Resident Communication Committee
4 PM. – April 16, 2008 – Coosaw River Room
Minutes 

Present:	Bea Boockholdt, Steve Koehl, John Lynch, Bob Rasmussen, Sid Schwartz
Committee chair:	Gene Bigelow
Absent:	Joyce Hoerner
Board Liaison:	Jo Stephey
Communications Director:	Dan Baxter
Web Portal Administrator:	Paul Shane
Guests:	Wendy Eads, Wes Grady, Clifford Hudsick

Opening Remarks: (These are not in order of occurrence, partly because of the round-table nature of this part of the meeting.)

• Chair –
  • John Lynch, vice chair, will read the quarterly report at the next BoD meeting.
  • The chair remarked on the paucity of interaction at the portal groups dedicated to the BoD candidates. RCC members present had no comment.
• Board Liaison – Jo discussed or stated:
  • There are just two volunteers for RCC vacancies, Gene being one. The chair asked that the Board simply appoint them without further ado.
  • The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new web presence is “with” the executive director; Jo expects it to be sent to roughly 60 interested parties within the week.
  • The BoD has plans for a new community survey conducted by a professional entity.
• Communications Director – Dan discussed or stated:
  • There is a bidding war for the contract to print SunSations. This is a good thing.
  • Wendy Eads is on staff trying to effect coordination among the different media types.
  • The insert business is going very well.
• Portal Administrator: Paul reports figures reproduced below. He spoke of an outage and the subsequent sessions with a real person, as if this is a new development at ICI. The jump to 25000 logins in December and January was noted but not explained.
• Guests – A wide-ranging conversation:
  • introduced the guests who are candidates for BoD;
  • briefly covered the RCC structure, especially wrt its Sub-committees;
  • revisited the lack of data about media penetration among residents and other matters of fact that might guide the allocation of scarce resources, in particular,
    • covered the use of Neighborhood Representatives to address the above point;
    • likewise, mentioned the upcoming community survey;
  • discussed the availability and delivery (or lack thereof) of Resident Directories; and
  • discussed the use of email as an election tool and the Elections Committee and process

Quorum - Minutes

There was a quorum. There was no objection to a waiving of the reading of minutes. There were no proposed changes to the minutes as distributed for review.

Old Business:

• Chair inquired about any follow-up on the matter of SunSations advertisers having access to the Newcomer listing. There was none.
• Chair inquired about any follow-up on the matter of budget or Goals and Objectives for the Communications Department. There was none.
• Continue consideration of RCC Goals and Objectives (G&O) for 2008 - The chair expressed the idea that the Goals and Objectives should be categorized into one of three types: a vision statement, a recommendation to be forwarded to the BoD, or an action that the RCC can undertake within its own resources or with minimal involvement of other entities. There was no dissent to this idea. The items in the “RCC Objectives” document noted as being Strategic Objectives were disposed as follows:

1.       The following was identified as a vision statement, partly because it is inherently not measureable (as noted by Sid).

Increase usage of the Communications Platform: Increase the usage of the Web and Sun City TV channels through effective promotion, and desirable content.

2.       The following was identified as a recommendation to be forwarded to the BoD:.

Implement the concept of  umbrella communications (integrated broadcast, print and web).

3.       The following is removed since it has been accomplished:

Improve web performance by launching version 3.0 which is designed to increase overall delivery speed, enhance email, news, message boards, classifieds, advertising, etc.

4.       The following was identified as an RCC action item. Jo commented that the BoD has tried several options - none of which were particularly successful - and continues to search for a more effective method.

Define a methodology by which the BoD can effectively communicate with the community via the Communications Platform.

Sub-committee and Liaison Reports – Recommendations, Exceptional Items, Questions

• Broadcast Sub-committee Report:

1.       Gene will meet with Marci Baggetta and the 8 Sunrise Readers April 18 to discuss the current status and future of the Readers. 

2.       Sal Greco will be launching his new comedy radio show set in a 24 hour diner featuring local actors. An article on the upcoming Channel 51/ 237 show will appear in the May issue of SunSations.

3.       Bob Rasmussen will ensure that the costs for relocating and outfitting the broadcast studio will be included in the 2009 budget.

4.       The Low Power FM initiative is the executive director’s hands. Jo will ensure that the legal matters arising from our governing documents are addressed promptly.

• Resident Directory and Maps Sub-committee Report:

A new map for use by Safety & Services will be forthcoming shortly.

• NewComers Sub-committee Report:

Greeted 100 from 55 homes; held 4 coffees with 61 attendees from 39 homes.

• Internet Sub-committee Report: Paul reports thus:

Month	Unique Users	Percent Residents	Total Logins	Logged > once
Nov, 07	2463	20.2	20591	1757
Dec, 07	2950	24.0	25719	1964
Jan, ‘08	3000	24.1	25093	2126
Feb, ‘08	2455	19.7	20714	1732
Mar, ‘08	2512	20.3	22263	1757

At Steve’s Hotsheet (mixed compared to previous month):

Month	Unique visitors	Number of visits	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
Jan 2008	1114	2564	34504	67516	274.16 MB
Feb 2008	1061	2412	19731	37223	265.92 MB
Mar 2008	1011	2187	25560	50458	213.64 MB

• TAC liaison: - covered by Jo.

New Business:

• Comment on the use of the portal as a tool for elections. No motion was forthcoming.
• Inclusion of LPFM specifically in the G&A [sic]. Bob noted that “Broadcast” covers LPFM.

Adjournment: - 5:03

Open Action Items:

• Consider possible changes to the Strategic Plan and Objectives
• Define a methodology by which the BoD can effectively communicate with the community via the Communications Platform.

Next meeting 

4 PM Wednesday, May 21, 2008, Coosaw River Room, HCCHRC