Board Meeting Minutes

Gary announces a change in the practice for the Eye Openers. Items to be included in the agenda must be submitted at least 1 week prior. Jeff also requests the slides/video in advance for the Audiovisual Tech.

Dave Russell from Orange County has volunteered his shop for Shop Tour. Details to be worked out.

Provisional Membership will continue with an “approval” guideline. Only Gary or Dallas should approve their long-term assignment. Board Members should help Dallas and Gary identify, encourage and develop new Members with strong skill sets.

For Succession Plan, each board member should identify his or her replacement before next Board meeting.
Membership administration changes: Bryan Blackshear, in charge of membership cards, is resigning. The 2026 SDFWA Membership card expires on the member’s anniversary month.

The secretary will be responsible to update event key dates each month, and forward to Debora Galasso for possible use in the Newsletter.

Proper way to hold a microphone when speaking is to hold mic as close to the mouth as possible. In addition, hold the mic like playing a trumpet and do not hold it like an ice cream cone. Any sound feedback will be taken care of by the Sound Technician.

Jim presents a detailed budget for 2026. By eliminating storage and transportation to and from storage, the expense is less when compared to 2025. Discussion on shared Shop Tools and photo equipment may further reduce the expenses.

Gary would like to see a meeting with DIW team to gather community related details. Other items discussed include wood or 3-D printing trophies. Gary and Jim together plan to pen a personal letter to Shop members to encourage them to enter their projects in DIW.

For succession, Jim plans to pick his successor this year and train him next year.

The Grogan estate has donated a huge number of tools and about 1,500 BF of wood to SDFWA. Lee Nielson hand planes, turning tools, Festool tools, track saw, carving tools and a horizontal boring machine are among items we received. All items have been catalogued. The Laguna 16” planer, 18” band saw, lathe and a router table has replaced or will replace some of our existing equipment. The plan is to auction some of the big items we don’t need by sealed bid. Some exotic wood to be sold separately.

Shop 4.0 still has a few small things to be done, including new cameras at the lathe area and lumber area; build tables for CNC, turning tools sharpening, and Shaper Origin. Kitchenet window may need covering to prevent screen viewing from outside.

• Long term business plan for next 5-10 years, including the establishment of separate Building Fund  and Operational Reserve.
• Create a meaningful Budget that stresses Top Line growth and responsible Cost Controls and  Expense Management.
• Complete and implement Organization Chart for SDFWA.
• Complete the rebuild of the SDFWA web site including infrastructure to support it.
• Develop long term strategy for preserving and further developing Design in Wood.
• Develop effective Photo Storage and Retrieval program.
• Engage a variety of Presenters for special seminars/workshops for our members.
• Have more variety of classes to offer.
• Develop a new Toy program that will be available to all Member.
• Reverse the decline in Bronze Membership

As the result of Shop 4.0 expansion incurring more expenses, some CDs have been liquidated to meet some expenses. Net Revenue of $24,947 is reported for year 2025. Gary and Pete agree that we should have an audit of Association books on a regular basis.

The Steering Team is tasked to conduct annual review for Membership Fee.

Different versions of the Organization Chart are presented. Continue discussion at next meeting.

Additional Board members may be added (up to total of 9).

Future BOD meeting schedule to remain on first Sunday of each month. Furthermore, approximately every  third meeting will be Leadership Meeting.