Minutes of the 9 April Meeting

NTS Executive Meeting

9 April 2016

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Agenda

Goal: Explore the feasibility of on-line meetings

Things to Consider:

Pros:

  • On-line meetings will be more convenient for many members.
  • We can save time, since there are minimum setup and take-down activities.
  • More members and outside guests will be able to attend.
  • We can have speakers from anywhere in the world.
  • Internet access is not required. People can attend by phone.
  • On-line meetings will not replace face-to-face gatherings. These will be reserved for social functions.

Cons:

  • On-line meetings lose the fact-to-face quality.
  • We need to decide our future dealings with the Meadows Center.
  • The North Texas Skeptics may lose its regional identity.

There are a number of platforms available:

  • Skype
  • Uberconference (we have to pay $10 or $15 per month for greater than ten attendees)
  • Gotomeeting
  • Let’s do some research to see what else is available.

Stategies to improve attendance:

  • Exercise more on-line marketing, recruit additional members, get the word out to members.
  • Obtain high-profile speakers. Authors with books to promote can attend remotely at no cost to themselves (and to us). Prominent activists for skeptical causes can be induced to speak remotely and for free.

Vote: It was decided to move forward with implementing on-line meetings and working to improve participation.

Contact John Blanton (skeptic75287@yahoo.com) and Prasad Golla (pngolla@yahoo.com) to participate or to make suggestions.

NTS is now a member of the SPI Coalition

We are happy to inform you that NTS is now part of the Secular Policy Institute (SPI) coalition. Our name appears in the list of organizations in the Texas section at this SPI’s page.

NTS board of directors discussed the request from SPI to join the coalition. The board voted to join the coalition.

Being a member of the SPI coalition was seen as a positive for NTS since SPI promotes science globally.