As many of you are aware, the heart blood of our WINS operations - the computer utilized to run the Operations Administration - has experienced a lot of difficulty recently. Our Operations Administrator has been "off the air" several times, sometimes for several days at a time, attempting to put new band aids on the system. When our Ad Ops is down - among other difficulties - we have no List Mommy, the WINS Auction receives no attention, the WINS web site isn't properly monitored or updated, bounced mail issues aren't resolved, and new member applications must wait to be processed.

Much of the problem with our operating system is attributable to outdated software and hardware. Upgrades aren't always compatible; technical support is tough to come by; and updates for outdated programs and operating systems are drying up. Even when we're up and running between down-time periods, WINS is lacking in efficiency and placing a greater burden on our Operations Administrator. Our Ops Ad is expected to keep things functioning in top notch order for us. But that's tough to do without the proper tools. By not supplying the proper tools to our Ops Ad, we're ultimately just cheating ourselves.

Reasonable outlay for operations expenses for WINS shouldn't ever cause hesitation. Without our OPS we're dead in the water. OPS obviously includes the email lists expenses and the website expenses, but should also include whatever our elected Operations Administrator needs to make it all work best for us. WINS should shoulder the necessary and reasonable expenses to properly equip our Operations Administration.

The Board of Directors discussed these concerns at length and resolved some of WINS immediate needs via the following motion. As is customary, the motion and voting is recorded below for your reading pleasure.

Board of Directors Motion 2004-05 I, Ralph J. Huntzinger, on behalf of a proposal presented to the Board of Directors by WINS Secretary Dave Noble, make a motion within the Board of Directors, that certain tools be purchased to help minimally maintain the current and efficient operations of the WINS Society; said purchase deemed an emergency measure for the preservation of the society; said tools totaling $285.85 having been competitively priced and *listed below as part of this motion; said tools to be licensed and warranted to JD White, WINS Operations Administrator; said Club expense to be offset by WINS Treasury Funds in reimbursement fashion as purchase receipts are received by the Treasurer; and, if passed, this motion will allow said purchase to be made immediately upon passage.

*1. Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM @ $138.88 + $12 S&H = $150.88 from ez4u123.com estore.
*2. Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD400BB, OEM Drive @ $50.00 + $3.00 S&H = $53.00 from newegg.com.
*3. U.S. Robotics 56K V.92 PCI FAX Modem model 5699B @ $36.99 + $4.99 S&H = $41.98 from newegg.com.
*4. CuteFTP 6.0 Home @ $39.99 (on-line download) from globescape.com.

This motion was seconded by Treasurer Ken Hughes.

The vote was completed on July 28, 2004 as follows:

President Ralph Huntzinger - YES
Vice President Ray Larson - YES
Secretary Dave Noble - YES
Treasurer Ken Hughes - YES
Newsletter Editor Doug Prather - YES
Operations Administrator JD White - Abstain
Librarian Josh Moran - On vacation

The motion passed by majority vote.

In response to recent member inquiries pertaining to the use of the WINS web site URL on calling cards, the Board of Directors has discussed the question at length and has reached the following conclusions.

Many people have business cards, calling cards, courtesy cards or introduction cards that not only identify the card owner, but also display contact information and professional or hobby affiliations. For numismatic oriented cards, it's not uncommon for them to relate the cardholders' memberships in various hobby organizations. These organizations might include such entities as the ANA, ANS, WINS, CONECA, FLY-IN, NCADD, PNG, ICTA or SSDC on the national level, but could also include regional and local hobby-affiliated organizations.

The Board of Directors has absolutely no problem with WINS members placing a WINS reference or Web Site URL on a calling card; so long as the reference indicates membership in the WINS club; and so long as the calling card is otherwise respectful and tasteful. It's not much different than WINS members utilizing a WINS-membership reference in a sig file at the base of their emails or referring to WINS membership within their web sites.

As to displaying a WINS reference or web site address on stationery letterhead, on your web site, or on your auction page, please do so as a member of our organization. When you display hobby-membership affiliations, you're actually communicating that you're proud to be a member of the noted organizations. I view this type of display as free advertising for WINS; advertising that should encourage web site visits and promote additional membership in our great club.

As a matter of fact, WINS has HTML Tags, Text and a "Join WINS" button available for members' use on our web site HERE WINS members are encouraged to display this link button and text on their web sites and/or auction pages. You're simply asked not to make any changes to the button or text without first acquiring written permission to do so from the WINS Board of Directors.

With the exception of WINS, all of the hobby organizations that I listed above have representative logos. Sometimes a recognized logo is utilized in addition to, or in lieu of, an organization's name. Hopefully WINS will soon have a club logo. When we conducted our membership-wide contest for club token designs, we also hoped to garner a logo from the submissions.

The striking of club tokens is still being researched by our volunteer committee. Sometime after the club tokens are finalized, we hope to pursue an official WINS logo. Beyond using the logo on our web site and official club correspondence, members will likely be permitted and encouraged to use our logo on devices, as mentioned above to denote WINS membership.

It should further be noted that permission to utilize the WINS name, acronym or logo for other purposes is not as automatic. Written permission to do so must first be obtained from the Board of Directors. Please refer to the rules as specified on the WINS "About Us" page. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS President