MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
GUINEA FOWL INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
March 28, 2010
4:10p.m.

Present:
Cindy Gibson
Zoe Howland
Carl Schaler
George Howes
Terri Thompson
Carolyn McDermott
Debbie Starr
Brigid McCrea

Agenda:
Three board directors were up for re-election - Michaele, Betsy, and Barbara. All were re-elected.

Susan Schaler resigned as Secretary.

Two officer positions were up for election - Vice-President and Secretary. Zoe was re-elected Vice-President and Terri was elected Secretary.

Debbie offered to be Newsletter Committee Chairman and was happily accepted.

Discussions:
- SARE Grant Program (Sustainable Agriculture Research Extension) grants for farmers studying sustainable agriculture methods.

- 2011 conference:
In Arkansas, focused around Dr. Anne Fanatico, as she completes her study on free-choice feeding for small flocks.

- 2012 conference:
Carl will be Conference Director.
In North Carolina, focused around Jackie Jacobs (national expert on Small Backyard Flock Management); and a study that NC State University is doing on dinosaur fossils using guineas.

Ideas for future conferences:
- Live stream parts of conference online
- Focus on green, sustainable options
- Find more guinea fowl experts (such as at zoos)
- Give postcards to feed delivery drivers to hand out

Goals for the year:
- Create a guinea stamp (Cindy)
- Look into CafePress.com to sell additional guinea merchandise (Terri)
- Membership cards (Zoe)
- SARE grant program
- Get website up-to-date with past Conference information

Assignments:
- Ask board members if honorable memberships should be given out
- How do we increase membership?
- Are we giving away too much information on our website for free? (Carl)
- Request email template for post card (I believe it was from Brigid?)
- Research grant committee
- Treasurer's Report (Carl)
- Guinea / dinosaur fossil information from NC State (Terri)

Additional items:
Brigid McCrea from Delaware State had these ideas for us for future conferences:
- Conference agenda needs to be complete four months in advance.
- Post conference brochures / information at feed stores within a 100 mile radius of conference site.
- We need higher attendance (at least 40 - 50 people pre-registered)
Brigid also agreed to be an advisor for our group.

Meeting adjourned at 6:00p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Terri Thompson, Secretary