CALL Meetings Committee 2017-2018 Annual Report

The 2017-2018 Meetings Committee members were Todd Hillmer (co-chair), Tami Carson (co-chair), Brittany Adams, Sheri Lewis, Carrie Port, and Keely Ward. Joe Mitzenmacher was the Board liaison.

The Committee planned four meetings for the 2017-2018 year. Dates, locations, number of registrants for each meeting are shown in the table below.

Date Location Registrants
September 14, 2017 Nacional 27
325 West Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60654
81
November 16, 2017 The Berghoff
17 West Adams
Chicago, IL 60603
84
February 15, 2018 Italian Village Vivere

71 West Monroe

Chicago, IL 60603

84
May 10, 2018 Wildfire
159 West Erie St.
Chicago, IL 60654
74
TOTAL  323

Improvements Recommended by the Committee

  1. Name badge creation continues to be a time-consuming task. The Committee recommends considering permanent name tags which would make the check-in process more efficient and is a more ecologically sustainable solution.
  2. Pricing and budgetary concerns are areas for concern. The Committee recommends considering raising the meeting fee to $30.00 and possibly implementing a schedule of periodic increases to reflect changing economic realities. Surveying membership to gauge thoughts on such an increase may be in order first.
  3. Online registration & payment or prepayment via check to the CALL post office box has increased this year and should continue to be encouraged. This speeds up the check-in process and helps with concerns of handling large amounts of cash and checks on the day of the meeting.
  4. That said, handling of large amounts of cash and checks remains a concern. The Committee recommends investigation by CALL board of commercial bonding for all committee members.
  5. Members seem interested in returning to Maggiano’s for a meeting. Members also seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of our November meeting at Berghoff, we may want to return again this November. The 2018-2019 Meetings Committee will explore these possibilities.