LYST Parent Steering Committee Meeting

November 21, 2006

Attendance: Jim DePietro, Norah Ginty, Norah Ginty, Melissa Horton, Sue Johnson, Stacy McQueary, Diana Spurgus, Lori Parrish

Invitational Summary: This meeting was devoted to reviewing the Lancaster Invitational on November 11 and 12.

Financial: Norah is compiling the final numbers for the Invitational at this time, and will submit final numbers when they are available. There was one team that had yet to pay for their entries, and some checks that were still coming in at the time of the meeting.

General Info: Overall feedback indicated that the LYST Invitational was hugely successful. Several coaches approached the volunteers to express their gratitude of how smoothly and efficiently the Invitational was conducted.

Awards/Apparel: There are several participation awards leftover from this year and last year. It may not be necessary to order any for next year, and we should evaluate that prior to ordering for the 2007 event.

• All but 7 of the 150 T-Shirts ordered were sold. When ordering for next year, we should take into consideration that there were spelling errors on this year’s shirt that may have hindered some from purchasing.
• Next year, we need to consider a different vendor for our Invitational shirts. They did not “go out of their way” from a customer service perspective to apologize for inconsistencies on their behalf. They did, however, give us a financial break due to the errors.

Volunteer Update: Diana Spurgus reported that the credit system worked very well for the Invitational. We do need to have some additional “floater” spots on the sign-up board in the future. Overall, the process worked the way it was intended to. Next year we may want to consider requiring 2 credits in order to have sufficient help. Another option would be that volunteers work on a different day than their child swims. Volunteers felt that they “missed out” on the opportunity to see their children swim (especially the older swimmers).

Concessions: Melissa Horton reported that the “Stingray Café” was hugely successful. On Saturday, there was assistance from the High School swimmers that helped things run well. Sunday was a bit more challenging because there were older swimmers and it was difficult to keep pizza ready. Melissa requested that there be additional floaters in her area, especially on Sunday, so that parents could see their swimmers.

Heat Sheets: We need to make more than 60 each day! One huge difference from 2005 was that our psych sheets were not posted online. This caused an unanticipated sales hike for heat sheets, for which we were unprepared. For 2007, it is recommended that we continue to leave the posting off of the Internet, but we do need to make at least 100 per day (maybe 120).

Equipment: The sound system worked well in general. Next year, we need to consider additional speakers/volume on the 2^nd floor. The computer “crashed” on Sunday, but data was able to be backed up and another computer used. The problem seemed to be from the computer overheating, and we should consider some kind of fan in the future.

Media: The Eagle Gazette did a feature story on the Invitational. It was well written, and we need to remember to contact them and remind them of our date next year.

Miscellaneous: Camping worked well, with minimal problems. Kastaways location (by the main doors) seemed to work well, as well as our table for heat sheets and apparel (by the bulletin board).

Next Meeting: The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Adjournment: