2010 Conference Hiatus

Dear AOA Members and AOA Friends,

Your Executive Committee has been very busy over the last few months addressing a number of issues including SB 218, SB 388, Furloughs and the Annual Conference. It is the latter that will be addressed in this e-mail.

In light of the unprecedented budget woes of the State of California and the CSU System, we would be in denial if we did not realize the impact all of this has on our own operations and AOA. Many campuses have banned all non-essential travel; the Chancellor's Office has as well. In many cases those bans extend to the auxiliaries. Taking this into consideration, the AOA Executive Committee has made the decision to implement a 1 year hiatus of the Annual Conference. Please know we do not take this step lightly and we do understand just how important the Annual Conference is to our organizations. We also recognize that most of our AOA committees also hold meetings at the annual conference to conduct committee specific business. During the hiatus, AOA will be investing in the work of the committees and urge committee Chairs to hold meetings either at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento or the Newport Beach Hyatt. Through our Secretary Treasurer's expert negotiations, the penalty for canceling the conference has been significantly reduced; however the savings are contingent in part on holding additional committee meetings at the Sacramento Sheraton Grand (our 2010 site). We have also rebooked the Sheraton as the conference location for 2014.

In order to facilitate communication between the AOA subcommittees while minimizing travel costs for members, AOA has purchased a license for Go To Webinar, an online meeting software that is easy to use and can facilitate online meetings. (https://www.gotowebinar.com)

As this contract is finalized, we will get information out to the membership and also hold a webinar for committee chairs on its use and functionality. We hope this tool will help facilitate communication and mitigate costs to our members.

We are aware, that travel restrictions may continue into the 2010-11 year and are planning accordingly. At the Newport Beach Hyatt (our 2011 site), we have reduced our guarantees for room nights and food, recognizing that many folks who may have stayed at the hotel might chose instead to drive in when it is in southern California. Although we are taking a hiatus this fiscal year, the importance of the conference cannot be over estimated. The Annual Conference is critical to our success - there are many important issues that arise during the year, where Chancellor's office staff needs to dialogue with us and vice versa. We need that face to face communication for problem solving and initiative development. The Conference also provides the membership with networking opportunities and access to speakers and business partners whose knowledge and services can improve our business operations and the services auxiliaries provide to the CSU .

The decision to take a hiatus for this year's conference was a very difficult one, but we hope you agree, we are being prudent in our thought process and decision making. Again, we are emphasizing that it is a “1 year hiatus” and we will be putting together a Conference Planning Committee for the 2011 conference. Heads of each Auxiliary, who are the voting members of their respective organizations, will be receiving an electronic request to vote on a bylaw change to allow for the electronic election of officers and the new Executive Committee in January. If your information is not up to date in the AOA directory, please take the time right now to update your organizations information. If you do not know who your organizations web administrator is, you can look on the AOA web site (http://www.csuaoa.org/resources/auxiliaryadmins.asp) or you can e-mail Dustin Debrum (ddebrum@calpoly.edu) for clarification.

Lastly, the Harvey Goodfriend Honorary Lifetime Membership Award committee will still be accepting nominations for the award according to AOA policy. However, recognition of award recipients will be delayed until the 2011 conference. The membership will be receiving a call for nominations soon.

Thank you in advance for your time and support during this trying year. Please be assured that due to the hard work of your Executive Committee, AOA will be in good position when this crisis is over. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any of the Executive Committee members for clarification.

Kind Regards,
Leslie Davis, President
Auxiliary Organizations Association

Future Conference Locations

2011 AOA Annual Conference
Hyatt Newport Beach
Newport Beach, California
January 9-12, 2011