Board Meeting Minutes, 11-24-03

Tonight’s board meeting... the longest, most intense board meeting that I can remember.  The future of J-Club is
in our hands* (see below), and it is being decided now.

Also, Vince, our host, treated us with really delicious chocolate-chip cookies.  Thanks Vince... good stress-
reducer.

Mike

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1)	PanAsia

	J-Club was recently asked by the (brand-new) PanAsia board to submit a form describing the capacity in
	which we will be participating this year.  The consensus was that we really do not know for sure yet what
	we will be doing.  Showing movies with commentary is not a bad alternative, it was argued, but we agreed
	that we should try for something different (to say the least), such as having a guest speaker.  For now,
	Vincent will submit a write-up like last year’s to the PanAsia board, and furthermore he will try to find
	out why they are requesting this information of us at this time.


2)	Goukon with the Northwestern University Japanese Club

	Although only a few board members said they might be able to attend, the board agreed that joining the
	Northwestern J-Club for a night of dinner and karaoke would be a beneficial and interesting experience.
	It was pointed out that members of our J-Club could opt to go just for the dinner portion.  A major
	logistical issue is transportation – CTA would take about 2 hours to get us to the place, which is near
	Mitsuwa, according to President Kenji of the Northwestern J-Club.  We plan to contact our sister club
	soon and ask for any further details they can give us.  We will also let the general membership know
	about this goukon and ask them to tell us if they are interested.


3)	Purpose

	The discussion of the purpose of J-Club, as has been the case recently, consumed the largest portion of
	the meeting.  We reviewed the history of J-Club from its inception 3 years ago, and talked about how its
	purpose has changed and continues to change.  Ultimately, we arrived at a purpose in which reality and
	ideality meet halfway: the purpose of J-Club is a) to expand our membership in the undergraduate
	population, b) to foster relationships with Japanese in all capacities, and c) to provide members with
	opportunities to learn about and experience Japanese culture.


4)	*Increased Participation

	Before this meeting, the criticism of J-Club was put forth that last year we did not involve our members
	sufficiently in the planning process, and that input from the membership was severely lacking.
	This criticism spurred the suggestion that we invite all members to attend future board meetings.  The
	motion was met with unanimous approval and will henceforth be put into action.


5)	Iron Chef Chicago

	Iron Chef Chicago (ICC) is approaching fast, it was noted, and we therefore agreed to have a ICC-only
	meeting either the 3rd or 4th of December, depending on members’ preferences.  It was agreed that we
	should discuss in this meeting the purpose and scope of this year’s competition, along with several
	current and outstanding issues.  I quote the board meeting minutes from 10-19-03: “we should definitely
	address the following issues at our upcoming ICC-only board meeting: drawing chefs from U of C only,
	holding auditions for chefs, holding auditions for an MC, contacting Culinary Club and Off-Off Campus for
	these purposes, getting a knife, getting a new speaker system.  Before this ICC meeting, however, we must
	send out a general interest letter to all cultural RSOs about ICC in general and about our need for chefs
	and an MC.”


(End of minutes.)