March 2011

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

The board considered a motion to expand the use of the general member email list by Special Concerts, but tabled it to allow time for more information gathering.

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8:04 PM at the home of Pam Robinson and Bob Safranek. A very chilly first of March, this year.

Roll Call

Present were Gloria Friedman, Jim Gartner, Carolyn Messina, Brad Pryor, Bobbie Rosengarten and Ed Roffman (Trustees), Mike Agranoff, Pat Brangs, Carl Croce, Scooter Ferguson, Nancy Kelner, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Bob Safranek, Rachel Streich and Rick Thomas (Other Board Members) and Jim King (Guest). Absent were Connie Crawford, Lois DeRitter, Allan Kugel, Sandie Reilly, Robin Schaffer, Jean Scully and Ruth Wolfish.

Secretary’s Report

Two corrections to the minutes of last month: the proper spelling of Boucher and Schmitt, and a specific number for the January loss at the Minstrel. The minutes were approved as amended.

Treasurer’s Report

Rachel reported that we were still solvent, with a checking account balance of about $5,800 and another $23,350 in the Money Market. Chris mentioned that interested parties can look at the financial details and run their own, customized reports, by logging in at QuickBooks Online. Regular users can't edit the data, but they can slice and dice it. All Directors were issued logins when we first moved to QuickBooks five years ago, but if you don't have one (or don't remember the password), contact Rachel and she can set you up.

KEY DATES

March is the month in which the President updates the Folk Project’s record in GuideStar, the online database of non-profit organizations. (GuideStar gets its primary feed from the 990 forms we file with the IRS, but we can add additional information about our programs, organization and objectives. It’s the President’s job to keep it up to date. The idea is that potential donors can browse GuideStar to find worthy organizations.)

Eddie will be reviewing our info, and may be asking for updates from interested parties.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Community Services

Pat summarized the information in her earlier email.

Wayne Day will be much simpler this year, since they’re going for a single stage and five acts. We’ll supply four, with the fifth slot reserved for traditional Irish band including the Folk Project's own Lagan’s Love, with the fifth slot reserved for a Wayne band called Parish Drive. Wayne Day starts at 11:00 AM, with the music running from 12:00 to 5:00. Ruth Wolfish has volunteered to serve as stage manager, but Pat still needs sound techs and folks to work in our booth.

Pat also wondered if we should consider buying a canopy for the booth. We borrowed one last year, but they’re not too expensive, maybe $350, and she thought it might come in handy. Eddie was in favor, as long as we have a place to store it. Carolyn agreed, and felt that she (and other members) might make good use of it for their own gigs. Others were not so sure. Rick would rather that we rent one if we can’t borrow it, and Mike pointed out that we generally don’t loan organizational assets to individuals. However, everyone thought it would be worth buying one or two vinyl banners to be used at this kind of event.

Membership

Rick recapped the information from his email report. There was a big uptick in membership in response to Rick’s electronic outreach, bringing some 60 odd people back to the fold. (“Some of whom are odder than others.”) Those whose memberships expired more recently appear more likely to re-up than those whose memberships lapsed in 2008 or 2009. With that in mind, Rick is considering a one-time-only, two-for-one deal, offering former members a year for free if they renew now, as long as they opt for the electronic newsletter. His reasoning is that since the electronic newsletter can be sent at no incremental cost, anyone who says yes will be sending their dues right to the bottom line. There was some discussion.

Elizabeth and others thought it would be a great way to lure former members back into action. But Gloria and others felt such a program might devalue membership in people’s eyes. If you want people to feel that membership is worth something, you can’t just give it away.

Jim King agreed with that. He pointed out that if there’s no sense of loss when people don’t renew, there’s no reason to support the group beyond the goodness of one’s heart. In general, he likes the idea of former member outreach, but he’d like to see something with more process, so it could become a regular part of the Membership chair’s job. Pam reminded everyone that the paper-mail outreach she did during her days as chair more than paid for itself.

Carolyn wondered if a “We miss you!” solicitation offering a free Minstrel admission would be just as effective, at a roughly equivalent cost. Mike and Bob doubted that people would be motivated one way or the other by the idea of saving $10 a year. Mike also felt that anyone who was likely to renew would be just as likely to do so at full price, as at half price.

Eddie felt that this was actually a pretty important discussion, since it touches directly on the “attraction model” of our core customers. We want our members to do more than just buy tickets. We want them to feel like a community, and become volunteers, too. He thinks we should defer any decision until we’ve had more time to consider, and feels Robin Schaffer should be part of it, as our primary marketing professional. (Rick had also received an email from Mark Schaffer on the topic, which he read to the group.)

Chris agreed we should consider our overall audience more thoroughly and look for ways to integrate all our communications as we move toward an electronic model. Some of the gaps in our process really reflect implementation decisions, not technical shortcomings. We can fix them, but to get it right, we need to have a better grasp of the big picture.

We did agree, though, that Mike could add a one-sentence “Wanna join the Project?” plug to his weekly Minstrel Gram, without crossing the line into spam. Gloria pointed out that there’s very little overlap between the audiences of Swingin’ Tern and the Minstrel. She felt the dancers are largely unaware of the other things the Project does, so maybe the Swingin’ Tern's direct communications should also include a plug for membership.

Rick will go ahead with his two-for-one outreach initiative and see what happens. But he’ll include a clear expiration date for the offer.

Festival

Carl summarized the information in his email report. He feels Star Lake is softening further on some of our key issues, notably the restrictions on parking. Answering a question from Pat, he is not considering (or looking for) other venues at this time.

What he is doing, though, is planning a major promotion to the dance community, with the goal of bringing 100 new dancers to the event. This sounds like a good idea, but it met with some skepticism. Eddie had understood that the dancers stayed away because of the concrete floor. On that point, Carl is thinking about renting a dance floor and setting it up in the other commons building. Scooter believes a rented dance floor will cost “thousands of dollars,” not to mention the logistical and resource challenge of running what amounts to a parallel festival. Jim King felt strongly that the committee needs to be “fiscally responsible,” and not consider such a costly item without a frank assessment of how many dancers they’d really be likely to draw.

Carl assured everyone that he’s still in the planning stage, and he’ll keep us posted as things evolve.

Newsletter

Carl summarized the information from his email report.

Rick had the thought of giving some newsletters to the Boyle Hotel in Morristown, which has offered to include them with their local attractions flyers. Mike thought that was OK, but believed flyers would be better for such an application, since they don’t contain so much organizational who-ha hoo-ha.

Rick also had a complaint, in that he hasn’t yet gotten his March newsletter, which really should have been delivered last week. This newsletter delivery problem was strongly seconded by Pam, who has a special concert coming up on April 3. She needs that newsletter to go out on time! Carl apologized, and will try harder to keep on schedule.

Nancy wondered if we’ve ever considered selling ads in the newsletter. Chris said we had, from time to time, at the editor’s discretion. We’ve never solicited them, but we’ve placed them when someone asked. The board was generally OK with the idea, as long as the things being advertised were in line with our mission: music, dance and storytelling.

Special Concerts

Pam recapped the information in her email report. Za Zu Zaz tickets are selling slowly and the press is out on Craobh Rua. No new date yet for Raina Rose.

Now that Pam has gotten on the Constant Contact bandwagon, she’d like to send a Special Concerts promo to the entire membership list. How do we feel about that? When we first started inching in this direction, Pam herself favored a policy that sharply curtailed the use of electronic communications. But she thinks things have changed in the last ten years.

Mike moved that we expand the use of the general email list for promotion of special events, with a second from Pat. There was some discussion.

Chris pointed out that we do have an actual policy someplace, although it’s not documented within the minutes that have been migrated to the wiki. He’ll need to search his local drive to find a copy, but feels we shouldn’t be amending something until we’re clear about what it says. Jim King agreed, suggesting that we table this motion until next month. Mike accepted that suggestion, so we will revisit it in the future. Perhaps not next month, though, since Mike will be away. Eddie felt there was no rush, but since email is probably our most important communication channel, we should take the time to consider it carefully.Chris also said we should really wait for the supporting technology before we start changing our policies. Managing an email program without the right self-service automation is a beast.

Minstrel Booking

Recapping from his email, Mike felt February had been an ”ordinary” month with average attendance of 87.7 and a small profit of $149. So the Minstrel is now back in the black.

The Frank Vignola Trio has been booked for next October, and he’s pretty much fully booked through 2011. Answering a question from Pat, Mike confirmed that he has we have never sold advance tickets for Minstrel concerts.

Minstrel Staffing

Scooter reported that all is well, and that all recent shows have been fully staffed. He gives much credit to Amy Livingston and Alice Weimer, and is also training a new head staff person.

He spent about $25 for a 5-gallon water thermos, so that we can keep offering people water at the break without generating so much plastic waste, even if it is recyclable.

Swingin’ Tern

Ed delivered a very dramatic reading of the email report that Connie submitted earlier.

Gloria added that a “young couple” (perhaps a brother and sister) had come to a recent dance with a parent, and were surprised to have had such a good time. “Bring your friends!” she told them.

Publicity

Nancy recapped the information from her email report. She noted that today is the deadline for the free admissions that we promoted in the Hometown Quarterly several months ago. As far as she knows, not a single admission has been claimed, so she won’t be doing that again. Live and learn.

Carolyn Messina has been posting to the her local Patch pages, as well as to Baristanet. She feels this kind of promotion definitely works, and is going to see about getting into the Patch for Morristown. On that note, Pam has posted pictures of the Valentine’s Day show to the Project’s Facebook page. Go in there and tag yourself!

Merchandising

No report from the absent Robin Schaffer, but she submitted one earlier via email.

Internal Affairs

No report from the absent Jean Scully, but she submitted one earlier via email.

In the Internal Affairs category, Nancy felt “disappointed dismayed and embarrassed” by the profane nature of some of the Messages of Love that were read to the audience at the Valentine’s Day show. There were children and new faces in the audience, and she felt we may have made a bad impression.there, for goodness sake! She appreciates that we can’t edit what people write, but feels that the MCs should have the judgment to tweak what they read in a way that’s appropriate for General Audiences. Eddie will discuss with Jean.

Sound Reinforcement

Bob reminded the group that Mike will be giving an advanced sound system workshop in mid March, with a focus on mixing and EQ. Three people have signed up, and more are welcome.

Horses Sing None of It

No report from the absent Sandy Reilly, but Ralph Litwin submitted one earlier via email.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:48. Next month’s meeting is April 5th, at the home of Ed Roffman, in Randolph.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Riemer

Recording Secretary