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DURHAM REGION SENIOR GAMES MEETING AMICA AT WHITBY,200 KENNETH HOBBS AVE.,WHITBY APR.7 /10 – 1:00 p.m. ATTENDEES: Bob Taylor (Chairman), Linda Spadaro (Games Registrar), Ruth Vdovich (Games Coordinator), Don Chase (Mun. Rep.-Uxbridge), Andrew Goss (Comm. Support-Oshawa), Angela Adams (Comm. Support-Clarington), Bob Jones (Mun. Rep. – Scugog), Katarina George (Sponsorship Dir.), Andrew Sensicle (Website Dir.), Loretta Fernandez-Heaslip (Comm. Support – Brock), Nathan Gardner (Physical Activity Coordinator – Brock), John McKechnie (Darts Convenor) 1. Moved by Andrew Sensicle, seconded by Linda that the minutes of the Feb.17/10 meeting be approved as distributed. 2. The treasurer’s Report showed an increased balance due to the receipt of sponsorship money. Expenses included the website host annual fee and petty cash. Further petty cash items (business envelopes and comp ink) were verified by Linda and, moved by Bob Jones, seconded by Don Chase, approved. There are invoices pending for Dickson Printing (reg. forms, message insert and envelopes) and our ad costs in This Week. No word has been received about our Trillium Grant request. 3. Correspondence included an email from John Bueckert (Golf Convenor) indicating that he would deliver Information Booklets to 17 golf courses, notification from Heather Butler that she would be unable to attend the meeting as she is recovering from surgery, an email from Bob Cook-Abbott explaining his absence from the May meeting as well as this one but that he is still considering the position of Clarington Mun. Rep., and an email from Loretta which contained a press release announcing Nathan’s appointment. It was determined that there is a Metroland newspaper serving Brock Township (Brock Citizen) and Loretta provided a contact for it. There was also a call from Eddie Kolo of This Week stating that he would be willing to arrange another ad for us with supporting sponsors. 4. New Business a) The Information Booklet was reviewed and the following was noted: although the photos were of last year’s games, 2 were from the same event and one was of a winter game winner; the schedule had been retyped and a name was misspelled and the word “Ajax” mysteriously appeared in a Pickering event location; the message insert could have contained information on the reverse, the golf cost was different on the registration form than on the schedule and there was no line for bowler’s averages on the registration form. In addition, it was felt the format of the registration form would be confusing for some. The alternative would be to set a standard fee regardless of whether a lunch was included or a facility rental fee involved. Removal of the single game cost of the event on the schedule might eliminate some of the confusion. The question of participants entering 2 different divisions within the same event was clarified as was the operation of a bar at the events – it is entirely up to the hosting site. The DRSG will not be involved in that decision. b) A tentative schedule for manning the shared table at the Tosca 50+ Lifestyle Show was drawn up with Bob T., Ruth, Linda and John participating. Others will be there with other organizations and can fill in if needed. It is hoped that absent committee members may also be available to eliminate the double duties involved. c) The Participant’s and Convenor’s surveys were reviewed and revised. The 0 -10 scale to rate various factors was changed to a verbal rating and the wording of other portions of the surveys revised to better reflect the intent. We will try to provide a checklist for participants to indicate where they picked up their registration form and also a place to indicate where they first heard of the DRSG. It was suggested Participant surveys be handed out rather than made available. d) The first six events scheduled were discussed briefly. Ruth and Bob will be meeting with the convenors to clarify our expectations and answer any questions or concerns. Little can be finalized until we have an indication of the number of participants but any problems that occurred last year will be discussed and hopefully avoided. It was noted that the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Claremont Legion will be providing cash prizes at the Euchre event and that the Uxbridge Legion is providing an eating site for the 5 Pin Bowling as the room at the Bowling alley is not available. Afternoon bowlers will have to be provided directions to the Legion e) A revised distribution list was handed out and locations still requiring Booklets were noted. Loretta and Nathan will distribute to the Brock locations, Bob J. will distribute to the new Scugog locations and Don will take some to the Uxbridge golf course. John McKechnie agreed to help with some locations in Ajax and Pickering and Ruth mentioned she had left 20 Booklets at the Boston Pizza in north Whitby. All are to email Bob T. with any locations not already on the list. f) Sample Luncheon Tickets were distributed and approved. Ruth is to look into getting Sandy Hawley as our guest at the luncheon. He may be asked to say a few words but his primary function will be to hand out the awards. Please inform Bob in advance of any door prizes donated. It was generally agreed that luncheon had run fairly smoothly last year but that we needed to get there earlier to set up. 5. Reports – Chairman – Rogers was not contacted regarding the donation of bags to be handed out to participants – it was felt that it would not be appropriate since some sponsors had paid for that privilege (the silver sponsor level in our sponsorship package, although not yet approved at committee level, includes the right to distribute promotional material at all events). The Actifest survey, completed by Ruth, was delivered to the Actifest office. Our 2010 schedule of events is now on the website however it was noted that we need to add Amica to our web pages as a major sponsor and we need to update our sponsor and games lists. I will send Andrew the information to do so. Angela solved the problem regarding the opening of databases by pointing out that excel spreadsheets could be sorted. (Andrew suggested that all should download a free copy of OPEN OFFICE which is compatible with most programs and will open files from those programs). Leslie Choo-Wing was contacted about putting on Pickleball demonstration at the Actifest 100 Days event and agreed, however there is not sufficient floor space for Pickleball and Actifest will have a carpet bowling demonstration instead. No progress has been made on the purchase of supplies approved at the last meeting – we are awaiting a response from one supplier. - Games Coordinator – Forever Young had called about an article on Pickleball and will be referred to Leslie Choo-Wing, our Pickleball convenor. Ruth will pursue an article on the DRSG. Convenors will be sought for the Winter Games – Roger Madge (hockey) and David Taylor (10Pin Bowling) were mentioned along with Amanda Canavan who was agreeable to convening the Volleyball tournaments. It was suggested that the centre portion of out display board could contain sponsor information and that the pictures should be changed – we will have a greater choice after the upcoming games are completed. Ruth also indicated that Boston Pizza in north Whitby have been very supportive and have donated 2 door prizes for the Awards Luncheon. - Games Registrar - Linda explained the registration procedure and passed around the database showing the information entered. Fifty participants have registered so far in 76 events. Each participant is being assigned an OSGA I.D. number and will receive their card at their first event. Some registrants have miscalculated the payment and this will be rectified. - Promotions Director – Joe’s report has not been received but members were encouraged to send any promotion opportunities to Joe and not to neglect websites that had areas for posting upcoming events. - Sponsorship Director –Katarina and Bob will be meeting shortly to finalize a draft of sponsorship levels. It is anticipated that there will be 3 levels ($200, $500, $2000) with different privileges attached to each level. Previous sponsors may have their current donation frozen as an indication of our appreciation for their loyalty. Hopefully the draft will be presented at the next meeting. - Website Director – Andrew briefly went over the chart distributed at the last meeting and explained that the number of “hits” was not a good measure. Monthly visits is a better indicator and that has shown an increase from 10 visitors making 36 visits in Mar./09 to 309 visitors making 529 visits on Mar./10. It was suggested that Loretta and Nathan visit the website and give us an idea of the ease in which a new visitor can navigate through the site. Any suggestions for improvements, by anyone, can be directed to Andrew. - Municipal Reps – Bob Jones indicated that a number of registration forms for Shuffleboard were coming from Scugog and suggested that a letter be circulated to committee members that could be used to solicit door prizes. Bob is to provide the letter. - Don indicated that he would be distributing the Booklets to Uxbridge golf courses and will be seeking door prizes and possible sponsors from the Uxbridge area. He has been increasing the awareness of the DRSG by talking to people and encouraging participation - Municipal Support Reps – Angela mentioned that the Booklets were going slowly at the Beech Centre – 28 have been taken and 22 remain. It is hoped that this is an indication that members of the COAA are more interested in later events – they are hosting Bid Euchre at the end of May. 6. Last minute reminders - members are expected to continue surveying seniors about their awareness of the DRSG – we need a strong baseline to prove our promotional efforts have succeeded if we get the Trillium grant. - one of our sponsors, Mount Lawn, is having a pancake brunch this Sunday from 12 -2 p.m. – for those available, it would be an opportunity for us to support a supporter. Ruth will find out whether or not it would be appropriate for us to distribute Booklets at the same time - Andrew encouraged everyone to download Open Office due to its ability to convert files from other programs (Office) even though those other programs may be outdated - Loretta indicated that she and Nathan had thought of a number of other locations in Brock to distribute our Booklets and would mention to Scott Howard at the newspaper that we might be in touch regarding an article 7. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Oshawa on May 12th. Andrew Goss will be contacted regarding a suitable location.
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