Hi Cascadians and Alex,

I sent a reminder to the Seattle TA3M coordinators to ask them if they'd sent an invitation to their members to fill out the form for the December 15 event yet. I'm starting to get a little concerned because about 2.5 weeks away from the event and we still need to get the speakers lined up and the logistics finalized. I am hoping that the TA3M coordinators will send an announcement soon.

I'm planning on driving to the event with the food. I'm planning to get a variety of pizzas and some single-use tableware.

I have a question about the budget, and I'd like to get Alex's and the group's input about this. I was thinking rather optimistically that we might be able to get all of the food and supplies for about $150 total, with TA3M paying half and with us/me (via a GAC grant that we will retroactively apply for, after we have $500 worth of grants to request) paying the other half. However, having called around to a few pizza places, I think we could easily exceed that amount if we actually have 50 people sign up. In any case, I want to make sure that GAC will be ok with us expanding the budget. I will keep copies of the receipts. Alex, is this ok? I am avoiding the high-end pizzas that cost $30 each, but even so the math goes something like this:

* $22 per pizza * Each pizza serves about 4 people * So if we have 50 people we will need about 12 pizzas * 12 * $22 = $264 * Plus tableware, estimate at $1 per person x 50 people = $50 * $264 + $50 = $314

That's a significantly higher amount than I was anticipating, and I will make efforts to keep the costs down, but I want to make sure that if I submit a grant request to GAC for $314 that GAC would pay, since spending $314 out of my own pocket and getting only a partial or no reimbursement from GAC would be a big deal.

Another option would be to combine this $314 possible budget with expenses that we know that we're likely to need anyway, like $100 or so for a registered agent for one year, the $50 cost of registering ourselves with the State, and the cost of getting a P.O. box (price varies depending on size and location). Would the group be ok with me combining a $314 food budget request (maximum) with some of these other expenses that we know we're likely going to need anyway, so that I can submit a grant request that's over the $500 minimum for a GAC request? Alex, would that be ok with you? By saying yes, people would be trusting me to handle money and receipts on behalf of the group, at least until we have a designated bank account; I want to make sure that people are comfortable with this. The assurances that I can offer is that the grant request will be publicly documented, the actual amount spent and the amount returned to WMF will be documented, WMF can see copies of receipts if it wants them, other board members can see copies of receipts if they want to see them, and WMF already knows how to find me because of my internship; if something goes wrong then Alex can call Anasuya, and after Anasuya makes a phone call or two, there might be some people with uniforms and badges knocking on my door. (: But it's important that people feel comfortable with this idea, and unfortunately we have only 2.5 weeks between now and the event to make some decisions and hopefully get GAC to approve a request (I'm not sure if they approve requests in 2.5 weeks; if they don't then we may need to consider other options like WMDC).

Thanks, and I'm sorry if anyone feels rushed, including Alex and GAC.

Pine

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