Oct. 5 Minutes

1. Site progress a) Jesse reported on hits, noting that he initially thought the 20,000 hits received last month may be an anomoly, but our hits are up again this month so there is a good chance we can match it. In another year Jesse feels our hits could potentially double. b) Marketing? Susan noted that once incorporated, Vive could go "In Cahoots" with rabble.ca, meaning pay a yearly fee and have rabble review the site and occasionally publicize site articles. Susan also noted that Mel Hurtig said on Saturday that he has a list of media contacts Vive can use to publicize a position on an issue or a campaign; he has also agreed to help consult on which issue to hit and when. Tony highlighted the need to garner more support from older generations (over 25); it was noted that academic debates like the kind we just had seem to help attract that kind of attention, and mainstream media coverage would also help with this. c) Technical development. i) Jesse reports that the translation tool is almost set up, it will just take some more time. ii) Tony agreed to translate the static pages into French. iii) Jesse noted we need to develop some sort of "active" member tracking tool. iv) It was decided it would be worthwhile to have someone on as a volunteer to handle graphics, especially for advertisements, campaigns, posters, site design. Someone with a background in graphic design and computer competency would be best. v) It was decided that having a standard volunteer application form on site may help us garner more volunteer help. d) Merchandising--a potential source of revenue. Need to look into whether it's worthwhile to trademark our logo, and sell merchandise (bumper stickers, shirts, etc) with that logo on it. It would be ideal to have a volunteer handle this. e) Susan mentioned it would also be ideal to have someone on the board who has experience with starting and running campaigns--someone with an activist background. f) Tony noted that Paul Hellyer has offered support with the site, and that we can contact him any time about it. 2) By-laws and incorporation a) A new version of the by-laws has been presented which needs final comments and review. b) It was agreed that on the issue of cool.ca, there is still support for incorporating ourselves--but what we need first is a list of what costs may be incurred in each case in order to see what specifically we might be saving on by going under cool.ca, and also some legal advice on how best to incorporate as a non-profit WEB-BASED organization. Tony noted he has some lawyer friends and will contact them to see if they are willing to offer any advice. c) Advisory board? Everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to have an advisory board comprised of recognizable names. Susan noted that Mel Hurtig and Robin Mathews have already agreed to participate in something like this. Jesse suggested that all columnists be invited to participate as advisory board members as well, and that we should facilitate more communication between columnists and other active members of the site. d) Executive committee? The new version of the by-laws includes a section on an executive committee, copied from elsewhere--Jesse explained how this usually works, and it was agreed to read through and discuss whether or not to keep this. e) Jesse noted Vive may not be descriptive enough to work as an official name for the organization. f) Jesse also noted that he should be able to help set up some of the documents for incorporation 3) Current member participation a) Jesse puts in 1-5 hours per week; Susan puts in 1-5 hours per day. Tony feels that he hasn't contributed very much. However, it was decided that his contribution is worthwhile and that we would like to keep him on, at least until we incorporate or have a larger board. b) We agreed it would be ideal to discuss participation and responsibilies with Bob, to see where he's at on this issue, since he was unable to attend the meeting. 4) Nick interview We interviewed Nick Hoang for the treasurer position and agreed he seems like an excellent candidate so long as his references check out and he still wants to take the position.