Opening Business - This teleconference meeting was called to order by President Rich Hobby at 8:10 a.m. The summary of the Sept. 10, 2010, XCOM meeting was approved as submitted.

Financial Reports and 2011 Budget - The Oct. 31, 2010, fiscal year-end financial reports and preliminary budget for FY 2011 were reviewed. Tom McGuire noted that the dues revenue for 2011 should be a bit higher than in 2010 because firms that were “carried” for 2010 should be paying their regular dues in 2011. It was also pointed out that the $962 deficit for 2010 was considerably lower than the 2009 deficit of $2,537.

Brief discussion occurred about the chapter being a 2011 ERA Conference sponsor, and Rich Hobby suggested that the minimum the chapter should commit to is the Gold level (i.e., $1,200). The budget includes $1,200 for donations, and the sponsorship commitment will be placed on the next meeting agenda.

Also discussed was the $500 payment to Kimberly Hermoso-Hurst for the DTAM project and whether it should be charged totally to 2011 expenses or split between FY 2010 and 2011. It was agreed the total charge should be included in the 2011 budget in the Miscellaneous line item.

On a motion by Todd Somers, seconded by Jeff Huntsinger, the 2011 budget was adopted.

National Delegates Report - Bob Evans reported on the October national board teleconference. Highlights of the meeting included the following.

• Chairman Dave Rossi was presiding over his final meeting as a member of the executive committee, and President Bob Walsh saluted him for his 12 years of service as a national officer.
  
  
• EDS 2012 will move to the new Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. (The 2011 show will be the last at the Paris.)
  
  
• EDS revenue for 2010 was significantly higher than anticipated. Only $40,000 had been budgeted, but an additional $65,000 was received, bringing the total much closer to the revenue realized in past years.
  
  
• Components Group VP Dave Norris raised a question about principals’ increasing demands for additional services with no accompanying compensation, and this subject became the focus of the first of ERA’s new monthly surveys. The idea for the surveys came from Chicagoland’s own Bob Evans.
  
  
• Bob Terwall and Jim Hartranft have been retained as consultants to focus on increasing membership.
  
  
• ERA’s LinkedIn site had 440 participants as of mid-October. (NOTE: That total is now 547.)
  
  
• The merger of NEDA and ECA into ECIA is on target for finalization in January. Robin Gary will be the ECIA executive VP. Rep members will be solicited, but this new organization’s focus is “narrower” than ERA’s.
  
  
• The Membership-Dues Committee, chaired by Chet Zaslow, reported on the new three-tier national rep firm dues structure that has been developed to take effect for 2012. Replacing the current 14-tier structure, the new tiers are as follows. Dues for firms with 1-3 employees will be $400; dues for firms with 4-9 employees will be $600; and dues for firms with 10 or more employees will be $950. The new structure will mean 37% of members will pay slightly more (with increases ranging from $10 to $70); 60% will pay less; and 2% will pay the same.

Programming - It was agreed that Paul Dosser of Digi-Key will be invited to present an update to the program of several years ago. The tentative date is April 8, and Ron Rutkowski was to contact Paul to discuss details. A breakfast buffet set-up was recommended for this event, but a location remains to be determined. The NIU Conference Center in Hoffman Estates was suggested.

The DTAM presentation remains tentatively scheduled in late February or early March. Jim Hartranft is continuing to coordinate this project, and the next step was to develop the final list of distributor GMs to be contacted. Control Sales, Brainard-Nielsen and Sumer were to take the lead in contacting the GMs before Kimberly begins the actual data collection.

No breakfast round tables were slated in December or January.

Chapter of the Year - Suggestions for entries include the start-up of the DTAM project, the social media seminar and the insurance program.

Next Meeting - The next XCOM meeting was scheduled on Jan. 14, at Brainard-Nielsen.

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