ILR Board Face-to-Face Meeting and Annual Meeting 2005
by Jan Wassink, ILR Registrar

The ILR Board of Directors and ILR Registrar met in Sutter Creek, CA July 22 – 24, 2005, for their annual face-to-face meeting. Sutter Creek is near Plymouth, CA which was the location of the 2005 LANA Expo (Llama Association of North America) where the ILR held its 2005 Annual Meeting on Friday, June 24.

The ILR board welcomed its newest board member, Mark Smith, who was elected to fulfill the one year vacancy left by the resignation of Art Kennel. As the top vote getter in the 2005 ILR election, Karen Baum was elected to a new five-year term.

The face-to-face was a productive time to review the ILR financial reports and to discuss possibilities for the future direction of the Registry. The current contract for the administration of the American Miniature Llama Association (AMLA) was reviewed and it was noted the AMLA is pleased with the way the process is working. However, it was pointed out by the Registrar that there are still improvements that can be made. Various other opportunities for diversification of the Registry administration were examined. Among those is the New Zealand Registry which has communicated to the ILR that they have made a decision to contract with the ILR to provide registration for its members on-line. The implementation of that process is underway. There was also discussion regarding the contract with the Suri Llama Association to provide registry services for their members. The ILR board approved the contract as presented with a couple of minor additions. The reality of economies of scales realized by the ILR through providing services to other registries is very real and results in a win-win situation for all and is definitely worth pursuing.

The Annual Meeting was a productive time where Registrar, Jan Wassink, presented a Power Point presentation on the state of the Registry which included information regarding memberships, registrations and general trends as reflected by business conducted with the Registry by llama owners. The data highlighted that the majority of owners of registered llamas own three to four llamas as opposed to large herds. It was noted the llama industry has moved from being primarily a breeders’ market to a users’ market. It was emphasized that the ILR must continue to work toward meeting the challenge of providing registry services needed by all of its members–whether they are a breeder with a herd of hundreds of animals or a user with a single llama.