Bay Team elections 2009

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This page provides information for the election to take place in December of 2009.

Contents

2009 Nominating Committee

Who are the Candidates?

Nominations closed on Oct 15, with the following persons nominated for the open positions (prez, sec, 2 MAL's). Even though these candidates are running unopposed, they have submitted candidate statements so that you know their agenda.

Kathy Wheelock, candidate for President

I am interested in serving on the Bay Team Board as president because I believe the Bay Team is a great club that plays a vital and positive role in supporting the agility aspirations of our community. As my agility fever has become more and more entrenched, so too has my stake in this wonderful tribe of people that is the Bay Team. Our club depends upon and thrives on the energy and engagement of its members. My interest in serving on the Board is driven by a desire to use my skills and experience to contribute to the continued health and vitality of the club.

More than 25 years in the banking business have given me ample opportunity to observe what works and doesn't work in running a business. As a member of the bank’s management team I have attended the bank’s Board meetings for the past eight years. This experience has prepared me for board processes and responsibilities (Robert’s Rules, legal responsibilities, meeting preparation, etc). My experience has also given me practical knowledge in the areas of group/team decision-making, efficient business practices, and the need for adequate internal controls.

I believe the Bay Team's greatest strength lies in our members. The membership is active, positive, and engaged. There is a great diversity of skills, interests, and perspectives. All of this translates into a vibrant club that delivers extremely well run agility trials. We are strong in running trials because we have good volunteerism, and because we have excellent, repeatable, well-documented processes. We also have very strong leaders and a very deep bench with many people willing and able to step up and run various aspects of a trial. Supporting and maintaining this engagement, focus and drive on the part of our members as we continue to grow will be one of our challenges in the future. I would work to maintain open, two-way communication channels with members and continue efforts to serve diverse needs (from newbies to the ultra competitive types). Finding a way to be inclusive of all members without becoming too far flung or burning out our most enthusiastic worker bees will be important!

Another challenge that we face as we grow in membership, number of trials, and revenue generation, will be to continue effective management of the business of the club. As a business manager, this is the area I feel most qualified to contribute. It would be my goal to focus on good internal controls and expense management. Our members want to continue see good value delivered for their trial dollars and effort. I believe we should strive to keep the cost of trials down, while insuring that we produce a positive return on each trial.

I am extremely proud of this club and its tradition of excellence and leadership in the agility world. It would be my honor to serve on the Board and to work to continue this tradition.

Thank you for your consideration. Kathy Wheelock

Nancy Gyes, candidate for Member At Large

I am one of the founding members of the Bay Team. The first Bay Team meeting was held at my home in August of 1992. In the early years I served on the board, held Club training sessions at my home, provided and hauled all the equipment to the trials and was involved in most every aspect of Bay Team Club life.

As my agility business has evolved I have mostly taken a back seat in the politics of running our club. In the last few years I have enjoyed getting re-involved in club organization by helping the club progress from a financially challenged organization to one that is run by honest individuals using modern accounting processes and making the most of the talented people we have in our club. I would like to continue that process from the board position.

I trial chair the Bay Team Labor Day USDAA Regional event. It is the largest Bay Team trial, and also is the largest USDAA trial in the country aside from the USDAA Nationals. I have also gained experience while serving in the past on the nominating committee, and I am currently a member of the Bay Team Budget Committee.

As I see the future challenges of the Bay team:

  • Continuing to hold 8 trials a year without burning out volunteers and still encourage volunteerism as opposed to paying more and more every trial for helpers to work.
  • Not having trials in the central bay area is a big issue which I would like to see resolved by finding new locations to hold trials.

With my husband Jim Basic we run Power Paws Agility in San Jose. I teach seminars throughout the USA, and occasionally in other countries. I also coach the AKC Agility World Team. Thank you for considering me for the position of Bay Team Board Member at Large.

Katrina Parkinson, candidate for Member At Large

My name is Katrina Parkinson. I have been competing in agility for almost 4 years. While I'm newer to agility, I've become very involved in the Bay Team from the start. I am heavily involved in equipment issues including, hauling, maintaining and replacing equipment as needed, I have chaired both CPE and USDAA trials, and I have worked just about every key worker position there is at Bay Team trials. I'm seeking office as a member at large.

I believe that the Bay Team's purpose is to put on agility trials and as such, I think we should strive to do this as well as possible. I would like to see us be proactive in making this sport as safe as possible for our dogs. As one of the largest agility clubs in the country, I think we should be leading the change to safer equipment to prolong the lives of our canine athletes. We are in a unique position to influence other clubs by making changes that people will start to expect and request. We can use this to benefit our dogs by creating a safer environment for them to compete.

I think the Bay Team has it's strength in numbers and some very dedicated followers. Because we are so large, we can influence neighboring clubs to follow our lead and create ripples of change throughout the Northern California agility community. We are very lucky to have a key group of very dedicated people who make almost all things Bay Team possible. I would also like to get some new blood involved to take the pressure off some of these key people and I would also like to encourage the structuring of Bay Team events to minimize burn out. I realize that if we lose these people, the whole club will suffer for it. To this end, I would like to see trials judged not on how much money they make (although that is surely a consideration), but on how the trial was seen by workers and competitors. I would also like to start some sort of peer review/ mentoring process to help with trial feedback. While I am aware that running trials is not the board's job, the club was set up for the purpose of putting on trials and I think the board needs to do their best to ensure we are only putting on quality trials.

As someone who does both CPE (not tons, but I do chair and attend trials) and USDAA, I think we need someone on the board who can consider both venues when talking about changes. Especially some of the equipment changes we are currently discussing. I think that all too often CPE gets overlooked as most of our board members do not attend our CPE trials. I hope that I can bring a balanced viewpoint to the board and enhance the competition experience for both our two and four legged members.

Thank you, Katrina Parkinson

Karey Krauter, candidate for Secretary

My name is Karey Krauter and I’ve been a club member since 1996 and a club officer in some capacity or another (as well as club event secretary or chair) since 1998. After all these years, I gave serious thought to whether I still had anything new and useful to contribute to the board this next term. My conclusion: if you’ll have me yet again, I think this old dog can still hunt.

I see the Bay Team as a role model for the sport, both in our event organization and innovation and in our membership’s exemplary sportsmanship, volunteerism, positive attitude, and joy in our dogs. I love seeing us become well-known everywhere for these things, with other clubs and competitors striving to “be like Bay Team”.

How do I see us continue being a role model? I see us continuing to push the envelope of obsessive-compulsive organization, staying on the cutting edge of equipment and scheduling innovation, and striving to be the go-to resource for dog agility in this country if not the world. We have the size and the means and the bodies to do more, and we have the momentum and the influence. We are also very fortunate to have sister clubs in the region that have similar goals for growing and improving the sport; the cooperation and constructive support of the “Greater Northern California Agility Cooperative” (that’s what my husband calls us) is truly our region’s biggest strength.

What is on my personal agenda for this upcoming board term? Not necessarily in order of importance:

  1. Explore new options for an in-the-south-bay location for events. Shouldn’t the BAY team have at least one of its (currently) eight events IN/ON the BAY? Given our widespread membership, it’s not a bad thing to have events in Prunedale and Santa Rosa but we need to support our center of gravity too!
  2. Continue to see our finances increase in transparency, accuracy, and predictability. This is how we can continue to have some of the lowest entry fees in the country and still have the best equipment and judges and bennies.
  3. Continue to improve our equipment transportation and logistics, with a goal of improving accessibility and convenience, while reducing the need for special skills and vehicles and recurring costs. This is one of our main issues when planning special events such as fun matches and seminars and demos and workshops. (“But we don’t do any of those things?” Perhaps you see my point.)
  4. Reach for the cutting edge of equipment innovations, leading the rest of the region into the future. Rubberized contacts, breakaway tires, electronic timing advances, electronic contact detection automation and table counting. Lobbying our sanctioning organizations to adapt equipment specs to the future – shorter chute fabrics, safe and easily judged long jumps. I see us being the perfect vehicle for beta-testing new equipment ideas that meet our own standards of safety and ease of use and accuracy of judging.
  5. More seminars, workshops, non-competition training and education opportunities. These are not only in demand by our market but these are also opportunities for a newbie to gain experience/exposure to event organization. Special smaller events such as these are also a medium to establishing relationships with new facilities and new-to-us seminarists and resources.
  6. Regarding my specific role in the office of secretary, I see this office as an opportunity to update and educate our membership not only on club decisions and policies but also on background and lessons-learned and WHY. Our meetings and our meeting publications are the only interaction most of our membership has with club business and I’d like to maximize this interaction perhaps as a means towards drawing more members into active participation/volunteerism/role modeling!

Thank you for having me all these years. I look forward to being a part of the Bay Team of the Future.

Sincerely and with eager anticipation, Karey

Related Pages and Documents

What positions are open this year?

What are the duties of the Board members?

  • Board members are responsible for running the corporation. Trials are run by the Trial Committees.

What experience and qualifications are necessary to be on the board?

  • Have a passion for the club and it's goals.
  • Desire to improve the club by injecting new ideas and energy.
  • Understand and serve the needs of the general membership.
  • Ability to work well with other Board members.
  • Reliable email access; commit to reading and responding to emails (almost) daily.
  • Attend most membership meetings so that a quorum is established.
  • Willing to become familiar with Robert's Rules of Order

Job Description for President

  • From the Bylaws:
    • The President shall, with the advice of the other members of the Board, direct the affairs of the Corporation, and shall discharge such other duties as may be required by the Bylaws of the Corporation.
  • Duties:
    • Board Meetings:
      • Facilitate on-line board discussions and voting.
    • Membership Meetings:
      • Develop agenda in conjunction with Secretary.
      • Conduct meetings per Robert’s Rules of Order.
      • Review minutes prior to publication.
    • Committees:
      • Appoint committee chairs and members.
      • Solicit committee reports and monitor progress toward goals.
    • Other:
      • Check email frequently and respond in a timely manner.
      • Serve as primary contact for corporation business with Attorney, Guidestar, State of California, etc.
      • Be conversant with the Bay Team bylaws in order to keep within the club's legal parameters.
  • Qualifications:
    • Understand the club’s goals and mission; keep the big picture in mind.
    • Delegate while still staying informed.
    • Possess good interpersonal skills, including some ability to mediate.
    • Ability to manage a meeting, including:
      • Stay neutral until all opinions are heard.
      • Redirect people who are being repetitive or argumentative.
      • Ensure all members have an opportunity to provide input.
      • End a discussion that is going nowhere.
      • Summarize discussions and clarify choices.

Job Description for Secretary

  • From the Bylaws:
    • The Secretary shall prepare and keep a record of the proceedings of Corporation meetings and meetings of the Board of Directors and shall communicate Corporation business with Corporation members.
  • Duties:
    • Board Meetings:
      • Participate in Board email discussions/votes.
      • Prepare written minutes of all Board proceedings.
      • Post Board minutes to website in a timely manner.
    • Club Meetings:
      • Develop meeting agenda in conjunction with President.
      • Notify membership of upcoming meetings.
      • Attend (almost) all club meetings taking roll and notes.
      • If needed, request clarification on decisions or discussions.
      • Prepare written minutes of club meetings; review with President.
      • Deliver meeting minutes to club members in a timely manner.
    • Other:
      • Communicate other business with the membership as specified in the Bay Team bylaws.
    • Desired qualities:
      • Attention to detail.
      • Ability to distill wide-ranging discussions into salient points.
      • Follow time lines and meet deadlines.

Job Description for Member-at-Large

  • Duties:
    • Participate in Board email discussions/votes.
    • Attend most membership meetings.
    • Act in the best interests of the club.
  • Qualities:
    • Present opinions clearly.
    • Listen to input from others.
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