Council of North American Map Societies (CONAMS)
Minutes of Meeting November 9, 2007

Attendance: John Docktor (CONAMS), Wes Brown (Rocky Mtn. MS), Tom Sander (SHD), Susan Caughey (California MS), Art Hotzheimer (Chicago MS), David Jones (Edmonton MS), Ky Kylander (Boston MS), John Hébert (Phillips Soc.), Bill Warren (California MS), Yolanda Thennissen (Osher Map Library Associates), Diane Powell (Texas MS), Jim Walker (Northwest prospect), Alice Hudson (New York MS), Dennis McClinton (Chicago MS), Bill Stanley (Washington MS), Chris Baruth (Map Society of Wisconsin).

After introductions, the first order of business was to review the Mission Statement which was moved by Alice Hudson, Seconded by Bill Stanley and adopted as follows:
Mission Statement of the Council of North American Map Societies
The Council will serve North American map societies by assisting them to better accomplish their common interests and respective missions through sharing information, sharing best practices, and communicating schedules of activities.

Best practices to increase membership were discussed and can be summarized as follows:
PROGRAM and ACTIVITIES
1. Maintain a website. Members receive significant benefit from a website any members are secured this way.
2. Connect the map society to a local cartographical institution such as a library or university.
3. Get the map society's meetings on the local institution's published calendar that they promote.
4. Consider occasional changes in venue for meetings. This is essential for large states like California. The venues' appeal has been found to affect attendance.
5. Occasionally including programs on broader topics than old maps brings in a different audience.
6. Field trips away from the standard meeting place.
7. Home tours with noteworthy collections.
8. Map show-and-tell sessions or "Members memorable map session".
9. Inviting the conservator of the affiliated institution to bring in maps for a consulting session and have experts give a talk on conservation
10. Combined buying with group purchase for discounts.
11. Publish a members' directory.
12. Have a map fair, even if just occasionally.
13. Rotate officers; many societies use the VP as program chair.
14. Maintain an electronic newsletter.
15. Link the MS meeting with some other cartographic event (ie., exhibit, conference)

MARKETING:
1. Develop a flyer about your society with a tear-off membership form. Color printing is found to attract more attention.
2. Get dealers to put brochures about your society in their mailings.
3. Have your flyer out at local libraries, book stores and especially map dealers.
4. Actively manage your website and pay special attention to connecting with search engines.
5. Each state has its own geographical or geography alliance made up of teachers of geography. They probably have a website and could promote the MS' meetings.
6. Get announcements of meetings into state historical societies or university geography mailers.
7. Have a director of public relations.
8. Get the local institutions to link to your website.
9. Have members give talks at schools as an outreach tool.

The proposal of Paul Mathias that CONAMS, or the individual societies, sponsor or somehow affiliate with the state and/or national geography bees was discussed. The group decided to leave that to the National Geographic Society or any individual map society acting on their own.

It was suggested that at the next meeting there be a discussion of sharing map related archives of private collections.

John Docktor was reappointed CONAMS' President and Wes Brown the Secretary.

The next meeting will be in October in Arlington Texas. Diane Powell will arrange for a suitable meeting place and time during the meetings of the Texas Map Society, Virginia Garrett Lectures, or Society for the History of Discoveries.