TMAC National Board Meeting Minutes
November 17, 2021 – 12:00pm EST
Via Zoom
Present: Tracy Ford, Judi Cohen, Jami Savage, Jerry Grymek, Guy Theriault, Darcy Rhyno, Rod Charles, Noelle Aune, Donna Hatt, Paul Knowles, Pam Wamback, Grant Fraser, Yashy Murphy, Kattrin Duncan
Regrets: Wendy Nordvik-Carr, Bria Weaver, Ayngelina Brogan
Agenda
1. Call to Order – TF
Tracy called the meeting to order at 12:03 pm
2.0 Approval of Agenda – TF
Approval moved by JS, seconded by PK. Motion carried.
3.0 Approval of Minutes October 20, 2021
Approval moved by KD, seconded by YM. Motion carried.
4.0 Business Arising
Member Survey Results will be discussed under Membership Committee Update
TMAC National Holiday Party – A discussion on holding a holiday event was discussed. JC suggested a January event that could be promoted with a holiday message in December.
It was agreed that a Holiday Message including board photos in festive clothing would be sent in December.
ACTION: Board members were requested to send a photo to Donna and Jamie by November 30. (a sample of the 2020 greeting will be sent by Jamie to board members for reference)
5.0 Financial Report – GF provided an update
- Monthly Financial Reports: November – Report link here.
Motion to accept November Financial Report, Moved by GF, seconded by DR. Motion carried.
- 2022 Budget was prepared based on input from Board Committee Chairs received Nov. 12. Circulated Nov. 16, additional time was requested for board members to review this information. Will be tabled to December Meeting.
View DRAFT budget here.
- 2022 Membership Renewal Payment will begin in Dec 2021 with payment being accepted until February 28, 2022.
The optional Payment Installment Plan for 2022 will change from 4 equal payments introduced in 2021 to 2, the first being upon renewal, second due on April 30.
GF motion-To put an incentive, a prize to win, in place to renew before December 31, 2021. Seconded by PK. Motion passed.PW suggested she could assist with supplying this.
GF motion- That the deadline to renew is February 28, 2022, after that a member would be assigned an extra $25 fee. Seconded by JC. Motion carried.
6.0 National Committee Reports See reports attached
2021 Awards Committee, Chair TF–
The awards committee (Diane Selkirk, Erica Hargreave, Rhonda Krause, Sabrina Pirillo, Bria and Tracy) is sharing the categories suggested for 2022. Since we are bound by a total of 11 categories (due to costs and sponsorship) and we wanted to include a brand-new category for the emerging and broadcast media members, we had to eliminate one category. The Family and Partner Feature category was chosen as the one to eliminate. Last year, it had the second lowest number of submissions and in 2019, it was the third lowest. In order to retain the subject of family travel, we will preface the award categories by indicating that all submissions can include a family and/or partner experience.
After reviewing the survey results from the awards ceremony, there were a number of requests to include a new award category for the emerging and broadcast media. This inclusion could attract more members who are in that field.
TF will circle back with the committee about the category that has excluded columns.
View the 2021 Proposed Awards as discussed here.
Board Members are requested to review the above noted document, providing feedback to TF by no later than December 3, 2021.
- TF reported that the criteria for award categories has been rewritten and would be sent to the board for review. There was a good discussion on categories proposed to be eliminated with others being added including a New Partnership Award.
PK expressed concerned about a trend away from print. TMAC is old media and new media.
PK inquired about a Best Travel Book category
GF inquired about recognizing more than one volunteer
DR expressed concern about elimination of the Best Family Travel category
TF agreed to take back all of the concerns and comments to the committee and will bring this back to the board.
- Board Governance Committee, Chair JS– JS advised that she will be sending the Directors Suitcase and Code of Conduct to the board for review. She noted that these documents would be helpful for recruitment of members to board roles.
- Conference Committee, Co-Chairs GT & PW
PW made a presentation on behalf of the co-chairs.
Slide deck viewable here, NOTE this is not for distribution, it is for Board reference only presenting an update as of Nov. 17/21 and will be updated at upcoming meetings.
- Communications Committee – Chair YM
YM noted that the Brand Guide (viewable here) is now on the TMAC website and a Strategy Deck is in progress. It will be sent to Governance Committee and then on to all committees for review. She is also connecting with the Conference Committee on communications related to the conference.
- Future Host Committee, Chair JG
JG reported that in the new year he will be speaking with the Conference Committee about coordinating sponsorships. An inquiry for 2024 was received from Niagara Falls. JS suggested that JG try to get a host in the west. Bidding is open for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Human Resources Committee: Co-Chairs JG & DR
DR is reviewing job descriptions for CAO and MRO and will have more to report in future meetings.
- Membership Committee – PK
PK noted that TIAC membership will be available for TMAC members at the time of membership renewal and this is included as a member benefit. Information will be provided on the membership section of the website. It will also be included on the TMAC Facebook pages.
A motion to make TIAC membership available to TMAC members was moved by GT and seconded by JS. Motion carried.
A motion to add pronouns to TMAC member profiles was moved by PK and seconded by GT. Motion carried.
A motion to require 2 reference letters for industry member applications was moved by JS and seconded by KD. KD noted that industry members should be represented on TMAC by an experienced media person. Membership Committee will review and report back on how we can make it easier for organizations like RTOs to become members of TMAC. Motion carried.
- National PD Committee, Chair KD
KD noted that she will be stepping down in January and she was working with PW and GT on PD sessions for the conference. She thanked the Prairies chapter for the PD session that was delivered on Monday.
- Sponsorship Committee, Chair JG
KD agreed with JS on the suggestion of moving the conference around the country, noting that it has however been difficult to find conference hosts for the past few years. JG noted that US locations including Philadelphia could be hosts as well.
GT noted that with GoMedia likely being cancelled this year and likely next, TMAC is in a stronger position.
The Sponsorship Kit is now completed and a call for sponsors was sent out and is on the TMAC website. It will be included in TMAC Travel News and will have a dedicated newsletter, reaching out to sponsors. The first sponsor is Parks Canada. JG thanked GT.
7.0 Chapter Reports/Updates – Chapter Reports submitted in advance of the meeting here.
- BC & Yukon: no discussion
- Prairies & NWT: NA noted a new member, Andrew Hemstead to their chapter board. She noted that the PD event with Indigenous Canada held on Nov 15 was recorded and will be available for members to access.
Future events including a strategy session in January are planned.
- Ontario: RC noted that a PD session is planned on November 30 featuring Florida Keys. Looking into a holiday event.
- Atlantic: no discussion
Reports were all received.
8.0 Staff Reports
Included in package, along with monthly time reports for September
- Membership Relations Officer Report – BW
DH noted that BW had prepared an excellent Membership at a Glance document for use in external communications and for recruiting new members. Report received.
- CAO Report – DH
DH noted that 59 media members and 24 industry members responded to the survey. Links to the survey results were sent to the Advocacy and Membership Committee Chairs/members for first reflections, the PD specific question for Conference was shared with KD to help inform their planning meeting. It will be distributed to the Board following the committee review and prepared for presentation.
DH actioned the following after the Board Meeting:
Approved Oct 20 Minutes have been posted to the website;
Removed the TMAC Media Member reference from the industry qualification requirements on website;
Added note regarding membership renewals due by Feb 28/22, admin fee of $25 applied
thereafter for renewals on website. This will be included on all communications;
With renewal/new membership website updates in progress, will work with Bria to have begun the process of adding the pronoun fields, he, she, they and other to member renewal/new forms, and the TIAC Associate Membership option.
Report received.
9.0 New Business – TF
No new business.
10. In Camera – TF
Notes will be prepared and distributed to Board Members.
11.0 Next Meeting – TF
December 15, 2021- 12:00 EST via zoom.
11.0 Meeting Adjournment-
Meeting adjourned at 1:51pm – TF