Executive Committee Meeting Minutes June 2020

AFS Fisheries Information and Technology Section

Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

June 12, 2020

Attendees: Rebecca Krogman, Paul Venturelli, Tiffany Hopper

  • Virtual AFS meeting
    • 150 booth postponed to Baltimore 2021 (general discussion)
      • AFS is asking units to preview their exhibits to the membership via brief descriptions in Fisheries. We will keep an eye out for further information so that we can use this opportunity to highlight the photo contest.
    • Big Data symposium? (Dan)
      • Dan indicated by email that the big data symposium is going forward virtually, and Sarah replied to offer to promote the symposium via social media. Action items: Dan will email those who have expressed an interest in presenting to remind them that abstracts are due June 30, and coordinate with Sarah to advertise through social media.
    • CEC workshop (Paul)
      • Although we suspect that CEC workshops will not be a part of this year’s virtual annual meeting, we are not aware of any official communication/announcement. Action item: Paul will email his contact for more information.
      • Update: Meeting organizers have indicated that we will still be holding CE classes; however, they are not sure at this point what the format will be. Information is expected in the coming weeks.

    • CFTC online (Rebecca)
      • This effort has even stronger internal AFS support now that we have moved to a virtual meeting. The platform will allow vendors to connect to AFS members.
      • Access issues
        • Progress on the tool is stalled until we have full admin rights. We can edit but cannot create. Plan A is to get developer help through AFS, but Tiffany’s husband can help if needed. Action item: Rebecca will work with AFS staff to elevate the profile of this project so that we can get developer help to solve the access issue.
      • Draft letter for vendors
        • Rebecca shared a draft right before the meeting. Action item (all): Provide Rebecca with timely feedback.
      • Travel award
        • Application form update (Rebecca)
          • The online application form has been updated to allow students to apply for FITS funding to attend any meeting that is relevant to fish, and not hosted by AFS or one of its units. Action item (all): Provide Rebecca with timely feedback.
        • Do we roll this out in July as planned (in anticipation of fall and winter meetings) or delay? (general discussion)
        • We have decided to delay the July announcement/invitation until early fall because we do not yet know if fall and/or winter meetings will be face to face. We could run the competition this summer and allow the recipient to defer, but 1) the applicant pool will probably be shallow, and 2) deferring will mean that the recipient attends a meeting that they did not “sell” us on.
      • By-law amendment to 4-year election cycle (Paul)
        • Did the email go out? Was feedback received? (all)
          • Action item: Kayla will send this out with a ~2-week comment period via the newsletter.
        • Next step(s)
          • If warranted based on member feedback, we will reach out to AFS Constitutional Expert Randy Schultz about drafting an amendment and holding a vote.
        • Other business
          • FITS articles in Fisheries (Sarah).
            • Sarah indicated via email that the latest article is in final revision, and will likely be published in the August or September issue. Fisheries seems amenable to a fourth article about smart applications of new technology that builds off of Marta’s presentation from our symposium at the Reno meeting last year.
          • Email
            • We are going to transition from Mailchimp to the Mailpoet WordPress plugin for newsletters and other communications to members. The biggest question is how/if we can extract the email list from Mailchimp. Action item: Rebecca will lead this effort

Next Meeting is July 10th

 

 Attached for Reference: 

GUIDANCE FOR AFS UNIT EXHIBITORS

For the Columbus to Baltimore Period

Given that the 150th AFS anniversary celebration will now be held in Baltimore during 2021, Unit exhibits for the 150th will be displayed at that meeting. This extends by one year the time frame Units have for completing their exhibits. However, it is important that interest in, and energy for, the 150th exhibits be sustained for this extended period. The 150th committee recommends that Units use the following guidance to that end.

  1. Participating Chapters should pursue completion of their exhibits in time for their 2020-21 annual meetings.
  2. Sections and Divisions should also pursue completion of their exhibits this year.
  3. Unit leaders should consider enhancing their exhibit teams to achieve further progress, if appropriate.
  4. Units should evaluate the opportunity to bring their exhibit to Baltimore; participation is strongly encouraged.
  5. At this year’s virtual meeting and then monthly into Baltimore, there will be opportunities for Units to preview their exhibits to the AFS membership. These previews could be brief descriptions in Fisheries, and a few digital presentations at the Columbus virtual meeting and in the AFS newsletters thereafter. The exhibits subcommittee hopes that some Units will volunteer to offer a preview of their exhibits during the coming AFS-year.

 

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