October Business Meeting Report
by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary

President Kenny Reynolds called the meeting to order, welcomed everyone and, for their service, thanked the former MSDC presidents who were in attendance. He gave a special welcome to Mark and Dennis who were attending MSDC for the first time and were members of multiple East coast clubs.
Kenny then asked for a motion to approve the business meeting minutes from September which were published in the October Mineral Minutes newsletter. The motion was moved, seconded, and approved without any changes.
Reports from MSDC Officers
Secretary Andy Thompson reported that our club’s Board of Directors (BOD) met on September 24th and discussed:
-- Our need for members to volunteer to assist us with our use of social media such as with responding to Facebook requests for help, with using Instagram to let the world know about our monthly programs and our videos available for free on our YouTube channel, and with other initiatives such as coordinating meet ups.
-- We also are looking for help with coordinating our very interesting and popular “Geology in the News” report that appears each month in our Mineral Minutes newsletter.
-- A Director position on our BOD needs to be filled starting in January of 2025 as Dan Teich transitions having completed his three-year term as a Director.
Treasurer John Weider reported the club has about 80 members and 230 people are on our mailing list for our newsletter.
-- John pointed out that our annual dues bring in enough revenue to fund our regular operation, but much less money than we expend each year by way of our two annual grants to the Smithsonian Department of Mineral Sciences and to support undergraduate research. So donations continue to be an essential need for MSDC’s budget. We are very grateful for the donations we have received recently as described in the September newsletter.
-- Kenny and John reiterated that our club and many other clubs have been targeted by phishing scams. They attempt to trick members into sending financial gift cards to wolves in sheep’s clothing. Kenny emphasized MSDC will never ask anyone on our mailing list to send money to a “supposed” individual MSDC board member. If you find yourself as a target of such a scam, please notify John.
Web Page Co-Manager Betty Thompson provided an update.
-- She reported that she is grateful for Andrea stepping forward to help out with the club’s FaceBook (FB) needs which Andrea reported are extensive. Andrea asks that any other members who use FB and have a little time to help, to please let her or a BOD member know and give us your contact information. It can be fun to help.
-- Similarly, the club’s website (mineralogicalsocietyofdc.org) needs to be updated. It is ripe for all kinds of improvements. Dead links need to be corrected and all suggestions are welcomed.
-- “Casper, who co-manages the website is wonderful to work with,” Betty reported, but maintaining the site takes additional individuals to bring out and develop the website. Please volunteer to help if you can.
Geology in the News and Local Club Events
Kenny Reynolds said that “Geology in the News” is extensively reported in MSDC’s newsletter. So he said we would skip discussing that topic tonight. He called attention to the Northern Virginia Club’s mineral show coming up for November 23 and 24 at George Mason University. The club’s website can be found here.
The show is sponsored by the GMU Dept of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences. Additional information about the show may be found here. There will be about 20 dealers with Gems, Minerals & Fossils for sale, along with demonstrations, exhibits, kids’ activities and door prizes. On Sunday there will be a silent auction.
Conclusion of the October Business Meeting
With no further business to be discussed, Kenny then closed the business meeting and turned the mic over to Laura Dwyer to introduce the speaker for the evening’s presentation.