| Minutes of the SFTGG General Meeting |
| Tuesday, May 17, 2005 |
| Meeting was held at the Aquarium at Pier 39. |
| President Susan Driscoll called the meeting to order at 6 PM. |
| 1. |
President’s announcements |
| |
» |
Reminder to members about the Guild website and suggested that they check it often. |
| |
» |
Thanks to Pam Dahlen for all her hard work on behalf of the Guild, responding to phone calls and e-mail requests for services and information. |
| |
» |
Thanks to Chris Cavalier for picking up mail at the Guild’s Postal box. |
| |
» |
The Board decided to raise Guild rates for tours, as follows: |
| |
|
$175 for up to 4 hours; $35 per hour thereafter |
| |
|
$200 for foreign language up to 4 hours; $40 per hour thereafter. |
| |
|
$30 per hour for Meet and Greet jobs/4 hour minimum. |
| |
|
$10 per day for use of personal cell phones. |
| |
» |
Guild bags are available for sale @ $10 each. |
| |
» |
The Concierge Trade Show will be held June 1 at the Marriott, 3-6 PM. RSVP if possible, but go even if you cannot. |
| |
» |
The South Bay Concierge group will have their show on June 14th, 5:30-8:30 PM |
| |
» |
There is a new restaurant at Pier 39 called Wipe Out. |
| 2. |
Reports from members of the board |
| |
» |
Treasurer (Susan Guerguy) |
| |
|
We have had five very good programs and received a profit from them of $400. We have spent considerable money on the web site. Question from the floor re balance in the account. Answer: $11,000. |
| |
» |
Certification & study guide (Edie Marwedel) |
| |
|
On page 2 of the new Membership List there is an outline of the requirements for certification, and also a page for members to keep track of their hours in preparation for certification. |
| |
|
When members think they are approaching enough hours for certification, they should contact Nancy McCormick who will help organize this. |
| |
|
The Study Guide should be completed about the middle of June. She thanked members who have helped put it together. |
| |
» |
Programs (Mary McCloy & Joan Wollenberger) |
| |
|
Programs are intended to help guides improve their skills. Thanks to people who have helped this year: Mary Johnson, Liz Burton, Ulla Kaprielian, Claire Manhart, Valerie Huff and Diane Balzer |
| |
|
Up-coming programs: |
| |
|
June 6 – Sonoma Wine Country |
| |
|
June 24 – City Tour Training |
| |
|
July 5 – San Francisco Trees |
| |
|
July 18 – Coastal Sports |
| |
|
August 5 – The San Andreas Fault |
| |
|
August 17 – The New DeYoung |
| |
» |
Membership (Rick Spears) |
| |
|
He welcomed all new members and encouraged them to work toward certification and to get involved in Guild activities. |
| |
|
He will be sending new rosters to members who are not at this meeting. Please let him know of any changes in your e-mail address, etc. We will try to incorporate cell phone numbers into the list. Some members are not receiving Guild e-mail because their service providers are considering it as SPAM. |
| |
» |
Mentoring (Matt Chatta) |
| |
|
This program was started last year by John Eagleton. The purpose is to help new members as well as others. We now have six mentors: Ira Beyer, Jane Utsumi, Susan Driscoll, Joan Wollenberger, John Eagleton, and John Howard. Members should let Matt know if they need help or would like to volunteer to be a mentor. |
| |
» |
info@sftgg.org (Pam Dahlen) |
| |
|
We have assigned 177 jobs to certified members. We currently have 68 certified members. Three have had no jobs; 3 have had one job; 3 have had two jobs; 19 have had three jobs; 24 have had four jobs; and 4 have had five jobs. There have actually been more than 177 jobs filled, but no record is kept if members contact the tour operator directly. |
| |
|
Once a member is assigned a job, he/she should contact the tour operator immediately. |
| |
|
In the past 11 months, we have received 966 e-mails which needed to be handled. |
| 3. |
Guest speakers |
| |
» |
Pattie Lockard, Theatre Manager of the Pier 39 Theatre, where Menopause the Musical is playing. She thanked President Driscoll and members of the Guild for inviting her to speak. The show has been very well received in San Francisco. She described the history of the creation of the show and said it is currently playing in 17 US cities as well as several other countries |
| |
» |
Michael Bamrick, Catering Manager of the new Boudin Center. The new Center at Fisherman’s Wharf has been open just one week and is already a big success. Box lunches at $8-9 are available every day. There is a bistro for fine dining for p to 200. Also a private space for 50. There is a bakery museum with 6 docents. The will be on-line in about three weeks. They also have a café at Pier 39. They are happy to feed guides and drivers free, both day and evening. |
| |
» |
Sally Congleton of Arista Winery on the Russian River Wine Road was introduced by Rick Spear. She described the facilities at Arista as well as the Wine Road itself. She also mentioned other places to visit in the general area of Sonoma County. |
| 4. |
New business |
| |
» |
President Driscoll spoke about the Guidepost. Many people have expressed interest in having it published again. Volunteers are needed to make this happen. |
| |
» |
Posting the roster on the web site. Much interest has been expressed on this topic, both pro and con. There was much discussion from the floor on these issues. By an informal show of hands, most people seemed to favor it. Rick Spear said changes could be implemented immediately, rather than just twice a year as at present. Many members objected to the “exposure” having it on-line would involve. This item was tabled for further discussion at the Board level. After that, it is likely something that will be put to a vote of the entire membership. |
| |
» |
President Driscoll asked for volunteers to serve on a committee to deal with problems at SFO such as lack of information for travelers, parking, etc. Robin Perry felt the issue should go to the Convention & Visitors Bureau, rather than to the Airport Commission. Craig Smith said it should be presented to the City of San Francisco. President Driscoll felt it should be brought to the attention of the Mayor. |
| |
» |
Licensing: we will have to discuss this at a future date. |
| |
» |
Health Insurance: President Driscoll asked for volunteers to look into this. Linda Spatz suggested that we conduct a survey of how many members already have adequate health insurance. Question came up about joining with other guilds around the country. Someone said that Jacqueline Easton of the National Association for Self Employed Persons spoke on this subject at an ITMI symposium. |
| |
» |
Claire Manhart raised the subject of lack of bus parking at the Cliff House. She will take this up with the Cliff House directly. |
| |
» |
Robin Perry announced that SFO Airporter is no longer running buses to and from SFO. |
| |
» |
Caria Tomczykowska announced a Polish festival at Golden Gate Park on Sunday, May 22nd |
| |
» |
Jay Archibald announced a chamber music concert on Sunday, May 22nd in Berkeley, in which his wife will be performing. |
| |
» |
Liz Burton announced a choral concert on Saturday, May 21st at the College of Marin, in which she, her husband, and their son will be performing. |
| |
» |
President Driscoll said that we should have a Book Exchange at every General Meeting. |
| |
» |
President Driscoll said that the fall General Meeting will probably be held on November 14th. |
| |
» |
President Driscoll asked for suggestions for a location for the Guild Holiday Party. |
| |
A raffle was held for several prizes donated by our guest speakers as well as a tote bag donated by the Guild. |
| |
MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:30 PM. |
| |
Refreshments were served, courtesy of Arista Winery and Boudin Bakery. |
| |
Respectfully submitted, |
| |
Liz Burton, Secretary SFTGG |
