SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
October 6, 2015 7:00 p.m.
The Ninety Present
(11 of 32): Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Roberta King, Angelica Mendoza, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Daniel Roe, Stephanie Steiner, Brendan Vaughn, Kristina Vaughn Via telephone: Likkit Pocinwong
Next meeting: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m
I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner
II. Roll call – Angelica Mendoza – 11 of 32 members present
III. Approval of minutes – Stephanie Steiner
IV. Old business
- Scarf vote update – Kristina Vaughn
- Committee narrowed to top five designs with two alternates and provided to Taylor Graham
o 41 submissions this year (compared to 160 last year)
- Ruffneck sponsoring design contest this year · Voting begins October 12 and continues through October 23 o Only STHs received email announcement re voting opportunity
o Question re seat designees not receiving email notifications
- Winner announced at October 25 match
- Committee role complete at this point; Club takes over from here
- Considering future opportunity for design competition for kids
- Constitution and bylaws – Stephanie Steiner
- 2013 vote
o Constitution posted on website is not up-to-date
o Added Bylaw 8 in 2013, which created standing committees (e.g., work groups)
o Articles gave us ability to create Executive Committee
o Planned to include in Alliance-wide vote for approval with GM voting procedures
- AC voted and approved in 2014; agreeing to adopt Constitution as a working document
- 2015 new bylaws o Passed presumed Bylaw 8 at last AC meeting; now to become Bylaw 9
o What exists on the website now has not been approved by vote of Alliance
o Fix and clean-up to put out to Alliance-wide vote in 2016
o Start 2016 AC year with cleanest, most up-to-date version of Constitution as a working document
- Council minutes and documents – Stephanie Steiner
- Website archives are now up-to-date
o Very few meeting minutes for 2011
o Contact Stephanie, if aware something is missing from the Archives
o Existing archive structure difficult to search
V. New business
A) Proposed amendment to attendance bylaw – Angelica Mendoza
- Attendance bylaw amendment passed at last meeting
- Two changes proposed with current amendment
o Members who have missed the previous three meetings in a row are ineligible to attend meetings with owners
o Members with non-voting member status are ineligible to participate in any perks or incremental activities as a Council member or guest of a Council member
- Cameron Collins proposal to amend amendment to add “or receive” between “or participate in” and “any Council member perks or incremental activities” passed unanimously
B) Proposed amendments to Bylaws 1 and 3 – Cameron Collins
- As bylaws are written, AC votes do not hold power
- Anyone may bring something to AC, regardless of voting status (e.g., non-voting or ex-oficio)
- Any additional changes should ensure that references to bylaw numbers are correct
- Two proposed amendments unanimously passed
o Phrasing “Council members present” to be replaced with “quorum”
o Strike phrasing between “of” and “quorum” in 5.1 and 5.2
- Consider adding time limit to Club discussion during AC meeting; otherwise “discuss issue fully” is sufficient as loose definition allows for greater discretion
- Cameron will draft updates for discussion at November meeting
C) 2015 Annual Business Meeting – Kristina Vaughn
- Set for Thursday, November 12
- Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.
- AC meeting with ownership beforehand
- Unable to announce emcee at this time
- Cash bar and light snacks available (suggest special lids to allow drinks inside of the theatre)
- Players and trophies planned for preshow o Suggest a request to ECS to bring Cascadia Cup
o Propose large team photo with cutout to allow fans to put their head in and take photos
o Propose players in different configuration than last year as it bottlenecked
o Suggest giveaway items for MatchPass holders or a raffle ticket on your way in
- Suggested program
o Drew Carey – welcome and video (previously democracy in sports)
o Bart Wiley – business report o Stephanie Steiner – AC report o Cameron Collins – GM vote and recall process
o Adrian – team update
o Q&A
- Jerry Neil and Cameron Collins to manage Q&A
- Hashtag #sfcbiz
- Begin compiling and categorizing questions via email and social media
D) 2017 jock tag and neck tape – Likkit Pocinwong
- 2016 first and third kits will include COS logo as jock tag (second kit is white again)
- Duwamish Tribe did not officially bless, but authorized use
- No information available on 2016 neck tape at this point
- Option to design both jock tag and neck tape for 2017 season (phrasing and/or imaging)
- No hard deadline to submit yet, but the sooner the better
- Suggested that we select a new design; Cameron Collins and Jerry Neil will lead on soliciting ideas
E) Annual Business Meeting format change – Kristina Vaughn
- Is there interest in changing the format of the meeting for future years?
- Do not eliminate Q&A portion
- Push AC recruitment during AC report and show examples of what AC has accomplished (e.g., jock tag design, GM voting procedures)
- Offer AC, SCT and supporter groups table space
- Keep lines minimal and moving
- Photo booth with one photographer who posts all for download rather than fans utilizing smartphones
- Consider change of venue
- Difficult to encourage attendance on a weeknight
- Expo or “Sounders Summit” rather than “End of Year Business Meeting”
o Similar to organization of Mariners FanFest
o Start of season in conjunction with first week of practice at Starfire
- Hold event before season is over to ensure players are in town and emphasize player appearances well in advance
- Work group to present proposal to AC, then to Megan West and Club VI. Open discussion
- Feedback from last match
o Sold out of HALO jerseys by noon
o Opportunity to purchase online was not well-advertised
o Size Large only as part of giveaway
VI. Adjournment – Motion to adjourn passed
Sounders FC Alliance Council 