Committee Meetings - January 2012

President Wendling called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m., on January 4, 2012, at the Chateau Hotel, Bloomington, Ill.

The following 2012 Committee Reports were read to the Board:

Dutchess and Little Miss Holstein Committee Report
Chairman: Lori Lyons

The 2012 Dutchess competition will be held the evening before the Junior Championship Show with a 5:30 p.m. start time. It will be held in the show ring or another site on the fairgrounds and the deadline for entries will be June 15th. Last year there were two Dutchess and two Little Miss Holstein Contestants and we would like to increase participation in the future. There seem to be very few girls in the Dutchess age group, however. It was suggested that we have an activity to attract participants, perhaps a spa day or something like that. Proposed program changes include allowing Little Miss Holstein “designees” to participate for multiple years rather than limiting them to one year.

Budget for 2012-13 is $675 in excess of Revenue.

Futurity Committee Report
Chairman: Wendy Erbsen

The Futurity Show takes place at the State Championship Show, deadlines are July 1 for two-year-old and five-year-old renewal and November 1 is the deadline for new futurity animals and renewal of second year. The Committee would like to promote the new opportunity to be published in the Herald, with payment due May 1st. The Committee discussed making up for lack of payment of 5% to animals in the ring for 5-year-old class in 2011. The Committee asked that the purse be rolled into the next show with a new rule change – “If less than 20 animals are shown, the portion of the unclaimed purse shall be applied to the future five-year futurity for the same animals nominated.”

Budget for 2012-13 is to breakeven.

Membership Committee Report
Chairman: Brian Olbrich

Membership went down slightly from 2010 to 2011. The committee recommends mailing membership forms by March 1st, anticipates dues arriving in April, with the $5 late fee for any dues paid after June 1st. The mailing list needs to be reviewed by the officers of each club to narrow it down a little to save on postage. The committee recommends re-formatting the membership form to make it easier for households to fill out one sheet rather than multiple pages for family members. The committee also suggests adding a box for people to check if they would like their membership form emailed to them in the future, rather than mailed.

Budget for 2012-13 is $17,000 profit.

Planning and Evaluation Committee Report
Chairman: Gary Janssen

Each Committee Chairman gave a brief description of their committee activities. Boyd Schaufelberger joined the group and mentioned keeping our members up-to-date about FDA testing of milk. Gary asked for a show of hands of interest in moving the state sale to the spring and the consensus was that there is definitely interest.

Budget for 2012-13 is zero.

PDCA Calf Sale Committee Report
Chairman: Marc Hilgendorf & Gene McCoy

The 2012 PDCA Calf Sale will be held April 14th at the Round Barn in Champaign. Entries are due by February 1st for advertising. They are looking for 25-30 suggested show-aged Holstein calves. They need the birthdate of the calf and registration for dam and sire. The Selection Committee will be Steve Irwin, Jerry Smith, Bob Miller, Gary Janssen, Kevin Lyons, Marc Hilgendorf and Jason Oertel. Creighton Barker will be the Auctioneer. Larry Kleiner will read Pedigrees. Illini Dairy Club will do preparation. The Committee discussed the possibility of offering picks/flushes and no decision was made.

Budget for 2012-13 is to breakeven.

Promotions Committee Report
Chairman: Carrie Pollard
Report given by John Mitchell

The Promotions Committee will continue to distribute Heralds at National Convention and World Dairy Expo, with a special Midwest booth this upcoming year next to Wisconsin at World Dairy Expo. There were four entries last year in the Cow of the Year Contest and the winner was Ms. Price Star Meyer owned by the Koehn Family of Peotone. The Display Board was displayed at State Sale, State Convention, State Show and State Picnic and the same is planned for this year.

Budget for 2012-13 is $1,000 in expenses.

Publications Committee Report
Chairman: Stephanie Stout
Report given by Julie Drendel

Editor Julie Drendel distributed a handout detailing the financial summary of the Herald as an enterprise. The summary showed this year the Herald lost a little over $800 but there is still one more issue (the spring Midwest issue) during the fiscal year and it usually makes a profit. The Committee recommends the June Herald be a “Midwest issue” and the December Herald be replaced with one or two newsletters (an 8-16 page newsletter after Convention and a 4-8 page following the committee meetings). Julie Drendel will work on a budget analysis to see if the newsletter option will save us any money. Budget for 2012-13 is to breakeven.

The Board discussed the publications and it was moved by Joe Engel to give the Executive Board authority to participate in a Midwest Issue if the other states agree to participate too. The motion was approved by the group. Discussion about the winter issue of the Herald versus a newsletter was tabled by Mike Netemeyer until the June Board meeting, motion to table was seconded by Joe Engel.

Budget for 2012-13 is to breakeven.

Website Committee Report
Chairman: Stephanie Aves

The Committee suggests retaining Holstein World as the host of the website, but other options will be explored/considered for webmaster. The Committee discussed soliciting sponsors/advertising on the website. Julie Drendel brought up the idea of enhancing the website with feature sections like a “Breeder Profile”.

Budget for 2012-13 is to breakeven.

National Convention Committee
Chairman: Ron Schaufelberger; co-chair: Dale Drendel

This was a brain-storming meeting of the National Convention Committee Chairmen. The convention will be held June 29-July 3, 2015. They discussed pre-convention tours, budget and finance, the Trade Show, the sale site, Host-Day Tours, logo and theme, non-delegate tour, Family Night (maybe at Medieval Times), Junior Program (maybe Marla Behrends), Fundraising (maybe sponsors for the gators to run around the grounds and a calendar). Tour sites recommended were Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mint, and the Field Museum. Potential Sponsors named were Alflex, Monsanto, Midwest, DMI, Select Sires, ABS, Cargill, ADM and First Farm Credit. Potential Banquet speakers recommended were Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson. Emcee nominated was Mike Hutjens.

State Sale Committee Report
Chairman: John Erbsen

The Committee had a positive discussion about the possibility of moving the State Sale from the fall to the spring. This would involve having two sales during one year and also talking to Clinton County and Northwest Spring Sizzler about the conflict with their sales every other year. The committee asks the Board to discuss and vote on this issue.

The 2012 State Sale is scheduled for northern Illinois, either Freeport or Belvidere, on October 27th. The Committee recommends reducing expenses by cutting the advertising in Cattle Connection. Four hundred and fifty catalogs should be printed for the sale.

For Sale Commissions, the recommendation to the Board is that the Sale Chairman be paid 1% of sale gross; co-chairman receive 3% of the consignments they secure (with a $500 minimum) and co-co-chairman receive 3% of the consignments they secure (with no minimum guarantee). Ringmen compensation should be 3% commission on animals they secure the final bid on, with a minimum of $500. The Chairman has discretion to choose how much to pay the Auctioneer and Pedigree reader.

The Committee recommends the State Sale cease holding money for choice lots in escrow. Projected profit for the State Sale(s) during 2012-13 is $5,000.

The Board of Directors discussed sale commissions and compensation. Boyd Schaufelberger moved to approve the compensation package recommendations and the motion was approved by the group. Dale Drendel moved to authorize Sale Chairman John Erbsen to talk to the Clinton County Classic and the Spring Sizzler to get their opinions on the Holstein Association moving the State Sale to the spring. The motion was seconded by Boyd Schaufelberger and approved by the group. Gary Janssen moved that we cease holding the down payment for Choice Lots in escrow and that the consignor be given their 10% immediately following the sale. The motion was seconded by Bruce Clanton and approved by the Board.

Budget for 2012 -2013 is $5,000 profit.

State Show Committee Report
Chairman: Brian Wesemann; Co-Chairman: Nate Janssen

The dates we hope to hold the 2012 State Show will be July 18-July 20, with animals arriving on July 17. The Interstate Center/McLean County Fairgrounds have issues with having us on those dates with time to clean up afterward, so they recommend we find another location. The increasing cost there every year has also encouraged us to search for new locations. New locations were discussed, including Pontiac, Gordyville, State Fairgrounds, and Lincoln. Going back to Lincoln seems the most feasible and attractive, and the cost was preliminarily discussed as $3000 for site rental and clean-up. A motion was made by the committee to contact the fairgrounds in Lincoln to get a formal contract drawn up for 3 years at their facility.

Committee Chairmen will meet with the facility to discuss donating fans to improve ventilation, the PA system, Announcer Stand, whether the bark will be removed prior to cattle arrival and potential lunch stand/wagon on-site. The Chairmen will contact Chris Lammers about judging the Open Show, with the next choice being Chris Hill and then Robert Yeoman.

The Committee discussed the online check-in for the show and Committee members asked that online check-in paperwork be printed for volunteers to use during on-site check-in. The Chairmen need to make sure Julie Drendel is willing to help design and print the catalog again for 2012. Committee members asked whether entry fees could be lowered if the cost of the show site decreases and that will be discussed in future years. The Committee Chairmen ask for members’ help in soliciting donations from their local suppliers they do business with and they can follow-up after the initial request is made if you let them know who to talk to.

Boyd Schaufelberger moved to give the Show Chairmen authority to discuss installing fans at the Lincoln fairgrounds with the grounds managers and report back to the President who will present the options to the Board at the June meeting. The motion was seconded by Dale Drendel and approved by the Board.

Budget for 2012 -2013 is breakeven.

Youth Committee Report
Chairman: Glen Meier

The Spring Thing will be at The Chateau in Bloomington on March 3rd and 4th. The Youth will travel to the National Convention in Springfield, MO, Illinois Championship Junior Show, Illinois State Fair Junior Show and the Fall Annual Meeting.

The group raised $1,900 from silent/live auction at state convention and $2,973.50 from calf donated by Select Sires at State Sale. In the future, the Committee requests commission not be taken out of any sale animals donated to the Illinois Juniors. Applications for the Allen Tucker Memorial Scholarship are due February 20th. The Committee discussed National Convention costs from the past. Ticket and hotel prices for the 2012 convention have not been released yet. The folding display contest will be split into two categories this year – Scientific and Promotions. DJM and YDJM books will be streamlined for 2013 to encourage increased participation. A judge has been identified for the Illinois Championship Junior Show, we are just waiting to contact them after the dates are set for the show. The budget for the Juniors is kept separate from the Senior membership funds, so they are self-sustaining.

Budget for 2012 - 2013 is to breakeven.

All of the proceeding 2012 Committee Reports were approved by a motion made by Glen Meier, seconded by Brian Olbrich and approved by the Board.

Herb Schmeideskamp made a motion to approve the budget which was seconded by Jim Schumacher and approved by the Board. A motion to approve the actions of the Executive Board from the past year was made by Mike Netemeyer, seconded by Herb Schmeideskamp, and approved by the board.

Respectfully Subittmed, Tina Yagow