2024 Meeting Minutes & Annual Report
The annual meeting of the members of Columbia Fiction Foundry was held on October 5, 2024 at the Columbia Alumni Center at 622 W 113th St, New York, NY 10025. The President, Tania Moore, called the meeting to order at approximately 10:15 a.m. Serving ExCom members and nominees attending in person included Tania Moore, Ken Schept, Margaret Winslow, and Michael Hirsh. Linda Ellison, Steve Rosenfeld, and Richard Nochimson participated via Zoom. Ralph White, one of the founders of CFF and Jack Burger, a longtime member, also attended.
In addition to the above, there were about thirty-three in-person participants at the Alumni Center, as well as six non-ExCom members attending via Zoom. (The in-person tally may be off by up to 10% as people came and went. Not all signed in. One or two of the Zoom participants’ screen names did not clarify their identity. And one or two came in late or left early.)
Tania Moore welcomed everyone to the meeting, and delivered the President’s Annual Report, a copy of which is annexed to these minutes. The next order of business was election of officers for the 2024-25 year. Ms.Moore called upon Margaret Winslow, Chair of the Nominating Committee. In response to Ms. Winslow’s question, Ms. Moore confirmed that she had not received any nominations by email, nor had she received any emailed ballots. Ms. Winslow then presented the Committee’s Report and placed the following names in nomination:
President – Ken Schept
Vice President – Linda Raymond Ellison
Secretary – Margaret Winslow
Communications Director – Michael Hirsh
Members At Large of the Executive Committee – Tania Moore, Lisa E Melilli,
Richard Nochimson, and Mauricio Matiz.
There being no questions regarding the nominees and no other nominations, Ms. Moore called for a vote. All members voting voted in favor of the Committee’s slate, whereupon the above-mentioned nominees were elected.
Ms. Moore asked if there was any further business, at which point Mr. Schept, the incoming president, paid tribute to the extraordinary job done by the President during her term of service. On behalf of the ExCom, Mr. Schept presented a few gifts and a folio of tributes to Ms. Moore.
Ms. Moore and Mr. Schept then welcomed new members attending for the first time and invited all present to remain for an Open House, featuring conversation and refreshments.
There being no further business, the Annual Meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:50 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret Winslow, Secretary
October 11, 2024