Quarterly Newsletter - Fall 2007

Survey Results Thank you very much for the outstanding response to our first two surveys. Nearly 75% of our members responded to both. Congratulations to Miyuki and David for winning the “early bird” draw of a parking pass. We learned a lot about what is important to our members, what we are doing well, and what members would like to see more of. In the upcoming months, we will be addressing various aspects of members’ feedback. Any members interested in seeing the results of the survey can contact gidva@gidva.org, and we will get a hard copy to you. CMHC Meetings Ad Hoc meetings between the Communications Committee and CMHC have been occurring quarterly since the beginning of 2007. The minutes from our June meeting have been added to the end of this newsletter. Security There have been concerns about the recent increased number of thefts in the Public Market, especially over the summer. CMHC has stated that there will be no change in the amount of Security provided to the Market. However, we can be vigilant and proactive in helping our businesses and the Market safer as a whole by paying attention to the following: • Ensure your table and goods are always being attended to, by yourself or a co-worker. • Securing your goods overnight can be difficult knowing that many people could have access to the Market outside of the 9 AM to 7 PM hours. By adequately draping and wrapping your table at night you will deter easy access during off hours. Remember that the goods under your table can also be targeted. • Keep your eyes open for any suspicious activity and report it immediately to Security or the Market Office. Keep those phone numbers handy. • Document any incidences and report them to the Market office and/or Security. Follow up and make sure the report is filed. Website Updates There have been some exciting updates to our webpage, with more on the way. Please go to www.gidva.org to see these updates. In the future, we will be posting these newsletters – as well as other correspondence - directly to the site. Those members who have activated their page can see this addition when they log in to there account. When you click My Account once you have logged in, you will notice a new link at the bottom named “Newsletters”. As this link becomes active, we will be posting more information. So far, fewer than half of our members have been taking advantage of the web page they are provided with as part of their membership. We receive many inquiries from the public who have found our Website and are looking for a specific vendor. We do our best to connect these customers, but it would be much more efficient for them to be able to contact the vendor directly. We again thank those vendors who have taken the time to post their page and enhance our website’s profile. As we develop more connections and links with other associations, it is important that we accurately represent ourselves. To this end, if you have chosen the option of having your market schedule posted, please remember to keep it up to date. GIBCA As noted in a previous email, GIDVA has recently joined the Granville Island Business and Community Association (GIBCA). You can find out more about GIBCA at www.gibca.ca. GIBCA’s major fundraiser will be held on October 17th, 2007 at Granville Island Brewing. Please see the memo attached to the above noted email for more information. GIBCA is looking for donations for a silent auction at the fundraiser, and we would encourage our members to consider a donation to enhance the presence of GIDVA. Any member who donates an item for the silent auction – regardless of value - is eligible for two free tickets to this event. Please contact Samantha (gidva@gidva.org) or Shari (shari.reid@shaw.ca) for two free tickets. Call for Volunteers A big THANK YOU to all of the Membership Survey respondents who indicated a willingness to volunteer for some of the programs we are looking to implement. As the survey was anonymous, we now ask that those members contact gidva@gidva.org to let us know which of the following committees you would like to know more about or be willing to be involved with: • wireless committee • mentorship program • newsletter committee Dealing with issues/policies Just a reminder to members about the proper protocol when bringing issues to GIDVA. Per our policies and procedures: B Member Requests 1 Formal requests of the GIDVA Board of Directors by GIDVA members for action on their behalf must be submitted in writing to be addressed at the next scheduled Board meeting. Members will receive a response from the Board within 14 days. Attachment Granville Island Day Vendors Association CMHC Meeting June 7, 2007 - Minutes In attendance: GIDVA – Shari Reid, Samantha Turner, Svea Vatch CMHC – Karin Schruers, Ryan Lamay Item: Book a meeting schedule for the year....once per season? 3-4X per year? Sept, Dec, March, June? Action: Karin’s schedule changes all of the time, so unable to book the meetings this far in advance. We will plan to continue meet 3-4x a year (quarterly). Item: Find out the Granville Island/Public Market event schedule for the year and how we can participate with each Action: Ryan suggested that we check the website, and contact Katherine in Public Affairs. Item: List of 2007/2008 vendors Action: Karin will forward the latest list of Craft Vendors to Samantha. There is not currently a formal list of food/farm vendors. She will look into having one prepared Item: Policy Clarification o waitlist policies - how is priority determined o table allocation Action: Karin explained that per the Policies and Procedures handed out at the beginning of the current ‘fiscal’ year, Table Allocation is at the discretion of the Market Coordinators. There is no ‘set in stone’ policy of where vendors will be placed, but those vendors who book for an entire week at a time are more likely to have the ‘better’ locations, with spaces being filled with vendors coming in later in the week. Waitlist priority is as follows: • Juried vendor with frequent attendance • Juried vendor • Non juried (waitlisted) vendor with frequent attendance • Non juried (waitlisted) vendor If any vendors have concerns with either of these policies, they should speak with a Market Coordinator directly. Item: Craft adjudication review - follow-up Action: There will be no follow up in the foreseeable future Item: Quality control on the floor Action: Market Coordinators attempt to stay on top of what is available for sale. Vendors with concerns should contact a Market Coordinator directly.