Submitted October 12, 2003
I deeply regret not being able to present this report personally, however I am under doctors orders not to fly, following surgery on a ruptured achilles tendon.
Overall, the convention was a great success. We've received numerous compliments, and only one serious complaint. There were no floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, or other disasters. Even the weather cooperated by staying 10 degrees lower than normal. There was plenty of fantastic food at both the Howdy Party and the Banquet. And even Donald Davis allowed as how sound levels in the campground during the Howdy Party and Campground Party were acceptable. There was a veritable plethora of interesting sessions, workshops, and meetings; and numerous cave trips before, during, and after the week. The college and the town have both invited us back.
I suspect the Board is most concerned about the financial issues, and will limit this report to those. I'll have a fuller report at for the Spring Board meeting. What follows is a quick summary of preliminary convention results and status. These numbers may change slightly as we correct errors in the database:
Total Attendance:
955 (High reg # was 1018 because some numbers were
skipped)
602 Full Adult Registrants
1 Full Minor Registrant
161 Adult Accompaniers
9 Minor Accompaniers
66 JSS
14 Child
102 Day Pass Registrants (total 153 days)
Registration Problems:
The least successful aspect of the convention was
registration, which encountered numerous problems. Among these
were poor record keeping and an inadequately designed and tested
registration database. Despite numerous efforts to correct the
problems, we continue to find inaccuracies and inconsistencies
that make it impossible to adequately reconcile the accounts. We
are now in the process of recreating a new database using the
paper trail and other records to assure accuracy. We believe that
this process, although tedious, will provide us will accurate
figures, and that we will be able to complete our accounting
prior to the Spring Board Meeting.
Financial Status:
All outstanding bills and invoices have been paid except
for those requiring additional investigation or resolution of
disputes. The major outstanding items are listed below. We have
approximately $50K in the bank. There are about $25K in known
outstanding bills and another $10K which will be handled by
internal NSS transfers. Allowing for unexpected, we expect to
show a profit of at least $10K.
Major Outstanding Expenses:
-- Refunds for cancelations and no-shows; pending
database fixes.
-- Guidebook Printer: We're waiting for a revised invoice with
allowance for damaged copies
-- Table & Chair Rentals: Final payment to cover
damaged/missing items is being negotiated.
-- Transfer profit from vertical seminar to Vertical Section
-- Outstanding staff reimbursements (most have already been made)
-- Repro Service: We think the college under-billed us. They are
investigating. (The college repro center produced, among other
things, the program books, guidebook map supplements, the daily
Sierra Sizzler, Board agendas and reports.)
-- Convention Honorarium
Pending Internal Transfers:
-- Return of seed money to NSS
-- To JSS
-- To NSS for New Memberships collected at convention
-- To NSS for Insurance
-- From NSS for NMDs
Recommendation to the Board:
Although a more detailed recommendation will have to
wait for the spring meeting, I'd like to bring one idea to the
attention of the Board now. I believe it is time for the NSS to
seriously consider acquiring a professionally written and
supported registration system for use by all conventions. The
registration process, and its associated accounting, have become
considerably more complex since I handled the finances for the
1990 convention in Yreka. The advent of the internet and the need
to support on-line registration and credit card processing add
complexities and subtleties well beyond those that an all
volunteer staff with full times jobs should be expected to
handle. A professional software package would be easy for each
year's convention staff to tailor to the needs of individual
conventions, unlike the homegrown systems we reinvent each year.
Further, the use of the same software from year to year would
improve the consistency of convention data, making it more useful
as a planning tool. Locating and selecting suitable software will
be non-trivial task, and the soon we start considering it, the
better.
With respect, and my regrets for not being with you in person,
Peri Frantz, 2003 NSS Convention Chairman
12/30/03