December 2008

OPENING CEREMONIES

The annual general meeting was called to order at 8:25 PM on December 2nd at the Chimney Rock Inn, by President Mark Schaffer.

Presidential Address

Mark noted a few highlights of the past year:

First, the turnaround of Festival. Congratulations and “Thanks!” to Lori Falco and her Committee members for their tireless hard work in finding us a new and much improved Festival site and for putting together an incredibly successful “Testival” this Fall at the new location.

Second, the electronic Folk Project Newsletter; Eddie Roffman has done a remarkable job bringing this project to early production status. Chris Riemer will be carrying it forward in 2009.

Third, the Presidential Initiative for a more open Minstrel. We are working on a friendlier front desk and an improved open stage. We developed opportunities for wider input in performer selection. There are a number of people responsible for that wider input, and they should all work together to expand the shows that will have a wider appeal to a larger audience. Congratulations to Michael for putting up with all these changes.

Fourth, Bob Isaacs at Swingin’ Tern put together a contra-calling workshop that has graduated a crop of first-time callers. Mark feels that this is the kind of thing that can change people’s lives by opening up new vistas of participation and involvement. This is “The Folk Project at it’s Best” one person’s vision and hard work bringing in a popular and successful project – getting more folks out and performing, promoting Music, Dance, Storytelling and Community.

2009 will be the year we focus on expanding attendance. Mark has begun discussions with: Sandie on better coverage of Minstrel on Horses; Carol Beaugart & Mike on at least one radio show featuring the folk music of the Minstrel and the Project on WFDU -- If this works well, maybe more; Scooter on how to attract more players and improve open stage; Jean on postering Morristown (Mark would like a poster team that commits to one poster per team member posted where you shop, with a monthly download of a poster from web); and Chris on bringing our newsletter from a simple PDF of the printed newsletter to a true web newsletter for members and an e-flyer with Folk Project venue info for nonmembers.

Special “Thanks!” to a lot of people who do a lot of hard work: Chris as treasurer. Andy as Finance Chair (and as an all-round musician). Patsy at Membership and for volunteering for lots of things for a long time – lots of love and lots of class! Tom Pylant at Newsletter – we’ll miss him and wish him well in the future; Liz for stepping up when Tom had medical problems, Elizabeth for handling NL mailings, and Carl Croce for taking on mailings and general NL Committee administrative responsibilities in 2009. George for his work at publicity and Webmaster. Sandie, for being the hardest working Folkie of them all. And finally to Lori for getting us un-stuck from the mud – for stepping up when things were dark.

Secretary’s Report

The October and November minutes were accepted without corrections. Please remember that these minutes are only a synopsis of events as they occurred at the meeting. Many committee chairs submit full reports by email. These reports are available from the Secretary.

Treasurer’s Report

Chris noted that the electronic QuickBooks reports are now available online. Highlights include the loss at S’n’T and the changes that have been implemented to turn that around. He pointed out that the Newsletter is the most expensive thing we do, so the move toward an electronic Newsletter is a good financial move, in addition to all the new possibilities that it opens up for effective membership communications – but he agreed that nobody is lobbying to eliminate the paper Newsletter.

Finance Committee

Andy reported that the Agranoff endowment has been moved to a diversified mutual fund to strike a balance between risk and return. The recent market instability is not a problem for a long-term investment like this one. Andy submitted an especially complete report by email, which is available from the Secretary.

Membership

Pat said that our membership is holding steady at about 400, with about 600 individual members. We don’t have age or other demographic information for our members. She is sending out email reminders to those members who need to renew but get e-Newsletters, so they can’t get the traditional reminders that are rubber-stamped on the paper Newsletters.

She suggested that we could put more effort into member retention. For example, she pointed out that many of the non-renewed memberships are of only 1-2 year duration, so in some way we are not meeting the needs of new members. This is a topic for a future meeting to discuss.

Publicity

George reports that there have been some personnel changes at the Publicity Committee, and the list of outlets that we send information to has been trimmed to clean out the dead wood. People can go to “enews.folkproject.org” to sign up for the e-Newsletter.

The Website now has an “Affiliated Organizations” section for venues that give discounts to Folk Project members.

Merchandise

Brad is stepping down. Margaret will be the new Merchandise Committee chair, though Bobbie will be reporting for the Committee at Board meetings. A new T-shirt is planned.

Internal Affairs

Jean says 'twas another successful year of Evenings o' Music, with several new hosts (Nancy Haslam and the Dugan-Leszczuks) and some perennial favorites hosting lovely parties. As always, the Folk Project as an organization and the Internal Affairs Chair as an individual are very grateful for those folks who open their homes to our friends to host these gatherings. Please remember to bring food to EoMs -- enough to serve about 6-10 people every 3rd or 4th time you come to an EoM.

In addition to the normal party lineup, the Special Concerts committee led by Pam Robinson arranged for several workshops that were held in the hours before an Evening o' Music, so that the workshop attendees could put their new skills or expanded repertoire to immediate use. A good time was had by all, and we plan to continue the practice into 2008. The January EOM will be held at the home of Nancy Haslam in Morris Plains, and a few other months are already spoken for. If you'd like to host an EOM, please contact Jean Scully to book your month! And please encourage your friends to attend; EOMs are a great introduction to the Folk Project!

Margaret said she appreciated the NL articles about how to host a successful Evening of Music.

Community Affairs

Elizabeth says “Thanks!” to all the volunteers who helped her with outreach activities. The Performer Directory is getting ready for a new edition, so get your information to her soon. If you know of any member who has had/is having a significant event (birth, death, illness, graduation, relocation, etc) please let Elizabeth know.

Sound

Bob reports that we had a successful sound workshop at S’n’T in January, and the monitors at S’n’T were replaced this year. We are going to upgrade the microphones at Minstrel over the next several months.

Minstrel

Mike reports that the reorganization and renewal at Minstrel have had good results (though occasionally disrupting his comfortable old routine). “Thanks!” to all the folks who have stepped up to help. The official name of the activity has been shortened from “The Minstrel Coffeehouse” to “The Minstrel” to avoid confusion with places where you can buy expensive coffee, use the Wi-Fi to check your email, and ignore some guy in the corner strumming a guitar. Rick is stepping down as the “permanent Head Staff.” Brad will be picking up the slack.

Under things that could be improved, Mike noted that Folk Project member performers don’t get a big a draw as they should, and Open Stages are similarly under-drawing. These are topics for future discussions.

Amy Livingston has been doing special publicity when appropriate, as when a particularly interesting performer is coming up.

Minstrel Staffing

Sandie gave a very special “Thanks!” to Bill Henderson for all he does to help make the Minstrel go smoothly. He received a well-deserved standing ovation.

Amy Livingston will be helping Sandie with the electronic part of the Staffing work. Sandie noted that we have to fill about 500 volunteer positions each year, so “Y’all come on out and volunteer! It doesn’t happen without you.”

Horses Sing None Of It

Ralph reports that we taped our 500th episode in July. Altogether, we taped shows #427 through #456 in January-November, 2008, with four more scheduled for December for a record year of 34 new shows, God willing and the creek don't rise.

Rick pointed out that the Horses shows constitute an historical archive of great value to Posterity, and should be preserved. Andy, Ruth, and Connie all felt that one way to do this would be to talk to the folks at Google about making it available as part of their digital knowledge base. Scooter suggested making it available on iTunes.

Swingin’ Tern

Connie mentioned that Swingin' Tern had lost money this year, that we had plans to improve the bottom line, that the caller workshop was a success, that Dec 20 is the callers graduation night followed by the annual holiday party at Doug & Brian's, that the New Year’s Eve Dance will be wonderful, that Everyone should plan to attend the 25th Anniversary Dance on January 3 and that we were supporting the Special Concerts' Swing Dance/Concert on January 31.

She also recommended that Swingin' Tern and Minstrel should work together on a plan to reach out to the area colleges. Special “Thanks!” to Mark and Robin for opening their home to host so many wonderful workshops.

Special Concerts

Pam reports that we produced six events in 2008, all artistic successes. We did three workshops (vocal, guitar and percussion), and three house concerts (Howard Emerson, Barbara Lamb and Buck P Creacy). A total of 129 individuals attended the various events. For the year, our profit/loss for the six events was about flat. See announcements in the Newsletter for future events.

Festival

Lori notes 2008 has been a year of change: new Festival Chair Person, new Committee members, new location, new dates (the new site is not available on Mother’s day), new booking policies, and a new positive bottom line. We’re looking forward to two spectacular festivals in 2009 – April 17-19 and October 9-11. We hope to see you all there.

Storytelling

Rivka tells us that, in spite of having to move indoors due to rainy weather, the Storytelling Festival at Grounds for Sculpture was an artistic and financial success. Next year we are scheduled for 17th annual NJ Storytelling Festival at Grounds for Sculpture Oct 18th. We are actively looking for two more locations for additional storytelling festivals in other areas of the state.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Election of Trustees and Officers

The slate proposed by the nominating committee was elected by acclimation. Trustees and officers were elected by acclimation.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 PM.

Next meeting will be at Ruth Wolfish’s house on January 6th.

– Rick