Dec 1, 2018 OrgCom Meeting

Minutes of the December 1, 2018 Meeting of USTHS70 Golden Jubilee Organizing Committee

Ming Room, Taipan Restaurant, Tower Club, Makati

Attendees:

1. Aggie Cabugao - Overall Co-Chair and Website

2. Bobby Castillo - Overall Co-Chair


3. Maribel Sahagun – Attendance (Philippines)

4. VCD Dazon – Attendance (Overseas)

5. Tess Guevara – Finance


6.  Alex delos Reyes- Souvenirs

7. Thelma Marcelo - Medical Mission

8. Bess Del Carmen – Outing

9. Liz Benjamin
- General Alumni Homecoming (GAH)

10. Jaz Geraldez  ) 

11. Doods de Luna) - Farewell Party

Committee Updates/Discussions/Decisions

1. Attendance

  • As of December 1 meeting, 142 batch mates had registered in reunion website, or 25 more than 117 batch mates registered as of August 11 meeting 

  • 57 batch mates responded to attendance survey (39.4%), with 54 saying they would be going to the GAH, 47 to the outing, 46 to the Farewell Party, and 43 to the medical mission; need to encourage other batch mates to respond to attendance survey
  • Feedback received on why batch mates had not registered or why they had not responded to attendance survey: (i) event still far away, (ii) not “techie” enough, (iii) minium contribution too expensive especially if batch mate attending only 1 event
  • 2019 is almost upon us so event not far away anymore; for those not “techie” enough or for newly found batch mates, Attendance Committee is asking batch mates to get their email addresses and permission to register them (only an email address is required to register in reunion website); issue about the minimum fee too expensive especially for those attending only 1 or 2 events was already addressed in August 11 meeting; it was reiterated that closer to the date, Attendance Committee co-chairs should privately share with OrgCom co-chairs names of batch mates having difficulty with minimum fee, and appropriate assistance may be provided at that time
  • It was also suggested that various sections create chat rooms to encourage interactions and facilitate communications
  • Goal remains at 200 batch mates attending Golden Jubilee 


2. Finance

  • Peso pledges including payments have reached P333,747 from 38 local batch mates and $10,800 from 37 overseas batch mates, including new pledges from 6 East Coast batch mates, and a payment of $500 from another East Coast batch mate; assuming $1=P53, total PHP and USD pledges have reached P906,147; Goyo block screening netted P116,838, and a P40,000 pledge for the inside front cover of the photobook was received from Wilcon (thanks to batch mate Yolly David); so total has reached P1.06 million; goal remains at P1.5 million so more work needs to be done to encourage pledges from all registered batch mates; Finance Committee was asked to request their committee members to do persoanl follow ups for pledges and payments

  • P1.5 million budget allocated as follows: P1.1 million for outing, P200,000 for GAH, and P200,000 for Farewell Party (a Good Samaritan has pledged to take care of the venue), assuming 200 batch mates attending; medical mission has its own funding while  T-shirt and photo book will be funded through ads solicitation 

  • Cash on hand is P209,143.31 including net proceeds of P116,838 for Goyo fundraiser and interest, and net of P10,000 deposit for Farewell Party, plus $4,950 ($4,450 in the US and $500 in the Philippines) 

  • Deadline for pledges was extended to March 31, 2019; while deadline for completion of payments remains at June 30, 2019


3. Souvenirs

  • The photo book for 2018 Golden Jubilarians was presented, and it looked very elegant and classy, costing P1,200 each; photo book looks like Veritas with graduation pictures of Golden Jubilarians, but those who participated in Golden Jubilee had their “now” pictures superimposed on their graduation pictures; photo book also has pictures of batch events including other reunions; back pages of photo book had greetings and advertisements, which paid for photo book; after much discussion, OrgCom agreed to do a similar photo book for our Golden Jubilee with graduation pictures of all batch mates, and “now” pictures of those who pay minimum fees of P5,000 or $150 (participating jubilarians); greetings and advertisements will likewise be solicited and these will pay for photo book to be given to all participating jubilarians and sponsors
  • Project Timetable follows: 


 o Jan 31, 2019: announcement of photo book project with a mock-up of page showing graduation pictures with “now” pictures, and launching of campaign to solicit advertisements and greetings    for photo book, priced as follows:

         Inside front cover – P40,000 (reserved for Wilcon)


         Outside front cover – P50,000 (reserved for Boysen)


         Inside back cover – P40,000


         Inside pages: whole - P5,000; half - P2,500; quarter - P1,250

   o Jul 31, 2019: deadline for batch mates to submit their “now” pictures

   o Oct 31, 2019: deadline for solicitation of advertisements and greetings

   o Dec 31, 2019: finalization of batch mates’ pages and advertisements/greeting

   o Feb 1, 2020: Completion of printing of photo book, USBs, and publication of photo book in reunion    website

  • T-shirt designs were also presented as shown below (thanks, Alex delos Reyes!); after much discussion, OrgCom agreed on the collared gold shirt with the 70@50 logo on the sleeve, and the USTHS logo on the left side of the chest

      

  • It was agreed not to have a reunion name plate anymore because it will cover the design

4. Reunion Website

  • The photo book will be included in reunion website

5. Medical Mission on February 16, 2020

  • Ocular inspection of medical mission site for Aetas who live in Subic will be conducted next year and number of beneficiaries to be determined at that time
  • Four medical missions will be held next year so that medical mission during Golden Jubilee will also be 50th medical mission for the batch
  • The gift-giving for Dumagats in Daraetan has been postponed to March 2019 after completion of repairs of bridge

6. Outing on February 16 to 18, 2020

  • Acea has confirmed that Feb 16-18 has been reserved for us, including all the rooms resort but they still have not confirmed the cost because the event is still over a year away
  • As what happened during outing to Kamana in 2015, batch mates will arrange their own transportation to/from Acea; but a point person will be appointed to serve as a clearing house for all transportation requests especially for those coming from overseas
  • At the Kamana event, sarongs were given to all the ladies; it was suggested that canvas beach bags be given at Acea with the bags carrying the Golden Jubilee logo

7. General Alumni Homecoming on Feb 22, 2020

  • GAH Committee met with representatives of various jubilarian batches (1965, 1975, 1980 and 1985) on Nov 10

  • On venue, it was confirmed that GAH may still be held at Plaza Mayor with special permission from the Secretary General; rental of Plaza Mayor is about P4,500 an hour;
  • The GAH Co-Chairs and representatives from the other jubilarian batches will make a courtesy call on USTHS principal on Dec 5, to pave the way to a meeting with Sceretary General 

  • On presentation, jubilarians agreed on  a “unified presentation” by all jubilarians, where jubilarian batches will have individual presentations successively following each other (with a common theme, subject to a time limit of 5 minutes with Golden Jubilarians having longest time), and ending with all jubilarian batches performing together
  • With current leadership issues affecting USTHS Alumni Assocition, all jubilarian batches agreed that they will not request an advance from the USTHSAAI to fund 2020 GAH; instead, each jubilarian batch will contribute towards raising P500,000 working capital; OrgCom agreed to advance P150,000 from batch fund (since budget for GAH is P200,000), with 7 other jubilarian batches advancing P50,000 each 

  • A gold and black long dress was also presented and modeled which could be attire for the girls at the GAH (see below); long dress can be bought online for P900 and has 2 sizes which could fit almost everybody; it’s also called “infinity” design because it could be worn many different ways; for the guys, suggested attire is black pants and black shirt with gold necktie

                                   

8. Farewell Party on February 23, 2020

  • It was reported that we will have two bands at Farewell Party: our own batch band headed by Sonny Aquino, with Sonny Mangundayao, Butch Mate, Marigi Custodi and Bess Sibug who will be performing one set for 25 minutes; the other band is Flintstones owned and managed by Jimi Vicente who will perform 3 sets; Jimi will be providing the band for free which will be his contribution to the Golden Jubilee (thanks, Jimi!)
  • Performances may also be made by US group and Philippines group, as well as group that will perform at GAH

  • Since two bands will be needing sound equipment, quotations were solicited for audio and lighting system; Sonny Aquino was able to get a sound system with band back-line for P25,000 (50% off), which the OrgCom approved
  • With regard to a videographer to record the 4 events, P200,000 was quoted but this was deemed outside our budget; Doods de Luna volunteered to do the videographing for free, while Joel Macanaya may do one event for free assuming his schedule permits (thanks, Doods and Joel!)

Next Steps:

1. Attendance

  • Assigned OrgCom members to contact other batch mates to encourage and help them register in reunion website 

  • Committee members to coordinate with Finance Committee to assist in collecting pledges and payments 


2. Finance

  • Members here and abroad to personally contact batch mates to ask them for their pledges and payments; deadline for pledges has been moved to March 31, 2019
  • Committee will conduct another fund-raising event to be held in 2019, and Committee was asked to look into another block screening or a Bingo

3. Souvenirs

  • Prepare photo book layout for batch mates’ pages by Dec 31, 2018 

  • Prepare material to launch photo book and advertising campaign and present draft to OrgCom by Jan 15, 2019 for launching on Jan 31, 2019
  • Design the canvas beach bag to be given at Acea

4. Reunion Website

  • Look into how photo book can be posted in reunion website

5. Medical Mission

  • Conduct an ocular inspection of medical mission site in Subic and determine number of beneficiaries

6. Outing

  • Expand on program of activities during 3 day outing
  • Appont a point person for transportation arrangements 

  • Present estimated costs of local bands/DJs

7. GAH

  • Make a courtesy call on USTHS Principal and solicit approval of Secretary General for use of Plaza Mayor as venue
  • Meet with other 2020 Jubilarians (1995, 1990, 1985, 1980, 1975, 1965, 1960 batches) to discuss funding requirements and timetable, finalize theme, and formulate guidelines for the presentations for 2020 GAH
  • Finalize attire for the GAH 


8. Farewell Party

  • Select and present menu for Hizon’s catering, based on most delicious option 

  • Finalize arrangements for lights/sound system, bands, and videography for our Golden 
Jubilee with a presentation of video (same day edit) at Farewell Party 


Next Meeting: 
To be held in February, 2019; in 2019, meetings will be held every other month