June 2007

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

Jim King moved that we authorize Horses Sing None of It to acquire hardware and materials that will allow the production of programs in the mini-DVD format that is now required by some outlets, with a spending cap set at $1,200. This motion was approved.

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8 pm on June 5, 2007 at the home of Chris Riemer.

Roll Call

Present were Lois DeRitter, Jim King, Andy Koenig, Evelyn Maurer, Barbara Moo, Bobbie Rosengarten, Mark Schaffer and Jim West (Trustees), Mike Agranoff, Lori Falco, Larry Flanigan, Elizabeth Lachowicz, George Otto, Brad Pryor, Tom Pylant, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Pat Rolston, Bob Safranek, Rivka Willick (Other Board Members) and Rick Thomas and Lindsey Meyer (Guests).

Absent were Bob Isaacs, Paul Axel-Lute and Jean Scully.

Secretary’s Report

The minutes for April were accepted with the following corrections:

• • The Treasurer’s Report should have said that we have approximately $20,000 in checking.

  • Change the reference to the Festival survey from “recent” to “January 2006”.

  • In Good of the Order, the name of Paul’s cousin was Melinda Gail Axel.

  • The information about Seton Hall offering us an intern should have the header “Inbox.”

Treasurer’s Report

Chris explained that the Special Concerts grant actually bridged our fiscal year, covering activities held from October 2006 to May 2007. He's been showing the full $2,000 on the books as 2007 income, but now that Pam has closed out the grant period, she's decided to split the money, and $1,000 has been allocated to the Cherish the Ladies concert held in December 2007, 2006 with the rest of it shared by the events held this year.

The result is that our 2007 Year-to-Date income has gone down by $1,000. At the end of the year, we'll make note in our tax filing of this and any other anomalies that might appear as the result of our switch from cash to accrual accounting.

Chris wants to open a Money Market account for us. We decided that this was at the Treasurer’s discretion and no motion was needed.

Chris has been sending the financial reports in the format used by QuickBooks, but people who use Macs can’t view the reports. Since QuickBooks also allows reports to be converted to the Excel format we decided that, going forward, Chris would send them out in both QuickBooks and Excel format.

Barbara noted that she loves having our accounting system online and suggests that you log on if you want to understand our finances.

Pat said that filing the papers for the NJ charitable registration program requires a copy of the previous year’s taxes. The taxes have been completed, but not mailed yet. She has applied for a tax extension and noted that the Key Dates program is working really well

Key Dates

Tax Return/Form 990 May 15 Pat Rolston

File NJ Registration June 30 Treasurer

BUSINESS ITEMS

Ad for Clearwater Festival Program:

Pam has placed our ad in the Clearwater festival program using the same copy as we used for the NJ Folk Festival. She is researching the rates at Falcon Ridge and Philly. She feels that we need better name recognition both inside and outside our area.

Acquisition of Mini-DV Recorder for HSNOI

Ralph was absent, but presented this issue via email.

Jim K. moved that we authorize HSNOI to do the mini-DV format using the best knowledge available for $1,200 maximum, and we don’t specify the equipment and we let them okay it. George seconded the motion. Rick suggested an amendment to set the limit to $1,200 including tapes and storage unit. The amendment was accepted. The motion passed with one no vote and one abstention.

George had some suggestions regarding purchasing a duplicator rather than a camcorder. Barbara asked George to speak with Don Riemer about this.

Mike asked if grant money could be applied to the purchase. Sandie said it would not, but Pam said that it could. Chris suggested we cut the money for the cleaning cassette. (Chris's suggestion that we decline Ralph's request to spend $8.00 on a cleaning cassette was intended as a joke. Lori is searching eBay to see if she can bid on a new sense of humor. Her old one seems to be broken.) Mike asked if George’s company could donate the use of their equipment and George thought it might be possible, but Sandie felt that this was an arrangement that wouldn’t work well for HSNOI.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Minstrel Booking

May was not a good month and was similar to April. We averaged 77 attendance for shows not counting Open Stage and 83.5 in the last 12 months. In the previous 12 months we averaged 101. We had a good year the first year we moved to MUF, but now attendance is declining and we don’t know why. For YTD we are $1600 in the black.

For this month, Mike invited people who inquired about the Open Stage to our Evening of Music. This should be more effective than inviting them on the night of the coffeehouse, which gives them only one day’s notice. Mike’s performance and CD release celebration has been moved to 10/26 to make room for an Internal Affairs concert entitled, “Four Folk Project Divas”. The Divas concert will be held on 11/23. Other upcoming acts: Dugan’s Hooligan’s 8/31; Amy Gallatin 10/19.

Barbara asked how current attendance figures compare to our last year at the Cultural Center. Mike said they were about the same as they are now. Evelyn said that perhaps our first year at MUF we attracted members of the fellowship who were curious. Mike said he hadn’t noticed that.

The venue for Sanctuary Concerts is being renovated in September and October, so they will be holding their concerts at MUF during that time. Barbara said that MUF asked for someone from the FP to be there to open up. Since Mike DelVecchio does their sound and is a FP member, we are covered in that regard. We will be loaning them our sound equipment. Evelyn suggested that they add a statement to their program thanking us for the loan. Barbara noted that our flyers should be out.

Mike said he would e-mail us the Minstrel attendance and financial figures next time. He reminded us that the birthday show is coming up – “Be part of it.”

Minstrel Staffing

We have over 160 volunteers, but there are many that we haven’t heard from in a while. Rick suggested running a plea in the newsletter on a regular basis. Tom asked Sandie to send him copy.

Swingin’ Tern

Paul was absent, but submitted a report via e-mail.

George said that Paul had sent him a very legalistic paragraph for the Web page saying that you should not dance unless you’re in good shape. He felt that this did not belong on a web page and would like the statement to be more general. Barbara suggested that George work it out with Paul. Bob S. said that other venues do not have such notices posted. Andy suggested that we not post any warnings anywhere unless we are required to do so.

HSNOI

Ralph was absent, but submitted a report via email.

Special Concerts

Pam was present, but also submitted a preliminary report via e-mail.

Pam said the committee is looking at two concerts for 2008, possibly in connection with the dance.

The committee could use some more members. We did run an ad in the newsletter, but felt that it should be run again. Tom asked Pam to send the copy to him and said he would run it.

Festival

Ken was absent, but submitted a report via e-mail:

The Festival lost about $4,900. We asked for feedback in the newsletter and have received only one or two responses so far. Barbara explained that the camp has raised the minimum to 200 which means 170 full paid adults and 30 tenters, children or people who opt out of the meal plan. In the past the minimum was 190 and if we fell below the minimum the camp would discount the fee for the missing people. They are not going to do that anymore. This time we paid the full rate for 43 empty beds. We need to decide how we can get the 50 missing people to start coming. Suggestions include moving to a different location and holding the Festival only once a year. Barbara suggested people send ideas to her and come to a brainstorming session on 6/18, which the Festival committee will attend.

Lori noted that about 1/3 of the Board members do not attend Festival. It was suggested that those Board members send Barbara an e-mail and explain why they don’t attend.

Mike said that if you do regularly attend, “twist some arms.” He said the best publicity is word of mouth. Chris said that if we have to twist arms, we’re doing something wrong. He said that the results of the January 2006 survey are still available and would like to send them to the Board. We thought he should ask Ken’s permission first, and then if Ken is okay with it, to go ahead.

There may have been a misunderstanding regarding Ken’s thoughts on the cost of the Festival. Mark noted that Ken understands that cost is a big issue to many. Barbara added that Ken thinks it is a good value for what we provide but he knows money is an issue for many people.

Margaret Crowl has talked about funding scholarships.

Storytelling

The Storytelling Committee has officially absorbed the statewide youth competition into their Festival. The youth competition is run by the National Storytelling chapter. Pam suggested that we run a notice of this in the newsletter. George said that if Rivka would send him the details he will put it on the web page. Tom said that Rivka should send him information on the youth contest and the festival.

Membership

Membership is under control. Bobbie asked if we have updated rosters. Pat said she would send them out.

Rivka noted that we ask members if they are performers. Could we also ask if they are dancers or story tellers? Mike said that they put the performer information in so he would know who to contact for the birthday party and these other questions should be separate. Barbara suggested that Rivka and Mike should work this out with Pat. Elizabeth said this could also be connected to the Performer’s Resource list. Pat said we could redesign the membership form, based on what we need. George said that if people let him know what we need he will redesign the form. Barbara said that Rivka should work with Pat, Tom and George. Rivka noted that putting questions about telling and dancing on the form makes a statement that we’re not just about musicians.

Newsletter

Tom said that Mark had given wonderful feedback on the layout. “My dream was it would not look like an engineer was doing it,” he said. He feels that the newsletter needs more “frilly stuff.” George offered to send him clip art, of which he has 750,000 pieces. Tom asked him not to send it all at once. He is still seeking feedback. Barbara said, “I noticed it was more frilly, and I’m an engineer.”

Tom will be traveling a lot in the coming months and may need help picking up, stamping and mailing the newsletter. Barbara suggested that when he needs help he should send an e-mail to fullboard.

Publicity/Webmaster

Our RSS hits are still climbing. If you have any trouble with RSS, let George know. Hits for the festival page are up; the rest are mostly level. George has been tweaking the Performer’s Resource list and thinks we have a good format now. He encourages people to send him photos. The storytelling page has been updated and we have had a registration. Rivka said that the PayPal button didn’t work because another group copied our page, but we seem to be all right now. George said he’d like to ask other organizations not to put up a PayPal button that points to us.

HSNOI has information on international shipping for DVDs. We have had international orders and about half are from Europe. We do not need to charge tax for the DVDs because we checked with our attorney who said it is not necessary for us to do so.

George will post a warning on the Minstrel web page that shows will start at 8 pm beginning in August. He would like the calendar page a week before the end of each month.

Rivka would like to add a donations button for storytelling. PayPal can handle this. George has also added such a button for HSNOI. We discussed adding one for the FP in general and there was a consensus to do that. The receipts from donations come from PayPal. George has a note on the site saying that within a week you should get an acknowledgement from the venue. He suggested that each venue send out a thank you e-mail. Chris suggested we add some copy on the web saying why people should donate.

George showed us a very nice 3-D model of the festival concert space that he created using SketchUp, a program that is free from Google.

Merchandising

The man who produces our T-shirts will be at the Windgap festival next weekend. Brad will talk to him there about ordering some for us. We said that the number he orders is up to him.

Brad asked if we could sell T-shirts on the web. We can, and Brad should discuss this with George offline. We would need to charge tax for them . It is possible to do this, and Brad should discuss this with George offline. We would not have to collect sales tax for them because we are in NJ and the state does not charge sales tax for apparel. However, if we sell taxable items on the web we would have to collect tax for them. We are exempted from collecting sales tax at the boutique at Festival because it is considered “occasional sales”. However, if we sell merchandise on the web, we would lose that exemption and have to collect tax at the boutique as well. Before we put merchandise up for sale on the Internet, George and Brad should coordinate with the Treasurer.

Community Affairs

Laura Hertz is still in the hospital. She got a staph infection after having surgery. Bill Meyer thanked us for the sympathy card.

Mike offered to add information on the Performer’s Resource list to the birthday party invitation. George mentioned that people send him e-mails asking how they can find people to play with. He responds that they should check out the Performer’s Resource list and also check out Evenings of Music.

Sound Reinforcement

Bob has the old sound board from Swingin’ Tern in his garage and was looking for suggestions as to what to do with it. Barbara said that it’s up to him to decide. Mike said he could put the word out to other folk venues. Chris suggested advertising it in the newsletter – perhaps one of our members would like to buy it.

Internal Affairs

Reporting for the absent Jean Scully, Mark said the Evening of Music for July will be the home of Leslie Brown. The July 4th picnic will be at the home of Ev Simpson and Mohan Sondhi. Pat said that parking is tough there, so please carpool if you can.

Mark said that he will handpick the participants for the Four Folk Project Divas concert. It will be a community night with a jazz band and a larger band. If it works well, we may have four tenors later.

THE IN BOX

Larry Kaufman has 100 live audio tapes recorded at our venues that he would like to donate. Because of copyright considerations, we cannot put them in our archives. After some discussion, Evelyn agreed to “adopt” the tapes and she will contact Larry to arrange to have them sent to her.

GOOD OF THE ORDER

Mark Schaffer’s trip to Hong Kong was “wonderful”. Mark’s step-daughter, Devan, recently graduated from High School. Mark and Robin have arranged for a second Thank You Concert for donors to the Avon Walk for breast cancer research. This will be at 2 pm on 6/30 and people can stay for pizza with the Wiyos after the concert. Sandie Reilly has signed up for the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Tour in September. The tour is 112 miles and her goal is to finish faster than last year and possibly do 1 or 2 power loops. Rivka Willick said Ellen Musikant’s recovery from her recent back surgery has been longer and harder than she was led to believe it would be. She would welcome e-mails with good wishes. Jim King is having a birthday Friday and “since I almost didn’t have it I’m looking forward to it!” The charity that George Otto works for, Medical Missions for Children, was recently featured on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. If you missed it, the video is available on their website at www.mmissions.org (look toward the bottom of the home page). Highly recommended viewing, said Jim K. Judy Bubar won a fleadh in Ladies’ Singing on Saturday and is working on going to Ireland again to compete. Mike Agranoff has a travelogue of his trip to England up on his website at www.mikeagranoff.com under News. Pam Robinson said that Pat Wichter was a finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Lois DeRitter has gotten a campsite for the Champlain Valley Folk Festival on August 3-5. The site has lots of amenities and can accommodate 8 people. If you’re interested in sharing the site and splitting the cost, please contact her. Bobbie Rosengarten is going to be a grandmother. Pam R. noted that the summer swarm will be August 3-5. Contact Liz Pagan for more info. The wedding of Tom Pylant’s daughter was spectacular. It took place on a beautiful cruise down the Indian River. Elizabeth Lachowicz and her son, Thomas, have been taking in local baseball and have become fans of the Somerset Patriots. Thomas has gotten autographs from some of the players. Rick and Cathy Thomas recently took a trip to Philadelphia to see daughter Susanna graduate from Philadelphia Community College. Susanna got a degree in paralegal studies and has some good leads for a new job.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 9:53 pm.

The next meeting will focus on the Festival. It will be held on July 3 at the home of Andy Koenig and Barbara Moo.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Falco

Secretary