2006 Pennsylvania Technology Student Association Bucknell Leadership Conference
10 July 2006
All officers for the 2006-2007 year were present. They were as follows:
President – Emily Snyder Vice President – Geoff Quinque Secretary – Travis Smith Reporter – Chloe Alpert Sergeant-at-Arms – Wen Tan Parliamentarian – Mike Rittenhouse Historian – Jonathan Escobar
Past President, Brad Shulenberger, and National Reporter, Robert Kosarowich, were also present during some parts of the meeting.
The first meeting of the Pennsylvania Technology Student Association (PA-TSA) State Officer Team began at 10:45 a.m. The first item of business was each officer introducing themselves to the other officers. Binders that were available for certain officers were passed out. The second order of business was discussing the general goals for the year. Emily discussed having a cheer contest to get a new PA-TSA cheer. Mike suggested having a TSA wave at the state conference, as well as stomping to increase the energy level. Geoff thought that having music during the beginning of the sessions would be a good idea. The third order of business was discussing the Pennsylvania Papers of Student Technology (PA-POST). Chloe told the officer team that she wanted a new look for the PA-POST this year. Also, she said that she hoped to have a “president’s message” as the first article for the back-to-school issue. The following articles were assigned to the following people:
Mike: Bucknell Jon: Trends on Technology Chloe: An Interview Rob: National Officer Geoff: National Recap Travis: Results for Pennsylvania at the National Conference Wen: Cheer Contest
All articles were to be due September 1st to Chloe. It was established that there would be a total of four issues of the PA-POST throughout the year. The next order of business was to discuss the activities for each night at States. First the officer team discussed a Wednesday night activity. Mike suggested having a new activity from what was done in the past. Wen mentioned having a type of competitive event. Then, Mike suggested bringing back the mixer. It was suggested by Wen to have a superhero theme. Also, it was suggested to have a mascot. It was finalized that the mixer would contain a superhero theme, and there would be a trading of handouts by each chapter; also, there would be food and music. The mixer would be the activity on Wednesday night. For Thursday night, Andrew suggested having a movie night, similar to the years previous. Emily mentioned that this should also follow the superhero theme. It was concluded that the whole conference would have a superhero theme, and there would be a movie night on Thursday.
There was a short five-minute recess at this point in the meeting.
Next, continuing the Iron Man was discussed. Different activities were mentioned including: stair climbing, swimming, push-ups, and sit-ups. Jon mentioned that the stair climbing last year wasn’t fair because the person on the inside of the stairs had a better chance of winning. It was decided to move the stair climbing to outside, where the wooden stairs were located. It was mentioned that there should be two competitions because some students may have conflicts. The Iron Man committee was to consist of: Andrew, Jon, and Chloe. Relay for Life was the next order of business to discuss. It was finally decided that Rob would mention to the national officer team about having the Relay for Life outside, similar to the way it was at the 2004 National Conference in Nashville, TN; after all, the conference would be held in Nashville again for the 2007 conference. There would not be a Relay for Life at States, but PA-TSA would donate money at Nationals from money raised from such events as Got-Game. The next topic of discussion was the dance that was to be held on Friday night. The officers discussed and decided to have a disc jockey and food. Having limbo was a possible activity; since, the dances weren’t getting much attendance. Next, having Got-Game again was discussed. It was decided that the three primary games that would be featured in the tournament would be DDR, Halo 2, and Madden. It was decided that DDR would be an open play game, and there would be a Madden tournament on Thursday and a Halo 2 tournament on Friday. Halo 2 would be a tournament for individuals. It was decided that there would be sign-ups for the Got-Game tournament before States and on Wednesday at States. No sign-ups would be accepted after Wednesday. Prizes for the tournament were then discussed. First prize would be an Xbox 360. Second prize would be a $100 gift certificate, probably American Express, and third prize would be a $50 gift certificate. The charges for the tournament would be as follows:
1 tournament $5 2 tournaments $8 Open Play $3
***For both tournaments and Open Play the cost would be $10. One tournament and Open Play would be $7.
Colored stickers would be handed out to tell who paid for what. The Got-Game committee would consist of: Geoff, Jon, Mike, and Wen.
Next, having the raffle and snack stand were discussed. Prices for the raffle were decided as follows:
1 ticket $1 6 tickets $5 13 tickets $10
Possible prizes would be an iPod, digital camera, and other small electronics. The snack stand would sell soda, food, and candy with prices to be determined later. The State Officer uniforms for States were the next topic of discussion. It was announced that they would be the same. They would be a Polo Faded Glory shirt, one red and one blue, and khaki pants. The regional competitions were then discussed. It was made sure that at least one officer could attend each conference. The assignments were as follows:
Region 1 and 6 Mike and Chloe Region 7 and 8 Chloe Region 5 and 9 Mike, Geoff, Emily, Wen, and Travis Region 2 Andrew and Brad Region 3 Rob, Jon, and Chloe
The meeting recessed for lunch.
Next, membership was discussed. Geoff said he wanted to get a list of active chapters and non-active chapters in PA. He would type up a letter and send it to those chapters who were inactive and about 25 schools who never had a TSA chapter at all. The committee for membership would be: Geoff, Travis, Mike, and Emily. Next, Emily told the team that each officer had to write a bio about themselves for the website. The bio should be a short paragraph that included: name and office, school, grade, and interests/goals. The next topic of discussion was the opening ceremony at States. Chloe suggested having a moment of silence for our soldiers. It was then suggested that we would have cardboard walls to walk through and break down to go with the theme “Breaking Down Boundaries” and the superhero theme. Everyone should choose a superhero to be during the ceremony. The superhero that each officer would represent is as follows:
Wen: Spiderman Mike: Superman Andrew: Batman Jon: V Travis: Captain America Geoff: Buzz Lightyear Chloe: Catwoman Emily: Wonderwoman
It was decided that we would all buy costumes and have them for the opening session. Each of us would break out of a wall built of cardboard bricks or some other material, and each of us must find a quote dealing with “Breaking Down Boundaries.” At 1:23 p.m. we met with the Board of Directors (BoD) to discuss our ideas for the state conference. First, Emily spoke about our theme, superheroes, and the goal of increasing energy. Mike spoke about bringing back the mixer and also having a mascot. Next, Andrew talked about having movie night. The BoD said that the movie night might be a problem because we would have to buy a movie to show, legally, and the room where we usually showed the movies would be taken up by speeches for state officer candidates. The BoD suggested that for our dance we would have a carnival theme. Then, Jon mentioned continuing the Iron Man competition. He mentioned having two separate competitions for those who would have conflicts. Next, Geoff mentioned that we would raise money by donations and Got-Game and donate that to Relay for Life. Emily said that Rob was going to mention to the national officer team about having Relay for Life similar to the 2004 conference in Nashville. Also, Geoff mentioned the Got-Game tournament. The BoD said that Halo 2 would be a problem due to its rating. Then, Travis talked about the raffle and the prices that the team decided to have. Geoff then talked about his membership plan. The BoD would get him a list of inactive and active chapters in PA. Next, Chloe talked about her plan for the POST. She said she wanted a new section called “Trends in Technology.” She planned to have the first POST issue out by October 1st. Emily then talked about what the state officers planned for the opening ceremony. The State Officers then went back to their meeting room to discuss the BoD suggestions. The activity for Thursday was discussed, and it was decided to not do the movie night because it normally did not get high attendance.
The meeting recessed for dinner.
During discussion, Bekky Jones came in to discuss with the State Officers the new change affecting the state officer team. She said that there was a new point system established for attendance of events for the State Officers. Each officer would have to receive 90-100% of their votes to receive reimbursements for everything. If 80-90% of the points were received, there would be no reimbursement for Nationals. If 70-80% of the points were received the officer would have to meet with the review board to discuss any reimbursements and their position on the state officer team.
October Meeting 10 points TEAP 10 points CTSO dinner 5 points Official Officer Mtg. 5 points each Officer’s Regionals 10 points 2nd Regionals 5 points States 10 points (must arrive by noon) New/Past Officer Trip 5 points Nationals 10 points POST deadlines 5 points each Meeting deadlines 10 points Reliable Contact 10 points
Next, discussion resumed on the Friday activity. The carnival theme for the dance was discussed. Included would be a rock climbing wall and other activities to increase attendance. It was decided that the dance would be based on a carnival. A new PA-TSA pin design was then discussed. It was eventually decided after much consideration to do a Hershey kiss shape. Emily told the BoD the idea, but they mentioned that there were copyright laws, so we brainstormed more ideas. Shape designs that were discussed were a wagon, state flag, tree, or groundhog.
The meeting recessed until the next morning.
11 July 2006 – 9:50 a.m.
It was decided to replace the Hershey kiss design with a license plate that would read, “You’ve got a friend in PA-TSA.” Next, Bekky came in with announcements about the PA-TSA website. She said that the BoD wanted a web message from the president. Also, she announced that the POST would be posted online. Next, she announced that the BoD wanted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) section on the website for the parents, and the State Officers should brainstorm some questions. Also, there would be an officer corner with updates on what the State Officers are planning. Wen was put in charge of that section of the website. She then explained that the State Secretary would be on an advisory committee that would review the web. The secretary should check for any mistakes and e-mail ideas to Chris Miller. She said that the State Officer Bios needed to be typed and sent to Chris Miller. Rob and Brad’s would be reused. Emily put Travis in charge of typing up the bios and sending them. Bekky also announced that there would be no disc jockey at the dance; instead, the alumni would run the music. Next, Emily went to speak to the BoD about the license pin. She came back and said that they had used that type of pin before, but the officers were allowed to use it again. She also announced that they liked the flag idea Andrew came up with. It was decided to do a flag with a gold colored post. The words would be gold as well. The flag would say “You got a friend in PA-TSA.” Later, Mr. Seamans came in with the changes to the bylaws that would need to be approved at the state conference. The new amendment read:
The Pennsylvania Technology Student Association shall be under the guidance of PA-TSA Inc., National TSA Inc., and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
The amendment would be section three of article eight in the bylaws. Next, the state officers informed Mr. Seamans of the past-approved amendments that needed to be added to the bylaws. Finally, the State Officers brainstormed FAQ’s for the website. Some considered questions were as follows:
The meeting adjourned until the next scheduled meeting at 11:13 a.m.
Travis Smith 2006-2007 Pennsylvania State Secretary Technology Student Association
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