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Report #1:
Minstrel report attached. I had to use figures from November 2011 through October 2012 because November data has not yet been posted to Quickbooks.
Note to 2013 Board: It's always been a struggle to get financial data in time to prepare a report when the board meeting falls only 4 days after the last show of the previous month. Maybe we should consider moving the Board meeting to the 2nd Tuesday of the month to provide more time for the Treasurer to post those figures?
Mike Agranoff
Program Chairman
The Minstrel
Morristown, NJ USA
Report #2:
Hi, Boardmembers and friends
I had prepared my year-end report on Sunday, before the November financial data was posted to Quickbooks, knowing that I was going in for oral surgery on Monday, and might not be in any shape to perform cognitive activities between then and the meeting. But I'm feeling pretty good this morning, so I am attaching an amended report, and supplementing it with the following information concerning new bookings. The revised report differs only in the first paragraph and the two graphs at the bottom.
And what a difference a month makes. The $735 profit from November accounted for a healthy chunk of the 12-month profit of $1804. ( Actually, what a difference a single show makes. The Brother Sun show on Nov. 30 resulted in a bank deposit of $467 all by itself.)
New bookings since the November meeting:
· March 8: I got a call from Pat Donohue, the brilliant guitarist and songwriter from the Prairie Home Companion band that he was available for this date. It required a bunch of juggling: I rescheduled the March Open Stage to the following week to make room for him, which then required rescheduling the performers who were already booked for that week. Jef & Michele, who had been opening on the 15th moved to the 8th to open for Pat.
· March 29: A split bill between Martin Swinger and ex-Red Molly, Carolann Sollebello.
· May 3: Songwriter / storyteller Greg Klyma, whom we saw at NERFA will open for Ellis.
· May 10: The young traditional-sounding Stray Birds also impressed Mark and me at NERFA.This required the May Open Stage to be moved to the 17th.
· May 31: Another NERFA find, Canadian blues-oriented songwriter Suzie Vinnick. Great vocal and instrumental chops and commanding stage presence.
· June 7: Will be the rescheduled date for The Folk Goddesses, displaced from their original March 15 date by the Pat Donohue juggling act.
· June 21: Nashville songwriter Louise Mosrie, whom I originally saw at the 2011 NERFA.
Mike Agranoff
Program Chairman
The Minstrel
Morristown, NJ USA
2012 YEAR END REPORT (Revised 12-4-12)
We held 46 shows over the past 12 months. Average attendance is up slightly from last year, to 91.4 for regular shows in 2012 vs. 87.0 in 2011. For all shows, it was 78.0 in 2012 vs. 74.6 in 2011. Our net income of $1804 was down considerably from $2677 in 2011. $275 came was a result of the $25 rent increase that went into effect in September. (We will be raising our admission price to $8.00 starting in 2013 to help compensate for the rent increase.) Other minor factors included an increase this year in gurantee makeup costs from $107 to $271 (Indicating I have been offering higher guarantees this year, some of which we could not cover from the door and creel), and an increase in total opening act fees from $2965 to $3225 (indicating I’ve been booking more and larger groups as openers this year.) Those additional
expenses totaled $699, which accounts for most of the $873 decrease in profits.
The new system of the Minstrel’s schedule being posted on the Website by me, and the photos posted by the Publicity Committee is working smoothly. As of late November, the Minstrel-Grams have been automated by the Webmaster and Electronic Communications Committee (Thanks, Allan, John, and Lori) to be sent out through Constant Contact, rather than through my personal e-mail. The message text is generated automatically from the website, and looks a lot better than it used to. We are currently working out final kinks in the system, and should have them ironed out by early 2013.
Latest word from the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship is that they will be staying in their current facilities. Plans to build a larger meeting hall have been scrapped, but there will be some unspecified improvements to the current Meeting Room. MUF will be consulting with the Folk Project about installing some permanent sound gear, to which the Folk Project may contribute some amount.
We held a Phil Ochs Song Night, and in conjunction with that presented a free screening of the Phil Ochs documentary film “There But For Fortune” on the night before. A “twofer” ticket program we tried for a few months produced negligible results, and we scrapped it. Another
new program proposed by Mark and funded by an anonymous donor of holding mini-Evenings of Music after certain concerts also had relatively weak response. The future of this program is in limbo.
Together with the Volunteer Committee we instituted a database to track our volunteers. We purchased Filemaker Pro software to operate that database. This also allowed us to re-institute the Volunteer Book that gives people the opportunity to sign up to volunteer right at the shows.
Birthday Show participation was up from 16 groups in 2011 to 20 in 2012. Hurricane Sandy forced the cancellation of 2 shows in November when the building was without power. But Brother Sun as an Agranoff Imperative capped of November with a paid attendance of 135. We had 3 shows with paid attendance 150 or better, topped by Dugan’s Hooligans at a
staggering 208. Those three acts (And Brother Sun) broke into the “Comma Club” with fees exceeding $1,000.
Upcoming 2013 highlights: The Kennedys on Jan. 4, and Celtic supergroup RUNA on Jan. 25 (expected to use some funds from the “Asses In Seats” grant voted into existence last year.) Not yet confirmed, but likely return of Prairie Home Companion’s guitarist / songwriter Pat Donohue on March 8. The Berrymans rescheduled appearance on April 5 after being cancelled by Hurricane Sandy. Comedienne / songwriter Christine Lavin on April 26. And blues guitar legend Rory Block on September 27, also to rely on funds from the “AIS” grant.
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