Meeting Minutes- February 2011

BZAAZK Meeting Minutes --  February 20^th, 2011

In Attendance: Dawn Davis, Heather Tassler, Dana Caton, Avril Armstrong, Alyssa Borek, Megan Baumer, Rebecca Yee, John Treanor, Danielle Steele, Mike Wrubel, Alexis Amann, Linda Edge, Noel Pernello, Cindy Maur, Daphne Revie, Brandon Casey, Mike Houlihan, Kathy D’Andrea, Sabrina Squillari, Lacie Martin, Melanie Lumba, Christina Nieves, Jason Castro, & Nate Thompson.

ENRICHMENT BONANZA

Our first event was such a great success; we want to thank all of you for your participation.  If you have photographs of your enrichment, in use or otherwise please get a copy to Michelle Medina so we can display it on our website (http://bronxzooaazk.blogspot.com/).  Here is just a sample of the creative items keepers made for Birds (B) Mammals (M) and Reptiles (R):

Ladders – M

Swings - M

Bamboo chimes – MB

Twig balls - M

Snake tactile boxes - R         

Delayed feeders – R

Bamboo feeders - MBR

Suet feeders – M

Paper mache’ zebra – M

Easter egg feeders – M

Fire hose braid - M

Target sticks -M

Please let Dawn know of any other projects you would like to complete for next time. That’s right we have plans for at least one more scheduled Enrichment Bonanza before the end of the year.

Thanks: Lauren Augustine, Cindy Maur, Dawn Davis, and Linda Edge did a great job organizing this event, but there were so many who made contributions.  So, a big Thank You to Management for providing their space, support, tools and supplies. Also a special thanks to the Reptile Department for providing their spring cleaning treasures, Horticulture for the bamboo, and Congo ‘s Enrichment Center for providing their tools and storage area.  A very, very special thanks to Marty, for his assistance with the setup and closedown.  Additionally, a significant portion of the supplies and tools were from Melissa’s enrichment budget, thank you, Melissa.  And we couldn’t forget a “SHOUT-OUT” of gratitude for all the keepers who made food; it was delicious, thank you.  Show your appreciation by sharing a family recipe at our next meeting.  Let us know what you’ll bring.

OLD BUSINESS:

BZAAZK LOGO CONTEST!  Submit your logo design in digital format to any BZAAZK officer. The deadline is March 30^th 2011.  Your images must be at least 5.5 x 5.5 inches, 300 dpi, and in .jpg format.  The logo must represent a variety of animals (mammals, reptiles, and birds).  Black and white only, no color please.  AAZK membership is not required to submit a design.

NEW BUSINESS:

Bronx Zoo AAZK Chapter is officially in business.  To become a member of our local chapter you must first pay your National AAZK membership dues of $45.00 on the website www.AAZK.com.  Then please pay $25.00 for our local chapter dues by April 20^th, 2011.  Please remit payments to Lauren Augustine, with a copy of your National membership card, or receipt of your payment to National.  Thank you.

NEXT MEETING:

Formal Presentations will be made at our next Meeting on March 20^th, in the Mammal Department Meeting Room.  Cindy, Linda, Lauren and Dawn will be making presentations for four (4) different National animal organizations.  BZAAZK is dedicating the majority of our first fundraising event “Bar-Nanza: a social night for keepers” to the organization/presentation who receives the most votes in the Quorum. The remaining funds raised at the “Bar-Nanza” event will go into BZAAZK’s General fund.  In the future, you too can make a formal presentation for a national organization or for your own animal project or professional advancement at our next “Formal Presentations” meeting.  This small “Bar-Nanza” event & presentations are the best way to demonstrate “how to get AAZK financial support” for your projects/professional advancements.

Committees are groups of AAZK members who discuss, plan, and organize AAZK events.  For example, Cindy, Lauren, Linda, and Dawn served as the committee for the Enrichment Bonanza.  We would like to form two (2) committees for upcoming events: Bowling for Rhinos and the Annual National Keeper Week. We will be asking for volunteers at our next meeting; so for more information, please check out these websites: http://aazkbfr.org/ and http://aazk.org/national%20zookeeper%20week.php . 

Meeting Minutes- January 2011

Meeting Minutes for Future BZAC  --  January 20th, 2011

MAMMAL DEPT. MEETING ROOM – ADMIN EAST

First, a special thanks goes to all who brought in or made the delicious, home made entrees and refreshments.  Show your gratitude by volunteering to make your favorite recipe for next time.

In Attendence: Cindy Maur, Michelle Medina, Avril Armstrong, Vanessa Jones, Mike Wrubel, Jason Castro, Kirsty Black, Melanie Lumba, Rebecca Yee, Linda Edge, Dawn Davis, Kristin Antonaccio, Rebecca K. Zenowich, Kim Warren, Paul Kmintek, Amy Golden, Alexis Amann  and Lauren Augustine.

Meeting Agenda:

Dawn Davis –

Welcome, Gratitude, Gametime: Zoo Speed Scatagories, & Review of AKF magazine

Linda –

AAZK, American Association of Zoo Keepers  - History, Mission & Purpose

Cindy –

Accomplishments already, Why join? & Future Benefits for keepers and the Bronx Zoo

Lauren –

Financial responsibilities, dues (national, & individual) website & distribution of funds

MINUTES:

AAZK is a nonprofit, volunteer, national organization of professional animal keepers (http://www.aazk.org). Their mission is to continue education for the animal-care professional.

AAZK provides a professional forum, monthly.  This trade magazine is called Animal Keeper Forum (AKF).  National membership is required to gain full access to AKF magazine online (http://aazk.org/akf), in their member’s only section of the website.

Members can also submit to share their animal project papers on husbandry, enrichment, training techniques etc…for publication in the AKF, again in the member’s only section (http://aazk.org/akf-submission-guidelines/).  The member’s only section has a lot of valuable information and resources, including upcoming national conferences, fundraisers, and workshops.

AAZK also provides grants for a number of different professional improvements and educational opportunity (http://aazk.org/about/grants/).

AAZK national membership dues are $45 and the future Bronx Zoo AAZK Chapter (BZAC) dues are $25, both annually. The deadline for payment of dues for both National and the future BZAC is the 3rd meeting after our Chapter is made official.

Our future BZAC dues ($25 ea. collectively) and all additional funds we raise are put into our General Fund, managed by the future BZAC Treasurer, Lauren Augustine.

This General Fund pays BZAC’s dues to the national AAZK, and will manage, through a Quorum vote of the membership, any other expenditures. Only the Treasurer is allowed to spend under $100, without calling for a quorum vote. A quorum constitutes 20% of the future BZAC membership.  A majority of the quorum is necessary to pass any motion, election or spending request.

ALLOCATING FUNDS:

Future BZAC expenditures, including any and all grants, deposits, enrichment, conferences tickets, conservation contributions etc. will be “formally” presented to the membership, by a member. “Formally” is hereby defined as verbally or visually presented to the membership and officers at an official meeting of the future BZAC, accompanied by an accurate estimate of expenses and a promise to remit all receipts for said expenses. All presentations will be heard before voting. The funds will be allocated to the presentation with the majority of votes, in the quorum.  Just, for clarity’s sake, this means that if we have 22 members, a quorum could be as little as, 5 people and a majority is 3 people.  This is why your attendance is so important. The best way to ensure your voice is heard is to attend meetings and vote on motions.

ELECTIONS:

The future BZAC has four (4) officer positions: President, Cindy Maur, Vice President, Linda Edge, Treasurer, Lauren Augustine and Secretary, Dawn Bard Davis.  Each office’s term is 1 year in length (January-December). The elections for office are held, annually, in December.  An member can hold office for three (3) years consecutively, and must take one (1) year off before holding any other office.

NOTEWORTHY:

Avril Armstrong asked a great question: “how often can the treasurer spend upto $100.00, Without a quorum vote? We are researching an appropriate answer, and will have it ASAP.

Avril Armstrong also won the first ever “Zoo Speed Scatagories” game.

Michelle Medina is in charge of the creation and management of our Future BZAC website.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

ENRICHMENT BONANZA – Please notify officers about large ideas, or group projects COMING SOON – DATE AND LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED

Next Meeting:

February 20th, 2011, Mammal Meeting room, 2nd Fl. Admin East

Future BZAC Logo Contest – everyone is eligible for entry.  Submissions should represent a variety of animals, including mammals, birds and reptiles.  Ultimately, final submission must be in digital format (.jpg is preferred).  The size must be 300 dpi, and logo must fit in an 7 x 7 inch space. Remember these will be shrunk down for letterhead and expanded for t-shirts and posters.  Deadline – To Be Announced