Chuck has been trying to hammer down Kevin Kohen's ad as he did send Chuck some correspondence a few weeks ago with artwork sizes etc and Chuck responded to him and has been awaiting a reply. Our deadline for the Spring Newsletter is in a week, so Chuck will pass on anything he gets to Rob.

2) VP Report:

Lee’s MASNA activities during the past month have revolved around initiating contact with officers of several past MASNA clubs. He’s going to continue the effort as time allows.

An item that Lee wanted to bring to the board's attention is that it appears that AMDA has revived its stalled net collection/net training fund of a year ago. It appears that this incarnation of the net collection and training fund will only address supplying netting material to Bali and will not deal with training activities. The location of the project also appears to have moved from the Philippines and Indonesia to Bali. For those that are not familiar with this project, MASNA was highly supportive of the idea of net training program and net supply program but did not receive adequate information about the program scope and how funds would be used. Lee hopes the program is formalized this time around.

3) Treasury Report:

Last Month’s Balance: $4,295.98

Monies Received Since:

$000.00 0 Corporate membership(s)

$112.50 3 Club membership(s)

$ 65.00 4 Individual membership(s)

$225.00 1 Newsletter ad

$402.50

Expenses:

$ 55.00 EMS Charges

$ 10.00 Am Ex. Charges

$ 10.00 Bank Monthly Service Fee

$ 20.00 Transfer Fee (John Brandt)

$1352.00 J. Brandt travel expense

(–)$1447.50

Ending Balance to

Date: $3,266.88

4) Membership Report:

Current Membership:

	2002-2003	2003-2004	Change Since 02/03	Difference From 2002-2003
Individual Members	88	53	4	-35
Club Members	20	18	2	-2
Corporate Members	10	10	2	0

Cheri sent out 8 welcome/renewal thank you notes. She also sent out several notes encouraging reefing friends to join MASNA. The addition of West Coast Tropical Marine as a new corporate member (Marc Daniels) was the result of her efforts in that regard.

5) Secretary Report:

February meeting minutes were completed and were mailed to bod@masna.org on 03/08/04.
Spent time trying to help the Boston Reefers (specifically Toby Tsuchida) locate contact information for Takashi Amano as a potential speaker for MACNA. Cheri was finally successful getting the contact information for Mr. Amano’s English speaking assistant, Nozomi Hayakawa.
Sent out the Saltwater Aquarium Hobby survey (U. of Florida) to all of MASNA’s membership for John Brandt.
Worked with John to respond to Anthony Calfo’s request for past MACNA information. Specifically, Anthony was looking for the location of every past MACNA, which John found in his records.

6) Editor Report:

Winter newsletters have been mailed
Spring newsletter deadline was technically 3/8/04 but as long as Rob has information by the end of the week, it’ll be fine. Rob is still waiting for article from Anthony Calfo. He will cull club info this week, so if any of our clubs has events coming up in April-June let him know.

No progress made on getting donations due to busy schedule at work and with MACNA. Will pursue this over the next couple of weeks.

7) Webmaster Report:

· Standard updates have been performed.

· The Ad rotator was in place, however some issues still exist. Joe will elaborate at the next meeting.

8) MAC/USCRTF Report:

· Traveled to Washington, DC for the USCRTF meeting at the US Dept. of Commerce. John attended the symposium on Feb. 24 and the general meeting on Feb. 25^th. Met with two WAMAS board members at the meeting.

· Produced MASNA Press Release on the upcoming pending trade legislation proposed by the US Commission on Ocean Policy. Discussed the proposal by phone with Dr. Barbara Best of USAID.

· Consulted and helped distribute the Saltwater Aquarium Hobbyist Survey by the University of Florida.

· Attended Marine Ornamentals ’04 Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii from March 1-6, 2004. Was the Session Chair and Organizer for the panel discussion “The Role of the Media in the Marine Ornamental Trade”, which included James Wiseman (RDO), Tim Hovanec (Marineland), Doug Robbins (Advanced Aquarist Magazine) and Chris Buerner (Quality Marine). Gave keynote Plenary Lecture “The Role of the Hobbyist in a Sustainable Marine Ornamental Trade”.

· Spoke with the main organizer of Marine Ornamentals Conference, John Corbin, about the possibility of combining or collaborating the MO with MACNA to improve and increase the attendance for both events. MO ’04 had a relatively low turnout of about 250 attendees, causing the organizers to look for ways to boost attendance.

· John has been invited to participate in a weeklong special event on a French Reefkeepers Aquarium Association website, called Recifs.org at http://www.recifs.org. He will be answering questions posted (and translated to English) for a week concerning topics related to sustainability of the marine aquarium trade, reef conservation issues, USCRTF and MAC. The event will run from March 17 – 26, 2004.

Call to order 9:07 PM EST

9) Although there had been an eMAIL vote on donation to the Borneman Elegance Coral Research project, we were missing several votes. Chuck gave Joe and Larry a chance to speak (though Joe thought he’d put in a Yes vote). Cherie let everyone know that John Link (Reef Central) was matching the first $500 in donations and they were via PayPal. Chuck indicated he could sign MASNA up for PayPal. The motion to donate $100 to the project was passed 6: 1 abstention.

10) The rest of the meeting was discussion on John Brandt’s proposed Letter of Intent on MAC. Each board member was given a chance to give their comments.

· Lee began by asking if our relationship w/ MAC poses an issue with the new non-profit status. Chuck updated us on that. He has compiled the first 2 years out of 4 years needed of financial records. We are to have no PUBLIC AFFILIATIONS of any kind with any POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES. Chuck believes MAC is a gray area with regard to this

· John asked for a definition of PAC. Rob gave him “a group that acts to affect legislation,” which Chuck agreed with. John thought given that definition, MASNA was one because he is a lobbyist and he pointed to the MASNA mission statement. Rob didn’t think MAC was.

· Cheri discussed the statement at the last meeting that MASNA is “neutral” as an official position w/ regard to MAC, but that we couldn’t be considered “neutral” given the wording of the Letter of Intent. She stated that a potential MASNA sponsor recently told her that MASNA was totally pro-MAC, therefore they wouldn’t consider joining MASNA. Cheri was concerned about the public perception; Chuck felt that wasn’t true as is evidenced by the positions of many board members and that MASNA has remained ambiguous in regards to both MAC and AMDA for the last two years and that we’ve distanced ourselves compared to what it used to be. Cheri felt the letter indicated we ARE pro MAC and are in fact, partners. Cheri did not agree with the letter.

· Rob stated that he supports initiatives like MAC but that with all the controversy on AMDA vs. MAC he isn’t sure either is correct. He was concerned that by supporting MAC, we alienate AMDA – he doesn’t think we want that, can afford that or that it can help us in the non-profit arena. His opinion was that we could support MAC and other initiatives like it, but to exclude others would be a bad idea.

Rob didn’t have a problem w/ the letter’s wording, but was troubled with the idea of John sitting on our BOD w/ no representation from any other organization – implying MASNA’s 100% full and complete support of MAC. He asked John, “If you didn’t have a seat on our BOD, would you still act as the USCRTF Rep to MAC?” John responded that he isn’t MAC’s USCRTF rep – he is MASNA’s USCRTF rep. {Hence his previous comment that he is a lobbyist in Washington for MASNA and MASNA is therefore a PAC. Rob then agreed.}

· Joe agreed with Rob and thought that the letter was a bit too MAC shifted.

· Chuck stated that he’s tried to remain neutral on most issues since as President, he has a duty to listen objectively to both sides, especially if his vote is to be the tiebreaker on any vote. He has never taken for or against action with AMDA or MAC. He has however, over the past two years, decreased MASNA’s blind support of them. Chuck felt what must be added to the discussion is what MASNA gets out of this. His personal belief was that we need to tone down the letter to a more neutral point and the board needs to define exactly how much support we give these organizations. Chuck felt that for a long time MASNA has blindly supported them and we need to ask what do we get in return.

· Larry thought that MASNA needs to try and stay neutral until we can commit one way or another to what this organization is really trying to accomplish. Lee later stated that his biggest issue with the wording of the letter was the term “partner.” Lee stated that he’s basically supportive of what MAC is doing but doesn’t feel MASNA is truly partnered with MAC, and he’s concerned with how local clubs feel about MAC and whether our membership supports MAC.

· John explained this is a routine letter of reference that NGO seek when applying for funding. It basically states that MASNA is associated with MAC in limited ways. We have a member on the MAC BOD (himself), we post MAC News on our website and in our newsletter and we support a responsible trade. He said the (letter) wording is weird and fancy because that is what funders respond to, but it doesn’t obligate us to anything more than we are already doing. It is simply a reference letter to help secure funding and MASNA has done this before. It is possible that AMDA’s BOD member who is also on MAC’s BOD may produce a similar letter. A number of MAC BOD members will do the same. John felt that the letter couldn’t be made “neutral” in any real sense because “neutral” isn’t anything tangible. If MASNA were “neutral”, how would it post news on MAC? How would it have a MAC BOD member? John feels that posting anything isn’t “neutral” but in all practicality is “supportive.” If MASNA doesn’t produce a letter of reference for funding, that is “negative.” John wanted the issue of a PAC discussed separately and wanted to be given a workable definition of “neutral” because he isn’t sure how to act and fulfill his duties as MASNA BOD & MAC BOD.

John said that the word “partner” in the letter was suggested to facilitate acceptance of the application and that it was fancy wording not carrying more meaning than MASNA already gives to MAC. By having him on our BOD and posting MAC info, he feels we are “partnered” as far as NGOs go.

11) Chuck motioned to send the letter as is. John seconded the motion. Lee, Cheri, Rob, Joe, Larry and Chuck all voted No. The motion was defeated 6 to 1.

12) Chuck motioned to allow John to reword the letter in a way to suit MASNA’s ideals and also suit the requirements of the NGO – which we could then vote by mail on. Rob seconded the motion. Lee, John, Rob, Joe, Larry and Chuck voted Yes. Cheri voted No. The motion was passed 6 to 1.

13) John requested amendment ASAP, so Chuck invited John to call him right after the meeting. He stated that he’d need to consult w/ MAC to learn if the amended text would function as a letter of reference. John wanted to know if “Partner” was the problem. Lee responded that was his biggest issue but that he also didn’t know what “proposed USAID GDA Partnership: Pacific Aquarium Trade Sustainability: A Public-Private Alliance” was. John said that is MASNA’s support for MAC getting USAID funding. It is the title of the fund they are applying for. More information about the fund is available on the web. Rob’s opinion was that we should be absolutely but that we need to make sure we’re not excluding anyone else. He’s fine with the wording of the letter as is as long as the other parts of MASNA are structured to support other initiatives. Cheri felt that if MASNA helps MAC get funding, we are pro-MAC. John agreed and stated that if we don’t help them get funding, we are anti-MAC.

14) John again asked for a definition of “neutral.” Chuck’s reply, “We are not out publicly supporting everything MAC is doing and trying to side everyone with MAC. We do report some of what goes on there.

15) Joe reported having problems setting up the ad rotator for the website. Chuck invited Joe to call him the next day to talk about the details.

16) Cheri asked about leftover brochures from the Marine Ornamentals conference. The brochures didn’t get to the conference due to Chuck’s illness. John made some and gave them out anyway. He did the same for MACNA. Chuck said he’d send Cheri some MASNA brochures. Rob agreed to send Cheri the MACNA brochure .pdf file after edits were completed.

17) Cheri reported that West Coast Tropical Marine (newest Corporate member) will be extending a 10% discount to MASNA members and a 15% discount to MASNA club members. Chuck reported that LiveAquaria (Drs. Foster & Smith) would be offering severely marked down merchandise, such as a refractometer for $25. Kevin Kohen will be sending a full list within the next day or two. There will be a general discount code for WCTM in the newsletter. Clubs will have individual codes given to them.

Motion to adjourn by Chuck, seconded by Cheri. The motion passed at 10:39pm EST.

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Call to order 9:07 PM EST

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