MOTIONS THIS MONTH

• • The board agreed to make the Minstrel sound system available to the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, governed by the conditions described below.

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8:09 p.m., at the home of Rick & Cathy Thomas.

Roll Call

Present were Lois DeRitter, Evelyn Maurer, Brad Pryor, Bobbie Rosengarten, Mark Schaffer and Jim West (Trustees),

Mike Agranoff, Paul Axel-Lute, Andy Koenig, George Otto, Pat Rolston, Bob Safranek, Larry Flanigan, Alice Weimer, Barb Moo, Jean Scully, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Gwen Orel and Chris Riemer (Other Board Members) and Pam Robinson, Rick Thomas and Allen Kugel (Guests). Absent were Ralph Litwin, Sandie Reilly and Julie Pasqual.

Secretary's Report

Meeting was called to order with a quorum. Corrections to the minutes were accepted with a snort by the secretary and minutes were accepted as amended.

Treasurer's Report

Patsy reported 22,319.02 bank balance. It was a good month for income because we had in addition to 6 coffeehouses, 2 Swingin' Tern dances and the New Year's Eve dance.

Due to our insurance company overestimating our attendance, they were overcharging us by nearly 50%, $5,000 vs a proper $2700. The refund we just received will actually cover our premium for the year. At the end of each policy period in August, we must give them the actual attendance figures. Pat will examine that the refund is reallocated in the same way that they premium was ;It's about a $1 per head in premium. Gwen needs to know what her portion of the premium is so she can accurately figure the price to pay the bands at special concert. The new way we are calculating G&A expenses causes some headaches but is more accurate. Our equity account that supplements the fest budget now has generated enough interest & income to cover our festival expenses. Patsy will roll any excess back into the equity account.

OLD & NEW BUSINESS

Perpetual Calendar/Board Manual

The insurance issue raised the need for a perpetual calendar of critical dates and tasks that must be done every year to give continuity despite changes on the Board. Bobbie will make the first stab at this. Folks should keep a list of things they do as they come up so that we can have the current list of duties.

Document Retention Project

Bobbie is liaison person to give to Rutgers archives. Chris has spoken to lawyers re what we should hold onto, but we need a Record Retention person to keep hold of the papers. Pam will look at the possibility of doing this & will answer at the next board meeting.

Loaning FP Sound System to MUF

Mike proposes that SS be available for MUF events so long as the user is knowledgeable and has been trained to our satisfaction. Seconded by Larry. Discussion ensued regarding various concerns, including restricting this to MUF as a body, not to individual members; making it clear that we get first dibs, and that the system can't walk out the door unless it's being run by our people, and we can't guarantee our people will be available. Might there be an insurance issue? We're insured against fire & theft, but what if someone gets hurt on our equipment? Bob will contact the insurance company.

Bob as the Sound Chair and Mike as Minstrel Chair will talk.

New amended motion: Minstrel sound system be made available to MUF events subject to approval of Sound Committee, and based on common sense restrictions. Barb Seconded. Motion carried.

Website Advertising

A luthier contacted George wanting to advertise on our site. A lively discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of accepting an ad vs adding a link to a commercial site from our website, or just encouraging the person to join FP and then advertise in our Performer's Resource List. The general concensus: Ads, Bad; Links, okay. George will forward the ad request to Gwen for inclusion in the spec concert program, where she plans to include ads & sponsors.

Sing Out in Harmony

Sing Out magazine is running a promo campaign and will offer us $20 for every person who signs up through FP, which largesse we could share in. We can put it in the website or advertise it some way to get the word out. Not clear what time limit is; it does apply to folks who join through the FP , don't have to be FP members. Subscription to Sing Out is approx $60. We will add to newsletter; not sure about the website yet. Chris will talk to Liz.

Sexfold Brochure

As stated at last month's meeting, Mark will be looking into updating this in April. Mark & Elizabeth did update existing brochures' prices with stickers.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Membership

There were peaks around the festival time, which Ken is looking into. We could increase membership by emphasizing its benefits; i.e., discounts for Festival, Sing Out magazine, NERFA, Champlain Valley Folk Festival. Please email Barb Moo with your ideas re these benefits; we'll have them on the website and in the newletter soon.

Newsletter

Our Newsleditor asks that if you are repeating information that was in a previous newsletter, you must give her the exact date of the previous citation so she doesn't have to search all over through multiple files.

Publicity

No report from the absent Alice.

Webmaster

George has been unable to access stats for the website, despite the fact that we are paying for these. He has sent them an email. George is contemplating some changes to the navigation bar to get to the membership area and other new items, like contact info for the board, the performer's resource list (not on the website now). We had a faux FP card on the website, could do it again.

The boutique email for merchandising is now store@folkproject.org and Swingin Tern is now dance@folkproject.org. George will be doing the monthly Paypal sweep, approximately $700 for special concert tickets so far. board@folkproject.org would be a new boutique link to email the Board as a whole

Merchandising

We will be selling CDs at Special Concert, which will accrue to the general fund as always. Chris will send Mike D a note re the merchandising opportunity.

Internal Affairs

Jean still needed a venue for the March Evening o' Music.(Subsequently filled by Cecelia Roweter.) Mark reported that many exciting things were going on for the Valentine's Day show; we are in the MUF newsletter and have one new person from MUF for the Minstrels of Love. Jazz trio & the big band are coming out great and we have a couple of folks performing for the first time ever!

Community Affairs

Elizabeth will be taking out an FP ad in the NJ Folk Festival program – ½ page is $200. She's has had requests for performers, and is expecting more.

Sound Reinforcement

Great workshop at beginning of January already generated some new sound folks. Many repairs are needed to the system but they are being taken care of.

Minstrel Booking

Great numbers in January, average was 113 including open stage! Not including open state, 141! Two acts made over $1,000, Harmonytryx & Kennedys, great! Average for the last 12 months was 97.7. Year before that was 83 so we seem to be pulling out of our decline. The April 21st show is Village Harmony, big choir that draws from all over NE, and go on tour once per year. They do very gutsy choral music. Housing for 25 teenagers is needed; Mark and Robin might do it. We will need bedding.

Minstrel Staffing

Sandie reported they are enjoying the kitchen at MUF and her staff is doing a great job. Special Concert will have a potluck dinner with band and dancers for the volunteers. Sandie will clear the early arrival with MUF. Sandie made ticks cards to give to friends of volunteers. Please call Sandie if you need her; don't use email only.

Swingin' Tern

Attendance has been good at last 3 dances. However, the church is raising our rent by 75% to $245 from $175. They asked for it to be effective in February, we asked for a graduated increase and to put off the increase to April; no reply yet as of the meeting. We will increase the admission price to $10.

Horses

Sandie has a lot of CDs from reviews. She will be donating them to her town library and will create a folk section. FP Band Music Town is going to playing Horses.

Special Concerts

Regan Wick school of Irish Dance will be on the flyer. As of the meeting, the concert was almost sold out, having sold 113 tix and others outstanding at our venues. There was a discussion of how to prevent being over sold, when we have tickets being sold through PayPal as well as at other venues (in this case, Old Mill Inn and Ginty's Irish Gifts.) Gwen took out an ad in the Irish Echo & on WRSU and sales took off. Gwen asked for info re grant deadlines. She would like to try to sell business card ads in the program, or sponsorship, angels, etc. This would cover us in the event of storms etc. The house concert at Mark & Robin Schaffer's will be $15, followed by a party that night and then a harmony singing workshop the next day.

Festival

Got 160 replies to the survey on the web, far more than expected! We might be forming a relationship with a B&B nearby to get folks who don't like the housing. Prize awarded to one person ,2 tix to minstrel, 2 tix to Swingin Tern & 2 tshirts. Registration is open for Spring festival, Tanglefoot, Billy Jonas & Claudia Schmidt! Booked for fall festival: The Kennedys, Joel Mabus, We're about Nine, coming as a duo, which would be We're About Six.

GOOD OF THE ORDER:

Mike Agranoff's company is being swallowed up by a North Carolina company. Engineering will still be in NJ and Mike still has a job to continue his extravagant lifestyle. Gwen is now Dr. Orel! She is going to have her violin restrung and start playing again after some inspiration from Sandie. Elizabeth's son Thomas made the B honor roll at his new school. Margaret Crowl is having elective surgery on Thursday. Jeannie Rowe wrote a piece of music that's in a movie; we will find out more info. Andy is very happy to be in the Early Music Players. They will be doing a concert in Bernardsville for Shakespeare's birthday. Sandie reported an inspirational concert with Lowen & Navarro; Lowen has ALS, but it was a great concert despite his disability due to his sheer force of will and determination. Mark's dad just turned 92. Beth Grout & Ken Chandler got married in November and are living in Pasadena, MD. Brad, after having been on the board and attending festival, Swingin Tern and Horses, thanks us for his transformation over the last few years. Siobhan Scully made high honor roll & joined jazz band. Lindsey Meyer fell and broke her hand and had surgery; she would appreciate a call.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30. Next meeting will be March 7th at the home of Bob Safranek & Pam Robinson.