May 2011

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8:10 PM on May 3rd, at the home of Secretary Chris Riemer. There was no quorum this evening (for the second month in a row).

Roll Call

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

Secretary’s Report

Nancy Kelner requested two minor clarifications to the April minutes (which are shown by the revision marks in the document of record). The minutes were not officially approved, given the lack of a quorum.

Treasurer’s Report

Rachel recapped the information from her earlier email. The checking account balance stands at about $7,660 with $23,350 in the Money Market. We're up about $8,100 for 2011, and roughly $4,800 of that increase can be attributed to program revenue. The rest represents appreciation in our investment account. We’re doing well.

(Remember that interested parties can look at the financials and run their own, customized reports, by logging in at QuickBooks Online. If you don't have a login (or don't remember your password), contact Rachel and she can set you up.)

KEY DATES

The key date this month is May 15, when our 2010 tax reports are due. As last year’s Treasurer, and the party responsible for the 2010 taxes, President Ed Roffman assured the group that everything was under control.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Changing of the Guard

President Ed Roffman reported that he’s had a number of conversations with Trustee Brad Pryor, and believes that Brad intends to resign before the end of his term (in December 2012). If he does, we’ll need to draft an ad-hoc nominations committee to look for a replacement, since we shouldn’t leave the position vacant until the annual elections.

However, Mike also felt we shouldn’t take any actions until we have something more formal from Brad. He doesn’t think we should consider a replacement based only on conversations Brad has had with Ed.

Waynestock Redux

Sandie Reilly recalled that last year around this time, Matt Smith and Matt Reilly (her son) came to the board seeking support for a musical event called Waynestock, the brainchild of some Wayne high school students and a vehicle to raise money for Education through Music. We agreed to their proposal, and voted to support the event through the loan of sound equipment and a $250 donation to help offset their expenses.

Sandie admitted that she initally had some reservations, but was very impressed by both the professionalism of the organizers and the quality of the acts presented. The audience was not just a bunch of teenagers, either. There were little kids, and families and grandmothers in the crowd. So Sandie asked for the Project’s support again, for Waynestock 2011, which is set for June 25th. Matt Reilly and co-producer Jess Lindsay were on hand to answer questions. Some discussion ensued.

Elizabeth wondered what would be different this year, and Matt said they were bringing in new artists, refurbishing the stage and expanding their advertising. Matt described last year’s audience as "a steady stream,” but this year he hopes to build "a real crowd." He also mentioned that every one of the bands that played last year complemented the quality of the sound. He credits that to the Folk Project’s gear, although Eddie felt the credit really should go to Sandie and Matt, as sound engineers. The local Elks Club (which donated the venue) wants to repeat the event as well, and actually bought the stage last year so they’d have it on hand. (Sadly, they left it out in the weather all year, which is why it needs to be refurbished.)

Rick Thomas moved that we accept Sandie’s proposal, but given the lack of a quorum, there was no second. Eddie pointed out that loaning the sound system is a committee decision, and Sound Reinforcement Chair Bob Safranek is happy to approve that part of the deal. And Eddie added that because of a general process breakdown, Waynestock never claimed the $250 we approved last year. Since the money has already been allocated, he felt we could offer it again, without a formal motion. There was no opposition to that idea.

Jim King suggested that perhaps we should pick up the cost of some tarps, so the stage won’t need more repair next year. In fact, they already have tarps that were purchased for the show itself, and Matt will make sure the refurbished stage is properly protected at the end of the season. He’d also like some Folk Project literature for the Waynestock information table, to give us a little extra publicity. He can pick that up at the Minstrel.

Connie wondered if we could forge a deeper relationship with a “Best of Waynestock” contest, and offer the winner an opening act gig at the Minstrel. Mike was a tad skeptical of that, assuming that most of the Waynestock bands will not be right for the acoustic Minstrel venue. He’d also be hesitant to promise a gig to a band he’s never seen. Several people also suggested inviting the performers to an Open Stage.

Email Enhancements

Ed reminded the board that he’s hoping several interested folks will be getting together to discuss the expansion of email as a Folk Project communications vehicle. He personally considers Robin Schaffer a critical resource in that conversation, and hopes it will move forward now that she and Mark are back from an extended trip to Israel. Lori Falco, Mark himself and Mike Agranoff are the other key players.

Ed felt Mike had volunteered to lead this effort, but Mike doesn’t remember it that way himself. He doesn’t mind taking part, but doesn’t want to organize the meeting or serve as chair. Robin will therefore take the helm.

Grant Writing

Ed announced that two folks have stepped up to take on our 2011 ACMA grant application. They are Patrick McDonnell and Diane Goodheart, and he believes they met today at a grant-writing workshop. They intend to work on it as a team.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Minstrel Booking

Mike recapped the information contained in his earlier email. It was actually a profitable month in April, but that was largely due to the donation from Ed and Robin Roffman to underwrite the special Elixir show (as a celebration of their wedding anniversary). He’s fabricated a new monitor cable to replace the defective one, and the March Sound System workshop was a success. Four trainees, who had a lot of hands-on time and learned a great deal. Mike thinks at least one of them is already in rotation as a Head Sound person.

The Morristown Unitarian Fellowship is facing some major renovation work, which will be made more complex and expensive because of the building’s historic designation. It’s probably a few years away, and all options are on the table. They may do some focused fundraising, but may also decide they need to look for a new home. They’ve assured Mike that we'll always have a home with them, but the times may be a-changing.

The Birthday Show will still go on this year, and Mike will keep with the traditional names-in-a-hat approach for matching performers. He couldn’t think of any alternative that would be fair. Scooter will try to rally the troops, and encourage the participation of our upper-tier performing members. And Mark has suggested that we get a real pro to play lead parts for any group that wants them. He has Dave Rimelis in mind, but hasn’t yet made the request.

Lois wondered how that could work without rehearsals. But Mark and Elizabeth assured her it would be fine. It’s something they do at Falcon Ridge, and that Mark does himself at our Evenings of Music. But it’s also aimed more at those upper-tier folks than at the novice performers. Mark agrees with Mike that the quality of Birthday Party show has fallen off as the more experienced performers have opted not to put their names in the hat.

Minstrel Staffing

No report from the absent Scooter, but he’s let Ed know via email that everything is “as smooth as it can be.”

Swingin’ Tern

Connie recapped the information from her email, noting that the Roffman Anniversary Dance pulled in 150 people to dance and listen to Elixir. She believes that’s an all time record. Thanks to Eddie and Robin, Swingin’ Tern is ahead about $1,000 for 2011, something that will let them take more risks in the months ahead.

Some discussion ensued. In answering a question from Allan, Connie said they would have roughly broken even without Eddie and Robin's underwriting, which Allan and Rick Thomas took to mean this success could be repeatable. Perhaps, but Connie thinks there was a kind of perfect storm here. The band was the real draw, and in anticipation of the evening, the Valley Contra folks cancelled their usual 5th Saturday dance in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. So we had their dancers, and people from Princeton and people from Connecticut. Mike agreed, adding that there aren’t many acts that can deliver both a concert and a dance with equal flair. He’s always looking for bands that could be offered a two-evening contract, but they are few and far between. Contrary to Eddie, he doesn’t think there was much cross-pollination here. Only a few folks at the Minstrel participated in the dance workshop on Friday, and he didn’t see that many concert-goers at the dance itself.

Later in the evening, Connie added that the Rock and Reel dance is set for this coming Saturday, with Donna Hunt calling and Rockadillies providing the tunes.

Special Concerts

No email report from Pam this month, but she reminded the group of the upcoming Anne Hills and Martin Swinger workshops, as well as the Za Zu Zaz show at the Minstrel on May 27. She’s also gearing up for the Aztec Two-Step show in August.

There was some discussion of the inevitable Minstrel-goers who will be shocked and appalled at the $25 ticket for Za Zu Zaz. Jim King suggested that we put up a Really Big Sign out front.

Horses Sing

Sandy recapped the information from Ralph’s earlier email report. She was particularly impressed with a band called The Edna Project, and hopes people will tune in for that one (or watch it online).

Community Services

Pat recapped the information in her email report. Among other things, she’s established a reciprocal relationship with another folk music group on Long Island. She thinks there might be opportunities to connect our performing members to venues on the island, and vice versa.

She’s also very happy with the new and improved website as an internal resource. She’s using it a lot, and thinks the design and content are both “really cool.”

Membership

Recapping the information from his email report, Rick let us know that we’ve got members. Not quite as many as last month, but more than a year ago.

Publicity

Nancy recapped the information in her email report.

Mike added that he’s now using Allan's website content management system to enter Minstrel bookings as soon as they’re made. It’s working well for him, because agents and performers can see where the holes are in our schedule, and be more proactive about contacting him for gigs. Rick added that he hopes the other committee chairs step up to the responsibility of maintaining their own content. The site was designed to support a distributed author model, and the tools are easy to use.

Ed called for (and received) an enthusiastic “Huzzah” for webmaster John Lamb and the rest of the site development team.

Newsletter

Carl recapped the information from his email report.

Rick asked if there was anything he could do to help Carl get the newsletters out earlier. The goal is to get them into people’s hands before the first of each month, and they've been late for several months now. Should he generate the labels earlier? Carl didn’t feel that would make a difference.

Festival

Carl recapped the information from his email report. He and Lori Falco had another meeting with the Star Lake folks, and will be setting up a meeting of the committee next week to iron out the budget.

Some discussion ensued. Carl does not yet have a contract with the camp, but expects to settle that soon. A number of performers are under consideration, but no contracts have been signed. He mentioned that we won’t have the use of the lake, because they’re going to start rebuilding the dam after Labor Day. The lower lake might be usable, but would probably be on the muddy side. We might arrange for the use of their climbing walls and set up some guided nature walks, though.

Pam asked about the prices, and Carl anticipates an increase of about 3% from the last Festival. He’ll have a better handle on the price impact after the upcoming budget meeting. Finally, he could use more volunteers for the committee, and Ed urged everyone to pitch in on this very important event in the Folk Project’s traditional calendar.

Merchandising

Robin recapped the information from her email report. She has a new T-shirt design to debut at the Birthday Party (although it’s already been leaked on the website).

In answering a question from Rick, she confirmed that her strategy will be to go for fairly short runs with frequent design changes as a way to learn what our customers like. (As opposed to our traditional approach of keeping the same T-shirt design in play for 20 or so years.) Mike would like to see more black mandala T-shirts, but the artwork for that design has unfortunately been lost. It could be re-created, but for now we won’t be ordering more of these.

Internal Affairs

Jean walked through the calendar for the rest of the year, and there are only two months still to book. Mark and Robin will host in June.

Sound Reinforcement

“Sound is sound,” according to Bob.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:50. Next month’s meeting is June 7th, at the home of Ruth Wolfish, in Bedminster.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Riemer

Recording Secretary