Excused or Away for the semester: Mariela Benitez, Jessi Burton, Kelsey Crim, Emily Gross, Brooke Johnson, Michael Konopasek, Mary-Phillips Omotosho, Lindsey Thompson, Meg Thornburg

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Everyone went around the table and introduced themselves.

GROUP BUSINESS

Since Meg is student teaching this semester, we needed to find another secretary to do the minutes.   Yung volunteered for the position.

The group discussed the idea of having a fun activity to get to know each other outside of the meetings.   Ideas included bowling, Bob Evans for breakfast, or having one of our meetings catered.  We agreed on the last option.  Ball State Catering will provide breakfast at our next meeting on March 5.  We will eat at 7:30 a.m. in the Alumni Center meeting room 1, and then have our regular meeting in the board room at 8:00 a.m.

SENIOR CONGRATS PARTY! FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008 FROM 4-7 P.M.

We broke up into four sub-committee groups: decorations/entertainment, sponsors/set-up, food/drinks, and publicity.   Each group met for about 10-15 minutes then gave reports on their discussion:

Publicity: It was decided that t-shirts should remain basic in design (no fiesta theme/dates, etc.) since we want this to be the seniors' first alumni shirt that they can wear more than once.   They are still in the process of getting quotes from different shirt vendors. Paul got a quote of $4.50 per shirt from the Graphic Arts Unlimited student club. The group would like to work on getting a huge banner to hang across the village to promote the event, and attend student org. meetings. They plan to create a Facebook group and use e-mail, table tents, and DN Days Ahead to advertise.  They would also lie to see if the DN would run a story about the party.

Decorations/Entertainment: This group plans to meet during office hours to decide on final decoration ideas, etc. One suggestion was to have a goody bag to hand out – with a keychain and BSUAA information. They plan to contact UPB to assist with decorations and games. The DJ has already been booked. The group will also work with TIS Bookstore and get permission to decorate their window and hand out flyers with caps & gowns.

Sponsors/Set-Up: It was decided that each St.A.R.T. member would be required to get one sponsor for the party (prizes/give-aways).   This sub-committee will pas out sponsor forms at the next meeting and come up with some ideas on places to ask. Ebony will contact the tent company and Tyler will contact the University Police to request security for the party. Cassie will contact Transportation to see if the shuttles will still be running during the party (and if not to request an extension). The group decided that each person would get 3 drink tickets (same as before).

Food/Drink: The group decided to stick with pizza from Papa Johns and the Hot Dog Man. We will also have a chips/salsa/cheese bar set up to go along with the fiesta theme.   Kate is checking to see if we can still use Dill Street as our caterer. For pre-mixed drinks they would like to do regular margaritas and a strawberry daiquiris. We will order sheet cakes for something sweet and have them decorated with Charlie Cardinal wearing a sombrero. They will also look into getting a cotton candy machine.

The group mentioned that they would like to have Charlie Cardinal attend the party – so someone will need to make that contact.

SPRING SURVIVAL KITS

Deadline for orders is Thursday, April 17. If you can think of any good ideas to include in the kits, please let Kate and/or Laura know ASAP.   We try to do more "spring-like" contents – i.e. freeze-pops, etc.

PAST EVENT REPORTS

Erica and Ebony attended the Indianapolis Casino Night at Jillian's on February 9. They said they had a great time and helped with the registration table and prize give-away.   They gambled with fake chips and got to mingle with several alumni.

Mariela also attended the Bluffton Family Bowling Outing on February 10. She has class during the meetings and could not report, but our BSUAA staff said she did a good job mixing with alumni and taking pictures.

UPCOMING EVENT OPPORTUNITIES

• Northeastern IN Science Central Outing 2/24 (Arica, Mary Ann, Mariela)
• Cardinal Job Fair 2/27 (Sally)
• Indy Theatre Outing 3/2 (Mariela, Yung)
• Indy Children's Museum Outing 3/29 (Arica, Ebony, Allison, Emily C., Meghan, Sally, Layne, Tina)
• NREM Alumni Awards Dinner 4/18 (Yung, Ali, Mariela)
• Teacher Fair 4/30 – 5/1 (Yung, Allison, Cassie, Anna)

ANNOUNCEMENTS/OTHER BUSINESS

If you are a new member, please see Kate during your office hours and remind her to take a picture of you for our web site! 

We have a group blog, and you can find instructions in the office.   Please blog during your office hours!  You will receive bonus points! 

Ebony announced that BSA will be holding the Back in Black Fashion   event this Saturday 2/23 – it is a history of fashion with a black carpet affair beginning at 6 p.m. at the Alumni Center, followed by the show at 7 p.m.

Ali invited everyone to attend the track meet on Friday at 4 p.m.

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast in the Alumni Center Meeting Room 1, followed by our meeting in the Board Room at 8:00 a.m.