• Happy New Year and good luck to Ann as she runs her first meeting as RAGPS President. Thanks for the pizza Ann!
• Kate Fisher has offered her house for a pot luck dinner to be held at a future date. 

• The minutes from the March board meeting were reviewed by board members and passed via e-mail.

• The minutes were then posted on the web site.

• Lynn reported revenue totals of $600.00 in membership renewals. Our bank statements reports $8731.22 balance. There was concern and discussion regarding this year's budget and how RAGPS had spent more than what was brought in the 2006-2007 year.
• Revenue is under budget so far for this year.

• There was extensive discussion on how to increase membership and where to cut costs, possibly by finding different sites for workshops that may not be as expensive as the Academy of Medicine.
• The goal of RAGPS this year is to spend less and increase membership in order to get the budget on track.

• Ann welcomed everyone to the meeting.

• Amanda reported that there was about 20 people in attendance for the MRDD workshop held in December 2007 with very favorable comments on the workshop evaluation sheet.
• Amanda updated the board on plans for future workshops in 2008:

1. Ethical Dilemmas and the Group Therapist: A Panel Discussion and Open Forum
   
   Moderated by Ann Betz
   
   March 6th at 7:15pm at St. John Fisher College: Wilson Formal Lounge in Ward/Haffey Hall
2. In May Dr. Jim Wallace will present on How Are Clinical Teams Like Therapy Groups?: Tricks and Traps with date and place to be determined at this point in time. A

• St. John Fisher was identified as a pleasant location with the only drawbacks being parking and the fact that it is not a central location for many members. Kate Fisher was going to look into the catering service through St. John Fisher for refreshments.
• There was discussion about sending postcards out advertising the spring workshop opportunities so people in the community can plan and be prepared to sign up once the workshop flyer was sent out. Amy and Barb will work with the postcards and trial this type of communication in the month of February.

• Nothing to report at this time.

• Nothing to report at this time.

• Candace reported that RAGPS has about 59 current members as a result of the August membership drive and the last workshop held in December.
• Elizabeth Driscoll reiterated the need to publicize our group on college campuses so as to reach out to students who might be interested in attending workshops and subsequently joining RAGPS as student members.

• Kate Fisher will be taking over as chair of the Communication Committee and she will be planning the next newsletter which she hopes to have out by 3/6/08.
• At this time there was discussion once again about increasing revenue possibly through advertising in the newsletter. Wendy Sullivan suggested increasing the advertisement fee to $25.00 for a quarter page, $50.00 for half page, and $100.00 for a whole page.

• Please submit any articles of interest, cartoons, and of course reports from the chair of each committee to Kate as soon as possible so this newsletter gets under way.
• Wendy motioned for the increased advertisement fees, Lynn Chauvin-Bezinque seconded and the vote was passed with five votes.

• Board meetings for 2008 will occur on 3/14, 5/14, 7/9, 9/10, and 11/12.

• Nothing to report at this time.

Respectfully Submitted by Amy Lyons, MS, ATR