2024 House of Gordon USA AGM

2024 House of Gordon AGM

Click the following link for a downloadable pdf copy of the 2024 House of Gordon USA AGM minutes:

2024 HOUSE OF GORDON AGM MINUTES

158th ANNUAL HIGHLAND GAMES & GATHERING
ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS, PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2024

Convening on the date and at the place above written, the Annual General Meeting of the House of Gordon, USA was called to order at 2:12 pm PST by President Jennifer Martin.

Greetings and Board Introductions:

The President greeted all those in physical attendance. There was not a Zoom connection for those not in physical attendance. She also introduced the Board Members present: President Jennifer Martin, Vice President Cynthia Patrick, Communications Chair Julia Heinig, Secretary Phil Gardner were all in physical attendance. There were also 15 members of the House in physical attendance.

The first order of business was a roll call to determine if a quorum was present. Vice President/Membership Chair Cynthia Patrick stated that with 160 ballots returned out of 341 current members, 46.9% of the membership had returned their ballots. There being more than 20% needed, a quorum was present. The Vice President also reported that the House would probably be back to pre-COVID membership levels by the end of the year. Next, the President presented her report, followed by the Treasurer’s and Scholarship reports, presented by Teddy Gardner on behalf of Tony Williams. The Communications Report was presented by Julia Heinig. Secretary Phil Gardner presented the Convener’s Report and the Quartermaster’s Report on behalf of Robert Gordon and Kaine Aitken. Copies of all the above-mentioned reports are attached at the end of these minutes.

The 2023 AGM Minutes were read, Teddy Gardner moved, and Tony Diamond seconded that the minutes be approved as read. That motioned carried and the 2023 AGM minutes were approved.

Certification of Ballots:

160 ballots were returned out of 341 members, resulting in 46.9% of the membership returning ballots. Vice President Cynthia Patrick and Secretary Phil Gardner certified the ballots, and there being more than the 20% needed, a quorum was established.

Old Business:

Dues Increase proposal from the 2023 AGM was tabled until the general membership can be surveyed. Vice President Cynthia Patrick also reported that lots of research is being done with other clans about dues before a proposal would be considered.

Purchasable Challenge Coin proposal from 2023 AGM: The Board decided to keep the challenge coins as something awarded by the Conveners at their respective games.

New Business:

Suggestion from member Sarah Gordon that goals of the scholarships be discussed. The general consensus of those present was that scholarships would continue to be promoted at Games around the country. It was also discussed that perhaps the brochures could be revised to better promote scholarships.

President Jennifer Martin announced the visit of our clan Chief Granville Gordon, 13th Marquess of Huntly to the Central Florida Highland Games in January 2025.

Discussion was held about the Annual General Meeting for 2025. President Jennifer Martin announced that the 2025 AGM would be held at Loon Mountain Highland Games in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

Milestone Anniversary: President Jennifer Martin announced that 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the formation of the House of Gordon, USA. Questions were raised about what the House should do to commemorate this anniversary. Should there be a special challenge coin created? Should there be a special edition of the newsletter? The Board will consider these suggestions and entertain other ideas for commemoration as well.

Vice President Cynthia Patrick announced that she had received a package from a member with genealogy records going back to President James Monroe and Egyptian prince. Discussion was held about the possibility of finding a clan genealogist and appoint the person to the Board to collect this information, as well as other genealogical records and help members who are working on their genealogy. This would be a volunteer and not a paid position. Teddy Gardner asked what the cost would be to the House for such a position, and it was mentioned that the cost would be covered by the House for set up of a database and any postage needed for sending information. A motion was made by Teddy Gardner to establish a volunteer appointed position of House of Gordon Genealogist, to be appointed to the Board and was seconded by Joshua Adkins. The motion was unanimously approved.

President’s Closing Remarks:

President Jennifer Martin thanked all in attendance for their participation and asked if there were any more items of business to be brought before the meeting. There being none, the President asked for a motion to adjourn.

Motion to Adjourn:

Tony Diamond made a motion to adjourn. That motion was seconded, and the AGM was adjourned at 2:59pm PST.

Respectfully submitted,


Phil Gardner, Secretary
Northern California Convener


President’s Report

Greetings!

What a great year it’s been! We’ve been Honored Clan at two games this year!!!! We’ve been asked to be the Honored Clan at an amazing game in Central FL next year in January!!! I guess the word’s out, we’re awesome!

As I’m sure you already know I’ve invited our Chief to be our guest at the Central Florida Highland Games in Jan 2025 and he has graciously accepted! He hasn’t been for a visit since 2017, and I’m more excited than a person has a right to be! I sure hope many of you will be able to join us at the Sponsor Dinner and Games! Let’s make his visit a memorable one!

How amazing it is to be here at this fine fest!!! This is a pretty special AGM because since 2006, when our organization was founded, the Annual General Meeting has been held east of the Mississippi River except for once in California back in 2011. All the other AGMs have been held at one particular highland game in NC with the exception of once in VA in 2009, and last year when I moved it to GA for 2023. It was never intended for our organization to only have our big Annual General Meeting at any one game or region. Per our Bylaws state, “To the extent practicable, the annual meeting location will be rotated among major Highland Games and Gathering sites.”

Throughout our history, the past Presidents/Boards were supposed to be moving the AGM to games around the US so that you, our members, all have a chance to attend this meeting without having to put yourselves in financial hardship to do so. I’m committed to bringing the AGM to all four corners and the center of the US because this House is ours, ALL of OURS! It has been 13 years since the west coast members have had a chance to attend an AGM!

I’m excited to announce the location of our next AGM… Loon Mountain Highland Game in Lincoln, New Hampshire in the fall of 2025!

We have recently created a nice Lifetime Membership certificate, and membership card. A Lifetime membership is $500. This has been an amazing move because we already have about 20 Lifetime Members!

I’ll close with a fascinating note, I’ve been contacted by Lord George Ian Alastair Gordon, 8th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, of Haddo House back in July. He’s wanting to visit us here in the states soon! I plan to work hard to foster a relationship between this Gordon Marquess and our organization just as I’ve worked to reestablish our relationship with our Chief! This House is strong, forever growing, evolving, and getting better with each year! BYDAND!

Yours,
Jen Mills Martin
President
House of Gordon USA


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

Fiscal Year July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024

Total Active Members July 1, 2024: 341
Certified Voting Members: 158
Quorum Needed (20%): 68

Total active members as of 8/1/2024: 391

Lifetime Members May 2024: 7

Current Lifetime: 24

Cynthia Gordon Patrick
House of Gordon USA
Membership Secretary


HOUSE OF GORDON TREASURER’S REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

Fiscal Year July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024

The House has been very busy in supporting its Conveners, expanding our spear of influence, and being good stewards of funds.

Below is our current account balance & partitions:

Scholarship Fund: $6299,49 Museum Fund: $2,936.80

Convener/ Heritage/ QM: 20,720.94 TOTAL: $29,957.23

BYDAND!!!

Sincerely yours,
Tony T. Williams, MHA, BA
Treasurer
House of Gordon USA


HOUSE OF GORDON SCHOLARSHIP REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

We have come a long way. I remember a time when we awarded two or three scholarships a year. Those days seem to be far behind us.

This year we awarded a record breaking nine scholarships to Scottish Dancers, Drummers, and a Pipe & Drum group. The efforts to expand our digital footprint started by the Board two years ago are paying off.

I thank each and every one of you who continue to donate to this worthy cause. As of today, we currently have $6,299.49 in our Charles O. Gordon Scholarship Fund!!! This allows us to continue to make dreams a reality for those who practice the Scottish traditions and expose new generations to our rich culture.

BYDAND!!

Sincerely yours,
Tony T. Williams, MHA, BA Scholarship Chairman
House of Gordon USA


HOUSE OF GORDON COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

Good afternoon fellow Gordons! This year has been a busy year personally, so I haven’t been able to put as much focus into the website and socials this year as originally planned. From the end of March through the beginning of May, all focus was on the newsletter and our list of exciting news from the Scholarship Recipients to the AGM coming to the west coast, as well as the Chief coming to Florida next year. Followed by updating the website with those special announcements.

As for our website:

  • Google Analytics has shown that we have had 6.3k new users since January. 4.4k have been from the United States and 401 from the United Kingdom.
  • After visiting the home page, the next three top pages are:
    • Clan Info and Septs with 1.3k views
    • A Brief History of the Gordons with 1.2k views
    • Tartans with 1.1k views
  • 57.7% of our visitors are using a mobile device, 39.7 % use a desktop, and the rest use a tablet or smart tv.
  • 2.2k users using iOS operating system and 1.6k using Windows.
  • However, more users are using the Chrome Browser at 3,109 users whereas 2,242 are using Safari, followed by 324 users using Edge.

As for the House of Gordon USA Facebook Group:

As of August 3rd, we have 3,786 Facebook group members. Which is up another 510 members from October of last year (our last AGM report). There have been 497 posts from Jan 1st thru August 1st with the most posts on a day being 12 posts on April 19th. The most popular day for engagement is Saturday. Jennifer Martin approved the most participants’ requests at 155 out of 397.

In a constant effort to fight scam and spam visitors before they become public, our admin team can review and decline requests and posts. Cynthia Patrick denied the most participant requests at 45 out of 169 and Phil Gardner declined the most posts at 26 out of 48. Unfortunately, they can’t all be caught beforehand therefore Jen has had to remove the most at 5 posts out of 9.

Lastly, I’ve been trying to gain access to the account that hosts our YouTube videos but have been running into roadblocks in trying to communicate with the current account owner. Hopefully, I will have made progress by this time next year.

Respectfully submitted,

Julia Heinig
Communications Chair


HOUSE OF GORDON CONVENER’S REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

During the past year two Zoom convener meetings were held, one in the fall and one in the spring. During the fall meeting we discussed wrapping up the season and shared what worked well at the tents for us all. In the spring we discussed if any supplies were needed to kick off the season and encouraged everyone to get their articles into the newsletter.

Since my last report for the AGM, Mid-Atlantic Conveners Lois and David Todd have stepped back from convening. To make up the difference, Conveners Penny Pierson and Mark Memmo have taken on more games in the Mid-Atlantic region. Also new Conveners Angie Nash and her husband Rob are taking on Virginia.

Chuck Tarbay is our new Eastern New York Convener; he will be splitting duties with Holly Warren who will now be our Western New York Convener. Holly had been covering the whole State for many years.

New Convener Tara Welborn will be helping Mark Dodd in Tennessee and Kentucky, with the goal of taking over Kentucky in the future.

Damien Broussard has stepped back from convening so we need a new convener for Louisiana. We are looking for conveners in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Minnesota, Kansas, and Montana. Finally, I’d like to welcome our new conveners, and again give a big thanks to all our conveners for their hard work in representing the House of Gordon USA at all the games. You are the heart and soul of our organization!

Rob Gordon, Convener Chair, House of Gordon USA


HOUSE OF GORDON QUARTERMASTER’S REPORT

AGM August 31, 2024

To the House of Gordon Board of Directors and members of the House of Gordon, the Quartermaster presents the following report to the Annual General Meeting:

Currently in stock, we have the following:
4 small hanging crest banners
2 sept banners
2 header banners
1 tartan tablecloth (with many more on the roll, waiting to be cut)
1 poly-viscose tablecloth with tartan print
And 1 bag of various buttons and patches

Missing Inventory: Big special banners from the Chiefs visit in 2017.

Also working on getting back supplies from former Conveners to be able to use for new Conveners.

Respectfully submitted,
Kaine Aitken, Quartermaster