POLICIES

REGION 15 policy and procedures

[uploaded july 2022]

Region 15 Policy and Procedures Manual
Originated 2/14/21

This document is meant to be a supplement to the Bylaws of Region 15, AHS Regional Officers Handbook and AHS Policy and Procedures Manual. ADS and AHS both refer to the national society. The initial document has a “What’s New from Current Practice” section at the top to address some gaps uncovered when creating this document. Future revisions will have a “What’s Changed” section so changes can be easily identified. The controlled copy will be stored on the Region 15 website: Region15Daylily.org.
What’s New vs. Current Practice:

Article II: Finances, Section 1: Budget. An annual budget will be prepared and presented.
Article II: Finances, Section 2: Amendments. A change of $100 or more, or one that directly benefits board members, has been defined as a significant monetary amendment and will require board approval and then a full membership approval.
Article II: Finances, Section 3: Auditing. An audit of the financial documents will be conducted every 2 years. If transitioning, a review of this audit will be part of the incoming RP’s training. If the RP is elected to a second term, the audit is still required.
Article V: Regional/National Awards, Section 4: ADS Region 15 Service Award. Nominations are made directly to the ADS Awards Chair. Previous winners and the current ADS Region 15 Director are not eligible. The ADS Region 15 Director will contact the Society by August 1st to determine if there has been a nominee. If not, he/she will contact the RP so that the RP can ensure a nomination is prepared and submitted by the September 1st deadline.
Article X: Document Control. This entire article is new since this is a new document.

Table of Contents:
Article I: Leadership Team
Section 1: Membership
Section 2: Meeting Content
Section 3: Meeting Frequency
Section 4: Minutes
Article II: Finances
Section 1: Budget
Section 2: Financial Auditing
Section 3: Amendments
Section 4: Reimbursement from the Society
Article III: Membership
Section 1: Starting a new club
Section 2: Requesting a stipend
Article IV: Regional Meetings
Section 1: Meeting Guides for Fall and Summer, List of Host clubs since 1995
Section 2: Reimbursement for Travel
Section 3: Division of Profits
Section 4: Scheduling Host Clubs
Article V: Regional Awards
Section 1: Sponsorship
Section 2: Purchase of Awards
Article VI: Regional Fundraisers not at Regional Meetings
Article VII: Region 15 Website
Section 1: Webmaster
Section 2: Content
Section 3: Editing
Section 4: Cost
Article VIII: Region Owned Software/Hardware/Cloud Space
Section 1: Software / Licensing
Section 2: Hardware
Article IX: Hemalina Regional Magazine/Newsletter
Section 1: Editor
Section 2: Content
Section 3: Distribution
Section 4: Cost
Article X: Document Control
Section 1: Location of Controlled copy of this document
Section 2: Process for Amending
Appendix

Manual:
Article I: Leadership
Section 1: Membership

Board of Directors: This includes the Regional President (RP), Regional Publicity Director, Secretary, Treasurer and Member at Large. Only the RP, Treasurer and Board Member at Large are elected. The remainder are appointed by the RP. All members of the board have equal voting rights.
See Bylaws: Article 4. Section 1 and 5 for details on the nomination and election process and term limits.
Extended Leadership Team: This team is optional and can be created at the discretion of the RP and typically includes board members, Hemalina Editor, Garden and Exhibition Judges liaisons, Hybridizer and Display Garden liaisons, Regional Meeting liaison, Youth and Scientific liaisons, Webmaster, Historian, Awards Manager and Membership chair. Club Presidents may also be included.

Section 2: Meeting Frequency

Board of Directors: These meetings are typically held prior to the kick-off of the regional meeting. Additional meetings can be called at the discretion of the RP.
Extended Leadership Team: These meetings are typically held prior to the board meeting at each regional meeting. Additional meetings can be called at the discretion of the RP.

Section 3: Meeting Content

Board of Directors: The RP will create an agenda which will include action items. Motions will be made on recommendations for a full membership vote.
Extended Leadership team: The RP will create an agenda which will typically include an opportunity for an informal report from each member present and an opportunity for all to share ideas and present concerns. No formal actions are taken at this meeting.

Section 4: Minutes

Board of Directors: The Regional Secretary will provide minutes of all regular and special board of directors’ meetings to the Regional newsletter publisher to be included in the next issue.
Extended Leadership Team: Minutes are taken for the RP’s use but not published.

Article II: Finances
Section 1: Budget

The Treasurer, along with a budget committee, if so designated by the RP, will prepare a budget for the following year based on prior year’s expenses and upcoming year’s expected changes.
The budget must include insurance which is paid to the American Hemerocallis Society annually. Hereafter this will be referred to as “the Society”.
Treasurer will present the proposed budget at the Summer regional extended leadership meeting, if held, and the board meeting, if necessary, and general membership for review and input. Final review will occur at the Fall Leadership team meeting to be voted on at the Fall Regional board meeting. The budget for the upcoming year will then be presented to membership at the Fall Regional meeting and printed in the Spring Hemalina.
The format of the budget should clearly identify sources of income and anticipated expenditures in sufficient detail as to be unambiguous. In addition, and for comparison, the previous year’s budget and actual expenditures should be included.
Financial reports are distributed at regional meetings.
It is not permissible to charge regional dues. Fundraisers are allowed. See Articles II and IV.
The budget may include stipends to offset the costs of attending regional and national meetings for regional board members, Hemalina Editor and Regional Director if sufficient funds are available. Checks can be returned to the Treasurer as a donation to the region if the recipient so chooses. The current stipend rates are as follows
- Regional Meetings
  - Board Members & Hemalina Editor: $100 Summer, $75 Fall
  - Regional Director: $100 Summer, $75 Fall
- National Meetings
  - Board Members & Hemalina Editor: Pool of $1,200 to be divided equally up to a max of $500 each
  - Regional Director: $500 Summer, $250 Fall
Donations to the region should be encouraged and recognized in the Hemalina.

Section 2: Amendments

The definition of a significant monetary amendment is a line item change of $100 or more or one that directly benefits board members.
Significant monetary amendments shall be reviewed and voted on by the board of directors. If approved, it shall be voted on by full membership in one of two ways at the RP’s discretion.
- It will be sent electronically to membership for return electronic vote within 30 days.
- Notification can be sent 30 days in advance and approved with a simple majority vote at a regional meeting.

Section 3: Financial Auditing

The RP can request the bank statements monthly from the Treasurer at his/her discretion.
An audit of the financial records shall be conducted every 2 years.
A volunteer auditor will be appointed by the RP. If transitioning to a new RP, the review shall be completed prior to the transition.
Results of the audit should be shared with current and incoming RP (if applicable) as part of his/her training.
All receipts should be kept by the Treasurer until the audit is complete and then they can be discarded.

Section 4: Reimbursement from the Society

The Region may request a reimbursement from the Society to supplement the mailing label cost at the current rate when the mailing labels are requested from the Society Membership Manager.
Making the request is the responsibility of the Hemalina Editor. Request should be copied to the RP so they know it has been handled.

Article III: Membership
Section 1: Starting a new club

Contact the Society Local Club Facilitation Chair and the RP for coaching and assistance. See Appendix Article III, Section 1a.

Section 2: Requesting a stipend to offset start-up costs

Contact the RP to request a stipend. $250 will be awarded, pending availability of funds, once the club has recruited members, elected officers, established bylaws and begun meeting regularly.

Article IV: Regional Meetings
Section 1: Meetings are typically held in person but can be held virtually if necessary. See the following information in the Appendix for helpful information.
1a: Fall Meeting Guide
1b: Summer Meeting Guide
1c: History of Host Clubs since 1995
Section 2: Reimbursement for Travel

See Article II, Section 1: Budget.

Section 3: Division of Profits

Daylily Auction: 25% to Host Club, 75% to the Region
Silent Auction/Raffle/Baskets, etc.: 100% Host Club
Plant Material Sale: 100% to the Host Club
Auctioneer or other fundraising costs should be covered by the Host Club(s).
Donor should designate whether the daylily is for the auction or sale table.

Section 4: Regional Meeting Schedule

The Regional Meeting Liaison coordinates the schedule and ensures clubs are secured to host the meetings. Volunteer Clubs are requested at regional meetings.
The host clubs are determined at least 1 year, preferably 2 years, in advance to allow time for proper planning.
Attempts are made to share the responsibility among the clubs. All clubs are expected to take their turn hosting a regional meeting.
Larger clubs typically host summer meetings and smaller clubs host fall meetings. Clubs can co-host meetings if necessary.

Article V: Regional Awards/National Service Award for Region 15
Section 1: Sponsorship

Local clubs within the region volunteer to sponsor the awards.
Clubs typically contribute the cost of the award for 3-5 years but this can be negotiated with the RP as needed.
One year before the sponsorship is to end, the club should be contacted by the Treasurer to verify the intent to renew the sponsorship.
If a club is not planning to renew, the Treasurer will notify the RP who will announce at the next regional meeting that a sponsor is needed for the award.
The awards will require a sponsor to be awarded.

Section 2: Purchase of Awards

$50 is the spending limit for regional awards to be purchased by the Regional Awards Manager. Any unspent balance carries over in the budget.
Amendments to this amount must be approved by the regional board. If the proposed change meets the threshold for a significant change as defined in Article II, Section 2, it will be presented for vote at a regional meeting. Since these awards are sponsored by clubs, changes should be made effective when the sponsorship is renewed.
The budget will cover mailing the awards, if this becomes necessary.

Section 3: Awards Requiring Nomination

Carolina Service Award and Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award. Anyone who has not previously received these awards or not currently serving on the Region 15 board is eligible. Prior winners are listed on the Region 15 website. Nominations letters will be sent to the Awards Manager and voted on by the regional board of directors and the ADS Regional Director.

Section 4: ADS Region 15 Service Award

The ADS Region 15 Service Award, presented annually at the National Convention, honors a deserving individual, or two members of the same family, within the region. The current ADS Regional Director is not eligible for this award since he/she is part of the voting committee. Any ADS member within the region can submit a nomination for this award. Nominations are sent directly to the ADS Awards Chair by September 1st. Nominations should be copied to the ADS Regional Director for informational purposes.

If the ADS Regional Director has received no confirmation of a nomination by August 1st, he/she will contact the Society to determine if at least one nomination has been received. If not, he/she will notify the RP so that the RP can ensure a nomination is prepared and submitted by the deadline.

Section 5: Award Contest Rules

See Regional Website at region15daylily.org for complete listing of awards and rules.

Article VI: Regional Fundraisers not part of a Regional Meeting
Section 1: Planning

Any such event will be planned by the RP, Regional Board or RP designate or committee. The committee must include the Regional Treasurer. If an online auction is held, bids are inclusive of shipping fees or shipping fees are stated. Sites such as the Lily Auction at daylily.com are recommended.

Section 2: Profits

100% of the Profits will go to the Region.

Article VII: Region 15 Website
Section 1: Webmaster
A webmaster will be appointed by the Region 15 President. This is a volunteer position.
Section 2: Content
Webmaster will have control of content under the direction of the RP. Obsolete content will be promptly removed.
Section 3: Editing Privileges

Webmaster will handle the bulk of the site editing.
Host clubs for regional events will provide information about upcoming meetings to be posted.
Clubs will provide information about club events, such as flower shows and fundraisers.
RP is responsible for updating all regional officers, club officers and display gardens.
Committee Chairs or Officers should contact the webmaster to give direction on new content and when to take down obsolete information.

Section 4: Costs

Maintenance fees, including but not limited to Domain Name, will be covered by the Region 15 budget to be paid by the Region 15 Treasurer.
The Webmaster is responsible for making recommendations on service providers. The current provider is Weebly.

Article VIII: Region Owned Software/Hardware
Section 1: Software / Licensing

Hemalina:
- The region pays for the annual Adobe InDesign license, which expires on January 21 each year. The software is resident on the editor’s computer and is not transferable. The software is currently purchased through a reseller, Creation Engine, Inc., which arranges for non-profits to buy software at much lower group rates.
- In addition, the region pays for the USPS imprint permit that is used to send out the newsletters using bulk mail pricing. This fee is paid each year in January. There is only one permit (#309) and it can be used by anyone in the Carolinas.

Section 2: Hardware

Hemalina:
- The region does not currently own any hardware or provide any hardware for the production of the Hemalina.

Article IX: Hemalina Regional Magazine/Newsletter
Section 1: Editor

This is a voluntary position appointed by the RP.

Section 2: Content

The content is at the discretion of the Editor but should include letters from the RP, RPD, Regional Director and regional liaisons. Additionally, logistical and registration information on upcoming meetings, motions to be voted on at upcoming meetings, financial reports, award nominees and winners and updates from clubs within the region will be included.
The Hemalina Editor has the final say on all content decisions.

Section 3: Distribution

Hard copies, when published, must be mailed to: All AHS members of the region, including regional officers and liaisons, plus two for the AHS Archivist/Historian, and four for the AHS Newsletter Awards Subcommittee Chair, who shall redistribute three copies to the newsletter awards judges. The number of copies to print is the number of AHS members by label count in the region plus any required for out-of-region subscribers.
Optional copies can be mailed to: AHS and Regional officials. Currently all regions producing hard copies are also creating electronic versions. The AHS Regional Officers Chair must be notified when electronic issues are released, sent a copy by email or with a link or location of where to find it, e.g., a regional website. That chair, not the editor, will then be responsible for electronically redistributing that issue to the following: All RPs, AHS Special Committee Chairs, RPDs, AHS Staff Members, Regional editors, AHS Newsletter Awards Subcommittee Chair * AHS Board Members, Past AHS Presidents *
Note: Newsletters and articles may not be eligible for awards if this chair does not receive hard copy or electronic issues.

Section 4: Cost

The cost of creating and publishing the Hemalina is to be incorporated in the budget and paid for by the region with the exception of the mailing label reimbursement from the Society.

No subscription fee can be charged to Society members within the region.
A subscription fee can be charged to Society members from other regions or non-Society members.

Article X: Document Control
Section 1: Location of Controlled copy of this document

The controlled copy of this document will be stored on the Region 15 website at Region15daylily.org.
Each update will include a revision date. Changes will be listed at the top.
The Region 15 Policy and Procedure committee chair will submit the revised document to the current webmaster for posting.
Obsolete copies will be maintained as necessary in an archive folder at the direction of the Region 15 Historian.

Section 2: Process for Amending

A committee will be appointed each April to review and make recommendations on updates to be presented at the Summer regional meeting. A vote shall occur at the Fall Regional board meeting. Changes will be printed in the Spring Hemalina.
All motions involving significant new expenditures or increases will be proposed in writing and voted on by the membership.
Simple or insignificant monetary items can be handled by the board. See Article II Finances, Section 2: Amendments for definition of a significant monetary change.

Appendix
Article III, Section 1a: New Club Start Up Guide
You need a small core group of dedicated individuals willing to make this happen.

Identify the Need: Are there garden club members or attendees at flower shows that love daylilies and have expressed interest in joining a club but there isn’t one within a reasonable driving distance?
Find the Venue: Look for no/low cost meeting rooms with no restrictions on food if possible. Explore church meeting rooms, local businesses, municipalities or colleges. Use the connections of those in the core group. Be willing to meet when rooms are available.
Advertise the Meetings: Set a first meeting and develop a flyer. Advertise in the local paper and send notifications to the Master Gardeners program, Horticultural Society, other flower clubs and any adjacent daylily clubs. Check with local display gardens or sale gardens to see if they know people who might want to join a local club. Contact the Hemalina Editor, RP and all your friends to spread the word.
Plot a Course: Contact the Society President to get a template for bylaws, constitution and policies and procedures. Plan the general meeting format (Introductions, business, refreshments, program, etc). Open a checking account. You will need at least one person designated to have access until officers can be elected. Brainstorm a calendar of programs, contact speakers and arrange garden tours.
Crush the First Meeting: Make introductions, discuss the formation of the club and how to become a member. Vote to adopt bylaws. Take volunteers (this may have to come from your core group initially) and install interim officers. Review the calendar for the year and take ideas from attendees. People are reassured that you have a plan and this is not just a one-time thing. Enjoy refreshments (or maybe a chicken dinner) and then have a program such as Daylilies 101. This type of presentation can be found on the National website but it is more fun and interactive to have a hybridizer present his/herss.
Set the Hook: Have the second meeting in a location where people can see daylilies growing in a garden setting. Choose a garden with a wide variety of daylilies to appeal to the masses. Create excitement. Have hybridizers come and bring some plants to auction.
Make it Fun and Make it Balanced. Include education, discussion, hybridizers and garden tours. Share info about regional and national events.

Article IV, Section 1a: Fall Regional Meeting Guide
Rev.Date 11/17/2017

Have club vote on hosting the regional meeting. At one time, Clubs sometimes hosted both Fall and Summer meetings, but hosting only a single meeting is the norm now. Elect a Chairperson and other core committee members. If possible, recruit a Chairperson and committee members who have assisted previously with meeting planning as they can providing valuable experience and guidance. The region will maintain a Regional Meetings Liaison, who has past meeting planning experience, who can provide guidance as needed as the club plans its Fall meeting.
Choose a date, usually in the late half of September, so auction plants can still be safely dug and planted, and also allow regional voting for awards, due on 9/01 each year, to be processed and awards created by the Regional Awards Chair. The host club may also want to consider when other major events are planned.
Choose a location. Research area hotels for space and price. Negotiate price for rooms and meeting rooms. Rooms will be needed for Workshops and Clinics. Have the hotel set aside a reasonable block of rooms at reduced rate that they will honor until near the date of meeting. (Some hotels offer 1 free room with x-number booked, it is customarily used for the guest speaker or hospitality room.) Be sure the hotel is convenient to your meeting location.

Choose a speaker or speakers. Confirm dates and travel plans with your speaker/s. Consider
asking the speaker to do 2 programs if needed (one Friday night, one Saturday morning).
This will help get more “bang for the buck”, and help manage registration cost.

Make the agenda of meeting. Everything depends on this schedule, so the earlier it is prepared, the sooner committees can get started. NOTE: The Regional President will need 1.5 hours for the Fall Regional Business meeting, which is the primary business meeting for the region each year. This meeting will include presentation of Regional awards. It is customarily scheduled Saturday morning after opening the meeting. Coordinate with RP for inclusion of the agenda, registration, and other info, in the Hemalina and the Regional web site. Make copies of the final agenda and place on registration table for hand-outs.
Set up committees. Remember that the Chair cannot do it all! Meet monthly for progress reports. Consider the following committees:
1. Speaker – Secure the speaker and confirm dates and times for the meeting ASAP. Consider having the speaker do 2 programs if needed (ex. – one Friday night, one Saturday). Make his/her hotel reservation and plane reservations if necessary. Arrange Pick-up and delivery to the airport if necessary, or provide a rental car if in the budget. Discuss charges and explain what expenses the club is willing to pay for, and understand if auction plants are part of the package. NOTE: If the speaker provides auction plants, often the speaker will get a % of the auction proceeds of those plants. In recent years, the typical speaker/meeting split has been 50/50. If this the case, it is customary that the remaining auction proceeds not paid to the speaker would be applied to the speaker/meeting costs to help decrease registration cost for all attendees. If the speaker specifies the plants are for the meeting and doesn’t ask for a % of their auction proceeds, it is then customary that they be auctioned as part of the normal auction. (Many speakers do not charge an additional speaking fee, as this is an opportunity for them to show his/her hybridizing program or other skills.) There can be a significant variation in speaker costs, so make sure you have details in writing and considered carefully when considering a speaker on the high end of the cost range. Arrange for A/V equipment, including computer, projector, & screen, tables, chairs, and podium as needed. Speakers customarily now bring only his/her PowerPoint presentation on a memory device.

Registration (Note – The Regional officers, the Director, Regional President, Treasurer, Secretary, RPD, & Editor, now pay regional registration the same as all other attendees. Speakers should be exempt, with these costs built into the overall meeting cost, which is normally covered by the meeting registrations. Individual clubs, including host clubs, can consider special incentives to encourage meeting attendance at the local level. The Club Registrar should mail or e-mail confirmation letters as registrations come in. On the day of the meeting, the registrar, or someone with registrar’s list, should be at the registration table to greet attendees as they sign in and get their badges. A list of attendees with badge numbers, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as the auction list, and meeting agenda should be available for pickup at this table, or included in gift bags. Sheets with other pertinent information such as open gardens after the meeting (which may have already been mailed) should also be available.
Publicity. Coordinate with RPD/Editor to get the meeting, agenda, hotel, and registration information in the Hemalina as soon as possible. (Usually, the Summer Hemalina will feature the Fall meeting) The Club Chair for Regional Meeting Publicity needs to engage with the Regional Webmaster to post the meeting information on the regional Web Site, and the host club web site. The meeting information must include location, registration form, agenda, hotel information, and secondary information such as gardens of interest in the area. Once meeting information content is complete and in the Regional web site, the club Publicity Chair, or the Regional Webmaster is to contact the AHS Webmaster to have the meeting information listed in the AHS site. The AHS web master will then pick up the AHS information from the Regional site. (Target information for the Fall meeting to be posted to the Regional web site within two weeks after the Summer meeting is held, or no later than 7/15 of the Fall meeting year)

Advance notice always helps attendance. Provide a short write-up of the meeting and
other interesting information about the area for the Hemalina and other publicity.
The registration form is responsibility of club. (Examples can be found in the Regional
Meetings package maintained by Regional officers for meeting planning.) Stay in
touch with the Editor to get information printed on time. As the meeting date nears, the
RPD can also help by sending e-mail reminders to the regional members. (The host
club should have someone from your club attend the previous summer meeting to
invite everyone to the Fall meeting your club is hosting.)

Hospitality. Several club members can greet attendees in the lobby area and direct them to the registration table or greet them in that area and help them bring in plants for the sale table, auction, etc. A nice gesture that is always appreciated.
Badges. These need to be numbered for several purposes – registration, sales table purchases, auction purchases, door prizes. They should include meeting information (example – “Region 15 Summer Meeting 2017, Raleigh, NC”), registrants name (big print for their name please) and town of attendee. Color and artwork are not necessary, but make the badge more attractive. Your Club logo, or Region 15 logo, works nicely.
Gift bags & door prizes. Both of these are optional, but appreciated by many attendees. Gift bags can be simple and include a notepad and pen, etc. Door prizes, usually solicited from local garden and nursery businesses as well as club members, should be acknowledged with a thank you to the donors. (This can be a sheet listing donated items and their donors so thank-you’s can be mailed to them after the meeting. A handout of this list can also be placed on the registration table or the table where items are displayed so that winning members can send their own thank you notes.)
Plant Sales. Usually, plants with retail value under $20 are placed on a sales table rather than the auction table to save time, if there is a sales table. At the sales table, plants can include companion plants as well as daylilies. Companion plants usually sell very well. Several host club people will be needed to staff the sales table or other projects, and will need a separate cash box as sales at the sales table will be separate from the plant auction.
Special Sale or Raffle Items. Proceeds from sale and raffle items customarily go to the club to help pay for meeting costs. At times, when the meeting is well attended, the host club will choose to donate some % of these proceeds to the region. The more interesting the items, the more tickets that will be sold.
Auction. Taken from the 2010 Regional Business Meeting Vote and Minutes

The auction gross proceeds from Region 15 Summer and Fall Meetings will be
allocated as follows:

The same allocation is applied to both the Summer and Fall meetings.
The Region 15 Treasury will receive 75 % and the host club will receive 25 %.
The host club will retain 100 percent of all revenue produced by local efforts including but not limited to: plant sale tables, boutique sales, silent auctions and commissions on vendor supplied merchandise.
It is important to note that the Host Club should not lose money hosting the meeting, if expenses vs registration costs & planned paid registrations, are well planned. The host club should not expect, or plan, to gain a significant sum from the meeting expenses. At times, when the meeting is well attended, the host club will choose to donate some % of these proceeds to the region.
(If an external event such as an act of God, or other emergency situation impacts the

Meeting and/or attendance, if requested by the host club, a group consisting of the host club meeting chair, club president, and Regional Officers can be convened to determine fair and equitable income distribution, after consideration has been given to all costs and income sources made as part of the Meeting.)
A good auctioneer, who can hold the crowd’s attention and knows many cultivars, is a big help. Soliciting plants for the auction will need to be coordinated between the meeting chair and the RP. It is customary that a local club representative solicits plants from local and regional donors, regional hybridizers, and sometimes from outside the region. The club auction coordinator can engage the Regional officers regarding plant solicitation from regional and national level donors as they maintain a list of past and potential donors. The host club should be sure that notices are put in the Hemalina to solicit plants, but nothing takes the place of personal contact, by e-mail or preferably direct phone calls. The number of plants to target for the auction is usually in the 95 to 120 range. The host club also needs to provide local support the weekend of the meeting to receive and stage auction plants as they come in from donors, prior to the auction. When auction plants are being requested, in addition to new registrations that are of interest to some regional members, the host club and Regional requestors should also consider obtaining a good % of plants in the $35 to $75 range, as those will often auction nearer their retail price than new intros. The club auction coordinator should provide copies of the auction list of known donations (more donations always will arrive the day of the auction). These copies should be placed on the registration table to pique interest and to give credit to the donors. We always try to recognize and thank those who faithfully support our region! The Region 15 Treasurer, along with two regional members selected by the Treasurer, will handle the auction process—tracking plants auctioned, winning bid price, winning person, and the collection of payments. Once the Auction net is established, the Regional Treasurer will then disburse the proceeds to the host Club and the Region using the formula previously established and noted above. Two or three additional people provided by the host club will be needed to serve as runners so that auctioneer can keep auction moving. Runners take plants from the holding tables to the auctioneer, and on to winning bidders. They also need to help to confirm the badge numbers of recipients as well as ending price for tallying.

Food Service. Let’s face it, daylily people love to eat! Light refreshments are customary Friday evening assuming attendees “eat on their own”. For Fall meetings, a light lunch should suffice during the Saturday agenda as Fall meetings usually adjourn in early afternoon.
Table Arrangements are optional. These can be simple and made by club members. They can be given as door prizes as the meeting ends.
Equipment Rentals. Some facilities will allow projectors, screens, etc., to be brought in while others will prefer that you rent from them the visual and audio equipment to be used for the meetings. Some clubs may also not own adequate equipment or simply prefer to rent it. A member familiar with this type of equipment should be in charge of checking out the rental equipment or equipment from club members, particularly a computer (laptop preferably), projector, and screen, before the meetings and should be on hand in case problems arise with the equipment. Know where the light switches are when it is show-time!
Regional Awards. The awards presented for the fall meeting are regional awards and regional expenses. The host club is not responsible for obtaining or paying for these prizes. They will be purchased by the Regional Awards Chair and brought to the meeting by the Regional Awards Chair or designated Regional Officer.
Clinics. Coordinate with the Regional Garden Judges Liaison and the Regional Exhibition Judges Liaison as to which clinics will be needed. These Liaisons will recruit instructors and determine and let you know how many rooms will be needed. It is the host club’s responsibility to report back to the Garden Judges Liaison and the Exhibition Judges Liaison in a timely manner if it appears that a scheduled class is not going to be needed, due to no attendees.
Commonly, there are two classes, Garden Judges I, and Exhibition Judges I at the fall meeting with their times commonly in the 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm range. The regional liaisons will confirm if they do have participants, and the times needed for their class.
Coordinate with the current RP to determine if they plan to hold a Regional

Board/Officers meeting, and/or a Regional Officers & Club Officers meeting, so to plan for this room if needed. Usually the RP holds these meetings Friday afternoon, back to
back, and usually in the same location, so only one room would be needed.

Budget. Determine estimated costs and set registration fee based on estimated number of paid attendees with the goal to have a break even meeting cost vs registration income at a reasonably conservative attendance projection. Attendance projections will vary between Summer and Fall meetings, and can vary slightly dependent on the meeting location. Based on recent fall meetings, a conservative planning estimate of paid attendees for a fall meeting is 55. Commonly, the estimated paid attendance numbers are exceeded by 15 to 20 people providing the host club additional income to cover fixed costs.

Some costs will be set, or “fixed” like the meeting location, and others will vary with number of attendees, or other variables.
Take into consideration:

Cost of all food, banquet, social hour, etc. (Be sure to include tax and tips as this is a large portion of the expense.)
Speaker’s expenses (including flight, meals when traveling, car parking, lodging at event, etc.)
Equipment rentals (including AV for auction & speaker, and podium)
Meeting room fees if applicable
Publicity – printing fees, etc.
Table arrangements
Badges
Goody bags
Postage for mailings
Postage to return Region 15 seedling bed plants, if necessary
Miscellaneous costs – auction supplies, registrar’s supplies, phone bills, and printing costs, etc.

Income for the meeting is primarily from paid registrations, 25% of the regional auction, Miscellaneous like sales table, raffle, and a portion of the speaker auction, if there is one, if the speaker agreement is for the auction plants to be part of speaker compensation, usually at a 50/50 rate as noted earlier.

The Regional secretary will record the minutes for the official Regional meeting. The secretary from the host club should record items of note during the remainder of the meeting, like other contributions, contributors, event speakers, etc., that are outside of the Regional business meeting so “thank you’s” and other acknowledgement, including recognition in the Hemalina can be made. Prior to the start of the meeting, the club/meeting secretary should coordinate with the Regional Secretary, and the Regional Editor, to insure full coverage.
Budgets, projected meeting schedules, extra meetings needed during the event, and information relative to expenses from previous meetings, are being requested from previous Host Clubs. These can be provided to future Host Clubs on request, from the Regional Meetings Liaison, to provide realistic guidelines for future Host Clubs.
In addition to the above guidelines, the region will work with recent Host clubs to maintain a set of meeting planning information, including budgets, actual costs such as hotels & buses, previous auction lists, etc., to additionally use as planning tools, although these costs will vary some, dependent on meeting location.

RBQ 11/17/2017

Article IV, Section 1b: Summer Regional Meeting Guide

Rev. Date     11/17/2017

Have club vote on hosting the regional meeting. Clubs sometimes host both Fall and Summer meetings, but hosting only a single meeting, like a fall meeting is also an option. Elect a Chairperson and other core committee members. If possible, recruit a Chairperson and committee members who have assisted previously with meeting planning as they can provide valuable experience and guidance. The region will maintain a Regional Meetings Liaison, who has past meeting planning experience, who can provide guidance as needed as the club plans its fall or summer meetings.
Choose a date. The primary consideration is peak bloom time in your area. A Regional meeting can’t be held the same weekend as a national convention. When a National is held within Region 15, there will be no regional meeting that year. (A Regional Business meeting will need to be scheduled as one of the meetings during the National.) The Host club may also want to consider when other major events are planned in their area and the region. Note that regional clubs will plan their events and shows around the summer meeting date you choose.
Choose a location. Research area hotels for space and price. Negotiate price for rooms and meeting rooms. Rooms will be needed for Workshops and Clinics, either in the hotel or meeting location if different from the hotel. Have the hotel set aside a reasonable block of rooms at reduced rate that they will honor until near the date of meeting. (Some hotels offer 1 free room with x-number booked, usually used for guest speaker or hospitality room.) Be sure hotel is convenient to bus routes and has room to load/unload the buses. Use recent past meetings as a guide for how many rooms to hold. Most hotels will hold rooms then release them in the last couple weeks without penalty.

Choose a speaker. Confirm dates with speaker. Consider asking speaker to do 2 programs if
needed (ex. – one Friday night, one Saturday night). This will help get more “bang for the
buck”, and help manage meeting expenses.

Make agenda and schedule for meeting. NOTE: The Regional President will need 1 hour for the Summer Regional Business meeting. This meeting will include presentation of garden tour awards, so needs to be scheduled Saturday evening, usually immediately after dinner. Everything depends on this schedule, so the earlier it is prepared, the sooner committees can get started. Coordinate with RP and Editor for inclusion in the Hemalina and the Regional web site. Make copies of the agenda and place on registration table for hand-outs.
Set up committees. Remember that the Chair cannot do it all! Meet monthly for progress reports. Consider the following committees:
1. Speaker – Secure speaker and confirm dates and times for meeting ASAP. Consider having him/her do 2 programs if needed (ex. – one Friday night, one Saturday night). Make hotel reservation and plane reservations if necessary. Pickup and delivery to airport if necessary, or provide rental car in the budget, if other hosting arrangements can’t be made. Discuss charges and explain what expenses the club is willing to pay for, and understand if auction plants are part of the package. NOTE: If the speaker provides auction plants, often the speaker will get a % of the auction proceeds of those plants. (In recent years, usually 50/50) In this case, it is customary that the remaining auction proceeds not paid to the speaker would be applied to the speaker/meeting costs to help decrease registration costs for all attendees. If the Speaker specifies the plants are for the meeting and doesn’t ask for a % of their auction proceeds, it is then customary that they be auctioned as part of the normal auction. (Many speakers do not charge a speaking fee, as this is an opportunity for them to show their hybridizing program or other skills.) There can be a significant variation in speaker costs, so you should make sure you have details in writing and consider carefully when considering a speaker on the high end of the cost range. Arrange for A/V equipment, computer, projector & screen, tables, chairs, and podium as needed. Speakers customarily now bring only their PowerPoint presentation on a memory device.
2. Region 15 Seedling Bed – Determine which garden will have room for this bed and is willing to host the plants. Also, consider if the garden has good light and a good water source. This bed should be established at least a year before the meeting (two or three years is more preferable) to allow regional members to send their seedlings and have them at clump strength by the time of the summer meeting. Each member can send up to 5 seedlings with as many as 3 fans per plant. Solicit plants from regional hybridizers through a notice in the Hemalina and/or mailings, e-mails, phone calls. Please note that unless instructed otherwise by the hybridizer, these plants are not to be used for propagation purposes and are the property of the hybridizer when the meeting is over. Plants should be labeled by hybridizer when received. This information should be recorded and used to tag plants for return to the hybridizer after the meeting. Arrangements to receive/return plants to hybridizers should be worked out between club and individual hybridizers. A Committee member should be responsible for receiving/returning plants because the garden owner has many other responsibilities before the garden tours. (Please review the guidelines for the Carolina Seedling Award on the website for more information about hosting the seedling bed.)
Registration - (Note – The Regional officers, the Director, RP, Treasurer, Secretary, RPD, & Editor, will pay meeting registration to the club the same as other meeting attendees. Speakers and garden owners on tour are customarily exempt, with these costs built into the overall meeting cost, which is normally covered by the meeting registrations. Individual clubs, including host clubs, can consider special incentives to encourage meeting attendance at the local level. The meeting Registrar should mail confirmation letters as registrations come in (or send email confirmations). A list of open gardens can be mailed with this letter. On the day of the meeting, the registrar, or someone with registrar’s list, should have a table to greet attendees and assist people as they sign in and get their badges. A list of attendees with badge numbers, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses should be available at this table or included in gift bags. Sheets with other pertinent information such as open gardens after the meeting (which may have already been mailed), and the auction list, should be available at or near this table for pickup by late registrants.
Publicity. Coordinate with RPD/Editor to get the meeting, hotel, and registration information in the Hemalina as soon as possible. (Usually the Spring Hemalina will feature the upcoming summer meeting, and Summer Hemalina will feature the fall meeting) The Club Chair for Regional Meeting Publicity needs to engage with the Regional Webmaster to post the meeting information on the regional Web Site, (and the host club web site). The meeting information includes location, information about tour gardens for summer meetings, registration form, agenda, hotel information, and secondary information such as open gardens, etc. Once meeting information content is complete on the Regional web site, the club Publicity Chair, or the Regional Webmaster is to contact the AHS Webmaster to have the meeting information listed in the AHS site. The AHS web master can then pick up the AHS information from the Regional site. (Target information for summer meetings to be posted on the Regional web site by 1/15 of the meeting year.)

      Advance notice always helps attendance. Include short garden write-ups and two
      pictures of the Tour gardens and other interesting information about the area.
      Registration form is responsibility of club. (Examples can be found in the Regional
      Meetings package maintained by Regional officers for meeting planning.) Stay in
     touch with the Editor to get information printed on time. (The host club should have
      someone from your club attend the previous summer meeting to invite everyone to the
      fall and/or summer meetings hosted by your club.)

Hospitality. Several club members can greet attendees in the lobby area and direct them to the registration table or greet them in that area and help them bring in plants for sale table, auction, etc. A nice gesture that is always appreciated.

Badges. These need to be numbered for several purposes – registration, sales table purchases, auction purchases, door prizes. They should include meeting information (example – “Region 15 Summer Meeting 2017, Raleigh, NC”), registrants name (big print for the name please), and town of attendee. Color and artwork are not necessary, but make the badge more attractive. Your Club logo, or Region 15 logo, works nicely.
Gift bags & door prizes. Both of these are optional, but appreciated by most attendees. Gift bags can be simple and include a notepad and pen, bottle of water, etc. Door prizes, usually solicited from local garden and nursery type businesses as well as club members, should be acknowledged with a thank you to the donors. (This can be a sheet listing all donated items and their donors that can be mailed as a thank you after the meeting. A handout of this list can also be placed on the registration table or the table where items are displayed so that winning members can send their own thank you notes.)
Plant Sales. Usually plants with retail value under $20 are placed on a sales table rather than the auction table to save time, if there is a sale table. At the sales table, plants can include companion plants as well as daylilies. Companion plants usually sell very well. Several Host Club people will be needed to staff the sales table or other projects, and will need a cash box as sales at the sales table will be separate from the plant auction. Proceeds from the sale table customarily go to the host club, although sometimes, depending on attendance, the host club may donate a % of these proceeds to the region.
Special Sale or Raffle Items. Optional certainly, but these can add to the club’s funds to help pay for the meeting. The more interesting the items, the more tickets that will be sold. Hand-made items such as birdhouses, quilts, etc., sell well.
Auction. Taken from the 2010 Regional Business Meeting Vote and Minutes

The auction gross proceeds from Region 15 Summer and Fall Meetings will be
allocated as follows:

The same allocation is applied to both the summer and fall meetings. See Article IV, Section 3 in Region 15 Policy and Procedure Manual.
The host club usually retains 100 percent of the revenue produced by local efforts including but not limited to: plant sale tables, boutique sales, silent auctions and commissions on vendor supplied merchandise. At times, depending on attendance, the host club may elect to donate a % of these proceeds to the Region.
It is important to note that the Host Club should not lose money hosting the meeting when expenses vs registration costs vs planned paid registrations are well planned. The host club should not expect, or plan, to gain a significant sum from the meeting expenses.
(If an external event such as an act of God, or other emergency situation impacts the

meeting and/or attendance, if requested by the host club, a group consisting of the host club meeting chair, club president, and regional officers can be convened to determine a fair and equitable income distribution, after consideration has been given to all costs and income sources made as part of the meeting.)
The host club is expected to provide the auctioneer. A good auctioneer, who can hold the crowd’s attention and knows many cultivars, is a must. Soliciting plants for the auction will need to be coordinated between the meeting chair and the RP. It is customary that a local club representative will solicit plants from local donors, regional hybridizers, and sometimes from outside the region. The club auction coordinator can engage the Regional officers regarding plant solicitation from Regional and national level donors. They have a list of potential donors and contact information. The Host club should be sure that notices are put in the Hemalina soliciting plants, but nothing takes the place of personal contact, either by note, phone call, or e-mail. The number of plants to target for the auction is usually in the 95 to 120 range. The host club also needs to provide local support the weekend of the meeting to receive and stage auction plants as they come in from donors, prior to the auction. When auction plants are being requested, in addition to new registrations that are of interest to some regional members, the host club and Regional requestors should also consider obtaining a good % of plants in the $35 to $75 range, as those will often auction nearer their retail price than new intros. The club auction coordinator should provide copies of the auction list of known donations (more donations always will arrive the day of the auction) to the attendees. These copies should be placed on the registration table to pique interest and to give credit to the donors. We always try to recognize and thank those who faithfully support our region!
The region 15 Treasurer, along with two regional members selected by the Treasurer, will handle the auction process—tracking plants auctioned, winning bid price, winning person, and the collection of payments. Once the Auction net is established, the Regional Treasurer will then disburse the proceeds to the host Club and the Regional treasury using the formula previously noted.
Two or three additional people the host club provides, will be needed to serve as runners so that the auctioneer can keep the auction moving. Runners take plants from the table, to the auctioneer, and on to the winning bidders. They need to be sure that badge numbers of recipients as well as the final bid price are given to the auction table for tallying.

Buses. Bus company needs to be chosen as early as possible and price negotiated by Bus Chair. Deposit may be required. Date to confirm number of buses needed should be determined. For recent Region 15 summer meetings, the number of buses may be 2 or 1. We recommend planning for 2 and confirm what the cut-off date is for canceling 1 of those buses if attendance is not sufficient to support 2.

Bus captains (can be an individual or a couple) should be determined and routes planned by the Bus Chair. Bus captains should run their designated route beforehand to know exactly where gardens are, where buses will turn around, park, and where the lunch destination is, etc. A cell phone on board each bus is required in case of emergency, with numbers exchanged between the bus captains and the Bus Chair. Also very helpful now is GPS for each bus in case of blocked routes or other emergency situations. These are very important jobs and should be staffed by members good with logistics and familiar with the area. Bus captains should be familiar with gardens or provided a narrative that can be given en route to each garden. The narratives are usually provided by the Bus Chair. A typed description from the garden owner works well to provide information that the bus captain may not know. The length of time in each garden is limited so the bus captain should be sure to announce which garden is next on tour and what time the bus will leave the garden when arriving at each garden. Some type of whistle is needed to get people back on the bus in a timely manner. It is very important that buses stay on their allotted timetables.
Ballots should be provided by the Regional Awards Manager to the Bus Chairman, who will distribute to each bus captain. The ballots are to be explained and given out en route to first garden so members can begin thinking about voting on daylilies in the gardens (best seedling, best clump by regional hybridizer, etc.) Ballots should be given to the attendees as they load from the last garden, then collected by the bus captains as the attendees depart the bus as they return to the hotel. The Bus Captains then pass on the ballots to the Awards Chair, who should be near the unloading area, for counting. In recent years, the tip for the bus driver has been built in to the meeting costs. The Bus captain(s) should be supplied a check in an envelope from the club Treasurer for the tip for bus driver. This is customary practice.
If plants are given to attendees, more recently this has been done at registration. Providing registration and/or bus plants is optional. If bus plants are given, it is suggested that they be handed to attendees as they depart the bus. Suggest that they exchange with each other if they have the daylily they are given.

Bus Plants. We recommend the host club ask each member to line out a few extra newer daylilies to be used for registration/ bus plants. This is an area where all members can contribute something to help the club. Newer cultivars left over from club sales can be lined out one summer for use the next summer.
Food Service. Let’s face it, daylily people love to eat! Assuming the meal Friday night is “on your own”, light refreshments are customary for Friday night if a program is planned. A Saturday lunch and Saturday night banquet are imperative. Refreshments in each garden is another consideration. Clubs usually give each garden owner a supplemental allowance as part of the meeting cost for this expense, usually about $1 per attendee. The garden host may choose to provide additional refreshments. Refreshments can be as simple as ice cream, or breakfast type foods for the early stops, but plenty of liquids are essential for the Summer bus tours.
Table Arrangements for Saturday night Banquet are customary. These can be simple and made by club members. They can be given as door prizes when meeting ends.
Equipment Rentals. Some facilities will allow projectors and screens, etc., to be brought in, while others will prefer to rent the visual and audio equipment to be used for the meetings. Some clubs may not own adequate equipment or simply prefer to rent it. A member familiar with this type of equipment should be in charge of checking out the rental equipment before the meetings and should be on hand in case problems arise with the equipment. Speakers often only bring their program on a memory device, usually in a PowerPoint program. Be sure to confirm what they will have BEFORE they arrive. Know where the light switches are when it is show-time!
Regional Awards. All tour gardens should be provided a list of awards to be voted on and an explanation of who receives the awards. All Region 15 cultivars blooming the day of the tour should be flagged to make voting easier. (The list of plants that have previously won the Region 15 Hybridizer’s award and thus are not eligible for the award should be given to garden owners and should be in the handbook given to participants. The Regional Awards Chair should have the list of previous winners not eligible, and it should also be found on the Regional web site.) These awards are regional awards and prizes are regional treasury expenses. The hosting club is not responsible for obtaining or paying for these prizes. They will be purchased by the Regional Awards Chair and brought to the meeting by the Regional Awards Chair or designated Regional Officer. Ensure that the method of marking Regional award eligible cultivars in the tour gardens is communicated to the Bus Captains so they can announce this to the riders, on the way to the first tour garden.
Clinics. Coordinate with the Regional Garden Judges Liaison and the Regional Exhibition Judges Liaison as to which clinics will be needed. These Liaisons will recruit instructors and confirm how many rooms will be needed. It is the host club’s responsibility to report back to the Garden Judges Liaison and the Exhibition Judges Liaison in a timely manner if it appears that a scheduled class is not going to be needed.
Normally, the RP will hold a Regional Board/Officers meeting, or a Regional Officers & Club Officers meeting, so to plan for those rooms if needed. Usually only one room is needed for this as these meetings are usually back-to-back Friday afternoon before most activities.
Budget. Determine estimated costs and set registration fee based on estimated number of paid attendees with the goal to have a break-even meeting cost vs registration income at a reasonably conservative attendance projection. Attendance projections will vary between Summer and Fall meetings, and can vary slightly dependent on the meeting location. Based on recent summer and fall meetings, a conservative planning estimate of paid attendees for a summer meeting is 75, and for a fall meeting, 55. Commonly, these paid attendance numbers are exceeded by 15 to 20 people.

Some costs will be set, or “fixed”, and others will vary with number of attendees, or other variables.
Take into consideration:

Cost of all food – gardens, banquet, social hour, etc. (Be sure to include tax and tips as this is a large portion of the expense.)
Bus rental fees
Speaker’s expenses (including flight, meals when traveling, car parking, lodging at event, etc.)
Equipment rentals (including AV for auction & speaker, and podium)
Meeting room fees if applicable
Publicity – printing fees, etc.
Table arrangements
Badges
Goody bags
Postage for mailings
Postage to return Region 15 seedling bed plants, if necessary
Miscellaneous costs – auction supplies, registrar’s supplies, phone bills, flags to mark Region 15 plants in each garden, etc.
Income for the meeting is primarily from registrations, sales table, and a portion of the speaker auction if there is one, and if the speaker agreement is for some of the auction plants to be part of speaker compensation.

The Regional secretary will record the minutes for the official Regional Business meeting. The secretary from the host club should record items of note during the remainder of the meeting, like other contributions, contributors, event speakers, etc., that are outside of the Regional business meeting so “thank you’s” and other acknowledgement, including recognition in the Hemalina can be made. Prior to the start of the meeting, the club/meeting secretary should coordinate with the Regional secretary and the Regional Editor to insure full coverage.
Budgets, projection information, meeting schedules, extra meetings needed during the event, and information relative to expenses from previous meetings, are being requested from previous Host Clubs. These can be provided to future Host Clubs on request, from the Regional Meetings Liaison, or RP, to provide realistic guidelines for future Host Clubs.
In addition to the above guidelines, the region will work with recent Host clubs to maintain a set of meeting planning information, including budgets, actual costs such as hotels & buses, previous auction lists, etc., to additionally use as planning tools, although these costs will vary some, dependent on meeting location.

Article IV, Section 1c: History of Host Clubs since 1995
Region 15 Meeting Hosts Since 1995*
Catawba Valley: S. 2012

Coastal NC: F. 2020 (postponed to 2021)

Foothills: F. 2012; S. 2020 (postponed to 2021)

Georgetown: S. 1995, F. 1998, S. 1999, F. 2004; S. 2005; F. 2005; F. 2011; S. 2013; S. 2018*

Low Country: F. 2000; S. 2001; F. 2006; S. 2007; F. 2010: S. 2019

Piedmont: F. 1997, S. 1998, S. 2003; S. 2008; F. 2014; S. 2016; F. 2019

Mid Carolina: F. 1996, S. 1997, F. 2001; S. 2003; F. 2008; S. 2011; F. 2017

Raleigh: F. 1995, S. 1996, F. 2005; S. 2006; F. 2013; S. 2017

Sandhills: F. 1999, S. 2000; F. 2009; S. 2010; F. 2015; F. 2021 (postponed to 2022)

Triad: F. 2016

Up State: S. 2002; S.2009; S. 2015; F. 2018

WNC: F. 2002; S. 2014*

Clubs no longer existing but which served as hosts since 2000:
Central: F. 2003; S. 2004
NC Daylily Fans: F. 2007

New Club that has not yet served as hosts:
Charleston

*Clubs that hosted National Conventions in lieu of a Regional Meeting

REGION 15 policy and procedures​

[uploaded july 2022]

REGION 15 policy and procedures