MEETING MINUTES
Friday, September 12, 2008
Volume 15; Issue 31

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Next Friday September 19th Dan Sleezer will host our MABE meeting at his store.  Maddy's Pool Store is located at 81 West Guadalupe Road in Gilbert (SW corner of Gilbert & Guadalupe behind Wells Fargo).

Leads Report
20-13, 54-23, 54-45, 09-07, 22-42, 22-13, 38-20, 56-13, 13-45, 21-34.

Treasurer Report
The quarterly dues billing went out 9/1.  Please contact Melissa Matthews if you did not receive your e-invoice.

Membership Report
Tim Crout and Bruce Heller of Crout & Heller were our guests today.  We will have them complete part 2 of the membership application and, if there are no objections, officially invite them to join the group.  They do new residential, commercial, repaints, schools, hospitals...Basically anything that doesn't move, they'll paint!

Dave Lathrop asked....What has you interested in MABE?  What do you expect to get out of MABE?  What can we do to make it work for you? 

Tim Crout...Most of the business we get is word of mouth.  You have to network.  We do very little advertising.  We get all of our work from people knowing us and what we are capable of.  We believe by joining a group of this stature we can only increase our opportunity for success.  We also believe we can bring some things to the table and grow together.  We'll paint anything!  Bruce and I give the estimates.  We do interior and exterior, commercial and residential.  We welcome the opportunity. 

Amy Ahrensdorf announced to the group that she is resigning.  Vicking has offered her a job as their corporate chef.  They will pull her on full-time leaving her little time for other things.  Her plate will be full.  There is so much unconditional acceptance here, coaching, friendship.  That is the reason she has come.  It has been very stimulating for her.  Her lack of being here should not be interpreted wrong.  She wanted to be here.  Saying goodbye is difficult.

Question of the Day
Althea Bussert has noticed that her orders used to be bulked and shipped together with one freight charge.  Now vendors are shipping each order separately and she is getting hit with multiple freight charges along with other additional hidden charges.  What unexpected charges have you seen in your business and what are you doing to compensate for it?

• Bob Busch - They are doing that to me.  "Added fuel cost" is now showing up on the invoices.
• Carole Weishaar - Everybody has fuel surcharges now.  As a daughter of a contractor, we used to do the "cost-plus" on invoicing.
• Tim Crout - We went to the supplier and told them we are not paying this.  They know we have other supplier options so they accepted it.
• Jim Bache - As a consumer, everybody in here should refuse to do business with anybody that adds a fuel surcharge.  It is unfair to the consumer.
• Bill LaLonde - I would like to see a fuel surcharge that could come off in the future rather than have them increase rates and leave them high.
• Joe Zingale - In waste management it was in their contract that they could recoup fuel surcharge.  With a big company I don't know if you can fight it.  With a small vendor you could probably get away with it.
• Stuart Schindler - I have to ship a lot of things across country.  That cost a year ago was $6 and now it is $10-12.  That is near double.  The post office has the best way to handle it.  Their prices have gone up but there is no fuel surcharge.
• Steve Chilton - I get a lot of products delivered to me.  Last week my order was shorted.  They wanted to charge me extra freight although it was their error.
• Guy Sawyer - I am charged 3% of my order for fuel charge.  If my client chooses a more expensive tile, the charge is more even if the weight is the same.

Main Speaker - Survey Results
33 out of 38 surveys were returned. Some as late as 5pm last night.  Dave Lathrop summarized the numbers...

How much authority do you feel the Board of Directors should have to decide issues pertaining to the members (please check only one)?
• Total authority to make decisions on behalf of MABE members  8
• Authority to make only minor decisions mostly concerning meeting content (such as guest speakers), member disputes and approval of normal expense items. The board should discuss most decisions openly in meetings to get membership feedback.  16
• Authority to make only minor decisions (same as above), except I would prefer the board survey members to get feedback rather than using meeting time to get feedback.

Generally speaking, I feel that bringing in new members is:
• Too difficult/restrictive  6
• Not difficult/restrictive enough  4
• I am satisfied with MABE’s current procedures for bringing in new members  19

Do you support the direction of the Board in the following areas?
Expanding the use of the mabe-online web site to promote its members and their businesses
26 Yes   4 No

Bringing in a business consultant/coach to work with MABE members
18.5 Yes  10 No

While preferred, does this consultant need to be a member
6 Yes 18 No

Concerning the Directory (check only one):
• I wish to keep the Directory exactly as it is (updating as necessary)  12
• I support the board’s decision to eliminate the directory in favor of other forms of advertising/promoting of MABE  2
• I would support the formation of a committee to investigate keeping the directory in some form, but having it updated. Members would then be presented different options to consider before any significant change is made.  17

How Satisfied are you as a member of MABE? (Check only one)
2 -Very Satisfied
5 -Somewhat Satisfied
2 -Neutral
2 -Somewhat Dissatisfied
1 -Very Dissatisfied

Visit the Members Only section of the website to see the complete results and comments.