Two of our big projects are looking for leads from members.  The recruiting committee is following up with those who should be members of the association, and the annual meeting committee is contacting businesses that might want to reach RDIA members through our meetings in October.

Other big projects, the how-to-start-a-diaper-service kit and strategic planning, continue on track.

A lot of RDIA members are giving their time and expertise to build the industry.  More volunteers are always welcome!

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board of Directors meeting
Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Present: Shirley Murdock, Dave Milligan, Lori Taylor, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Judy Aagard. Regrets: Peter Allen, Leah Carter. Facilitating: Shayla Boyd-Gill. Notes: Lori Taylor. Admin: Rachel Aube.

Called to order at 11:02AM without a quorum.

Board Election. Manufacturer and Diaper Service elections are over. Retailer elections has been repeated because of an unclear ballot that asked for two votes rather than just one. Ballots are due August 18^th.

Annual Meeting. Several potential sponsors are interested. Committee members are looking for more strong leads. Shayla and Rachel will be working on the meeting packet and annual report.

Board Retreat. Schedule is set but still flexible. No field trip scheduled. We will share rides to and from airport.

Recruiting. We need more response from potential recruiters. Lori will sent message out to members again. Dave may consider hand picking a few people and assigning them to help.

Member Discussions. Need to fill in upcoming schedule. Rachel will ask Jakki to talk about Marketing and Consider Cloth. There was no direct feedback about holding the discussion in the evening, though we did have fewer attend than during the last three meetings.

Consider Cloth. We have about 40% of the products we need so far. Rachel has been making phone calls to manufacturers.

Research. We have a potential chair. Leah will speak with this person and report.

Subsidies. If we can’t find someone with the vision, time, and energy to develop this project, we will need to change the presentation scheduled at the annual meeting.

Lori ceded the 12 minutes left for strategy to the diaper service kit.

How-to-start-a-diaper-service kit. Judy had a list of questions to ask, including review, marketing, distribution, cost, payments, supplier list, and laundry report. There was concern about document security.

Adjourned 12:37PM.

As the Annual Meeting Committee works to create a great experience for members and non-members in Las Vegas in October, a lot of annual goal and project activity is coming together.

The Marketing Committee continues to gather together pieces for the next 1000 diaper demo kits for doulas, and the Retailer Certification project will be discussed at the next member discussion webinar.

The new Volunteer Group definitions and strategic planning are also helping us back up and think of the big picture for the association.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board of Directors meeting
July 21, 2010

Present: Leah Carter, Lori Taylor, Shirley Murdock, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Dave Milligan, Peter Allen, Judy Aagard. Facilitating: Leah Carter. Notes: Lori Taylor. Admin: Rachel Aube.

Meeting called to order at 11:02AM with a quorum.

Election. Ballots are due Monday and will be counted Tuesday.

Volunteer Group Policy. The ex-board group will be called Real Diaper Advisory Council. The board approved unanimously the Volunteer Groups Policy. Like the first governing board, the first Real Diaper Advisory Council will be appointed then members of the Council will vote on future members.

Annual Meeting. Committee is working on sponsorships. The future planning group talked through the possibilities for a stand-alone meeting, meeting with other organizations, or meetings during major conventions. If we stick to travel hubs, we could move around geographically.

Recruiting. Dave has offered to lead. Members can make referrals to the Recruiting Committee, who will then track leads the way a sales team does. We will continue to encourage manufacturers to invite their retailers to become RDIA members as well. Dave will recruit the recruiters.

Member Discussion. We will move the time and day around in the next three months. Next week, the Retailer Certification Chair will lead discussion on that project. Second topic will be a request for members’ ideas for the strategic planning process.

Consider Cloth. Next step: donations. One the request for donations has gone out, we will ask the members as a whole whether they want to sponsor.

Subsidies. We need a new Chair and quick focus for the project in order to be ready for the annual meeting presentation. The strategic plan could help us determine if this is going to be a priority.

Strategic Plan. Next step: gather stakeholder input. We will talk to members next week at the member discussion, and board members will contribute to the SWOT and analysis this week. We expect to have a final document to share with members at the annual meeting.

Meeting adjourned 12:07PM.

In the past two weeks, board members have been preparing for nomination forms to be mailed. Everyone should receive their forms the week of April 26th. Also that week, we hold our first member call in a while through GoToWebinar software that allows sharing and communication without chaos, which is important when we have as many members as we do.

We have also been gathering short reports from committees and projects for a newsletter so members can get a sense of the level of activity within the association.

Several of our projects focus on our effort to encourage communication among members so we can harness all of our collective energy for the cloth diaper industry.

Jump in. This is your trade association.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, April 21, 2010
Conference call

Present: Leah Carter, Shirley Murdock, Lori Taylor, Dennis Frederick, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Dave Milligan, Peter Allen, and Judy Aagard. Regrets: Mandi Meidlinger. Facilitating: Leah Carter. Notes: Lori Taylor.

Meeting called to order 1:00PM Eastern Time with presence of a quorum.

Dave’s UK Trip. Reports from different countries showed a fascinating overview on cloth diapering. In Mauritius, cloth diapers are sold in pharmacies. In France, they find a positive reception from consumers (economy) and governments (waste). In Italy, a tenacious grassroots effort has built momentum. Takeaway: start small with a good message, explore multiple angles, and keep at it.

Banking and Accounting. We hired an administrator expecting she would be able to help with bookkeeping. Transition now to save thousands of dollars a year. Also changed banks.

Annual Meeting. The theme will be “GREEN your business”: Get Real. Engage. Expand. Nuture. Done: facilities. Working on: graphics, keynote, breakout sessions. Nex: build sponsorship packages.

Retailer Board Appointment. What skill set might benefit the board and association? All will assess interest from retailers during member discussion call 4/28.

Board Retreat. Rachel is going to put together lodging and transportation plan. Leah is working on activity and team building plans. Also business meetings.

Member Retention. We want to check in with members, make sure they are comfortable contacting us for any reason. Volunteers will start by calling within their category. Rachel will distribute contact info and track responses.

Member Discussions. First call next week (April 28). All board should be prepared to talk about their experience. Shayla facilitate board Q&A; Leah & Dennis facilitate bylaws discussion; Lori on slides and polls.

Jr Members. Potential addition of a non-voting Jr Member category for those just starting out will be discussed during May member call. Dennis outlines the rationale and the proposed limitations.

Meeting called to order 2:10PM Eastern Time.

RDIA board members look forward to monthly member conference calls starting April 28th at 2-3pm Eastern. We have been planning this since we began our mission discussions in the late fall. All members will receive an invitation through GoToWebinar. Please save the date, and see the full schedule on the blog.

We are still working with various committees and projects to refine their mid-year proposals. Marketing, Laundry, and Subsidies are actively working on plans. We have asked all Chairs to send updates for the next member newsletter.

The biggest upcoming event is board elections. That means it may be YOUR turn to join the board of directors. You will hear a lot about this in the next few months as we encourage and recruit members to run for four seats open this September.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, April 7, 2010
Conference Call

Present: Leah Carter, Dave Milligan, Lori Taylor, Judy Aagard, Dennis Frederick, Shirley Murdock, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Peter Allen, and Ann-Marie Speirs. Facilitating: Leah Carter, Chair. Notes: Lori Taylor, Secretary.

Meeting called to order 1:03PM Eastern Time with presence of a quorum.

Dave’s UK Trip. International diaper contacts.  Real Nappy Week (RNW) involves anything to bring to light advantages of cloth diapers.  In the UK, 90% of municipalities participate in RNW.

Annual Meeting. Working on theme suggestions.  Brainstorming speakers.

Nominating Committee. Final schedule up. Message to members to be sent today. Q&A with current board during first member conference call 4/28.

Retailer Board Seat. Since the resignation of Cari Wolverton, we need to appoint another retailer.  Will look at full list of retailer members before next meeting.

Member Conference Calls. 4th Weds of every month at 11amPT/2pmET.  First call topics: Q&A with current board to recruit new board candidates, and bylaw change relating to manufacturers.

Recruiting Letter. Rachel will send to all manufacturers.

Bylaw Changes. Still need member message on manufacturers and meeting on Jr members.

Project Proposals for Laundry. There has been no further work on updating the troubleshooting guide proposal. Sarah, Chair, has requested help to plan an update to the detergent search.

Project Proposal for Subsidies. Bernice, Chair, will meet with Shirley and Dave to talk about international successes with incentives.

Project Proposal for Marketing. Consider Cloth and nationwide campaign projects now in three subcommittees, which will meet separately. New proposal will be ready by time of next board meeting, 4/21.

Meeting adjourned 2:01PM Eastern Time.

Since the RDIA board has been meeting more frequently, we have less of the day-to-day business to take care of at each meeting.

This week, we discussed proposals requested from members at the 2010 annual meeting on laundry troubleshooting (water treatment) and subsidies. We also heard from Dave Milligan about his recent trip to the UK where he met people from dozens of countries all eager to share their concerns about issues relevant to the cloth diaper industry.

Between these discussions, we started to catch a vision of where we could have the most impact for cloth diapers. As one director said, “I haven’t felt this excited about cloth diapers for a long time.” There is much to be done, and the way forward becomes more clear.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

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Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, March 17, 2010
Conference Call

Present: Shayla Boyd-Gill, Dave Milligan, Peter Allen, Leah Carter, Lori Taylor, Judy Aagard, Shirley Murdock, Dennis Frederick. Regrets: Jennifer Liptrot, Ann-Marie Speirs, Mandi Meidlinger. Facilitating: Shayla Boyd-Gill, Vice Chair. Notes: Lori Taylor, Secretary.

Meeting called to order 1:04PM Eastern Time with presence of a quorum.

Admin. Rachel is working on the annual meeting and diaper service email. Next: manage Consider Cloth.

Affiliation Statements. Remind those missing.

Annual Meeting. Sent out a survey on topics. Marketing was a big request. Looking at keynote speakers in Vegas.

Proposed Bylaw Changes. Working on conference call plan.

Project Proposal for Laundry. At annual meeting, members asked for a proposal for a water treatment project. Hardness of water, too complex. Instead, troubleshooting guide for consumers. Changes: inclusion of material type. Result will be visual. Shirley, board liaison, will take feedback to committee.

Project Proposal for Subsidies. Proposal addresses a six-month discovery phase to determine the most effective way for individuals to approach local governments. Acknowledgment of how common subsidies are in Canada, UK, and elsewhere. Do more background. Lori, board liaison, will take feedback to committee.

Cloth Diapers in Daycare. Directory plan is very detailed. Directory is already being built on the site.

Dave’s UK Trip Report. Dozens of countries represented at conference. Everything we’ve talked about today was discussed from an international perspective.

Retailer Resignation. Cari Wolverton resigned today. We need to appoint a new retailer.

Recruiting. Update recruiting letter for manufacturers to send to their retailers.

Meeting adjourned 2:07PM Eastern Time.