[CircularOfJanus] February 2010 Circular

Lynette R. F. Cowper lcowper at io.com
Sat Jan 30 23:20:01 EST 2010


Circle of Janus Science Fiction Club of Indiana
  The Circular of Janus
  January 25, 2010
  Volume 31, Issue 2

Contents:
  Presidential Ponderings - Kathie Thompson
  Minutes of the January Meeting - Stephen Kendall
  Minutes of the January Board Meeting - Stephen Kendall
  Answers to the January Circular
  A Few Cool Things to Do in Indy - Lynette Cowper
  Mark Your Calendars
  New Books - from Locus
  February Meeting Agenda
  Meeting Info & Club Officers

*****

Presidential Ponderings
  by Kathie Thompson

Hello,

It is with great enthusiasm that I greet you once again as your President 
and also ConChair for 2012. I would like to thank all of those who have 
faith in me to do the best job that I can.

Thank you to all the members that ran for an elected position. Running for 
a position is not an easy thing to do. There are responsibilities that go 
with every office. Each person running is agreeing to fulfill an 
obligation to the club to have the duties of that job completed in a 
timely and professional manner.

The next couple of months we have fabulous speakers. For February we have 
our own Sergeant-at-Arms and Webmaster, Jeff Thompson. Jeff has done 
amazing things with the web site after spending many (and I really mean 
many) late nights and weekends working on it. Not only will Jeff be 
showing the new website but will be bringing handouts so if you need 
"refreshed" you will have a copy of instructions to help you. In March, 
Mark Racop will be speaking on Independent Filmmaking, and in April Rob 
Pyatt will be astounding us again with "Weird Science".

Thank you,
Kathie Thompson

*****

Minutes of the January Meeting
  by Stephen Kendall

January 2, 2010, 7:00pm
  Seventh & Eighth United Christian Church,
  2916 W 30th St,
  Indianapolis, Indiana 46222.

Board members in attendance:
    Andy Andrews, Chairman of the Board
    Kathie Thompson, President
    Stephen Kendall, Secretary
    Tony Patterson, Treasurer
    Jeff Thompson, Sergeant-at-Arms
    Kat Robertson, InConJunction 30 ConChair
    Mike Cowper, InConJunction 31 ConChair

Board members not in attendance (reason):
    Lynette Cowper, Vice President (illness)

Circle of Janus members in attendance (if attendance was taken):
    Cheryl Miller Andrews, Wm. R. Andrews, John Belden, Chris Canary, Wendy 
Carson, Megan Cowper, Michael Cowper, Anjala Dick, Dillan Dick, Andrew 
Happli, Stephen Kendall, Gary Kitchen, M. Kocias, Steven Marsh, Ellen 
Patterson, Tony Patterson, Randall Porter, Kathleen Robertson, Emily 
Rodgers, Tracey Rollison, Kyra D. Shidler, Jeff N. Thompson, Kathie 
Thompson, Lane Wickliff, Mike Wickliff

Absentee ballots cast by:
    Jess Bunn, Lynette Cowper, Dee Moore, Mike Seuss, Andrew Speed, Robbin 
Speed, George Starkey, Neil Thompson, Samantha Thompson, Crystal Walter

Guests introduced:
    None

Call the meeting to order:
    Called to order at 7:05pm

Reading of the last meeting's minutes:
    The minutes of the November meeting were accepted as published.

InConJunction 30 Convention Report:
    We're still having a convention.
    Melissa Kocias has become the Dealers' Room head.
    Emily Rodgers will be the Dealers' Room assistant.
    Becky Margedant will be the Registration head.
    Cheryl Miller-Andrews will be the Masquerade head.
    All major positions have been filled.
    Art Show still needs an assistant.
    Please send programming suggestions to programming at inconjunction.org.
    There will be a programming meeting in late February for general 
brainstorming.
    We are considering having the hotel set up a grilling station in the 
courtyard for one day.
    Dealers' Room prices and application should be online by the end of 
this month.

InConJunction 31 Convention Report:
    Still having a convention.

Board report:
    There was a board meeting on November 17.
    The proceedings of that meeting were discussed.
    Kat Robertson apologized for missing several board meetings.

Treasurer's report:
    The Treasurer's report was presented.

Other communications:
    None of note.

Old Business:
    Elections:
       Tracey Rollison declined her nomination for Vice President.
       Kat Robertson is the election officer. Andy Andrews and Drew Happli 
will be her assistants.
       The meeting was handed over to Kat.
       For President:
          Kat Robertson nominated Cheryl Miller-Andrews for President. 
Wendy Carson seconded. Cheryl declined.
          Presidential nominations were closed. Presidential speeches were 
given. The election was held.
          Kathie Thompson was elected President.
       Vice-President:
          Kathie Thompson nominated Jeff Thompson for Vice-President. Chris 
Canary seconded. Jeff accepted.
          Vice-Presidential nominations were closed. Vice-Presidential 
speeches were given. The election was held.
          Lynette Cowper was elected Vice-President..
       For Secretary:
          Mike Cowper nominated Jeff Thompson for Secretary. Jeff declined.
          Randy Porter declined to be nominated for Secretary.
          Secretarial nominations were closed. Kat Robertson moved that 
Stephen Kendall be elected Secretary by acclamation. The motion passed.
          Stephen Kendall was elected Secretary.
       For Treasurer:
          Nominations for Treasurer were closed. Treasurer speeches were 
given. The election was held.
          Emily Rodgers was elected Treasurer.
       For Sergeant-at-Arms:
          Nominations for Sergeant-at-Arms were closed. Sergeant-at-Arms 
speeches were given. The election was held.
          There was a runoff between Megan Cowper and Jeff Thompson.
          Jeff Thompson was elected Sergeant-at-Arms.
       For InConJunction 32 (2012) ConChair:
          Nominations for ConChair 2012 were closed. [Nominations for 
ConChair, as always, closed December 31 --LRFC] ConChair speeches were 
given. The election was held.
          Kathie Thompson was elected ConChair 2012.
          Kat thanked the voters and new officers, and thanked the 
non-winning candidates.
       (The final ballot of candidates as of the close of nominations, with 
winners indicated by an asterisk, is included here for reference.)
          President:
             Jeff Thompson
             *Kathie Thompson
          Vice-President:
             *Lynette Cowper
             Jeff Thompson
          Secretary:
             *Stephen Kendall
          Treasurer:
             Wendy Carson
             *Emily Rodgers
          Sergeant-at-Arms:
             John Belden
             Megan Cowper
             *Jeff Thompson
          InConJunction 32 (2012) ConChair:
             John Belden
             Cheryl Miller-Andrews
             *Kathie Thompson

New Business (Handled after elections and, therefore, after 
announcements):
    Snack Kitty:
       The kitty shortfall was discussed.
       It was proposed that the kitty income be published every month in 
the newsletter.

    Meeting Speakers:
       Anjala asked about the next month's speaker. It will be the 
Webmaster, who will have handouts.

    Elections results:
       Kat asked that the election results be published by Sunday January 
3, 2010.

Announcements:
    Entertainment Reviews (delivered during and after the election):
       Ellen Patterson: Sherlock Holmes rocked.
       John Belden: Prep and Landing will be a new classic Christmas 
special.
       Anjala Dick: The TV show V will be on again in March.
       Steven Marsh: Saw the Oz production at The Children's Museum. Was as 
entertaining as a 40 minute adaptation of a children's novel can be.
       John Belden: Spoke about a Barbie event.
    Other Announcements (delivered during and after the election):
       Vice-President (Delivered by Mike Cowper): Feed the kitty!
       Randy Porter: Asked about Square.com, a micropayment dongle for 
iPhones and certain iPods.
       John Belden: Published in Idol Musings, a collection of LiveJournal 
Idol entries. John had 3 essays published and Wendy Carson 2 essays.
       Tony Patterson: InConJunction 2009 had been projected to lose money 
but made about $3500.
       Dillan Dick: Dillan was injured at work and may have to have surgery 
on his left shoulder which may interfere with his ability to help at 
InConJunction. Wants the prayers and positive energy of his friends that 
he does not need surgery.
       Kyra Shidler: Wanted to thank everyone for the good wishes 
considering her recent bereavement.

Chaos was declared at 8:46pm.

Respectfully submitted,
  Stephen Kendall, Secretary

*****

Minutes of the January Board Meeting
  by Stephen Kendall

Circle of Janus, Inc.
  Minutes of the Board of Directors
  January 14, 2010, 7:00pm

at the facilities of:
  Midwest Internet
  5348 N. Tacoma Ave
  Indianapolis, IN 46220

Board members in attendance:
    Andy Andrews, Chairman of the Board
    Kathie Thompson, President & InConJunction 32 ConChair
    Lynette Cowper, Vice President
    Stephen Kendall, Secretary
    Emily Rodgers, Treasurer
    Jeff Thompson, Sergeant-at-Arms
    Kat Robertson, InConJunction 30 ConChair
    Mike Cowper, InConJunction 31 ConChair

Board members not in attendance:
    None

Circle of Janus members in attendance (if attendance was taken):
    Wendy Carson
    Dillan Dick
    Anjala Dick
    Drew Happli
    Steven Marsh
    Gary Plumlee
    Kyra Shidler

Guests introduced:
    none

Call the meeting to order:
    Meeting was called to order at 7:09pm.

Reading of the last meeting's minutes:
    The November 17, 2009 Board Meeting minutes were approved as published.

Member Services:
    The last card went out this week.
    Member Services is out of cards and stamps.
    The anniversary and sympathy cards have been given to Stephen, who does 
not recall receiving them or currently have them.
    Wendy Carson no longer wants to be on the Member Services committee.
    New Member Services committee members were solicited and will be 
solicited later.

Member Activities:
    Webmaster Jeff Thompson will speak and have handouts at the February 
meeting.
    Mark Racop will speak in March.
    Rob Pyatt will speak in April.
    Due to the Bylaws Caucus, there will be no speaker in August.
    Kat intends to organize a gaming pitch-in for May.
    Lynette reminded us that the August business meeting conflicts with Gen 
Con.

Other Communications:
    Mike has received communications from the registrar of our domain 
names.
    We have four domain names about to expire (circleofjanus.com, 
circleofjanus.net, circleofjanus.org, and inconjunction.net).
    inconjuction.org is registered until July 12, 2011.
    It was decided that at the end of the calendar year we will pay for all 
our domains. [To clarify, we did pay for the registration of the domain 
names at the January Board meeting. In the future, this will be done at 
the end of each calendar year as part of our club standard operating 
procedures.-- LRFC]

Treasurer's Report:
    The Treasurer information requested at the November meeting has been 
provided to Emily.
    Emily, the new Treasurer, has to redo the 2009 books from June on and 
requests leniency regarding the delay that will require.
    She does not have an InConJunction 2010 budget to submit as she does 
not have information on how many dealers tables can be sold or where Kat 
wants to spend money.

Old business:
    InConJunction 30 Budget and Other Considerations:
       Individual convention budget line items were discussed.
       The matters of convention networking and electricity for dealers was 
discussed.
       Andy asked Kathie to resend any [hotel] contracts that she has.
       Kat and Emily will create a budget with a $19,000 spending point. No 
specific deadline was set for this.
       Kat requested that the President sign an addendum to the La Quinta 
contract.

    Board Responsibilities:
       Kathie asked the Andy what his Chairman of the Board 
responsibilities were. He listed continuity, providing wisdom, and calling 
meetings.
       The President's responsibilities were read from the Bylaws, then 
discussed.
       Lynette listed her Vice Presidential responsibilities. Kathie 
suggested that, in addition, Lynette form a rotating committee to clean up 
after the meetings. Dillan volunteered. Kathie suggested that the rotating 
committee consist of two volunteers and one appointee.
       Kathie asked Stephen what his Secretarial responsibilities were. 
Kathie asked that the minutes be more detailed, and that the minutes be 
sent in by the second weekend after the meeting.
       The Treasurer's responsibilities were discussed.
       The Sergeant-at-Arms responsibilities were discussed. Jeff believed 
that he was the first Sergeant-at-Arms who actually called the meetings to 
order, but the Chairman of the Board disagreed.
       The ConChair's responsibilities were discussed.
       Kathie took responsibility for the lack of treasury book activity 
after May. Kathie discussed a framework to ensure that Board jobs are 
being done, even if meetings are missed. Jeff and Kathie said that Board 
members can ask for help or resign and remain in good standing.
       Kat proposed adding a statement to the Bylaws indicating that the 
ConChair is responsible for helping to run the club.

New Business:
    Financial/Treasurer Matters:
       Kathie stressed the importance of an audit.
       Jeff proposed adding it to the Bylaws at the Bylaws Caucus.

    Board Cooperation and Transparency:
       Kathie asked that CoJ Board Members serve as examples, including 
refraining from gossip not known to be true.
       Steven Marsh suggested that there is not much information on the 
website's private area.
       Kathie proposed taking some ConCom functions and giving them to 
committees organized by the Board.
       Lynette suggested amending the Bylaws to require an SOP [Standard 
Operating Procedures Document] but not putting the SOP in the Bylaws. 
Steven Marsh volunteered to join a committee created in support of those 
things.
       Kat has not been receiving the ConCom minutes that Kathie has been 
sending.
       Andy reminded us that he is a mental health counselor, and asked 
that people having problems with the club call him.
       Kat indicated that during times of trouble, the members often do not 
know anything about what is going on, and encouraged the Board to release 
information to the club at those times.
       Andy disagreed; he feels that the more things people know, the more 
things can go wrong.

    Snack Kitty & Club Budget:
       The kitty issue was raised.
       Jeff proposed establishing a petty cash fund that designated persons 
could draw from.
       Lynette indicates that she spends about $25 per month of her own 
money. [Actually, Lynette indicated she spent about $25-$30 total per 
month for snacks, which the kitty doesn't fully cover. -- LRFC]
       Kat proposed the club supplementing the difference between what the 
kitty collected and $25.
       Kathie felt that the club funding the difference would discourage 
the members from contributing to the kitty.
       Andy discussed the club budget.
       Emily reported that we have 36 members, and that persons who paid on 
PayPal only forwarded $14.85 to the club due to PayPal fees.
       Andy proposed the club providing $15 per month and anything beyond 
that being funded by the kitty.
       Kat asked Lynette if $15 would be enough to cover the barebones 
refreshments. Lynette said that it barely was.
       The Circle of Janus budget was reviewed.
       Kathie said that the dues have been $15 for 11 years, but if we are 
raising our budget by $150 per year we need to raise dues.
       Kat proposed approving the $15 per month.
       Kathie proposed spending only the kitty and seeing what the reaction 
was.
       Emily proposed encouraging food donations.
       Mike reported that the Mensa group has a member AND non-member cover 
charge to cover snacks, and that Mensa has better snacks than we do.
       Drew asked if we had a $5 cover charge, could we have alcohol?

    Other Matters:
       Kat requested that she be approved to be reimbursed for her Member 
Services expenses so she could get started.
       There was a general acclamation that she would be.

Announcements:
    Dillan has a tear in his rotator cuff that does not require surgery.

Chaos was declared at 8:45pm.

Respectfully submitted,
  Stephen Kendall, Secretary

*****

Name Those Ships/Buildings/Cities!
    Throughout the printed and PDF newsletter you will find pictures of 
cities, buildings and ships from various shows. See how many you can 
recognize!

January 2009 Circular Answers:
    5: Blackbird, X-men
    6: Blackbird Stealth Ship, Battlestar Galactica

*****

A Few Cool Things to Do in Indy
  By Lynette Cowper

The Brain from Planet X: A rip-roaring musical satire of low-budget 1950s 
sci-fi movies, this wild and wacky Indianapolis premiere tells the 
hilarious story of an alien invasion and their mission to destroy the 
family unit here on Earth. April 9 to 25, Buck Creek Players.

Around the World in 80 Days: London, 1872. Phileas Fogg disrupts his quiet 
life with an outrageous wager: that he can circumnavigate the globe in 
only 80 days. As Fogg and his ingenious valet, Passepartout, travel by 
boat, by train, by elephant, Jules Verne's classic adventure epic is 
brought to life in this funny, inventive, whirlwind tour. April 27 to May 
16, Indiana Repertory Theatre.

*****

Mark Your Calendars

February 2010

  5: Frozen
  5-7: Con of the North - St. Paul, MN
  5-7: RunningGAGG - Geneseo, NY
  5-7: SuperCon - Saint Paul, MN
  5-7: What-the-Hell?! Con - Greensboro, NC

  6: CoJ Meeting - 7th and 8th Christian Church
  6: Ren Cowper's birthday
  6: IAS General Meeting - Holcomb Observatory
  6-7: EvilleCon - Evansville, IN

  8: Lynette Cowper's birthday

  11-14: Capricon - Chicago, IL

  12: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
  12: The Wolfman
  12-14: Farpoint - Timonium, MD
  12-14: GeneriCon - Troy, NY
  12-14: Katsucon - Washington, DC
  12-15: synDCon - Rockville, MD

  13: St Louis Comic Book Con - St Louis, MO

  14: IAC Meeting - Glendale Branch Library
  14: Springfield ComicCon - Springfield, IL

  19-20: Spellstorm - Toronto, ON
  19-21: Con Nooga - Chattanooga, TN
  19-21: Naka-Kon - Kansas City, MO

  20: Fort Wayne Comic Book Con - Fort Wayne, IN
  20-21: Con-G - Guelph, ON

  21: Ash Comic Show - Holiday Inn East

  26: Sam Thompson's birthday
  26: The Crazies
  26-28: ConCave - Horse Cave, KY
  26-28: ErieCon - Erie, PA
  26-28: Fire & Ice - Manitowoc, WI
  26-28: SheVaCon - Roanoke, VA

  27: Milwaukee Comic Book Con - Milwaukee, WI

  28: Twin Cities ComiCon - Mounds View, MN

March 2010

  5: Alice in Wonderland
  5-7: MarsCon - Bloomington, MN
  5-7: Stellarcon - High Point, NC

  6: CoJ Meeting - 7th and 8th Christian Church

  11-14: Cold Wars - Lancaster, PA

  12: Randy Porter's birthday
  12-14: A & G Ohio - Cincinnati, OH
  12-14: Anime Milwaukee - Milwaukee, WI
  12-14: Kawa Kon - Clayton, MO
  12-14: MidSouthCon - Memphis, TN
  12-14: Madicon - Harrisonburg, VA

  14: Comic Book Con - Urbana, IL

  15: Bella Rollison's birthday

  19: Hot Tub Time Machine
  19: Hubble 3D
  19: Season of the Witch
  19-20: Keokon - Keokuk, IA
  19-21: FantaSciCon - Chattanooga, TN
  19-21: Lunacon - Rye Brook, NY

  20: Green Bay Comic Book Con - Green Bay, WI
  20-21: MomoCon - Atlanta, GA
  20-21: Technicon - Blacksburg, VA
  20-21: Toronto AnimeCon - Toronto, Ontario
  20-22: MillenniCon - Cincinnati, OH

  21: Mike & Lynette Cowper's anniversary
  21: IAC Meeting - Glendale Branch Library
  21: Comic Book Con - Gurnee, IL

  23: Tracey Rollison's birthday

  24: Dave Herrington's birthday

  25: Neil Thompson's birthday
  25-28: Furry Weekend Atlanta - Atlanta, GA

  26: Chris Canary's birthday
  26: Clash of the Titans
  26: How to Train Your Dragon
  26-28: Gryphcon - Guelph, ON
  26-28: I-CON - Stony Brook, NY
  26-28: Marmalade Dog 15 - Kalamazoo, MI
  26-28: SIMCON - Rochester, NY
  27: Galacticon - Virginia Beach, VA
  27: Animarathon - Bowling Green, OH

April 2010

  1: Judy Eudaly's birthday
  1-4: Frolicon - Atlanta, GA

  2: Repo Men
  2-4: Anime Punch - Columbus, OH
  2-4: Minicon - Minneapolis, MN

  3: CoJ Meeting - 7th and 8th Christian Church
  3: Madison ComicCon - Madison, WI

  4: Gary Kitchen's birthday

  8-11: Tekkoshocon - Pittsburgh, PA

  9-11: Ad Astra - Toronto, ON
  9-11: CODCON - Glen Ellyn, IL
  9-11: ConGlomeration - Louisville, KY
  9-11: Egypt Wars - Carbondale, IL
  9-11: FilkONtario - Mississauga, ON
  9-11: RavenCon - Richmond, VA
  9-11: WillyCon - Wayne, NE

  10: Kyra Shidler's birthday
  10: Atlanta Anime Day - Atlanta, GA
  10: St Louis Comic Book Con - St Louis, MO

  11: Peoria Comic Book Con - Peoria, IL

  13: Dave Henninger's birthday

  15: Melissa Kocias's birthday

  16-18: Con-Stellation - Lincoln, NE
  16-18: Odyssey Con - Madison, WI
  16-18: Shinbokucon 4 - Elyria, OH
  16-18: T-MODE - Alexandria, VA

  17: UNCC JAMS Spring Expo - Charlotte, NC

  18: IAC Meeting - Glendale Branch Library

  23: Jeff Thompson's birthday
  23-25: Anime Detour - Minneapolis, MN
  23-25: Anime St. Louis - Collinsville, IL
  23-25: Gamers Reunion - Rochester, MN
  23-25: JordanCon - Alpharetta, GA

  24: South Bend ComicCon - South Bend, IN
  24-25: Kami-Con - Tuscaloosa, AL
  24-25: Tora-Con - Rochester, NY

  25: Ash Comic Show - Holiday Inn East

  28: Brian Davidson's birthday

  29: Harry Bunn's birthday
  29: Susan Parker's birthday

  30: A Nightmare on Elm Street
  30: Chibi-Con - Virginia Beach, VA
  30-5/2: Middle Tennessee Anime Con - Nashville, TN
  30-5/2: No Brand Con - Eau Claire, WI
  30-5/2: Penguicon - Troy, MI
  30-5/2: Tennessee Game Days - Nashville, TN

*****

New Books


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