ATTENDEES (b=board member): Lois Springsteen (b), Mark Thomas(b), Jennifer Wise (b). Eric Vigoren (b), John Lee Ellis(b), Cecil Reniche-Smith (b), Rob Hawks (b), Edward Robinson, Mike Dayton,

  1. Approval of 2012 Officers: The following slate was proposed and approved for the 2012 Board officers/leadership: Mark Thomas, President; Jennifer Wise, Vice President; Cecil Reniche- Smith, Secretary; Eric Vigoren, Treasurer; John Lee Ellis, RBA Liaison; Lois Springsteen Brevet Coordinator; Rob Hawks, Board Member.
  2. Proposed meeting schedule for 2012: The board agreed to continue with the first Wednesday of each month at 5 PM Pacific Time.
  3. Accident Reporting: Mark and Lois led a discussion of a proposed accident-reporting scheme that would allow RUSA members to make educated choices about potential risks. Mark was in contact with folks in the UK and Australian clubs who had accident-reporting systems in place, and suggested that RUSA consider setting up something similar. In concept, RUSA would have a place on the website for RBAs to enter general details about accidents or injuries that occurred during events and, on a periodic basis. No names would be provided, and no attempts to assert any statistical conclusions would be made.
  4. Newsletter Transition and other publication-related issues: Newsletter Editor Mike Dayton updated the Board on the newsletter transition. Will was named as the Newsletter Committee Chair on the website. Mike discussed content for the next newsletter and said he believed that they had enough for an issue. Mike also the results publication would only be produced as an electronic version to spare expense and labor. He also noted that RUSA had enough handbooks for two more years, at which point it might need updating.
  5. Membership Applications: Don Hamilton questioned whether he could discard old paper membership applications. The board agreed those could discarded.
  6. Permanents Policies: The Board addressed whether:
    1. proof of passage requirements could be changed to allow riders to use digital photos, GPS tracks or Facebook updates to prove passage on permanents;
    2. a route owner could delegate one of a group of riders to collect the waivers at the ride start and, subsequently mail them to the route owner after the ride takes place;
    3. owners could accept waivers with "electronic" signatures.
    Mr. Thomas proposed the following response:
    1. no change to proof of passage requirements/methods;
    2. allow group waivers (deputized waiver collections) within route owner discretion;
    3. accepting images (scanned, etc.) of rider waivers with original signature is in route owner"s discretion;
    4. electronic signatures, automatic enrollments, and similar enhancements not to be implemented at this time. The board approved that response.
  7. Rules Committee Report: John Lee brought up issue of when staggered starts are required for team events. The rules had previously stated that a staggered start was required when the teams were starting at "the same place." The rule has been revised to provide that the staggered start is required only when the teams are starting from the same place and following the same route. Rob Hawks questioned how this would apply when teams were not necessarily following the same route the whole time by, by force of geography, would have to follow the same route for a significant period -- i.e., on a peninsula where the route after the 22-hour mark would be the same for all teams. John Lee and Mark opined that, in that case, the rule language suggested that a staggered start would be required. In other action, John Lee also reported that the RBA procedures manual is being updated to clarify at a rider who does a pre-ride (workers' ride) cannot get credit for the ride if the rider then participates in another event or a permanent on the day of the event for which the pre-ride was done.
  8. American Explorer Award: The American Explorer Award is close to being rolled out. Ken Knutson will administer it. Jim Kuehn has updated the routes database to build a list of states that each route traverses. Using the new database, the top rider now has 24 states. Jim has also updated the "dispute" mechanism to allow a rider to report that a state should be included on a particular route.
  9. The RUSA Cup: John Lee presented the proposed specifications for "The RUSA Cup." The rider must complete:
    1. a 200k, 300k, 400k, 600k, and 1000k brevet;
    2. a 1200k or longer Grand Randonnée;
    3. a RUSA team event (Dart, Arrow, or Flèches-USA);
    4. a Populaire; any other calendared events - including Populaires - to make up the balance to 5000 km total.
    Other requirements were also discussed. The physical award will be a commemorative cup, and those whose application is accepted will be listed on the RUSA website. Greg Olmstead will administer the award. The Board approved the proposal.
  10. Director Reports: Lois reported that she and Bill Bryant had met with Janice Chernekoff, who is preparing a PBP 2011 Memory Book. She's extended the submissions deadline, but has only a few holes left to fill. Lois also reported that she had received the invoice for RUSA's PBP expenses from the ACP. Jim Kuehn had reviewed and okayed it - Jennifer and Eric will work together on payment. Jennifer reported that the store has ordered 5 copies of Damon Peacock's DVD about PBP to see how it sells. Mark asked if RUSA had ever acquired and sold copies of the "official" DVD from ACP. Jennifer said she would inquire into that possibility.