X-Message-Number: 677 Date: 25 Mar 92 09:24:40 EST From: "Russell E. Whitaker" <> Subject: cryonetuk: Minutes of the March Alcor UK meeting Minutes of the Sunday, 2 March 1992 meeting of Alcor UK Ltd at the Alcor laboratory facility in Eastbourne, England Meeting began 1117 Present were: Russell Earl Whitaker Alan Sinclair Dan O'Brien Steve Whitrow Patricia Cross Garret Smyth Michael Price Andrew Clifford Chris Benatar Steve Franklin Christopher Darvill (a local high school teacher, on a research assignment) 1.) Mike Price stated that he will send out list of the local membership, to whom the newsletter and minutes will be sent, to Steve Whitrow and Russell Whitaker, so that the mailing tasks can be rotated between at least 3 of the active members. Whoever sends out a mailing will notify the Treasurer of expenses incurred, against possible future reimbursement. 2.) Russell Whitaker said his workload and travels had prevented him from typing in the list of labels provided by Alcor US; he pledged to have the task finished by the next meeting. 3.) Russell Whitaker mentioned he was still waiting for a purchase order "from above" for his Apple laser printer; until then, the newsletter has been put on hold. 4.) There has been no more news from Alcor Life Extension Foundation about the issue of money claimed owed. General agreement was that this matter would not be pursued further, based on the presumption that several attempts to elicit information had come up dry. 5.) It was agreed that the local organization will spend no more money on print advertising. We have had unexpected success attracting prospects by the non-technique of self-selection: it seems that the "extropians" Usenet electronic mail list, a special interest group, attracted several interested people to make inquiries. Dan O'Brien, present at this meeting, had found out about us by this method. Most present agreed to continue actively cultivating the computer network contacts thus gained, and to assist any information requests made as quickly as possible. 6.) There was discussion on the press coverage being giving to our existence as a cryonics organization. Russell Whitaker suggested some guidelines for dealing with reporters: set time limits, disallow props, and find out exactly what a particular news organization intends to do with the footage and/or other material gathered in an interview. These guidelines, among others discussed, are intended to minimize the time eaten by reporters who routinely claim they only need a fraction of the meeting day to conduct an interview: an ideal situation which never prevails. The day-long filming session of the "Scarfe on Death" segment was given as an example. Alan Sinclair said the BBC had told him the "Scarfe" episode won't air until summer or autumn. 7.) In the last month, we received a few information requests, which Alan Sinclair fulfilled by mailing Alcor "Handbooks" to the inquirers. Russell Whitaker took the letters home with him, to add to a growing prospect database. He will fax copies of the locally-received letters to Alcor in southern California. 8.) Russell Whitaker was requested to send email to Carlos Mondragon at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, to determine if 75% of membership fees paid by UK members to Alcor US will be refunded to the local operation. If such occurs, it was determined that we will immediately pay bills out of the refund. 9) This month's facility bills were passed around, and several of us picked up our "favorites" to pay out of pocket. As usual, individual members were reminded to keep records, and report all expenditures to the Treasurer. 10.) Russell Whitaker received a draft copy of the proposed Alcor charter for Alcor chapters, to show to other Alcor UK Ltd. officers. Given the length of the document, he will send Alan Sinclair a fax copy of the proposal. He will also request of Tanya Jones, at Alcor US, that she send an email copy to him, which he will then distribute to the other officers. 11.) It was remarked that several more of our local members have picked up electronic mail accounts. Andrew Clifford, present, was in the process of signing up for CompuServe, and will soon join CryoNetUK and the cryonet list run by Kevin Q. Brown, in the United States. It was also remarked that the presence of most of the Alcor UK officers on email services is leading to a "virtual board meeting" on a perpetual basis, where decisions are being made quickly, and outside inquiries are being dealt with expeditiously. Both Garret Smyth and Alan Sinclair expressed interest in picking up modems and CompuServe accounts in the near future, with Garret stating he was "looking" already. 12.) Russell Whitaker said that March was the first month he was not committed to travel abroad, and that he would pick up 2 pagers from either Vodafone or London Pager, contingent upon Alan Sinclair's agreement to the purchase or rental terms attached. 13.) A very unusual request from a Continental man was fielded in a preceding week by Russell Whitaker and Mike Price. The person was considered by both to be someone not worth dealing with, for various reasons privately discussed. Discussion followed on how we might systematically handle similar unusual requests for information and/or services, and it was decided that the immediate first action would be to refer such persons directly to the President of Alcor, Carlos Mondragon. It was also agreed that any member who did this would notify Carlos immediately, and also notify as many of the other Alcor UK Ltd officers as possible, to discuss the situation. 14.) Mike Price recently received a call from a production company charged with selection of guests for a local ITV talk show of humorous bent. Mike passed the production-company rep to Russell Whitaker. The rep requested an interview for a following week. Russell expressed reservations, due to the "eat 'em alive" reputation of the talk show host; Mike Price suggested that Russell propose that the show take both Price and Whitaker. Russell will follow up on this. 15.) Russell Whitaker will call the person, a non-member, who collected all the cryonics-related insurance information, and have him send a fax copy. 16.) Russell Whitaker committed to make a new Alcor UK Ltd letterhead, based on information to be sent him by Mike Price. 17.) Alan Sinclair was given a cheque for 2000 pounds sterling from Steve Whitrow, to increase his share in the laboratory; hearty cheers resounded, and the meeting ended 1400. Contribution was duly noted by Mike Price, in his role as Treasurer. 18.) Keys for the facility were distributed by Mike to: Russell Whitaker Steve Whitrow Andrew Clifford/Patrica Cross with Alan Sinclair and Michael Price retaining their copies. One copy to be sent to Carlos Mondragon Respectfully submitted, Russell Earl Whitaker Recording secretary [After comments and corrections added 22 March 1992 by Mike Price - REW] Standard disclaimer: Alcor UK Ltd. is a legal entity incorporated in the United Kingdom. There exists no statutory or contractual tie between it and the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Riverside, California, United States of America. Distribution: CryoNetUK cryonet Alcor Life Extension Foundation, by electronic mail Alan Sinclair, by facsimile Local membership at large, by post Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=677