January 2019 Meeting Minutes

​NYC AAZK Meeting Minutes
January 29, 2019
Public House Bar, Manhattan 

Next Event & Meeting:
Queens Zoo Keeper Presentation Night
- Wednesday February 13, 2019 

Pints for Penguins:
- Thank you to all who came out to our first ever Pints for Penguins!
- Over 100 people in attendance!
- Made over $1100!
- All proceeds are being sent to SANCCOB for penguin rehabilitation & conservation 
- Shout out to John Scott who organized the event!

The exec team met with Megan Baumer (former Bronx Zoo Reptile Keeper and old VP of NYC AAZK)
- She works for a custom corporate gift company
- Discussed options for ordering future AAZK merchandise to sell at events
- Megan is able to get us discounts and work closely with us to customize items
- Megan is also the vice president of the Foundation for the Conservation of Salamanders 
 (former NYC AAZK treasurer Lauren Augustine is the president). Looking into hosting a fundraiser.

Croctoberfest 2018 Update:
- Some late additional funds were received and were not taken into account, which 
  brings this year's donation to the WCS Herpetology Conservation Fund to $2581!

- Nice work to the Herpetology staff for organizing another successful event!

AAZK National Conference 2023:
- Joe Nappi met with Bronx Zoo Curator of Mammals Colleen McCann and Bronx Zoo Ornithology 
  Collections Manager Kevin Hils (AAZK's liaison to WCS management) to discuss the prospect
  of hosting the AAZK National Conference in 2023. Both are very supportive of the initiative 
- We are continuing to work our way up the chain of command to move this conference forward
- A letter of intent must be submitted by our chapter and WCS to AAZK National by April 1st 
- Over 20 people have signed up to help organize the conference. No role is too small!
   If you have any interest, please respond back to this email. This is a great leadership opportunity!
- Should the conference be cleared by WCS management, we will then set up a meeting/email
chain to start discussing amongst our chapter the specifics of hosting the conference. 

Membership Dues:
- $5 for AAZK National Members
- $10 for non-AAZK National Members
- Feel free to give your chapter dues to any of the AAZK executive team, or indicate 
  by responding to this email if you would like to become a member. A few people 
  paid their dues late last year. If you are unsure if you are still an active member, please ask
- These fees help to offset our annual re-charter fee (Over $400 a year)
- Member benefits: discount to Bowling for Rhinos, voting on chapter finances/elections/
  other chapter matters, eligible for annual $1000 travel grant 
- The exec team is discussing the possibility of initiating a participation points system.
  The more you participate, the more perks you get such as waved chapter membership
fees, and for the top point scorer, a paid AAZK National Membership for one year. 
  Stay tuned for more info!

AAZK Tentative 2019 Calendar:
February: Queens Zoo Keeper Presentation Night
March: Compassion Fatigue lecture by Dr. Cohen at Central Park Zoo
April: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring at Jamaica Bay
May: Salamander fundraiser 
         DIG Farm (sustainable education farm) field trip to plant pumpkins with 
         Elizabeth Mills (will make another trip to harvest them in October)
June: AAZK Pride Event (Therapy Gay Bar, raising money for Big Cat conservation)
July: National Zoo Keeper Week/Silent Auction
August: Bowling for Rhinos
October: Croctoberfest 

Other ideas:
Environmental clean-ups
Dr. Conway History Presentation (Joe Nappi)
Nature Conservancy volunteer outings (Melissa Ortiz)
Bee Garden set up (Lauren Del Grosso)
Plastic Awareness Day in July (Lauren Del Grosso)
Trivia Night (Lisa Eidlin)
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center networking (Maya Stay)
Reaching out and networking with other local non-profit organizations (such as Bee Keeper Society)

We always welcome any new ideas! Have an organization or cause 
that you are passionate about that you want to support? Want to put 
together a fundraiser or volunteer outing? Have a connection to someone
who could give a presentation at a meeting? Want to host a keeper 
presentation night at your facility? Reach out to us and we will help you make it happen!