KESDA Fall Board Meeting
October 23, 2011

The KESDA board meeting took place on the campus of Georgetown College on Sunday, October 23 at 2:00 p,m. Members present included Dr. Ed Smith, Betsy Smith, Krys Lynam, Kellie Crump, Robin Glascock, and Helen Williams-Wicker.

The board discussed changes to the tournament schedules. For both tournaments, draw for broadcasting quarters will take place at 8:30 Saturday morning. This should help keep Group finals moving.

Please recall that persuasion and informative are being replaced at the senior tournament. Expository speaking will take the place of persuasion, and oratory will replace informative.

The possibility of changing the junior tournament to a two-flight tournament was considered and rejected.

New rules for senior public speaking events will be added to the KESDA handbook. Helen Wicker-Williams presented her research on rules used by other states. She made a motion to allow students to use visual aids in expository speaking. This passed unanimously. At the senior tournament, therefore, expository speaking will follow NFL rules with the exception that visual aids will be allowed.

The board discussed the possibility of increasing the amount of compensation to its directors. Various means of raising funds were proposed.

To increase participation by new teams at the KESDA tournament, an events page will be created on Facebook by Krys Lynam. Ed and Betsy will compose an email blitz of coaches in the state. Ed got the board members’ permission to offer a reduced fee of $20 to new teams or to teams who haven’t attended KESDA in five or more years. The board enthusiastically brainstormed a list of KESDA’s strengths for inclusion in the email.

The need for coaches to make sure their judges and chaperones have had background checks will be stressed in this year’s tournament invitations. We realize that your usual tournament judges have probably been checked, but we want to remind coaches to do this.

Robin Glascock made a motion to increase KESDA tournament entry fees from $5 to $7 for individuals and from $10 to $14 for duo teams. Group fees will be $7 for each group member. While no one wants to put undue burdens on teams, the KESDA fees have remained the same for many years. This passed unanimously.

The board noted confusing KESDA content on the internet. While kesda.org remains our official site, googling “KESDA” results a listing of many outdated items. Hopefully our web administrator will be able to remove this material as well as replace the handbook on the website with the most recent handbook. The board members are also looking at the handbook for confusing language and any errors that need to be removed.

This year we will be adding a consent form to the KESDA invitation asking permission to use photographs and/or video on the KESDA website and Facebook page.

The board members discussed ways of relieving overused judges during Saturday’s out-rounds. As always, we would like to see a large number of well-qualified judges, so coaches statewide will be invited to judge for compensation. In addition, junior coaches are invited to judge for senior and vice versa. In keeping with the cooperative spirit of the SPEAK conference, we will be extending an invitation for Dr. Cooper of KHSSL to participate.

The KESDA board held its annual spring meeting on 4 June 2011 at the Ruth Pierce Wilson Lab Theatre on the campus of Georgetown College. Those present included co-directors Dr. Ed Smith and Betsy Smith, member-at-large Krys Lynam, and members Kellie Crump, Robin Glascock, Allen Ball, Rachel Doan, and Helen Williams.

Our beginning balance for the 2010-2011 school year was $1225.93. Currently the balance is 4, 954.28. Dr. Smith shared a financial break-down with the board.

Helen Williams moved to establish a date by which event winners must return savings bond applications for processing. Krys Lynam made a friendly amendment to make June 30, the end of each current fiscal year, the expiration date. This passed unanimously.

Dr. Smith stated that KESDA is in the black. However, Georgetown College gives KESDA $1,500 yearly to help with tournament expenses. This is not guaranteed and without it KESDA would not be running in the black.

A discussion took place regarding the high school students’ ability to double out of Congress. Helen Williams and Allen Ball, both Congress judges, felt it wasn’t disruptive to the judging process or to the running of the house to have students coming in late. The doubling student’s Congress performance might suffer, but that being the choice of the individual, no motion was made.

The use of contest speeches in declamation was also discussed. As the vast majority of contest speeches do not fit the event’s intent as stated in the KESDA handbook, no motion was made.

Robin Glascock made a motion to combine informative and persuasive speaking, labeling the event Original Oratory, and add expository speaking, using NFL rules. This passed unanimously, with the friendly amendment that rules clarification would take place at the fall meeting.

The board discussed the possibility of having Broadcasting quarters on Friday evening instead of Saturday morning because of conflicts with Group Interp. It was decided instead to move the broadcasting draw to 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Kellie Crump posed the possibility of adding After Dinner Speaking or an abbreviated version of Rhetorical Criticism for Middle School. After discussing those events, as well as Expository Speaking, the discussion was tabled in favor of surveying the KESDA membership regarding what events might be cut and which added.

Several improvements to the website were proposed, including a separate tab for tournament results and making the search for KESDA information easier.

A question about the use of foreign phrases in forensics arose at the KESDA tournament this winter. The handbook states that all performances must be in English. After much discussion, the board proposed adding an explanation of when and what foreign phrases might be permissible.

Robin Glascock moved to raise the KESDA entry fee from $35 to $40. This passed unanimously.

A long discussion explored the question of what counts as published material. No motion was made.

The board discussed making it a requirement for judges to include a clear reason for decision on each ballot. This is something judges have consistently been asked to do but all too frequently ignore. Rachel Doan made a motion to charge a $50 judge drop fee for judges who fail to do this and to add a clear line on the ballot where reason for decision must be written.

Dr. Smith will assign board members events to revamp so that the handbook will be more clear and concise. He encouraged looking at other states’ and organizations’ wording for useful guidance.

Members discussed the use of multiple monologue pieces in Interpretation of Literature. After an extended discussion, it became clear that this needed to be more clearly defined in the handbook.

A motion was made to pay Dr. and Mrs. Smith $3,500 for tournament management. It passed unanimously.