[Businessmtg] #1

[Steve Rankin]

At first, my thinking was similar to Emee's that we should figure out what
our expenses were first, then figure out how much of a prudent reserve we
need.

But, since our prudent reserve is based on time, not dollars, we don't need
to know what our expenses are to determine how many months we need in a
prudent reserve.  In fact, not knowing the number is probably a good thing
because it keeps us from thinking of some specific dollar amount vs. some
other dollar amount.  The idea here is to decide how much prudent reserve we
need in terms of time.  Since ASP is more like Districts and Areas in terms
of finance than the typical f2f meeting, it seems that a 1 year prudent
reserve is appropriate.

As for web site costs being unpredictable.  That's not quite accurate.  

First, we need to remember that we have a WEB SITE and a MAIL SERVER.  Web
site servers are cheap because many accounts can be located on the same
server machine.  Mail servers are not because one machine is used
exclusively by ASP.  The rent we pay for that machine pays for its
maintenance, daily backups, periodic replacement and any support needed by
the List Administrator.  Since none of those costs are shared with anyone
else, the costs are much greater than a web server.  Perhaps we should use
the term "server costs" rather than web site costs.  

Second, our costs are generally predictable as long as nothing changes.
But, our costs are very unpredictable if things change.  Since we have no
control over when and if change will occur, we simply need to have an ample
prudent reserve so that the LA can deal with such a change if the need
arises.  I moved ASP 3 times during the 10-year period from when I started
the meeting until I passed the baton to Dawn.  

If there is a change like what happened when the best.com server crashed and
there is not enough money in the prudent reserve for Dawn to contract with
another provider, then ASP is gone.  I funded ASP as well as those changes
during those first 10 years, but ASP is self-supporting now and responsible
for its own future.

Hugs,
Steve