March 2013

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

MARCH 5, 2013

The FP Board Meeting was called to order at 8 pm at the home of Bob Safranek and Pam Robinson.

Present were: Pam Robinson, Barrett Wilson, Lindsey Meyer, Bobbie Rosengarten, Lois DeRitter, Allan Kugel, Joanne Cronin, Jim Gartner (trustees); Rachel Streich, Mark Shaffer, Jean Scully, Joe Graziano, Mike Agranoff, Bill Henderson, Sandie Reilly, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Gloria Friedman, Nancy Kelner, Bob Safranek, Leigh Walker, Mike DelVecchio, Lori Falco, and Eddie Roffman. Absent: Pat Brangs, Scooter Ferguson, Grover Kemble, and Bob McNally.

ADMINISTRATION:

There was no quorum, so the Minutes from January and February’s meetings could not be accepted.

TREASURER’S REPORT:

“I’m still learning” says Bill. Former Treasurer Rachel reported that Forms 1099-MISC for 2012 have been prepared, mailed to recipients and filed with the IRS.

To view financial information in QuickBooks, log in HERE:

NEW BUSINESS:

Elizabeth reminded everyone that submissions to the newsletter are due 3/15/13.

Elizabeth also noted that our update to GuideStar is due by 3/31/13. GuideStar is an online description of who we are, what we do, financial data, etc., all in one spot. Mike A. asked, is it mandatory for us to update or post this information? What is the advantage to us of being on it? Lindsey explained that GuideStar is a place for potential donors to look us up and get information about us. Elizabeth said she would find out if there was any other advantage to us of having our information on GuideStar.

Treasurer Bill asked if membership in the Morris County Arts Council was worthwhile, and should we pay dues to them. Pam explained that the Arts Council of Morris Area (ACMA) is a good source of publicity for us if we let them know about events. Mark said that ACMA was very cooperative with children’s programming for Festival as well.

The Folk Alliance also came up in discussion. They’re a national organization – the premier folk organization in the U.S. , according to Pam. Mike A. said that if we’re a member, then any FP member who attends their yearly conference gets a substantial discount, and that if a Folk Alliance organization runs house concerts, they are exempted from paying ASCAP fees for those house concerts. “Worth being a member”, says Mike.

Bill said he had no paper invoice for either ACMA or Folk Alliance dues. Mike gets an email acknowledgement from Folk Alliance and will forward same to Bill. Nancy Kelner will look for a paper invoice for ACMA dues. However, since there was no quorum, the Board cannot decide to pay these dues tonight and will have to wait for a future meeting to vote on it.

OLD BUSINESS:

Board Job Descriptions – Elizabeth has received a few more completed job descriptions. The deadline for submissions is still June.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

SPECIAL CONCERTS:

In Scooter’s absence, Mark Shaffer reported that 11 tickets were sold so far for the Anne Hills/Michael Smith house concert at his and Robin’s home on 3/9/13. The Evening of Music is also taking place that evening at the Shaffer’s, beginning 2 hours after the concert ends. There will be another house concert at Mark and Robin’s featuring Raina Rose, on April 21. Mike A. reports that Scooter’s planned ukulele Special Concert event may be moved to Labor Day weekend to accommodate an appearance by Susan Werner at MUF on 8/21/13.

SWINGIN’ TERN:

Leigh reported that Swingin’ Tern is “doing pretty well”. They are planning 4 “big event” dances per year, including the upcoming double dance with Perpetual E-Motion on 4/6/13. Mike A. said he saw Perpetual E-Motion at Dance Flurry recently and says they were “freaking incredible”.

Suzanne Patnaude is the new booking person for the dance and is “doing a great job” as per Leigh.

There will be another techno contra dance on the first Saturday in September. There will be no Tern Swings dance this year, as they have come to realize that contra dancers and FP members don’t come to swing dances, and swing dancers don’t seem to contra dance, so there’s no overlap.

The question was asked, do big events like the techno contra dance bring dancers to other events? Leigh was not sure, didn’t think so, but said that the big events help “put Swingin’ Tern on the map”.

Nancy K. asked Leigh, how do you explain the recent increase in college age dancers, since she doesn’t publicize to colleges? Leigh didn’t really know. He said individual dancers have their own reasons for coming. Attendance of college aged dancers is up from last year, but we don’t get nearly as many as the Princeton contra dance does. The Princeton dance gets not only college age dancers, but staff members and musicians as well. Discussion ensued – how can we get more college kids like Princeton does? Pam suggested asking the Princeton dance organizers how they attract college students. Nancy noted that a few years ago, we used to send dance flyers to local colleges but stopped because we had no idea if they were getting posted or thrown out. Leigh said they’ve been handing out free passes to some students at Swingin’ Tern dances for them to give to their friends but hasn’t seen the passes come back.

PUBLICITY: see committee report

Nancy said John Lamb has been very busy and thanks Allan Kugel and Lori Falco for all their help.

Publicity for the 3/9/13 Special Concert with Anne Hills and Michael Smith went out successfully even on short notice (only 2 ½ weeks).

Nancy reported that on 2/27/13, 12 FP members came to the Fanwood Library to see Barry Mitterhoff in concert. Fanwood Library director Danny Weiss (Barry’s bandmate in Silk City) played with him, and publicized Silk City’s upcoming Minstrel appearance on 3/22/13.

COMMUNITY SERVICES:

Joe Graziano reported that there are 3 FP acts booked for June Day – Lagan’s Love (Michael Mitsch’s band), Grover Kemble, and Mark Schaffer’s band. June Day is scheduled for 6/9/13 from 11 am to 5 pm.

We will have a booth at June Day to promote the FP; Joe is looking for volunteers to help staff it.

NEWSLETTER: see committee report

Pat Brangs was absent.

There were a total of 205 newsletters mailed.

Mike A. noted that there were no March Minstrel flyers at the most recent Swingin’ Tern. Gloria Friedman pointed out that she doesn’t get Minstrel flyers until after the first dance of the month, so they only have one dance in which to distribute them.

Mark Schaffer noted that Pat printed up stickers to advertise the 3/9/13 Special Concert and put them on 200 paper newsletters before mailing.

HSNOI: see committee report

Sandie reported that HSNOI taped two excellent shows in February: Plum Run, and Brotherhood of Jug Band Blues whom Sandie described as “fun”, “they’re like a zoo”, and “young guys, lots of hair”. Upcoming in March: The Wag, and Bob McNally. Coming in April: Brother Sun, Joe Jenks, Tumbling Bones, and Grover Kemble.

MERCHANDISING:

Mike A. suggested headbands with a Swingin’ Tern logo. Gloria thought headbands would be too small for a logo, it might just hold lettering. A sweatband would have to be a dark color to hide sweat stains, Gloria said. Lindsey suggested “pink and blue sweatbands for gender-free dances”.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS:

The Valentines’ Day Show, cancelled due to a snowstorm, has been rescheduled for 4/14/13. Mark is organizing it and is planning to turn it into a volunteer appreciation event. Instead of desserts, they will be serving dinner (sub sandwiches) plus drinks and desserts. Mark is getting the subs from Jersey Mike’s below cost, for $150 for enough food for 100 people. Minstrel volunteers will get in free; general admission will be $9. Mark asks that if you are planning to come, to please let Jean or Mark know so they will know how much food to order. Maximum capacity in the MUF Sanctuary is 180 so that is the attendance limit for the event. Mark pointed out that if the food cost is $150 for 100 people then even if we get 180 people, it will still only cost $300 to feed everyone. For this show, we will be allowed to bring food into the Sanctuary.

Jean reported that she is running short of venues to host Evenings of Music. The Heilbruns’, who hosted the last EoM in Mountain Lakes, are moving to southern New Jersey. They will still attend FP events from time to time, but will be too far away to host any more parties. Elizabeth suggested, “Isn’t Rick and Cathy Thomas’s old house still empty?” which brought much laughter. The March EoM is at Mark and Robin Schaffer’s; April’s is at Allan Kugel and Cecilia Rowedder’s in Highland Park; May EoM is scheduled for Tom Picard and Sherry Kornstein’s in West Orange – hosting their first party. June is at Pam Robinson and Bob Safranek’s. July and August are open. September’s EoM is at Liz and Dave’s in Bloomfield. There will be no EoM in October since the date coincides with Fall Festival. The Roffmans’ are still hosting the 4th Saturday EoM’s every month.

SOUND REINFORCEMENT:

Mike DelVecchio said, “not much to report”. MUF hasn’t done much recently regarding the sound system upgrades.

E-COMMUNICATION: see committee report

Lori reported that everything is going well.

They sent an e-mail blast to let people know the Valentines’ Day show was cancelled due to weather.

She is happy to note that her reports are getting shorter as committees become proficient in using Constant Contact.

MINSTREL BOOKING: see committee report

Average attendance for February was 78.3. This was for only 3 shows, as the Valentines Day show was snowed out.

John Lamb and Mike A. created a new Minstrel tally sheet to handle various situations not currently covered by the existing one, such as: negative cash deposits, and advance deposits paid to performers. They also found some errors in the existing tally sheet, which are being fixed.

Mike A. is considering booking future Valentines’ Day shows on the first Friday of February; that way if the show is snowed out, it can be rescheduled for the second Friday, pre-empting the Open Stage. The first Friday of 2014 is already booked, so this would not go into effect until 2015.

New bookings: 7/5/13 Falcon Ridge Preview show featuring Gathering Time, The YaYas, and Honor Finnegan; 7/19/13 Toby Walker with Tom Picard opening; 8/23/13 Susan Werner (tentative); 10/18/13 Buskin & Batteau with Copper Ponies opening; Cindy Mangsen & Steve Gillette rescheduled to 2/7/14 from their original November date.; 6/3/14 John Gorka.

MINSTREL STAFFING:

Jean reported that she’s picked up 5 new volunteers in the last few weeks, including a married couple who are both graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. Can gourmet treats on the snack table be far behind?

Amy Livingston is still doing an enormous amount of work behind the scenes. Yay Amy!!

Barrett Wilson mentioned that we he first started volunteering we had a Yahoo page listing upcoming shows and volunteer positions available, but we don’t any more. Mike A. pointed out that we now use a volunteer book at the front desk instead. Lori said she spoke to Amy about an integrated system to replace the old Yahoo page and Filemaker; then we’d be able to manage our volunteers online, maybe even include a link to the FP home page. Allan Kugel pointed out that there might be privacy issues to be worked out; you might have to sign up for the page and log in.

Mike A. said he’s initiated talks with MUF to get better wi-fi coverage in the building.

MEMBERSHIP: see committee report

Eddie praised Carl, his committee co-chair, for doing a “great job”, spreading newsletters and word about the Folk Project to 2 or 3 Open Stages around the area every week. Eddie is compiling statistics, but said its hard to compare statistics from one year to the next. He is working with Constant Contact and the e-newsletter list. 155 e-newsletters were sent to people whose membership is not up to date; Eddie sent renewal notices to these people. Many of of these people renew via PayPal. He is learning Constant Contact so that he can send letters to people who have not yet renewed, and still learning FileMaker. Eddie also praised Lori for bringing us Constant Contact, and noted that we are using it in “so many productive ways”.

FESTIVAL: see committee report

Mark reported things are going better than expected. So far, there are 70 people registered for Spring Festival, 3 months in advance. They are working on organizing workshops. He and Robin expect to max out at 150 – 160 attendees, including performers. They are expecting to lose between $1,000 - $2,000 on this festival; their intention is to spend last festival’s profit. Tom Chapin has been booked for the Sunday concert. FP member performers include the Copper Ponies, Tom Hagen, and Ian Hicks. Pro performers will do (1) 1-hour set plus 3 workshops rather than the usual (2) 45-minute sets and 2 workshops because we will have more pro performers at this festival than usual.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 pm. Next month’s meeting will be on April 2 at Nancy and Russ Kelner’s home in Cranford. Any FP members who wish to attend the meeting can contact Rachel at secretary@folkproject.org for directions.