Randonneurs USA Board of Director Minutes

August 9, 2023

1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, over Zoom.  The following members were present.  
   1. Bill Bryant
   2. Dawn Piech 
   3. Charlie Martin
   4. Dan Driscoll
   5. Rob Hawks
   6. Vinny Muoneke
   7. Gardner Duvall
       
2. The Treasurer did not appear, and his written report was discussed and accepted.  There was a discussion about appointments to the new Financial Audit Committee, to be completed after PBP.

3. Minutes: The minutes for the July 2023 meeting were approved.  A motion to amend the May minutes was approved.

4. Prior email votes were confirmed.  Those were the appointments of Michael Powell Parich as RBA in OR:Portland, with thanks to outgoing RBA Susan France; the appointment of John Selso as RBA in SD: Sioux Falls, with thanks to outgoing RBA Bruce Jones; and, to place a web icon on the respective event result entries for BRM centenary events, similar to what we do for RM and SR600 result entries.

5. The video project discussion was led by Dawn.  This project creates a professionally filmed and edited series of videos posted on the newly created RUSA YouTube channel.  This is being released as a series of short reels and then the full video, initially announced on the RUSA Instagram page.  These announcements will expand to other social media, the RUSA webpage, and email.  Members are encouraged to view and share these videos. Members are also encouraged to submit their own randonneuring videos to be considered for sharing in Between Controls.  Additional RUSA approved videos previously shared with the membership will be placed in this site at a future date.

6. 2024 domestic grand randonnées were discussed.  Approval was granted to Seattle to Glacier, Appalachia 1300, and Endless Mountains Liberty Bell, each with follow up conditions.  The remainder of the 2024 domestic grand randonnées are previously approved events: Shenandoah 1200, Golden Falcon, Sierra Nevada, Waterfalls, High Country, and Cracker Swamp.  Beginning next year, previously approved grand randonnées will have to submit written applications by July 31.  If an RBA is considering an LRM event but can't firmly commit yet, submitting a provisional application by July 31st will help the RUSA-wide planning process as this would allow calendaring by other regions to be done with more information.

7. Steve Polyak was approved as the new RBA for IA: Central, and Greg Smith was thanked for his service in that position.  John Ceceri was reappointed as RBA for NY:Saratoga.

8. The Website Committee submitted a written report. There was discussion about the LRM centenary icons and a YouTube link on the homepage.

9. Board goals for 2023 and 2024 were discussed.  It was agreed to have a special Board meeting in the Fall devoted to 2024 goals.  

10. A discussion about a RUSA climbing award focused on point-to-point routes ridden in reverse.  It was reported that point-to-point permanents ridden in reverse can be self-reported. However point-to-point brevets ridden in reverse are rare, and the web team feels it would be better to require separate route approval for reverse brevet routes rather than to introduce the complexity and data maintenance required to support this small use case. The board agreed that point-to-point reverse brevet routes should require separate route approval that could be streamlined through the brevet routes committee.

11. Incident Reports were discussed.  The insurance broker asked questions about the number of auto-involved incidents reported in 2023, and the response to those questions was discussed.

12. There was a brief discussion about promoting randonneuring, which was deferred to September for further development.

13. The next meeting was set for September 13, 2023, by Zoom.

14. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 Eastern time, without objection.