BiNet USA Board Minutes

(MSC = moved, second, carried)

(UNDERSCORED CAPS = action item agreed to by consensus)

Meeting commenced 10:28 a.m. in Long Beach, CA. Attending: Denise Penn, Luigi Ferrer, Gary North

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FINANCES:

Discussion held on finances. We have about $600 in the bank.

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PROGRAMS:

Discussion held on what BiNet's future function could be, noting that much of this is still part of our current mission statement: networking, rapid response/media projects, fundraising, putting on conferences, sponsoring a National Bi Leadership Roundtable, bi talk show. Luigi noted he appeared on the Telemundo program "Show de Rocio" and that he helped it put together its panelists, content, etc. Denise participated in the action group spearheaded by the Task Force responding to the NY Times article" Gay Straight or Lying -- Bisexuality Revisited."

Discussion held on offering a pre-conference institute this year or next in conjunction with Creating Change. LUIGI WILL TALK TO BRC'S SHEREE ABOUT THIS; GARY WILL CALL SUE HYDE AT NGLTF TO SEE IF IT CAN STILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THIS YEAR'S CONFERENCE.

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BOARD:

MSC to accept treasurer Heidee Sinowitz's resignation. DENISE WILL CONTACT HER about getting paperwork from her.

MSC that officers are reappointed: President Denise Penn, VP Luigi Ferrer, and Secretary Gary North. Treasurer's position open; Gary will serve as acting treasurer. It was agreed that all of this is open to change in November after Creating Change conference.

Discussion held about recruiting new/more board members. Qualities/expertise sought include finance/CPAs, legal/lawyers, medical/doctors, conference organizing, grantwriting.

WE'LL DEVELOP A PRESS RELEASE TO THIS EFFECT TO SEND OUT AND PLACE ON EMAIL LISTS, WEB SITES, ETC.

Discussion held on merging/updating mailing list.

Ongoing discussion continued about the structure of BiNet USA, and how we can best function: that discussion included receiving "feelers" from other organizations seeking mergers; Denise proposed that one option we should consider is seeking grant money to convert our legal status.

GARY WILL ASK THAT DENISE AND LUIGI be added to the BiNet USA Advisory email list. GARY WILL FIND OUT ABOUT/UPDATE POTENTIAL FUNDERS; LUIGI WILL WRITE SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.

Meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.