II. Determination of Quorum

It was determined that there was a quorum of Organization members.

III. President's Message

Mr. Beard thanked the conference planning committee for their hard work on the 4^th Microcomputer Applications in Fish and Wildlife Conference, held immediately preceding this meeting, October 24-27, 1999, at this location. He proclaimed the meeting a success, and noted that he has received many comments from the participants that this conference should be held more frequently. Mr. Beard stated that if this conference became a regular event, attendance would probably increase. He also thanked the executive committee for their dedication to the organization during his term, and noted that the organization has continued to fulfill its mission and grow in numbers during this time.

IV. President-Elect's Message

President-Elect Ms. Lila Wills reiterated that the conference was a success and that she heard comments that this type of meeting should be held regularly. Ms. Wills thanked the planning committee for their support and hard work on the conference.

V. Treasurer's Report

Mr. Jeff Trollinger presented the treasurer's report, which is attached. The balance as of this meeting was $6,058.03. Mr. Trollinger estimated that profits from the 4^th Microcomputer Applications Conference will be approximately $1,000. The profits will be split evenly with the meeting partners, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) and The Wildlife Society (TWS). The question came up about whether AFS contributed money to the meeting. TWS did not contribute money; AFS contributed $500. However, this will not affect how the profits are split.

Mr. Scott Klopfer reminded the Treasurer that one exhibitor will need to be refunded $150, which is the difference between what they paid ($325) and the reduced exhibitor fee ($175).

The treasurer's report was approved as presented.

VI. Secretary's Report

The minutes of the Organization's annual meeting held in August 1998, in Madison, Wisconsin, were approved as written.

The secretary's report was given by Ms. Kathy Quindlen. Ms. Quindlen stated that we received 15 new memberships prior to the meeting (2 agency memberships and 13 individual). It was noted that all of the meeting participants are also now OFWIM members, resulting in a total membership of approximately 150. All of these members will be on the mailing list for the newsletter. These minutes will be published in that newsletter and on the OFWIM web site.

VII. Old Business

• Newsletter : Mr. Jeff Smith indicated that he intended to continue as editor of the newsletter and committed to publishing at least 2 newsletters during the coming year. A discussion ensued about the most effective means of distributing the newsletter. Mr. Dave Morton mentioned that TWS has implemented the use of a .pdf format newsletter that is emailed to the membership, and that this has been received favorably. Mr. Stu Shipman has email addresses for all attendees to this Conference. It was agreed that OFWIM will email the newsletter to its membership and post the .pdf file on the web site.

The difficulty in getting submissions was discussed. The newsletter editor and executive committee agreed to solicit submissions from the conference attendees, especially during these next few weeks following the conference.

On a related note, it was suggested that the organization post some of the powerpoint presentations and posters from this conference on the OFWIM web site. Mr. Don Schrupp agreed to coordinate this effort.

• Continuing Education: Recent projects include Ms. Stacy McNulty's Geographic Information System (GIS) workshops. Mr. Jeff Trollinger noted that the Organization has committed to providing the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) with workshops on air videography and GIS.
  
• OFWIM overhead on contracts: It was stated that the current rate is 3%. After considerable discussion, Mr. Trollinger made a motion to set a range of overhead percentages and develop guidelines for selecting the overhead for each project. Mr. Klopfer amended the motion to state that OFWIM will charge overhead of between 3 to 12%, to be set on a contract-by-contract basis at the discretion of the executive committee on contracts signed between now and August, 2000. The motion was adopted.
  
• Annual Meeting: Under its contract with the NCTC, the Organization still needs to deliver 10 copies of the proceedings and a final report from the 4^th Microcomputer Conference. The final report will include a financial summary of the meeting, a discussion of the number of states participating (approximately 29), the evaluation form and results, the web site address where presentations can be viewed, a summary of the highlights of the presentations and posters, and a list of attendees. Mr. Beard agreed to coordinate the preparation of the report, to be completed by the end of November, 1999.

VIII. New Business

• New Officers: Ms. Wills assumed the position of president as outlined in the Organization bylaws. The remainder of the new officers were elected at the conclusion of new business.
  
• Natural Resource Summit in 2001: Mr. Beard began the discussion by proposing that OFWIM would participate in a Freshwater Fish Summit as a sponsor. He noted that the first summit, held in 1999, included representatives from 47 states. A discussion ensued about OFWIM sponsoring a summit involving both fisheries and wildlife information managers from all states. This summit would be part of OFWIM's annual meeting in 2001, which would focus on data sharing and metadata. It was suggested that BRD would be a good sponsor. It was agreed that OFWIM should start planning now for the meeting to be held in 2001.
  
• Final Conference Call: Mr. Beard will host a final conference call to close out the 4^th Microcomputer Applications Conference. He will also research a BRD partnership grant that the states could sign on to for funding for the 2001 meeting.
  
• OFWIM Annual Meeting in 2000: It was suggested that next year's meeting be held in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Schrupp will explore possible meeting locations. In consideration of the "Natural Resource Summit" being planned for 2001, the group did not want to have formal presentations at next year's meeting. Mr. Schrupp suggested that the meeting Include a workshop of some type, for example, on internet databases and web development.
  
• Regional Activism - Mr. Schrupp made a presentation about developing regions of membership and assigning a regional contact for each region. He offered to acquire the list of attendees from Mr. Stu Shipman and contact members to ask them to serve as regional representatives. He requested input from the executive committee and the membership. Mr. Stan Allen suggested posting a map on the OFWIM web site showing the regions and the representatives for each.
  
• Election of New Officers: Treasurer, Mr. Jeff Trollinger, and Secretary, Ms. Kathy Quindlen, have another year left to serve in their 2-year terms. Ms. Becky Wajda nominated Mr. Don Schrupp for President-Elect. Mr. Schrupp was elected by acclimation. Ms. Wajda nominated Mr. Stan Allen for Member-At-Large. Mr. Allen was elected by acclimation.

IX. Adjourn

Mr. Beard made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was adopted. Ms. Wills adjourned the meeting at 3:45 p.m.

Submitted by: Kathleen J. Quindlen, Secretary