Attendees:

1. Mae Zorrilla
2. Raoul Gaceta
3. Mavic Calsado
4. Jake Reyes
5. Joel Palma
6. Neil Aguila
7. Cindy Caluyo

The meeting was scheduled primarily to prepare the Agenda for the next General Assembly Meeting to be held on August 15, 2003 at McDonald's Glorieta (still to be confirmed; deadline August 9, 2003).  In brief, the items to be discussed in the August 15 meeting are as follows:

1. Grand Reunion Schedule
2. Creation of Committees
3. Change of the Monthly to a Quarterly General Assembly Meeting
4. Activities to be undertaken by the Group
5. Funding of the Group

The meeting will coincide with the Birthday Celebration of members whose birthday falls in the month of August.

1. The first item discussed was the Grand Reunion Schedule.  There are a lot of suggestions coming in, though there is still a lot of time to organize the event.  But for early preparation, here follows:
• The When,
  • Poll result shows that more members are in    favor of having the reunion in January 2005    (exact date still for consensus with the group)
  • NorCal reunion consensus also in favor of having   the reunion in January 2005
•  The Where and How,
  • There were suggestions of making the Grand    Reunion an out-of-town and long weekend thing.   This is favorable for those who will be coming    from abroad, so they can enjoy their stay.  The venue should be more or less 2 hours drive from Manila.
2. Creation of Committees that will handle the Group's activities.  These committees were created to:
• Make it easier for the group to organize
• To have a group (point person) that will   handle specific tasks

  Initially, there are four (4) committees formed based on   the Group's present tasks. The tasks of the committee   were given according to the needs of the group as of the  moment which may change as we go along with the  Group's projects.

  a) Benefits Committee.  The tasks of the   committee are as follows:

  1. Get nominees of beneficiaries for the Group's Programs (Outreach Program and Scholarship Grant) from members.
  2. Evaluate the nominees given by the members giving priority to the beneficiaries who needs help the most based on the qualification standards that will be formulated by the Group.
  3. Inform the Group if they have chosen the qualified nominee.
  4. Grant the benefits.

   b) Events Committee.  The tasks of the committee are as follows:  

  1. Overall coordinator when there are events undertaken by the group (meetings and other activities)
  2. Prepare the venue and the things needed for the meeting
  3. Arrange for the availability of materials and equipments needed for the meeting.

   c) Funds Committee.  The funds itself is to be handled by Marissa Datuin.  The tasks of the committee are as follows:

  1. Look into the accounting/disbursement of funds and keep the records of the Group's expenses (Bookkeeping).
  2. Report status of the funds every General Assembly Meeting

   d) Secretariat.  The tasks of the committee are as follows:

  1. Prepare the Group's communication
  2. Inform the Group or contact the members if there are upcoming events
  3. To maintain the Group's database
  4. Keep the Group's files (minutes, forms, etc)

  Members who are willing to devote their time and effort are  very much welcome to join the committees.  Please  approach the heads if you are interested.

3. There were suggestions to have the General Assembly Meeting every quarter instead of having it every month.  Since most of the members are working, the monthly meeting is just not practicable.  Due to this, there are plans to have the next meeting in November.  After the November meeting, the succeeding meetings will be held quarterly starting in January.  In effect, there will only be 4 General Assembly Meeting in a year (that is, once for every month of January, April, July and October).  The Board of Trustees, however, will meet before and after each General Assembly Meeting.  In this case, the Board shall meet 8 times a year.  The Board's meeting shall have a quorum (2/3 of the members should be present).  There are members of the board who are considering giving up their seat from board.  Resignation from the board will be accepted only after the proper evaluation of the members of the board.
4. There have been a lot of suggestions on activities that the Group can be involved in.  It was agreed that it is time to start with the activities.
   • Outreach Program
     • Medical mission
     • Look for a charitable institution that the group can support
     • Support the YPNET - already supported by a member of our Group
   •  Fund Raising Activities
     • The suggested "tiangge" that will sell products made by members
     • Proposal to establish a business that would provide a stable source of income for the Group. Some groups have their own bar, restaurant, etc. Our group can have a cooperative that would benefit the members.
5. Since our group is still in its growing stage and in order for us to get started with our activities, we need funds.  One way of doing this is to ask the members for an annual membership fee.  The NorCal group has its own US$10.00 monthly membership fee (or US$120.00 a year).  It was proposed that the annual membership fee for the Philippine Group would be P500.00 (that is, P125.00 per quarter).  For the generous members, donations are still welcome. Just approach Marissa.

   As discussed in item #2, the status of the Group's fund  shall be reported to the members every General Assembly  Meeting.

   The Group's funds will only be used in cases where the  Group needs to pay for incidental expenses.  For  example, when there are meetings and the Group needs  to pay for the venue, materials and equipments used,  telephone line rental, etc.  The Group shall not pay for  personal expenses like food and beverage (in this case,  the members shall pay for their own expense).

   Aside from the above Agenda, the following items were  also discussed:

6. Consensus of having a General Election of Officers.  The Board of Trustees will elect the officers. 
7. Formulate the Batch84's specific objectives (Mission, Vision and Values).  The Group will set a date to further discuss this.

Our "thank yous" to Joel & Neil for the coke & fries.
 
Please do attend the next meeting if you can.  Our group is now bigger and still getting bigger and very much geared up to go!  Let's focus on our plans so we can accomplish our goals.