0) Call to Order

President Kinsella called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m

Mr. Sinegal discussed the 2008 trade show contract with the Hilton New York Hotel. The 2008 contract will include the trade show and annual society dinner. The NYSSCPA Executive Committee has approved the joint scheduling. The contract covers the exhibition space rental, three CPE session room rentals and a $40,000 food and beverage minimum. The $40,000 food and beverage minimum includes food and beverage for the annual meeting dinner. NYSSCPA will reimburse FAE for that expense. The contract amount of $151, 900 represents an increase of $6,000 over the contract for 2006 and 2007. Other contract provisions are as follows:

• FAE will pay for unused sleeping room nights if the room block usage is less than 211 rooms. These rooms are used by exhibitors.
• FAE will pay 60% of the contract if cancellation is less than one year from the event date.
• FAE must be insured. This insurance will precede any similar insurance carried by the hotel.
• Hotel will provide proof of insurance.
• FAE and the hotel will sign mutual indemnifications.

            Other venues were contacted to determine space availability and costs           including the Metropolitan Pavilion and Marriott Marquis. The Javits    Center location was not suitable to member needs for location reasons.             Following discussion, Mr. Jaffee moved to approve the contract and Mr.             Bloom seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Schmelkin presented a policy document, Use of FAE Conference Center or Outside Venue for New York City Conferences.  Ms. Kinsella       commented that the document is a clear representation of the position of the FAE Trustees. Messrs. Kahn and Woehlke commented that the issue       of paid registrants versus total attendees including speakers should be addressed.  Mr. Schmelkin stated the threshold attendance of over

120 persons for using outside venues should be defined as paid registrants and speakers.  Ms. Cohen moved to approve the policy and Mr. Hendler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Kinsella introduced an email recommendation from Mark Ellis, Secretary, to consider lower conference pricing for smaller conferences in exchange for lesser meal services and sponsorships. The email was forwarded to all FAE Trustees by Mr. Woehlke. Mr. Bloom stated the issue was similar to requests received from committee chairs in the past. Mr. Schmelkin noted that half-day conferences are priced significantly lower than full-day conferences and are appropriate when less content needs to be conveyed. Also, evening technical sessions are used for focused, niche topics but are not marketed as expansively as conferences. Mr. Jaffee stated conferences are fairly priced.  Mr. Schmelkin added that current pricing of FAE conferences is an integral component of their financial contribution to FAE overhead and affects the Society’s net education expense in the budget.

Ms. Kinsella and Mr. Jaffee proposed a policy that sponsorships can be used to fund lower registration fees provided that the money is received prior to the conference advertising. Mr. Jaffee moved to approve the policy for balloting and Mr. Maier seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Woehlke will send the policy to the FAE Trustees for email approval.  Ms. Kinsella voiced concern that pricing consistency might be impaired.  Ms. Cohen suggested that the upcoming FAE survey can address pricing issues. Ms. Kinsella will communicate with Mark Ellis about the discussions.

Ms. Kinsella led a brief discussion regarding the need to enhance cross committee communications to minimize conference content overlap. Mr. Schmelkin advised that much marketing information is available He will address the matter with the conference coordinators and revisit the issue with the Trustees if needed.

Ms. Kinsella introduced the issue of participant satisfaction with FAE seminars and conferences. The matter arose as a result of email exchanges between Mr. Maier and a NYSSCPA member and a letter sent to many NYSSCPA members by that member. She added that the Trustees are very involved in curriculum development planning through the curriculum committee and are very aware of the mission of FAE in the context of financial oversight.  Mr. Schmelkin presented a statistical summary document of the results of attendee evaluation forms in all locations covering the last three years for FAE, AICPA and other vendor developed programs. The ratings for all evaluation criteria were over 4 based on a 1-5 scale. There was no substantive difference in the scores across all geographical areas or among seminar developers. Conference ratings were rated slightly less, but the variance is not statistically relevant. The statistical summary document is attached to these minutes and will be posted on the NYSSCPA web site. Ms. Kinsella will write an article for The Trusted Professional that will include some of the above information.

Mr. Hendler stated he received negative feedback from a colleague who attended a recent FAE seminar. Staff will investigate the issue.

10.       Adjournment

There being no further business, the Trustees adjourned the meeting at 11:26 a.m.