October 2012

Secretary's Note: The committee reports were somewhat out of order but the secretary chose to present them according to agenda order.

The October 2012 Folk Project Board meeting was called to order at 8:04 pm on October 2, 2012 at the home of Lindsey Meyer in Peapack.

ROLL CALL

Present were Pat Brangs, Lois DeRitter, Jim Gartner, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Bob McNally, Eddie Roffman, Bobbie Rosengarten, and Bob Safranek (Trustees); Mike Agranoff, Howie Goldman, Lindsey Meyer, Pam Robinson, Kevin Redden, Scott Ross, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer, Jean Scully, Rachel Streich (Other Board Members); Barrett Wilson (Guest). Absent were Lori Falco, Gloria Friedman, Joe Graziano, Nancy Kelner, Sandie Reilly, and Leigh Walker.

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

The Board voted to empower the Nomination Committee with Eddie as chair and Mike, Elizabeth, Pam and Jean as members.

The Board voted that at the annual meeting, the cost to members for the dinner will be $15 and the FP will pick up the remainder.

ADMINISTRATION

Secretary’s Report

There were two corrections to the September minutes from Mike and one clarification from Eddie. The minutes were accepted as amended.

Treasurer’s Report

Rachel reported $6,770.95 in the checking account as of Sept. 31 and $23,656.76 in the Money Market account as of July 31. She transferred $8,216.21 from PayPal, mostly festival money. She also received $1,000 from an anonymous donor for the festival scholarship fund and an anonymous $500 donation for post-Minstrel parties. Interested parties can look at the financials and run their own, customized reports, by logging in at QuickBooksOnline. If you don't have a login (or don't remember your password), contact Rachel and she can set you up.

Rachel requested that anyone who makes a deposit to the FP account please send her an email stating what the money is for, when was it received, and where it came from. Someone asked what happens if there are extra monies, such as a scholarship donation that doesn’t all get used. She replied that she’s not sure what happened to it in the past so the answer is that it’s pooled and we don’t have a separate accounting of it. Mark said that unused festival scholarship money gets saved for next festival.

NEW BUSINESS

Nomination Committee Formation

It’s October, and the FP By Laws say it’s time to form a Nominations Committee to field candidates for the election, which will take place at the General Membership Meeting/Annual Meeting in December. Eddie reminded us that members elect trustees and the trustees elect officers and also stated that the president and treasurer are term limited. He’s willing to serve as committee chair and Mike, Elizabeth, Pam, and Jean agreed to serve on the committee. Following procedure, Bob made a motion to empower the Nomination Committee with Eddie as chair and Mike, Elizabeth, Pam and Jean as members. Someone seconded and the motion passed. Pam asked for an informal show of hands of people who want to continue if they’re allowed to by the constitution. Most indicated a willingness to continue.

Annual Meeting Authorization

At past General Membership Meetings, the FP has subsidized the dinner at $15 per person. Eddie requested a motion to subsidize this year’s dinner. Elizabeth moved that at the annual meeting, the cost to members for the dinner will be $15 and the FP will pick up the remainder. Lindsey seconded. Discussion ensued. Mike thinks this isn’t an appropriate use of FP funds. Lindsey asked what the total per-person cost was and Eddie replied that last year, it was about $21. Each attendee paid $15, so the FP’s cost was about $6 per person. Mike suggested an amendment to the motion: that a restaurant location is chosen so that the maximum the FP pays is $7/person. Elizabeth didn’t accept the amendment. Bobbie thinks Elizabeth should decide the cost and the restaurant. Lois said that it’s too complicated to put a cap on cost and there are limited places we can go, so let’s keep it at $15. The vote: all in favor but one opposed.

Past Presidents’ Concert

Barrett Wilson reported that he’s rounded up all 14 past presidents to perform on November 23 and expects a spectacular show with a group sing at the end of the evening. He envisions a “history of the FP expressed through the past presidents” and is planning 10 minutes per act, including set changes. He asked us to look through our treasure troves for memorabilia that we’d be willing to give away during the show. Laurie Riley will be invited, too: although she was never president, she was our founder and we hope she can make it from Washington State.

Predictably, there were many innovative and imaginative suggestions on ways to improve the evening. Bob M. suggested badges showing years of service and that all performers should present in period clothing, which degenerated into group calls for polyester and bellbottoms, not to mention skits, stories and cartwheels. There were suggestions to gather stories in advance and use them between acts like at the Valentine Show, and Allan quipped “Messages from the Old Fart” instead of the Valentine Show’s “Messages from the Heart”. We all had a lot of fun with this and are looking forward to the show. The Board gave kudos to Barrett.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Special Concerts

Recapping his email report, Howie thanked Liz Pagan and Jim King for creating the Trout Fishing in America flyers and said that tickets are on sale. The poster from TFIA is already at the Minstrel. Pam said tickets don’t sell well at Swingin’ Tern so she suggested just using flyers rather than trying to sell tickets there.

Sound Reinforcement

Kevin reported that he submitted the $6,380 Hyde and Watson grant proposal to replace the 10-year-old Minstrel equipment. He proposed a whole new system, with our current equipment to be used as a traveling system. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is being expanded, so he also proposed buying a system for the hearing impaired. He passed around a copy of the proposal (which is avalable in the Back Office Library). Bob S. suggested that when the new ADA regulations come out, we ask a lawyer if it applies to us. Many thanks to Kevin.

Festival

Referring to his email report, Mark said they’ve passed the break-even point and the performers are psyched for a great festival. They’ve apportioned jobs differently based on what they learned from the last fest. They’re also scouting out new locations, including Star Lake and a few others, and hope to find a location that’s at least 20% better. A big thank-you and applause from the Board to Pat Brangs, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Laura Hertz, and Mike DelVecchio.

Minstrel Booking

Mike reported a good month, with average paid attendance of 92 for regular shows, although there was a $50 loss probably due to the rent increase. He’s foreseeing an admissions increase from $7 to $8 in 2013 and thinks this might affect the creel donations, as $7 is closer to $5 but $8 feels closer to $10. Psychologically, people would feel they’re spending much more on admission and might be less likely to donate. Pam asked for the average creel donation per person and Mike said he’d check his figures at home. Pam suggested increasing the base pay to performers. Mike said the last time he did that was several years ago. Lois pointed out that some people don’t put money in the creel if they buy a CD because they figure it’s going to the performer.

After-show parties are not doing well at fulfilling the goal of drawing in new people, as they are mostly attended by existing members. They’ll reevaluate following the after-show party at the Past Presidents’ Concert.

Minstrel Staffing

Jean reported that Amy Livingston has been doing the “heavy lifting” since Jean’s fall and said, “She’s a godsend!” They’ve been using both the FileMaker database and the Yahoo group. Jean recently added the position of “floater” during Minstrel. Mark praised Jean for improving the staffing. There was no email report.

Swingin’ Tern

In Leigh’s absence, Eddie read Leigh’s email report. Mike noted that Leigh’s figures didn’t include rent and Eddie said we should “take your figures from the ‘class’ report of the treasurer so we compare apples to apples.”

Internal Affairs

Jean said that Steve Humphries will host the Nov. Evening of Music. There was no email report.

Electronic Communications

In Lori's absence, Eddie made an executive decision to again table last month’s motion about the privacy policy. Lori’s email report is here.

Publicity

Eddie read Nancy’s email report.

Membership

Scott reported that he still has little faith in his statistics. He cross-referenced his email list with Lori’s list and they are working together on the enewsletter recipient list. Pat asked about membership renewal notices and Eddie said the procedure is still being worked out. Elizabeth suggested making a membership push at Festival, since people need to be members to get the discount. There was no email report.

Newsletter

Carl’s email report is here.

Community Service

Eddie read Joe’s email report aloud. Jean told us about the fundraiser for Denville on Oct. 14 to raise money for Hurricane Irene damages. They’re looking for volunteer musicians to entertain and Joe will send a note to the performers list.

Horses Sing None of It

Ralph’s report is here.

Merchandising

There was no email report. Gloria called Lindsey prior to the meeting to say that all merch is with Carol Titus, who will take it to Festival.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm. The next meeting is on November 13 at the home of Pam Robinson and Bob Safranek in New Providence.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindsey Meyer, Secretary