Parents of Tots

Parents of Tots
February 9, 2009

In Attendance: Lisa Paglierani, Heather Lane, Heather Spizuoco, Jen DeCourcy, Tasha Festel, Emily Amico, Holly Lannen, Barbara White, Amy Caggiano, Honey Rossi

1. Advertising
A. Will have a members only business listing page.
i.. $5 each. will send info to tasha.
ii. Heather will do writeup for newsletter. members only perk. one time fee,listed until they are no longer members.
iii.Not pursuing other advertising at this point, may revisit next year once the
website has been in existence a bit.

2. Bopot
A. Suggestion - March Movie Night
i. To follow up with Jenn C.

3. Events
A.Winter Blues Party has 40 rsvps currently, 2 bouncy houses, folks like time frame and healthy dinner snacks
B. festival by the Lake- meeting 2/16. working on pricing and what will supply. volunteers thru high school comm service, girl scouts earn badge?
C. Yard Sale- April. Heather S. to set date and announce in mar newsletter
D, Spring Fling- April or May tbd
E. Monkey Joes may be rescheduled.
F. Gymstreet online poll to happen on website

4. Fundraiser
A. Amy D,Gia, Roxanne, Heather L, Holly offered baskets for fundraiser 4/8 from 6-9 at
dockside. will postpone memb drive cocktail party till the fall. need to heavily
advertise.
B. 3/12 avon fundraiser at amy Ds. Jenn R may host another fundraising party at her
home
C.Tupperware at blues party fundraiser for feb

5. Charitables-
A Welcome to Amy Caggiano to CoChair of Charitables!
B. Gathering change has 25 boxes out currently, may do more. will collect at blues party
room to grow is charitable for mar. baby shower. will ask Peggy about melrose
family room. thinking daytime drop in to collect for charity.

6. Membership-
A.Do we have jan 08 comps to compare to jan 09- will follow up with Keri to find out

7. Newsletter
A. Reduce comm list by folks listed inside not on second page.
Move reporters to listed with their towns. put meeting notice on 2nd page going
forward

8. Positions-
A. Welcome to New Web Manager, Kathleen Rose Johnson.
B. dont have a newsletter editor or photograper. march tbd

9. Nursing Home
A. Only 2 families went last month, working on march date

10. Sunshine Comm
A. Working on upcoming assignments

11. WAW
A. sephora had 8 attendees
B. Consignment shopping next week,
C. Choc Tasting in March inc dads

12. Website
A. Traffic down from months prior. overseas visitors.

13. March Meeting- I emailed Jenn R and asked her to host, I'll let you know what she says.

Parents of Tots
January 12, 2009 Meeting Minutes

In Attendance:
Jen DeCourcy, Diana Ellis, Gia Leach, Heather Spizuoco, Holly Lannen, Peggy Macaluso, Kara Brown, Sandra Markovic

1. Advertising
A. Website Advertising
i. Re evaluate fees and come up with parameters for a proposal for next month’s meeting

2. BoPot
A. 1 rsvp for this month’s meeting so far
B. Feb book - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - Very Good
C. Decision made not to put survey or on-line chat on website at moment

3. Events
A. Recaps
i. Lakeshore Learning went very well
ii. Boston Children’s Museum - Went well
iii. Holiday Party - Congrats to Coordinator for a great success
B. Future
i. Sam Adams - has been moved to 1/24
ii. Sesame Street Live - only 7 RSVPs at the moment / numbers are drastically lower than last year
iii. Mix & Mingle

4. Speaker - Billie Luker of I9 Sports (www.i9sports.com) 978-207-2033
A. Non Competitive sports for kids of all ages
i. Program starts in Wakefield Jan 26rd at the Americal Civic Centers
Mondays at 10am (flag-football, kickball, soccer -ages 3-6)

5. Festival by the Lake 2009
A. Committee is forming and update to be given at next meeting

6. Fundraiser Update
A. Dockside - suggestion - move to March Madness
B. Avon Fundraiser - March 12th
i. Baskets for raffle -request in Feb’s newsletter with list of baskets
C. Tax Day at the Post Office - confirm we are allowed to do this
D.Heather has confirmed that she will still be doing Yard Sale this year
i. Suggestions for donations / pick up of unsold items - to discuss in future

7. Charitables
A. Yoga for Charity had 3 people attend - not a good turn out
B. Collected 2 boxes for “Warm Hands, Warm Hearts”
 i Barbara received a thank you from Boston’s Homeless - will forward to Tasha to post on the website
ii. Still working on Feb’s Charity

8. Secretary
A. Continue to ask for notes from committee members that can not attend meeting
B. Ask at beginning of meeting if anyone has to leave early to allow them to speak first

9. Membership
A. 128 newsletters sent out this month (should get 135 because we’ve been sending out more comps- 8 comps and 1 new member for January)
B. 22 Go Green Members

10. Newsletter
A. Stamps cost - $.76 for 26 pages & $.59 for 24 pages (we need to keep the newsletter
to 24 pages)
B. Check on Non-Profit Status in regards to getting free postage
C. Newsletter Team coming together - looking for new Editor

11. New Positions
A. Master Crafter - Welcome Pam Preston and Christy Damphousse!!!!
B. Post Newsletter Editor and Website Manager Position in February’s newsletter

12. NSFN
A. Two playdates per month - Kara to attend meeting and relay information

13. Nursing Home
A. 6 RSVPs for Nursing Home

14. Sunshine Committee
A. Current Assignment going well

15. WAW
A. Sephora looks like a good turn out
B. Upcoming

16. Website
A. Traffic is down slightly from the month of November - expected with the holidays
B. We had 321 visits in the month of Dec by 182 visitors
I. Users stayed on for an average 2:49 and looked at an average of 3.62 pages
ii. An overwhelming majority of our traffic comes from the Unites States, but
There are also people in India, UK and Japan viewing the site
iii. Top pages visited were the home page, events, photo gallery, Winter Survival
Guide, Green Newsletter and Member-Only Downloads

In Attendance:

Jennifer DeCourcy, Gia Leach, Kara Brown, Peggy Macaluso, Honey Rossi, Tasha Festel, Roxanne Covalucci, Holly Lannen, Keri Capobianco, Diana Ellis, Lisa Paglierani, Emily Amico

 

1. Upcoming Events

a. Kick-off Party

1. 15 responses so far, expecting a last minute surge of responses

2. Table placement to be discussed

3. Lisa will provide dry erase board for the balloon servicing number board

4. Send email to remind attendees of the charitable at the event

a. In future the Event and Charitable will be in same location in the Newsletter

b. Halloween Party

1. 3-5pm, fix agenda times (Costume Parade & end time)

c. Holiday Party

1. Looking for venue

 

2. Secretary

a. Job Descriptions

i. Final descriptions to be sent in and compiled for October’s meeting

 

3. Membership Update

a. 3 New Members, 154 Members, 166 Newsletters

 

4. Newsletter

a. 20^th Deadline is very important

b. Reporter Position to be posted in the October newsletter

i. Peggy to email Tracy description

c. Feature Position is Field Trip Coordinator

d. In this months newsletter - give option to members to “Go Green”

With statistics about saving trees with going paperless

i. Need to contact Member Rep to go paperless (each

Individual)

e. Advertising Pricing to remain the same

 

5. Field Trips

a. See Calendar on website

b. Suggestions

i. Home Depot- offers classes 1st Sat of month

ii. Lowes- same timing they thought

iii. AC Moore has open crafts session

iv. Michaels has open crafts session

v. Prince Pizza does kids events

vi.Dancing Deer in Newton to tour

vii.Whole foods to tour...I have the contacts email from last year if

someone wants it, Rodney Poles was the director of marketing

viii.Touring a Police Station

ix.Sam Adams Brewery Tour

 

6. Sunshine Committee

a. 8 members

b. Two assignments coming up

 

7. Website Disscusion

a. Congratulations to Tasha on a job well done with the development of the website

b. Website - 169 different computers visited site / average 7 visitors a day

c. Check with Heather where we are linked (sites)

d. Password will be in the newsletter to access ‘member only’ sections of site

e. Event Full Status

i. Field Trip Coordinators to fill in calendar and the send note to Tasha

and Calendar Chair to enter full status into appropriate areas

f. Amount of information on site is in trial stages to see how much membership

increases / will revisit subject at further meetings

g. Investigate Pay Pal as a means for easier payment

 

8. NSFN

a. Dates to appear on calendar

 

9. Playgroups

a. Sullivan to continue for as long as weather permits

 

10. Nursing Home

a. Confirmed dates to appear on calendar

In Attendance:

Jennifer DeCourcy, Heather Spizuoco, Peggy Macaluso, Jennifer Cabral, Honey Rossi, Barbara White, Tasha Festel, Roxanne Covalucci, Holly Lannen, Heather Lane, Keri Capobianco, Diana Ellis, Christy Damphousse, Lisa Paglierani, Nicole Grace

1. Membership Update

a. 152 Current Members

b. 28 newsletter comps, September 174 copies of newsletter

2. Newsletter Articles

a. Please submit September newsletter content earlier the 20^th

3. Field Trips

a. Volunteers are welcome to plan field trips but need to follow the protocol that is in

place.

b. Jen to find list of questions that were created to “interview” venue for Field Trip

Coordinators for volunteers that are unfamiliar with the process

c. See Calendar on website for upcoming events - http://calendar.yahoo.com/potfieldtrips

4. Budget

a. Last year was a great year! From 2007 to present we’ve doubled our income.

b. $1300 in bank / this figure is ahead of last year’s numbers

c. Biggest expense was postage - $950

i. Christy volunteered to research postage discounts

d. Heather S. to provide Heather L. Non Profit Organization Documents for donations

e. Reimbursement

i. Reasonable Items

ii. PoT Tax Exempt forms handed out and filed in PoT binder (ST2 Form)

iii.Individual stores have PoT on file

iv. Keep receipts and write description on receipt (what function)

v. Individuals can not “cash out” from a cash box / need records to keep on

file to file with the state

vi. Heather S. to email Danielle M. Tax form

5. Treasurer

a. No Parents of Tots credit card will be issued

6. Charitables

a. Description for this position is vague

b. Suggestions for what position would entail

i. Woman’s Shelter, Silent Auction, Cradles to Crayons, Pair Charitables with

events, Channel 5 has charitables section on site for suggestions

ii. Barbara’s 1^st event -September 18^th Kick Off / Coordinate with Event Comm.

iii. Heather S. Food Pantry Connection

iv. Barbara to touch base with Kara to coordinate NSFN events

7. Fund Raising

a. Heather L. (Fund-raising) and Barbara (Charitables) to work together through Tasha

to communicate via email to advertise

b. Fundruckers - plan in conjunction premier or high traffic event to increase sales

c. Raffles - do not have to be PoT Member to participate

d. Couple raffles with adult events

e. Include “volunteer services” from PoT members (ie. Babysitting)

f. Be cognizant of newsletter deadlines for upcoming events

g.Suggestion - Approach organizations to receive a percentage of receipts

h.Suggestion - Entice donators by offering list of interested raffle participants to vendors

(Would have to be with raffle participants permission)

8. Sunshine

a. First Assignment went well!

b. Setting parameters on meal donations

c. Known assignment coming up!

9. Website

a. Under development

i. Committee to review and find problems - provide Tasha with feedback

1. If anyone has issues of information online please express concerns with

Feedback of site to Tasha

ii. Launch date - end of week

iii. Parentsoftots.org expires 8/25

1. Moving to a trial site called parentsoftotssquarespace.com

2. New Features to include blogs, photo galleries, sign up for

things on line (hopes to increase participation)

3. Any available pictures to be sent to Tasha for uploading to

site

iv. The site will be open to anyone

1. There will be certain areas that are restricted without a password

v. Website Moderator will periodically check on site for inappropriate language,

concerns, etc.

10. NSFN

a. Dates to be made and will be put on calendar

11. Playgroups

a. 3 playgroup to go in newsletter

i. Need to send to Tasha if it should be posted on site

b. Sullivan playgroup to continue thru the end of September

12. Nursing Home

a. Dates are on calendar

13. BoPot

a. Dates are on calendar

b. July’s book will be discussed at September’s meeting

14. WAW

a. Back to School Shopping in Maine - 9/13

b. Suggestions are welcome

i. Indoor Rock Climbing

ii.Race Car Driving

iii. Holiday Makeovers - repeat event due to it’s popularity

15. Reference Guide

a. Revised guide to be published again in Jan.

b. Solicit business on guide to increase advertisements in newsletter

i. Heather S to provide Peggy form to present to businesses

16. Summer Schedule

a. Attendance has been good

17. Secretary

a. Job Description handbook to be distributed at the September meeting

18. Open Positions

a. Reporters for Malden, Reading, and Stoneham

b. Welcome to Nicole Grace! Our new Wakefield Reporter

19. New Organization Chart distributed

a. See Binder for copy

20. Other

a. Kick Off Event 9/18 3-5pm at the Civic Center

i. Volunteers to set up and breakdown to contact Heather S and Roxane.

ii. Event is being advertised in multiple locations

iii. PoT is 25 years old this year

1. Theme of party is a birthday theme

iv. Budgeting details discussed

v. Tickets for the balloon guy to be distributed upon entry of event to

avoid long lines at the balloon station

1. Sign to read “Now Serving Numbers 1-___)

vi. Set up time 11am / return to open event at 2:30pm

vii. Committee Members to set up own tables with their own give aways

b. Suggestion

i. Party Stuff www.rinovelty.com

21. Next Meeting

a. September’s meeting - Tasha’s house

b. October’s meeting - Roxanne’s house