I. Call to order
Roy Holdridge called to order and James Poerner opened the session with prayer for the regular meeting of the Texas Taxidermy Association at 10:00 AM on 08-21-2021 in Kerrville, Texas.
II. Roll call
Marie Holdridge conducted a roll call. The following persons were present:
Dan McBride; Roy Holdridge; Marie Holdridge; Linda Poerner; Jimmy Fontenot
Grant Elliot; James Newport; James Poerner; Scott Burton and Wyatt Oakley
Excused Absences: Brian Fees; Brandon Zahn; Ben Cromeens, Cary Jackson and Jacob Poerner
Member Attendees: Chad Miller and Keeley Busbee-Smith
III. Quorum Announcement
A quorum is present.
IV. Amendments/Additions to Agenda
Roy stated that attendees can add items to the agenda as needed. Two items added: Master’s Reproduction and Treasurer’s Role.
V. President’s Remarks
Roy stated that everybody pitched in this year. It is remarkable and we worked like a well-oiled machine. The convention was great. Thanks to the ladies at the front and all the work they do. We really appreciated the extra help in the Competition Room. I want to continue the tradition that Dan has started, that even though things went well we need to continue to make it better. Those are my remarks.
VI. Open TTAI board positions
• Parliamentarian – expires 2022. Roy stated that James Poerner has expressed interest in filling this open position due to Jimmy Fontenot’s move to Vice President. Marie Holdridge made a motion that James Poerner fill the Parliamentarian role. Second by Jimmy Fontenot. Unanimous approval. Roy then stated that this move leaves an open
Board position. Keeley Busbee-Smith helped at the convention this year and is present today. We ask that Keeley and Chad step out of the room for the discussion about seats. Motion by James Poerner that Keeley Busbee-Smith fill that Board seat that expires in 2023. Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval.
• Board of Advisors – expires 2022: Chad Miller was nominated in June. He was great help at the convention this year. Motion by James Poerner to have Chad Miller fill this role. Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval.
• Board of Advisors – expires 2023 – Courtney Sheehan was nominated in June. She was great help at the convention this year. Motion by James Poerner to have Courtney Sheehan fill this role. Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval.
VII. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Marie Holdridge provided copies of the June 23 & June 25, 2021 minutes, via email. Are there any edits or corrections? None voiced. The minutes were approved as read by silent assent.
VIII. Treasurer’s Report
Linda provided current financials. Total TTAI Accounts balance $57,553.84 – Main Acct - $55,591.87; Secretary Acct - $375.24; Investment Acct - $6,725.70; CD - $4,861.03. Lengthy discussion about main account funds and where they are invested. Linda states that we do not want to tie money up in a CD as this adversely impacts our ability to access the funds when we have to pay for things to get the convention underway. She plans to move the money to an interest-bearing saving account. This will assure liquidity. Discussion that the TTAI is doing better financially than in years past. This is due to some smart business decisions such as meal prices, convention fees and award management. This is also due to some of the successful efforts for getting sponsorships. Jimmy stated that each Board member think about any ideas or things they can do to help us continue to improve. Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented by Jimmy Fontenot, second by Wyatt Oakley. Unanimous approval by the Board.
Committee Reports
a) Convention Chair – Wyatt Oakley reports that he still needs to get with Jimmy about the timeline and contacts for getting the Convention work underway. Lengthy discussion about the challenges with the hotel. Due to COVID this year was challenging. This was compounded by the hotel having a lot of long-term rooms rented to military personnel due to some housing challenges. Jimmy will follow up with the hotel regarding contract and comp rates for the years going forward that we are contracted with the Killeen Convention Center.
b) Competition Rules Committee – James Poerner chair reports that the TTAI Handbook needs to be revised. We had an issue with an older version of the
Handbook being posted online. This created a challenge this year due to a tie. We had previously edited the handbook to allow for our President to be the tiebreaker in these instances. Lengthy discussion about the amateur division vs the professional division. Concerns expressed that commercial taxidermists should not be allowed to compete as an amateur. Roy and James mentioned that this issue has been discussed over the years. It was commented that just because a taxidermist mounts items for money does not mean they are qualified or appropriate to be in the professional division. The Board took no action or made changes on this topic. A question was raised about fatal flaw items. Discussion clarified understanding that although fatal flaw items are not eligible for People’s Choice and other award, the judge still judges the item and provides a critique. The taxidermist is given a score of zero for that mount in the points system. Lengthy discussion about castors. This year was one of the best for compliance. It is agreed that the castors detract from some smaller mounts. The TTAI needs to have a good dolly to help in those instances. Agreed that the TTAI will get a dolly.
c) Competition Room Committee – Scott Burton reports that Chad helped a lot in the room this year and he will serve as co-chair with him. Roy and Marie commented that they will also help especially with the late PM work for judges wrap up and the electronic People’s Choice voting tally.
d) Supply Room Site Committee – Grant Elliot (covering for Jacob) reports that things went well. He and Jacob have several ideas. He would like to send a thank you note email to all our vendors and sponsors. Marie will coordinate with him on that. Other suggested items are on the agenda for new business.
e) Backboard Committee – The group discussed concerns and issues with the hired help for set up this year. It appears that the company was paid in advance and then workers did not show up. Wyatt will coordinate with Jerry on this topic to make sure issues don’t happen next year. Additional discussion about the TTAI needs a couple of good screw guns. Motion by James Poerner to obtain 2 good quality screw guns and battery charger along with a stock of screws and other similar items. Second by Chad Miller. Unanimous approval by the Board. Chad will get the items and coordinate with Linda Poerner for payment.
f) Judges Committee –James Newport reports that Jerry has obtained judges for 2022. Lengthy discussion about the availability and quality of judges. This is particularity noted in the Whitetail category. Judges don’t really get paid that much and then when people are unhappy they put a lot of stuff out on social media. Many of the judges out there just don’t want the hassle associated with judging. There are some judges that the TTAI does not want to use again due
to previous issues with behavior or judging that created some long-term issues. For example, there are some judges who believe a blue ribbon must be given to a certain percentage of mounts in the division irrespective of the quality of the mount. This creates issues when that year’s blue-ribbon winner (with mounts that should not have gotten blue) competes again next year and does not get blue ribbons. Other times we have had judges who will only give good ribbons to mounts which have been mounted on their own forms and no others get good ribbons. This is unfair. Situations like this create resentment and ill will toward the TTAI. James Poerner mentioned that prior to hire/contract the Board needs to approve judges for these reasons. Judges for 2022 are: Gene Smith – Whitetail; Tim Cooley – Birds; Paul Gallegos – Lifesize; Greg Brumfield – Gameheads; Ken Bauman – Fish/Reptiles. Motion by Jimmy Fontenot with second by James Poerer to accept the judges for 2022. Unanimous approval. Lengthy discussion about judge’s pay scale for judging at the TTAI convention. Motion by Marie Holdridge to revisit judge pay scale based on judge’s workload and realign. Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval. Roy stated that there will be a subgroup meeting to discuss this and bring recommendations forward at the next Board meeting.
g) Friday Night Committee – Cary Jackson chair. No report. New business agenda times will discuss the Master’s Challenge rules and monitoring compliance that needs to be reviewed and enhanced.
h) Kid’s Activities Committee – Ben Cromeens, chair. No report. Chad Miller stated that at the Missouri show the kids mount an item and then those items are placed in a special category for People’s Choice voting. We will revisit this next meeting and, if the Board agrees, see what we can do to add something to the People’s Choice ballots.
i) Sponsor and Vendor Committee– Grant Elliot (for Jacob Poerner) reports that overall, the Texas convention had quite a few vendors and sponsors comparatively, given the COVID impact this year. The Board commends Jacob and Grant for their work to personally make telephone contact with vendors and sponsors. Discussion about timing of communication with vendors. Marie reports that she sends emails from the TTAI data base to all vendor member types and they see only their name on the email. This communication needs to be done earlier and she hopes that with her retirement that these can be sent in December. Vendors still need a follow up phone call. Doing this earlier will help assure that vendors are planning for the TTAI convention the following year. Discussion about a supply company that began emailing members during the convention and the content made it sound like they were affiliate with the TTAI convention. Marie reports they contacted the TTAI and wanted to be provided a mailing list of all members. We advised that, per members wishes for privacy, the TTAI does not provide our members information. We did offer that if they wanted to be a vendor or a sponsor the TTAI would promote them and any special discounts via a flier in our
member packets. They declined. One of the judges who worked this year has an affiliation with this company and he said he would let them know about our concerns. Jerry Huffaker has a relationship with this company and Jimmy will ask him to follow up. The TTAI would like them to attend our convention or at least be a sponsor.
j) Seminar/Mini Seminar Committee –James Newport, chair. The Kerrville site for Mini Seminar is reserved for March 11 thru 12, 2022. James reports that this year will be different with multiple seminars by Texas masters. Jerry Huffaker will do a seminar Friday evening. There will be a couple on Saturday. Discussion about planning this. Linda will get back with the hotel and assure they have rooms available on Friday.
k) Auction Committee – Grant Elliot reports for Jacob Poerner chair. Donations were up this year. The TTAI should consider vests or some way for attendees to easily see who is walking around with live auction items. Also there is an opportunity to avoid bottleneck with getting bidder numbers. The TTAI will move up an announcement for people to obtain their bidding numbers earlier in the banquet agenda.
l) Merchandise Sales Committee – Debbie Fontenot, chair. Jimmy reports that doing the T shirt sales on Saturday only presented a challenge this year. There were some barriers for Debbie being there on Thursday and Friday. That will not be a problem next year.
m) Points Keeper/Awards Audit Committee – Marie reports overall things are going well. She outlined that there is significant effort to be sure that our awards are given to the appropriate competitor. On Saturday we do a comprehensive audit of all awards and then do a final walk through with the TTAI President, Treasurer, Secretary, and the Chairs of the Competition Room, and the Rules Committee. We put a lot of effort to be sure that the results are confidential until the winners are announced at the Awards Banquet.
n) Awards Committee – James Poerner, chair reports that the awards not at the show have been sent to the winners. James reports that the TTAI does not buy the Best of Category awards in advance. Doing this has saved the TTAI a lot of money for the past few years. The award has the winner’s name on it and the year. Next year we will need to order ribbons. This is expensive with each ribbon costing between $25 and $40. Discussion about the order of the awards at the Awards Banquet. James Newport suggests that the Woody Award should be later. We will review the order of the awards at the next meeting.
Chad Miller mentioned that there is a new Judges Choice award. James asked that he provide that information. The TTAI reviews award and determines those that we will use. Sometimes awards are duplicative of other awards.
o) Photography Committee – Scott Burton, chair reports that Ken Edwards will be contacted for the 2022 show. This year we had an issue with some hangars not being appropriate creating issues with securely hanging the mount for pictures and on the backboard in the Competition Room. Suggest that this topic is covered in the Magazine and on Facebook.
p) Bylaws Committee/Ethics –Roy Holdridge, chair reports that he has served in this role a while and would like someone else to take it on. Jimmy stated he would be OK with doing this. Motion by James Poerner to move Jimmy to this role, second by Scott Burton. Unanimous approval.
q) Site Selection Committee – Jimmy Fontenot updates Board in follow up for action from last Board meeting re: to get data on Killeen Convention Center. He states that the convention center calendar does not go out that far, therefore the 2 additional years are currently pending.
r) TTAI Magazine –Scott Burton, chair reports that he is currently working with Jerry on articles. He also stated that Headquarters said they are unhappy and will not return to TTAI.
s) Advertising Committee – Scott Burton, chair reports. Recall that Linda Poerner stated that we need to refrain from placing advertisement in TTAI Magazine if they are not paid in advance.
t) Communications Committee – Scott Burton reports that he has had some good response to the Facebook topic of Workbench Wednesday. The Board commends Scott on his efforts to keep the TTAI interesting for our members.
u) Technology Committee – Wyatt Oakley states everything is Ok for now. There were some issues with the PA system. It is currently in the TTAI trailer and we need to check it out. Discussion about times such as People’s Choice that people do not hear announcements. The TTAI needs a megaphone. Wyatt will investigate this.
v) Membership Committee – Roy Holdridge, chair states that everyone on the Board needs to encourage taxidermists they encounter to become TTAI
members. The value of the Mini Seminar or the seminars at the convention are worth more than the cost of membership.
IX. Old Business
a) TTAI Archives – Digitizing Historical Documents – This will be undertaken the first day (3/11/22) of the 2020 Mini Seminar in Kerrville. We need to promote this and get this published on the TTAI website and FB. The TTAI will use a reputable company to digitize historical documents. We will ask people like Jeannie Schmick, Richard Reeves and others to bring their items. The best examples will be sent for digitizing. Then the items will be returned to the owner. Once we get this work done, these items can be placed on our website for all members to enjoy.
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b) Proposed TTAI Bylaw Change – substitute common parliamentary procedure for Robert’s Rules of Order. The TTAI Board reviewed a redline version of the proposed Bylaw Change. There are 3 places in the TTAI Bylaws which reference Robert’s Rules of Order. 1- is in section II item (d) the proposed change will read “Election shall be by secret ballot, according to common parliamentary procedure… 2- in Section III item (e) Sargent of Arms/Parliamentarian - … “will advise the President or presiding Offier on matters of procedures if necessary consulting a standard authority on common parliamentary procedures.” 3 – in Article VII item (c) “Common parliamentary procedure” shall govern in all cases not provided for in these by-laws. Lengthy discussion. Motion by James Poerner accept the proposed Bylaw change with modification of the last part of Section III to add “as agreed by Board vote.” Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval. This Bylaw change will be communicated to TTAI members.
c) Friday Night Calcutta & Financial Structure – Linda Poerner discussed some of the Friday night changes this year that should be considered going forward. Lengthy discussion of several topics including, having pizza instead of a sit-down dinner worked well this year. Motion by Scott Burton to have pizza instead of a sit-down dinner on Friday night. The TTAI could ask members to donate, rather than pay for attending the pizza supper. Second by Wyatt Oakley. Unanimous approval. Further discussion about not having the Calcutta auction. If no Calcutta the TTAI would not have to pay auctioneer fees and room for Friday night. The Calcutta has been an administrative burden and the TTAI did not receive any funds for that work. Also, the original intent of the Master’s Challenge was educational. We give nice belt buckles but the TTAI should consider not paying competitors. Finally, the separate Bird category was initially started as a trial to see if this would be attractive and have sufficient Bird competitors participate. To date we have had at most 3 at any given time. Motion by Jimmy Fontenot that the TTAI cease having the Calcutta, only award the belt buckles for competitors and
eliminate having the Master’s Bird category, which was started as a trial. Second by James Poerner. Unanimous approval.
X. New Business
• TTAI 2022 Nominations in Process – Marie provided an overview of the TTAI nomination and election process including dates that various things must occur. The 2022 nomination process is underway. Nominations close on August 31st. Then notification of nomination, via delivery confirmed email, to qualified nominees will be done before September 15th. Nominees have until September 30th to accept or decline nomination. Some never respond. Then per agreement at the last meeting the TTAI will issue secret ballots via Survey Monkey to TTAI members between October 15th and November 15th. The TTAI election closes on December 31st. If the election does not involve contested seats we will not send it to a CPA for validation and election results. The election results are announced at the spring Board meeting.
Board Meeting Process Overview and Discussion – Marie asked the newly appointed Board members if they have prior served on a board. Some have and some have not. She and several others have served on other or multiple boards. Based on previous experience there is value in outlining board process and how things work for new TTAI Board members who have not previously served on a board. It is widely recognized that there is value in having a group of people discuss things to the benefit of a group. Therefore, various boards exist. Board members may not all agree and that is expected and fine. Once the TTAI Board discusses and then votes on an item, that outcome represents the collective decision of the Board. Board members should support the decision of the TTAI Board. Every one of us has had something we wanted or even felt strongly about to end up not being approved by the Board. Supporting the Board’s decision promotes collaboration among the Board and that creates strength and synergy. Obviously if a decision is made that an individual cannot tolerate or support, then it might be prudent for that person to resign. At the end of the day, we are here to support and work well with each other. Our current Board has worked well together for the benefit of our members. We look forward to working with our new Board.
• Discuss Loan Payment – James Poerner stated that a few years ago two TTAI Board members stepped up financially to rectify a situation involving the TTAI’s name and status as a not for profit in Texas. The attorneys who worked on our behalf, were able to secure copyright for the Texas Taxidermy Association, Inc., and our logo –nationally and with the state of Texas. They also were able to restore the TTAI’s not for profit standing with the Secretary of State. After this was completed and reported to the TTAI Board it was agreed to consider repaying them for that money spent on behalf of the TTAI at a future date. These two have not asked the TTAI to do this, but we should consider it. Careful discussion on this topic. Motion by Wyatt Oakley to table this for a future discussion. Second by James Newport. Unanimous approval.
• Rules Change/Master’s Challenge etc. – James Poerner discussed several things for Board consideration about rules. We had a situation this year where a competitor wanted to return to a lower division after competing for years due to some health issues. The Rules Committee discussed it and agreed that we cannot accommodate that as it is unfair to competitors in the lower division. Lengthy discussion about the Master’s Challenge. The rules need to be reinforced with the competitors. James will discuss this with Cary.
• Update Website for Vendors – Grant Elliott states that the TTAI.org website links for providers is confusing and does not take them to the correct location for signing up for the convention or as a sponsor. Marie states that all of the website information for Sponsors and vendors needs to be updated. Grant also asks that we provide a good summary of why a vendor would want to also be a sponsor. All vendors and sponsors need to be directed to Grant or Jacob as the TTAI point of contact. Marie will work to get that done in advance of notifications for 2022 convention.
• Swapping Vendor Room with Friday Night Room – Grant Elliott states that even with fewer vendors here this year that the space was too small. He suggests the TTAI consider moving vendors to the room used for the Master’s Challenge. Lengthy discussion on this topic. It is noted that the TTAI anticipated a larger volume of competition entries this year which resulted in the backboards being moved further out into the vendor area. The Board agreed that we will instead be flexible and manage this with space in the Competition Room.
• Open/Other:
i. Master’s Reproduction Category – Kerby Ross and Ron Kelley have asked that the TTAI Board consider the following topics
1.Require that any Master’s Reproduction must be made/cast by the competitor instead of purchasing a commercial blank. Careful consideration of this topic. Potential impacts on other Master’s categories. Judges are aware of any mount that has extra work involved in the creation of it, as long as that is declared at mount check in. Judges are advised to take that into consideration when the TTAI Rules and Competition leaders meet with them prior to the start of judging. The fish judge this year was aware of those that were made by the competitor. At the end of the day the detail work and the overall appearance of
the mount determines the award. Roy polled each Board member for their thoughts on this topic. Per poll counts the Board a significant majority agreed to not add this requirement for Master’s reproduction category. Motion by James Poerner to not require this. Second by Grant Elliott. Unanimous approval by the Board.
2. Reproduction Category – create separate categories for Fish and Reptiles. The Board discussed this topic. Historically there are relatively low volumes of mounts entered in this category.
Motion by James Poerner that we leave the Master’s Reproduction category and rules as they currently are stated. Second by Wyatt Oakely. Unanimous approval by the Board.
ii. Treasurer’s Role – Board discussion with James and Linda Poerner about the current financial situation of the TTAI, the Treasurer workload and future risk mitigation ideas. The treasurer role as currently outlined in the TTAI Bylaws is a very large one with year-round responsibility. Lengthy discussion on this topic. The TTAI should consider incorporating the work of a CPA to cover some of the duties and also provide oversight to assure appropriate financial management. Then the proposed change will be communicated to TTAI members with the next Board meeting notification. A few years ago the TTAI explored a pro bono CPA to serve as Treasurer. The barrier was attending Board meetings and working the convention. We believe maintaining a voting member Treasurer but having them work with a CPA would help overall. The Board reviewed/discussed the current TTAI Bylaws related to Treasurer role in Section III. With minor edits to the Bylaws the TTAI could include a CPA in the role. This could be further clarified in the Handbook details for the role. Marie will draft a proposed TTAI Bylaw change and send to the Board for preliminary review. Linda and Jimmy will explore costs and options and bring that back at the next meeting for Board discussion and action.
XI. Adjournment
Roy Holdridge after motion by James Newport and multiple seconds and with unanimous approval by the Board adjourned the meeting at 4:09 PM.
Minutes submitted by: Marie Holdridge, TTAI Secretary
Minutes approved by: TTAI Board 03-11-2022
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