submitted by Kerry Meegan. Kerry verbally stressed the importance of members contacting herself or Larry Donnelly on website matters to avoid duplication. Larry agreed.
	Mentoring - Written report submitted by Anthony Frisolone. At this point it was noted that Anthony Frisolone had been lost from the call. Victoria Torres-Butler indicated that Anthony had told her schools are difficult to create a relationship with and do not seem interested in participating in the mentoring program. Steve Zinone indicated that Monroe Community College does not want us mentoring their students. Victoria, as a trainer and teacher herself, says that most students are amazed when they find out there is a program like this and the schools don’t want us interfering. Mary Jo Dean suggested sending letters to the schools who aren’t cooperating because the students are the ones being hurt by this. Victoria believes it’s worth a shot, but doesn’t think it will change anything. Further discussion was had on the issues.

New Business:

	Audio Sync - John Pisano believes the use of Audio Sync needs to be addressed at some point in the future. Some discussion was had about misuse of the equipment.
	Mandatory CSR for Freelancers - Larry Donnelly suggested that it is important to decide this issue now. Lori Strong is on the CSR Board and will bring the issue up to them. She thinks it’s a great idea. Larry says approximately 26 states have this requirement. Larry also suggests that we consider looking into CEU credits for those taking the test. Further discussion was had on the issues. Lori Strong suggested forming a committee to look into it. Steve Zinone, Alan Bowin and John Pisano all volunteer. Jean Beskin will also speak with her NCSA contacts about the idea.
	Lobby for Exclusion from Workers’ Comp - Larry Donnelly spoke about freelancers being audited by the State Insurance Fund and having to pay Workers’ Comp for their reporters. Real estate agents have an exception to this process. Further discussion was had on the issues. Will refer subject to Davidoff to have freelance court reporters excluded as well. Adam Alweis suggested that we have a seminar for the freelance owners to hear someone speak on the issue. Jean Beskin indicated that there has already been a meeting on the issue, not a seminar. It is important to reestablish our relationship and bonds with the freelancers. John Pisano and Harriet Brenner have contacts. Mary Jo Dean suggested that John and Harriet do a presentation at the next convention, which may bring more freelancers to participate. Adam suggested George Trovatto’s son as well. ** The two issues that will be referred to Davidoff will be the Workers’ Compensation issue and the CSR issue.
	Inner Image (Heart scan organization) - Larry Donnelly received a letter from this company affiliated with Beth Israel Medical Center, who has opened the first Risk Assessment and Preventive Cardiology facility in metropolitan New York. They would like to offer our association preventive cardiology scans at a reduced rate. Board Member Ellen Cruz has had positive dealings with this company. Larry suggests it is a free benefit to offer to the members. Mary Jo Dean believes that we are not in the medical field and should keep to court reporter related advertizing and offers. Lori Strong suggests that it is a benefit only the members in NYC will avail themselves of because of distance. Larry said that’s where the majority of members are. Steve Zinone suggested putting something on the website and possibly getting income on the number of clicks it receives. Larry said we can’t track hits on our website. Lori doesn’t think the letter is clear about the price that will be offered to us. Larry said it’s the same as it’s offered others, $375. Steve believes this is a popular procedure and it would be a good benefit to members. Mary Jo Dean, Kerry Meegan, Lori Strong, Adam Alweis do not agree. Further discussion on the issues. Larry will look into the matter further.
	Gameznflix - Jean Beskin submitted a fund-raising idea where the association could earn money on referrals to this company. It is a movie and game rental internet concern. The Association could earn $10 for each trial by a member and a percentage per member who signs up. Further discussion was had on the issue and it was determined that it was inadvisable.

	A suggestion was made by Alan Bowin as to offering a basket of court reporter related discounts to new members.
	Larry Donnelly said we need more sponsors. Mary Jo Dean stressed that we need to keep it in the profession or related to it.
	Fees were discussed for advertisers.
	Steve Zinone suggested a “Sourcebook” for reporters who are members. Adam Alweis and Steve volunteered to look into advertizing and the possibility of a “Sourcebook.” Alan Bowin suggested Larry Donnelly ask people on their membership invoice if they want to be included in the “Sourcebook.” A fee schedule will be discussed further.

Lifetime Members Vote - Larry Donnelly submitted the following for lifetime membership:

	Anthony LaMagna - member since 1975
	Karen J. Bernstein - member since 1984
	Steve Forleo - member since 1975
	Mattia Saraceni - member since 1983
	Marvin Birnbaum - member since 1956
	Mary Jo Dean makes the motion to accept.

Motion seconded by Steve Zinone. All in favor.

Next Convention

	Discussion was had on where and when. Possibility of Long Island
	Mary Jo Dean, who was the chair of the 2007 committee, reminded everyone that more than one person is needed to be successful. It’s too much work for one person. Jean Beskin will reach out to find volunteers. A committee must be formed.
	Adam Alweis brought up a new topic of the NYS Fair in Syracuse and possibly having a booth there to recruit members. The corrections officers, state troopers and NYS Senate all have booths there. Steve Zinone had looked into the matter previously and found that it was $5,000 to $25,000 a booth. The discussion was tabled.

Seminars on Alternate Days

	Adam Alweis made the suggestion that the Association provide alternate days for seminars to accommodate Sabbath observers who cannot attend. Lori Strong said that Kathy Hoffman ran a seminar in Buffalo on the Lincoln’s Birthday holiday last year, which was a Tuesday, and that is an option to consider again. Mary Jo Dean suggested seminars from 6-9 on weekdays after work at a restaurant with dinner and a speaker.
	Lori also suggested more options for seminars on the Friday night and Sunday of the convention.
	Steve Zinone suggested having the next Convention in Syracuse at the Turning Stone Casino on Columbus Day weekend.

Business Card Advertisement

	Lori Strong thinks it’s a great idea, along with several board members.
	Larry Donnelly reminded everyone that it is not as easy as it appears.
	Discussion was had on what is involved and suggestions were made.
	Steve Zinone thinks that the “Sourcebook” will resolve the issue.

“The Transcript”: hard copy vs. e-transcript

Discussion was had on the cost of all hard copy, all e-transcript or two and two. It was decided and agreed that it will remain two hard copy/two e-transcript.

2009 Dues Increase and Bylaws Amendment

Larry asked for suggestions on the cap in the Bylaws on dues so there can be gradual dues increases over the next several years. It is something the entire membership must vote on. Discussion was had on the issue. Steve Zinone made a motion to put a vote to the membership to change the Bylaws to raise the cap on dues to $200 at the next annual meeting. Motion seconded by Lori Strong. All in favor.

Further Business not included on the Agenda

	Steve Zinone suggested a possible way to earn funds is a program created to share with new members of the Bar on how to make a record for a donation to the Association. He will look into putting a presentation together.
	Jean Beskin reminded everyone that we need a volunteer for Legislative Boot Camp in February of ‘08. Lori Strong volunteered to try to get the time off from work. But due to the time of year, it may be difficult to be approved. She will let Jean know ASAP.
	Adam Alweis would like to know if there will be practice classes for the next Supreme Court Reporter exam. Jean Beskin, Lori Strong, Steve Zinone will provide dates for the sessions for their respective locations. Adam Alweis will see if he can establish something in Syracuse if he can find the volunteers.

Close of business

	Motion to adjourn the meeting by Adam Alweis.
	Motion seconded by Steve Zinone. All in favor.
	Proceedings adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
	Minutes taken and submitted by Kerry Meegan.