Speakers Trust Meeting — Thursday, November 8, 2007

Minutes

1. Call meeting to order:
   1. Vice President calls meeting to order.
      
      
2. Attendance:
   1. Present:
      Jeffry Johnson — P
      Justina Uram — VP
      Tara Walsh — Secretary and Treasurer
      Bianca Oden
      Jennifer Winston
      Crystal West
      Taisha Chambers
   2. Absent:
      Matthew Muckler — (per pro. chairman)
      Jose Fanjul — P SBA
      Mai Nguyen — (with apology noted)
      Terrence Burke — (with apology noted)
      Constance Gadell-Newton
      Tabitha Chedekel
   3. Quorum established
      
      
3. Opening remarks by Vice-President:
   1. We have a BLSA grant application, requesting $300.
      
      
4. Consideration of Grant Applications:
   1. BLSA event, as per Victor D.'s [BLSA President] preliminary inquiry.
   2. Presentation by BLSA
      1. Upper level students will have exams at the very end of the semester; as a result, is this date workable?
      2. However, the group notes that most of the prospective attendance is from 1Ls.
      3. The event consists of four attorneys and 3L students that will create a panel.
      4. There will be a separate event at UP that will consist of attorneys from the UP; as a result, this event will not be teleconferenced.
      5. Following the panel, 15-20 other attorneys will be here just for networking purposes.
      6. Speakers are all volunteers.
      7. BLSA will cover the $50 thank you bags.
      8. BLSA has not spoken to Career Services about their annual networking program.
      9. Classes end at 5:30 on Thursday, the 29th so there is no time conflict with classes.
   3. Deliberations by the Trust:
      1. The application may need a little more detail.
      2. This is a panel, not a speaker; the Speakers Trust does not normally fund these types of events.
      3. These speakers are not requiring payment and there is four of them; this sounds like an event that Career Services holds, not the Speakers Trust.
      4. In fact, Career Services holds a very similar event every year.
      5. However, the Trust must consider that we supported the homelessness panel; this event is very similar so we cannot fund one panel and then not fund another simply because of the nature of the event.
      6. We need to find out if Career Services holds this type of program.
      7. We should also get a list of names of the speakers coming and their firms.
      8. At the very least, we should suggest that one of the speakers actually give a presentation; in other words, he or she should be the leader in some way, a headline speaker.
      9. 40-70 people are estimated to come to this event; this approximation seems very high for the end of the semester; as a result, they probably do not need $300.
      10. We're not going to vote on this right now; but we have a plan to contact Career Services to find out about their event, and ask BLSA for a more specified application.
          
          
5. Ratify the Speakers Trust Bylaws for 2007-2008 Term:
   1. There are three possible amendments to the bylaws that should be considered:
      1. A recapture clause would ensure that if the Trust gave a group money and the group did not use that money within 7 days for the particular event advanced, the Trust would get the money back to put towards other speakers.
      2. Another possibility is to include a clause concerning the Trust's policy of not donating to charities or political groups.
      3. Finally, the Trust should consider adding a webmaster position in the bylaws in order to expand the website.
   2. The Trust will not vote on these this evening.
      
      
6. Any other business:
   1. There is no other business to consider this evening.
      
      
7. Closing comments:
   1. The Trust will schedule a tentative emergency meeting for November 29th at 5:30. This meeting will only take place if the Trust receives more proposals for the very beginning of next semester.
      
      
8. Adjournment:
   1. Vice President adjourns meeting.