February 2010

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 7:58, at the home of Rick and Cathy Thomas. A light snow was falling...

Roll Call

Present were Lois DeRitter, Scooter Ferguson, Allan Kugel, Jim Gartner, Evelyn Maurer and Brad Pryor (Trustees); Mike Agranoff, Pat Brangs, Lori Falco, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Ed Roffman, Bobbie Rosengarten, Bob Safranek, Mark Schaffer and Rick Thomas (Other Board Members) and Joe and Laura Graziano, as well as Nancy Kelner (Guests).

Absent were Connie Crawford, Carl Croce, Jim King, Jean Scully, Rivka Willick and Ruth Wolfish.

Secretary’s Report

Chris has received two corrections to the January minutes:

• • Pat Rolston did not actually distribute a report, but passed on to Rick a copy of the report she’d produced in December.

  • Connie Crawford was in fact present, but did not make a formal report because the hour was late and she’d already circulated it via email.

The minutes were accepted as amended (although not until later in the evening when the arrival of a sixth trustee gave us the necessary quorum).

Chris let everyone know that he’d like to move toward publishing the minutes on the Web (details TBD) as an alternative to an email distribution. Directors would be notified by email when the minutes were published, with a convenient link to same. He believes a centralized, hyperlinked and searchable collection of minutes would be a big step forward, and wanted to know if the board felt the same way. There was some concern that this would disenfranchise the Luddites among us, or might set an inconvenient precedent for future Secretaries. In the end though, the Board bought into the idea.

Chris also wanted the Board’s opinion on the Good of the Order. From time immemorial, this has been the last bit of business at Folk Project board meetings. Now that Ed Roffman is documenting it separately for the newsletter, is it still necessary to record it in the minutes? The general consensus was that while this is an important part of our tradition, it’s not really at the same level as other Folk Project “business” and does not need to be captured for the minutes. In the interest of procedural correctness, the meetings will in future be adjourned before the Good of the Order segment begins.

Treasurer's Report

Ed Roffman has closed the books on 2009, and distributed copies of financial reports for both 2009 and for January 2010. He summarized the contents of each, and noted that the investment line of the Agranoff Endowment is only updated quarterly.

Ed was very enthusiastic about the financial picture, believing that “all the trends are heading in the right direction.”

NEW BUSINESS

The Need for a New Trustee

Scooter informed the group that because of expanded work responsibilities, Alison Mazie has submitted her resignation as a Folk Project Trustee. Her term had just begun, and Scooter wasn’t sure if we should reconstitute the nominating committee, ask for more volunteers or draft someone already on the board.

Elizabeth was willing to be drafted, but in a surprise move, Nancy Kelner (a member of the Publicity Committee in attendance this evening) was willing to volunteer for the job. After some discussion of Folk Project procedure, a review of the By Laws, and a glowing endorsement from Publicity Chair Mark Schaffer, the group agreed that Nancy could be elected by a vote of the general members. Brad nominated Elizabeth as an alternate candidate, but she graciously declined in favor of Nancy.

In a formal vote, Nancy received the unanimous support of all present (although not until later in the evening when the arrival of a sixth trustee gave us the necessary quorum).

Wayne Day Celebration

Scooter introduced Joe and Laura Graziano, who were there to make a pitch for The Folk Project’s participation in their annual Wayne Day celebration. Joe started said pitch by distributing a presentation handout (see attachments, below).

Wayne Day began some 18 years ago and now draws crowds of up to 25,000. There’s no admission; the committee raises money through booth fees and works hard to keep vendors’ prices low. They want it to be the kind of day that offers something for the whole family, without breaking the bank.

In prior years, they’ve sometimes featured music, generally paid “professional” acts. But in 2009, they opted for a less formal musical component as a way to reduce costs, and Joe felt it was actually an improvement. In 2010, Wayne Day will take place on Sunday, June 6, and Joe would like The Folk Project to serve as a musical subcontractor, booking performers and perhaps providing equipment in exchange for a free booth and some good publicity. (He has some money available to pay these performers, too. He doesn’t expect people to work for free.)

There was a fair amount of discussion, all of it positive. Scooter felt it was a great opportunity for us to get in the public eye and show everything we can offer. How about renting a floor for a contra dance demonstration? A storytelling segment? Some wandering minstrels in the crowd? Evelyn saw echoes of the Folk Music Society’s fondly-remembered June Days, and thought it was close enough to the FMS stomping grounds to bring in some old friends. Lori added that it was only 10 minutes from the Festival site, and felt we could use it to plug next fall’s event. More discussion focused on various logistical details, but since Community Affairs chair Pat Brangs was willing to take it on, no vote was considered necessary. Mike cautioned that a “myriad of details” still needed consideration, and several of those present offered to help Pat out. We’re in!

Meeting Calendar for 2010

Given the low attendance in January, we have not yet booked the meetings for the rest of the year. However, Scooter wondered if we might want to look for a meeting-friendly location other than our Directors’ living rooms. Perhaps a church basement? A library?

There was some discussion of the history here, as well as the pros (more space, less chance of getting lost, better parking, less work for the hosts) and cons (not as “folkie,” less fair in the allocation of drive time). Mark volunteered to host next month, so Scooter can investigate our options. We deferred a discussion of future meeting dates until then.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Storytelling

No report from the absent Rivka Willick.

Membership

Rick was happy to report that we have members.

In a matter not related to membership, Rick has found a source for multi-part NCR paper that can be used with laser printers, thereby giving us the ability to print our own multi-part forms. He’s done so for the Festival boutique and at Mike’s request will see what can be done for a similar form at the Minstrel.

Rick is gradually “learning the ropes” of the Membership database, and Cathy is helping him find ways to improve its design. However, his long-term goal is to migrate the whole thing to an on-line platform. That would provide a consolidated database with a distributed access model and a shared maintenance process, allowing Membership to become “a sinecure.” Alan volunteered to help with this project. Mike asked that Rick not “go solo” though, noting that many committees rely on membership data in one way or another.

Newsletter

Scooter read an email report from the absent Carl Croce, in which Carl thanked everyone (especially Liz Pagan) for all the hard work. Our push for Staples reward points and coupons is continuing to reduce printing costs (an idea championed by Carl), bringing them down to less than $125 this month.

Scooter also handed out some Staples cards and coupons, and encouraged the board as a whole to “be creative” here. The more we spend, the greater our savings. If you’ve been using your own paper for Folk Project business, let the Project buy you some.

Publicity

Mark reported that Pat Brangs has taken over the job of updating external event calendars, and asked everyone to support her in this role. One of these external calendars requires a small fee for posting, and he’s authorized it as a reasonable Publicity expense.

In answering questions from the floor, Mark also confirmed that our hosting account is paid in full at Tronics, and that all the folkproject.org emails have been readdressed appropriately. Pam thanked Mark for a referral that got her some great Special Concerts coverage in the Daily Record, and mentioned that her SpecCon programs feature coming attractions for the Minstrel.

Mike has been doing some “special” publicity for the Minstrel, contacting niche outlets when a given performer might benefit from same. (Celtic, jazz, etc.) He’d like to get some help from Publicity on that.

Nancy Kelner has learned that we’ve been invited to participate in a networking event sponsored by the Arts Council of the Morris Area, and wondered if she should attend as our representative. Rick has done so in the past, and conceded that while he found the experience “pretty awful,” it might be productive for someone who was into schmoozing. Nancy is up for it. There was also a suggestion that she take a pocketful of free Minstrel passes, as a way to build stronger contacts. (Scooter wondered if perhaps all the Directors should do the same – carry free admission passes to help attract new folks to the Minstrel.)

Merchandising

Nothing to report, according to Merchandising Rep Bobbie Rosengarten.

Internal Affairs

Reporting for the absent Jean Scully, Mark announced that the February Evening of Music will be at his expansive digs in Rockaway and will feature a candlelit “round of romantic tunes” at 10:00 PM. No location has been booked for March.

In an interesting development, Ed Roffman has gotten Jean’s approval for a new spin on an old tradition. Next month he will begin hosting a second Evening of Music in his home, on the fourth Saturday of each month. For Eddie, this is a way to recreate the experience of a monthly sing, hosted for many years by Jean Gill and the late Dave Blumgart. He believes that renewing this tradition, in a fixed location, will be a good thing for all concerned. It will not be limited to Folk Project members, but will be open to “musicians of all kinds.”

There was some discussion of this idea. Mike worried that it would plant the Folk Project flag on every Saturday in a typical month. Since our policy says committees should not book against each other, it might cause problems for Special Concerts. However, he accepted the idea that if such a conflict occurred, the Roffman EOM wouldn’t be mentioned in the newsletter that month. If people showed up, it would still go forward, but it wouldn’t be promoted as an alternative.

Alan pointed out the potential risk that one EOM might cannibalize the other. He always tries to attend, but probably wouldn’t do two in one month. Pam agreed on this point, and suggested we monitor attendance carefully. If this is a problem, though, Bobbie felt it could help us identify shortcomings in our current EOM approach. “That might not be a bad thing,” she said.

The Valentine’s Day show was fully booked as of mid-January, which Mark takes as a positive sign. Internal Affairs is also putting a new CD together, and all proceeds (after expenses) will go to benefit Haitian Earthquake Relief. It will be built from existing studio tracks donated by a number of Folk Project musicians, with cover art from member Yolanda Fundora’s “Heart Imagining Itself” series (also featured on our 2005 Tsunami relief CD). There are some logistical details to be worked out, and we haven’t yet settled on a recipient organization.

Community Affairs

Pat has sent our official condolences to Pam and Bob (to acknowledge the death of Bob’s grandmother), to Paula Entin (for her uncle) and to Andy and Allison Goessling (to mark the untimely death of good friend and Blue-Sparks-from-Hell front man Chris Hartshone, better known as C. T. Tucker).

Pat is working with the Audubon Society, which is looking for volunteer performers for an event in May. Scooter has had fun at this gig in the past, and recommended it. Pat has also contacted our cracker-jack tech support team to see if she can get a batch email notification capability built into the on-line performers resource list.

Pam added that we may hear from the New Jersey Jazz Society, which would like some volunteers to help at a “Jazz in June” event at Drew University. Not musicians, just volunteers.

Sound Reinforcement

All’s well. Last month’s Sound Reinforcement Workshop was well attended and successful. One of the attendees has already volunteered to do sound for the Minstrel.

Minstrel Booking

Mike was very happy to report that the Minstrel is “kicking ass!” January 2010 was the best month in its long and storied history, with 50 new names added to the Minstrel-Gram list and a profit of $1,322 (which compares quite favorably to the profit of $1,843 for all of last year). Mark added that the coffeehouse has had “a really nice feel” lately, and thinks we should all be proud of our flagship activity.

Mike went over the bookings for the months ahead, putting in a special plug for Archie Fisher on this coming Friday.

Pam asked everyone to take a look at the Folk Project’s Facebook page (which already has 168 fans), and now includes links to articles and videos about the recent Frank Vignola show. And she asked Mike to come up with a better map to lead people to the Minstrel’s overflow parking lot.

Nancy acknowledged the importance of Mike’s contributions to the group, but wondered what we’d do if he were “abducted by aliens.” Do we have a back-up? “We do not,” admitted Mike. He also admitted that while he does have a written job description for the coffeehouse chair, as well as some standard contract documents, his home-built database is impossibly complex and would be equally impossible to document. If Mike were to shuffle off this mortal coil, we’d have to find someone new and start pretty much from scratch. So let’s hope that doesn’t happen, eh?

Minstrel Staffing

Sandie expressed undying gratitude for Amy Livingstone’s help. She can hardly believe she once did it entirely on her own, since she still feels overworked even with the workload cut in half! In answer to a question from Pam, Sandie confirmed that she’s been able to assign the recent grad from Bob’s Sound Reinforcement Workshop

Horses Sing

Sandie went over some of the recent and upcoming HSNOI sessions, and reported that despite mysterious technical glitches, the show continues to go on. They’ve also resolved the audio-level problems on some of their distribution duplicates, so all’s well in TV land.

Swingin’ Tern

Reporting for the absent Connie Crawford, Scooter read from her email report. Tern has had a strong start for 2010, and is $260 in the black for the year. Starting in February, they’ve increased the fee for callers from $85 to $90, and the fee for band members from $75 to $80.

Special Concerts

Pam was very happy with the Tern Swings event, and thinks there were about 160 people in attendance. Whole Foods contributed the performers’ dinner in exchange for a program ad, and she passed on special thanks to Don Flaherty, Zander Kasten and Norman Cohen, for general support at the above-and-beyond level.

This Thursday’s Michael Manring concert is not yet sold out, but it’s getting to the point where Pam may move it from the Terrace Room to the auditorium at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. (It had been booked in the smaller space in anticipation of a smaller crowd.) Thanks to Mike for including a Michael Manring plug in his latest Minstrel Gram.

Under the Special Concerts banner, Sandie Reilly is organizing a series of workshops in the months ahead. They’re still in flux, based on content and performer availability, so stay tuned.

Festival

Recapping from her email report, Lori reported that Festival is running “full steam ahead.” The only real issue is “the dance problem.”

Right now, the cost of running a dance is terribly out of line with the revenue brought in by dancers. If we can’t change this equation, the dance won’t be supportable over the long term. She’s asked Connie and Bob Isaacs to make a special effort to attract dancers to the Festival in May, and has created a specially-priced ticket designed to appeal to the dance community, as well as a special flyer aimed at the dance audience.

There was an extended discussion of what Swingin’ Tern could do in this regard. Scooter has heard that the dancers don’t like the space, and wondered if we might rent a portable dance floor. Mike felt the pitches for the Folk Project made at the dance were “accurate, but not enthusiastic.” Eddie pointed out that dance-concert integration is something few organizations do well, and urged us to “redouble our efforts.” Mark thought we should be willing to underwrite the concept financially, if necessary, but Lori felt that from Festival’s standpoint, she can’t ask regular attendees to essentially buy tickets for the dancers.

Many other thoughts were expressed, but given Connie’s absence, Scooter suggested we save them for a future meeting.

Fellowship

Nothing to report at this time.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:24 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Riemer

Secretary