May 2010

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

The board agreed to empower the President to rent a facility for the monthly Director’s meeting, in the event that no member host is available.

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 PM sharp, at the home of Pam Robinson and Bob Safranek.

Present were Lois DeRitter, Scooter Ferguson, Jim King, Nancy Kelner, Allan Kugel, Jim Gartner, Evelyn Maurer and Brad Pryor (Trustees), as well as Mike Agranoff, Pat Brangs, Connie Crawford, Lori Falco, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Bobbie Rosengarten, Bob Safranek, and Rick Thomas (Other Board Members). Absent were Carl Croce, Ed Roffman, Ruth Wolfish, Rivka Willick, Mark Schaffer and Jean Scully.

Secretary’s Report

Bobbie corrected last month’s record by saying that she never actually heard from Margaret before the last meeting as far as a T-shirt order for the Festival. No other corrections, and the minutes were approved as amended.

Chris reported that he’s generated another job description (for the job of Secretary), and circulated it for comments among some folks who’ve held this position in the past. Those former Secretaries who were present admitted they hadn’t yet looked at it, so Chris intends to keep writing descriptions and dealing with comments if and when they materialize. There will be no formal Approval Process, unless we decide we need one.

He also recognized Pam, as the first official “user” of the wiki. She asked for and was granted access, and uploaded an art file to the Library. "It was easy!" said Pam.

Treasurer’s Report

Reading from Ed Roffman’s email, Scooter reported a checking account balance of about $33,500, with another $23,000 in the Money Market. We have not yet made the planned donation of $2,430 to Haitian relief. If we were to take that into account, along with Festival-related deposits, the checking account would come down to about $11,700.

Chris mentioned that the taxes are due this month, on the 15^th, and in Eddie’s absence we will have to assume they’re being attended to properly.

GENERAL BUSINESS ITEMS

ASCAP Update

Scooter did not review the ASCAP contract with our Pro Bono attorneys, as planned, but did run it by a friend who happens to be a lawyer. The friend's advice was to go ahead, especially since it’s an agreement that only has a one-year term, and which can be cancelled at any time.

So the ASCAP contract has been signed and delivered, and our first report has already been submitted (along with a set list).

Meeting Locations

Scooter noted that we’ve been going around in circles a bit on this topic: should we consider a permanent location for the monthly meetings or continue to meet in members’ homes? The permanent location most recently suggested is the Quaker Meeting Hall in Chatham, which would cost $75 per month (plus another $50 if we wanted to use the kitchen). Chris felt that spending $1,500 a year just to support the board meetings seemed a pretty radical move, and after some additional discussion, we opted to stay with the current practice.

So for the rest of the year, the meeting schedule will be:

Rick also moved that the President be empowered to book an alternate location, such as the Quaker Meeting Hall, in the event it becomes necessary during the year. This motion passed.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Festival

The Spring Festival is now 10 days away, and registration is a bit lower than it was at this point in the Fall. We have 155 paid, plus 27 staff and performers, and need about 20 more to break even. The “Swinging on a Star” dance promotion has drawn 11 people, nine of whom are first timers. Mike likes the way Swingin’ Tern has been pitching the Festival as an “alternate” location for that particular weekend... very inclusive.

Lori went on to review the points in her earlier email. Star Lake Camp has decided that The Folk Project is not a group that’s in line with its core mission, and they don’t want us back after Fall 2010 (for which we’ve already signed a contract). To explore this further, Lori called for a Committee of the Whole. When that committee adjourned, the board agreed with its assessment that finding a new site for 2011 is the only reasonable alternative.

Lori still has the information collected during our last Festival site search. She’s been looking it over and considering alternatives, but she doesn’t want to head up this effort. She intends to resign as chair after the Fall Festival, but is willing to stay on the committee. Pam asked how we’re doing on recruiting a new Festival chair and wondered if we should be looking for a site before a chair has been named. Mike has made a couple of personal inquiries, but hasn’t yet found a volunteer. Nancy wondered if a chair was really necessary, and the committee members present felt it surely was.

As far as a new venue, Lori thinks all possibilities are back on the table, running from a return to Fairview Lake (favored by Liz Pagan) to a local “commuters” Festival (mentioned by Alan Kugel) to a hotel/motel-based event (suggested by Evelyn Maurer). The problem at Fairview is mostly the size of the place, since Lori doesn’t think we can make their 300-person minimum. We don’t want to share the camp.

Lori is also sorry to report that contrary to what's been announced, there will be no skit this Spring. George Otto was working on one, but wasn’t able to pull it together in time. Chris mentioned that he has an old script, written for a non-Folk Project festival back in the 1990s, and will forward it to Lori as a possible fall-back.

For Fall 2010, the only booking made so far is Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers (recently seen at the Minstrel). And that made for a good segue to a proposal from Scooter.

It came to him while washing dishes and watching a lonely groundhog wandering through his back yard. He found himself singing Tom Paxton’s “Where I’m Bound,” and there it was: Why not book Paxton for the Fall Festival? He passed the idea to Lori and a few initial phone calls have confirmed that he is available, at a cost of $3,500 for a single concert or $5,000 for a full day.

Scooter then recapped the history of the Agranoff Endowment, originally provided by Mike with the idea that it be used to subsidize the Festival performers’ budget, at approximately $1,200 per Festival. In fact, we haven’t really used it this way. We’ve applied it to the Festival P&L as a whole, but haven’t really used these monies in the spirit in which they were given. He’d like to see us enjoy what the endowment makes possible, and since there’s a good chance we won’t be having a Festival in the Spring of 2011, we could reasonably make a double allocation available for the Fall. That would be roughly $2,400.

There was then an extended discussion, with several themes in play...

Bobbie, Sandie, Connie and others were OK with the idea in principle, but felt it would make more sense if used to improve the draw at our (presumed) new location. Also supporting this point of view were the sometimes problematic (and unpredictable) logistics at Star Lake.

There was also discussion about whether Tom Paxton was a good choice for a Festival-style venue. Mike concedes that he’s a real charmer on stage, but thinks he tends toward reticence in one-on-one conversations. Brad disagreed, recalling his own interaction with Paxton at a Sanctuary concert.

Pam felt strongly that the additional effort needed to support Scooter’s ideas for a two-stage registration process would only mean more work for an already overburdened committee. She thinks we should leave the endowment alone, especially since we may need money to make accommodations in the Festival’s next home, wherever that may be.

When it was Jim King’s turn to speak, he voiced "absolute" opposition to the idea. He added that not only was he opposed to it, but he believed every other member of the Festival Committee was opposed as well. In its current incarnation, the Festival Committee has worked hard to make sure every event is well organized, well planned and fiscally responsible. This proposal violates these core principles in favor of “The Big Event.” He feels that “raiding the endowment” for a Big Event that’s expected to lose money sets a terrible precedent for the Festival, as well as for everything else we do. Jim thinks it’s a very bad idea, and that it should never have been brought before the board until it had been vetted by the Festival Committee itself.

Finally, Chris pointed out that since we’d spent almost an hour on the Festival report, and since the objective was only to provide “input” for the committee, it was probably time to move on. So we did.

Storytelling

No report from the absent Rivka Willick, which means no word from this committee for the last five months. Scooter will try to make contact before the next meeting.

Membership

“We’ve got ‘em,” said Rick.

Newsletter

Reporting for the absent Carl Croce, Scooter read from Carl's email report. Our printing costs came down to $108 this month, thanks to coupons and Staples rewards savings.

Rick Thomas added that he’s suggested an inexpensive dot-matrix printer for Carl, which would let Rick send him address labels via email rather than by US post. That should save us about $3.00 a month in postage, as well as streamline the process.

Scooter added that primarily to support Wayne Day, we’ve commissioned a new banner that’s been designed with replaceable, venue-specific sections so it can be used at any of our various events.

Publicity

Lori asked about the status of the Web site, but no one present had any new information. Chris thought some of the delay might be procedural, since Joe D’Andrea contacted him weeks ago trying to track down our original domain registrar. Pam was surprised at that, since no one on the board has actually seen the site, or been involved in beta testing. Can it really be ready to go live? Scooter will discuss with Mark Schaffer tomorrow.

Evelyn recommended a great folk radio station, WNTI, and wondered why she never hears Folk Project events being promoted there. Nancy will follow up. Nancy also took a moment to recognize the other members of the committee, noting that it wouldn’t work as well as it does without the contributions of Alice Weimer, Debby Edelman, Mark Schaffer, Joanne Herb, Pat Brangs and Jim King.

Merchandising

Bobbie has not heard from Margaret, and has no information on Merchandising’s status.

Internal Affairs

No report from the absent Jean Scully, but Scooter noted that this month’s Evening of Music will be at Mark and Robin Schaffer’s.

Community Affairs

Summarizing from her email report, Pat said the Audubon Society event was a great success, bringing in some 600 people each day. Pat thanked all those who helped with tips and tricks for supporting the Folk Project's presence in the field. She didn’t need to reinvent anything and thought everything went well. She also took some pictures, and plans to add them to the Folk Project’s Facebook page.

Next month, Wayne Day!

Sound Reinforcement

Bob said we’re all ready for Festival, and with a few repair parts now in hand, things should sound a little better next week than they do right now.

Minstrel Booking

Summarizing from his email report, Mike said April was an OK month attendance-wise, but a bad month money-wise. We averaged 83 paid attendees, but lost $492, primarily because of guarantees that were not met by the door and the creel. Attendance over the past 12 months remains healthy at 91.7 for regular shows, and 80.0 if we count the Open Stages. We’re running $1,325 in the black, year to date.

Mike added that our primary contact is leaving the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship as of this coming Friday. He’s asked for a meeting with her replacement, so we can go over our agreements and procedures. He hasn’t yet booked a performer for Falcon Ridge Friday, and Scooter suggested swapping the Open Stage night if that would make the booking easier. Mike will consider.

Minstrel Staffing

Sandie thinks the “flextime” option is working out well. Kitchen helpers can now opt either to set up or clean up, working only half the night. No tick, but they do get in free on the night they help.

Horses Sing None of It

The "Best of the Blues" compilation DVD is complete, and thanks to Don Riemer for an excellent job on the editing and menu design. The committee is now considering its packaging, pricing and merchandising options.

There have been reports of background noise from some broadcast outlets, but Sandie thinks its more likely a software problem than a mastering problem. She expects it will be resolved in time.

Swingin’ Tern

Attendance is down a bit, and the past several dances have lost some money. However, that’s mostly because they’ve opted to book more expensive bands. The Rock & Reel event was Easter Saturday, and that probably brought the attendance down, too. Great dance, but fewer people than expected.

The committee plans to do more locally-focused publicity, to better introduce themselves to East Hanover. They’re also working to find a replacement for Bob Isaacs, who wants to step down as the booking agent come the end of this year. He’s willing to mentor a developing caller as his replacement.

Special Concerts

Pam has 11 people signed up for this weekend’s Mandolin Workshop, which is good news since the break-even point was 10. She has a Songwriting Workshop planned for June, but nothing else on the docket for the rest of the year.

Fellowship

Nothing to report this month.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40.