MEETING MINUTES Minutes of meeting Monday 4th April at the Hotel Ifach, Calpe ·        Welcome A warm welcome and thank you to all members and new members who attended the meeting – there were 25 of us, a record for Calpe! This again caused problems in the noisy lobby, even though we moved twice, but when asked if they had a room we could use, the Hotel said they would have to charge us. Marcia has very kindly offered us her Dance Studio in Calpe for free, but it is not available on a Monday afternoon. If anyone can find an alternative venue please let us know ASAP.   ·        New Member introduction Welcome to seven new members who joined today, plus two guests who took joining forms by the end of the meeting! Geraldine O’Reilly from Café Bulevar, also a fashion designer Ruth Forbes, an astrologist Sue Adamson from Fonicatel Pauline Askew from Marcia’s Dance Studio Anne Tracey from Bio-Flow Magnatherapy And last, but by no means least (as they provided us with very tasty samosas!) Karen Cartwright and Rita Jackson from “Samosa”   ·        Member introduction It is acknowledged that all New Members need to introduce themselves at a meeting, but there needs to be a more manageable way for current members if it’s a large group. Suggestions include all members wearing their business cards as a name tag; splitting into smaller groups for part of the meeting; allowing a networking time within the meeting. The “business card box” is also unmanageable in large groups and will need to be incorporated into any of the above solutions. We tried a “quicky” introduction today, stating who we are and what we do. Some of us wore name tags, either incorporating our business cards or just our names. This helped a lot, especially for new members. Most of you had these for IWD and you can either laminate them or buy the little plastic hanging or pinned ones from a stationers. Please make sure your name is large enough and easy to read!   IWD  debrief - Team Leaders reports & what we have learned plus positive suggestions for next year We did a very quick summary of the Team Leaders reports – for full details please see the minutes for 21st March on the website. It was asked if t was possible for the therapists to have more space as the beauty room was under-used. It has been suggested that the three rooms in the treatment area be used for three different treatment demos at the same time and the beauty therapists be in a designated area within the main hall with more space too. Suzanna said the area “backstage” was largely unused and the dressing room could also be used if an alternative could be found. A suggestion was made that the room which usually stores all the tables could be used as a dressing room as the tables would not be in there.   Marcia mentioned that dancing on the stage was a “death trap” and could we ask for a vinyl covering next time. The stage is usually only used for bands and not normally dancing demos!   It was suggested and discussed that the Jazz and Blues Bar be used instead, as not only does it have a proper stage with dressing-room facilities backstage, but it is more comfortable and would keep the noise down in the trade hall. It was then suggested that we have two stages – a performance stage in the Jazz and Blues Bar and a “speaking stage” in the trade hall. The idea of the stage being in the centre of the hall was deemed impractical for acoustic and electrical socket reasons.   ·        Where do we go from here? Members suggestions for what they would like to include at meetings Karla led the discussion by stating that the goals of a WIBC meeting were threefold, all of which help women – to highlight the problems of domestic violence; to organize fundraisers to support this cause and to network our businesses. By getting together and working together for the first two, we are automatically doing the third. “What goes around comes around”.             The suggestion of name badges, exchanging business cards (the box is no longer viable) and time for networking was raised. This will be tried at the next meeting. A complete list of members and their businesses is available on the website and Karla has included a search button on the member’s page so you can search for first names, businesses or whatever you want.   The need for the meetings to be a balance of business, networking and fundraising is a fundamental issue.   The suggestion of a speaker at the meetings was raised, but this has been discussed before and it would is difficult to find something that all members would be equally interested in.   ·        The Mesquita – Javea Women’s Workshop Centre  in Javea port – is not going to be made into a nursery and is available for use for meetings or courses, but afternoons are fully booked, so mornings/ evenings or weekends. If members want to offer a free course then they must have a bucket for donations to the Mesquita. If they are charging a fee then they pay a rent for the room. There is a need for free educational courses to be run on all subjects from setting up a new business in Spain, setting up your own e-mail account and / or web page (a lot of you use your husbands e-mail address!), to financial and insurance needs and health and wellness of members! These courses should be run as a separate item from the meetings at either the Casa de Cultura, the Mesquita or the Marriott and should be free to members. They are to be business related, NOT fundraisers. Members with experience / specialities in certain areas will be able to run these courses as well as specialists from outside the group.   You will have a chance to visit the Mesquita and see the facilities on Tuesday 12th April at 11.am. (see www.WIBC-Spain.com /Javea Council, for more details and pictures. Future events - suggestions for other causes, future fundraisers and social events & volunteer committees to lead them!!!!  Tuesday 12th April – 11.am Visit to the Mesquita (Javea Port). To view the Javea Women’s Workshop and see where some of our donations have been spent and also where the computers will be going.  Meeting point to be arranged! Tuesday 12th April – 1.30 for 2pm Roundabout Charity Shop, Javea.   Presentation of computers from The Great British Computer Shop donated from the ladies at the shop to Ana Vasbinder as representative of the Mesquita. Please can as many members attend this as possible to show our appreciation. Tuesday 26th April (to be confirmed) 2pm-4pm Casa de Cultura. Power-point presentation from all officials, solicitors, psychiatrist etc. involved in the Javea Women’s Shelter to show us where and how our donations are being spent! You’ve all asked for this and we’ve arranged it, so full attendance please! Friday 30th September – El Cid Leisure Oasis – WIBC Charity Auction This date has been reserved to give us time to get back into the swing of things after the summer. More details nearer the time, but start sorting through those cupboards for hidden treasures that will raise a lot of money! Karla is asking all new members who joined since December last year if they would like to organize the next fundraiser for May. All current Team Leaders will be available in an advisory capacity. To co-ordinate with each other, Karla has set up an e-mail registration for this purpose fundraisers@wibc-spain.com Please register to join this group if you would like to volunteer your help at this event. There has already been a meeting of the new fundraising team and a copy of their e-mail was read out and the suggestions discussed. The overwhelming majority voted for the Cava and Canapés evening, but it was felt it would be better to hold it at the Mesquita, rather than the Marriott, for several reasons, the main one being that the Mesquita is free and we could bring our own canapés, therefore all money raised would be profit.         The team are meeting again this week and will take these suggestions into consideration and will keep us informed of the final date and venue.   It was felt that we didn't want to lose the impetus of the good publicity we had gained after the IWD, so another fundraiser open to the general public would be necessary before the Autumn, possibly in June and probably at the Casa de Cultura, Javea (as we get it for free). Any members interested in organizing this please contact us. We also need to be looking for a larger theatre venue for the future, as the maximum this holds is 85 seats.   A meeting is being set up with Susanna Mefford Pritchard, representative of the Denia Women’s Shelter re donating funds to their shelter.   Also there is apparently no shelter in the Calpe area and members with connections to Calpe Ayuntamiento are needed to start the ball rolling there!   Bobby Frost has access to a Tombola drum! ·        Bonus bags The practicalities of this idea were discussed and it was thought that we could get the carrier bags from members who produce them for their business (such as a boutique, etc.). There are normally at least 75 people attending a fundraiser, so it would need a volunteer team to put the vouchers in each bag. Members would have to provide their vouchers before the event rather than on the night, to enable the bags to be ready. Anyone willing to volunteer to be Bonus Bag organizer please contact us. ·        Next meeting –       - Hotel Marriott, La Sella on Monday 18th April at 2pm.   Agenda (to continue from last meeting) – Where do we go from here? Member’s suggestions for what they would like to include at meetings / blueprint for setting up of clubs in other areas Future events - suggestions for other causes, future fundraisers and social events  Any suggestions or points you want raised to be included in the next agenda please send to admin@WIBC-Spain.com   -Venue to be arranged, Calpe on Monday 2nd May at 2pm.   ·        Contact Us Karla Darocas     (Director)             96 597 3234 Lesley Ellis                   (Administrator)    96 587 4387 Mary Lucas          (Treasurer)          96 579-0991 Suzanna Mace    (Events)               96 648-0248 E-mail: info@wibc-spain.com Web: http://www.wibc-spain.com   For more details of any of the above, or items to be included at the next meeting, please contact Lesley Ellis (Administrator) at admin@wibc-spain.com