NOVEMBER 2013

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

November 12, 2013

The meeting was called to order at 8 p.m. at the home of Pam Robinson & Bob Safranek, and the new nominees for Board positions who were in attendance introduced themselves.

Present: Jean Scully, Mark Schaffer, Pat Brangs, Lois DeRitter, Lori Falco, Joanne Cronin, Mike Agranoff, Bill Henderson, Barrett Wilson, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Nancy Kelner, Lindsey Meyer, Allan Kugel, Pam Robinson, Mike DelVecchio, Grover Kemble, Eddie Roffman, Leigh Walker, Sandy Reilly. Absent: Bob McNally, Scooter Ferguson, Joe Graziano, Gloria Friedman, Rachel Streich. Guests: Shari Korenstein, George Otto, Paul Fisher, Tom Picard, Steve Humphreys.

ADMINISTRATION:

Acceptance of the October minutes was put off until the December meeting, since most members had not had time to read them before coming to the meeting.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Bill noted that of the $104,000 in the Agranoff Endowment, $12,000 has been allocated to Festival but is still on deposit. 1.5% of the unallocated funds are available each Festival as decided by a motion of the Board some years after the term of the endowment expired. Mike noted that the endowment has grown from $75,000 to $104,000 in the last 10 years, under Andy Koenig's sound management, allowing the FP to make good use of the income from the growth of the endowment, without depleting the principal.

FP has made $1327 for the calendar year, but over the fiscal year shows a loss of $101.

Bill discovered that our insurance policy that covers all our venues was cancelled in November of 2012 for non-payment of premiums and could not be reinstated, so new insurance has to be put in place. Various ideas were floated as to how we could prevent an oversight like this from happening again, and what the new policy should cover. Various action items were taken to get new insurance put in place ASAP.

OLD BUSINESS:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Mike A. reported that three trustees whose three year terms are expiring (Grover, Lindsey and Allan) will all continue for another three year term. Of the six trustees whose terms are not expiring, all will continue as trustee except Barrett Wilson; The committee recommends Steve Humphreys to replace Barrett. All officers will continue in their current positions except VP Pam Robinson; the committee recommends Barrett Wilson to replace Pam.

Committee Chairs will continue except the following:

Community Affairs: Joe Graziano is stepping down; nominee: Shari Korenstein

Internal Affairs: Jean Scully is stepping down; nominee: Dave Sherman

Newsletter: Liz Pagan is stepping down; nominee: George Otto

Publicity: Nancy Kelner is stepping down as Chair, although she will remain on the committee; nominee: Paul Fisher

Pam moved for acceptance of the slate of nominees; Joanne seconded, motion carried unanimously.

Actual voting will take place at the December Meeting, to be held at the Chimney Rock Inn.

MUF FUNDRAISER:

The event, which was pulled together by Mark Schaffer and Steve Humphreys (a member of both MUF and FP) was a rousing success and a great opportunity for the two communities to come together for a common purpose. FP members provided dinner music and boosted the auction excitement with musical interludes; MUF folks were thrilled and reported they made more money than ever before. We hope for more synergistic opportunities like this in the future.

NEW BUSINESS:

NEWSLETTER:

Input is due by Friday, November 15. Mike will submit the slate of nominees for publication.

ANNUAL MEETING:

As noted above, the meeting will be held at the Chimney Rock Inn. Meeting is at 8 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. All members of FP are welcome to attend and cast their vote. Come see how the sausage is made! Attendees will pay on $15 for dinner, with the balance being paid by FP. Lori will send out an invitation via Constant Contact.

Generally the following year's meeting schedule is set at the December meeting; so far January's meeting 1/7 will be at Tom & Shari's home in Livingston; February 2/4 at Grover's house in Morris Plains, and March at Steve Humphrey's in Randolph. The rest of the year is TBD.

ZED MUSIC:

Tom Picard and Shari Korenstein have been running an concert series/open mic/song circle music event on the first Saturday of each month for the last several years in several different venues, and are now asking to come under the umbrella of the Folk Project. The ramifications of this were discussed for both FP and Zed Music. They will get a presence on the FP website and in the newsletter, and could potentially use FP funds to purchase equipment, etc.; on the other hand, if they begin to turn a profit, that will have to be turned over to the FP treasury. Eddie made a motion that the Zed Music Series become a committee of FP with Tom & Shari as co-chairs; Mark seconded, motion passed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

MEMBERSHIP: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Rolling along. Eddie is planning to send out more frequent membership renewal notices We gained 4 or 5 new members after the Uke Fest, but overall numbers are not growing. However, Constant Contact is growing, which may be more important, as “millennials” are often not joiners. Perhaps we could promote FP memberships for holiday gifts?

MERCHANDISING:

No report from the absent Gloria Friedman.

SOUND REINFORCEMENT: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Mike A has done some fixing and patching lately. Volunteers' experience at Minstrel would be greatly enhanced by having the sound piped in to the lobby from the concert. Elizabeth will send the name of the guy who did a similar setup at her church to Mike DelVecchio.

E-COMMUNICATIONS: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Lori will work with Tom & Shari to integrate Zed Music's mailing list into ours. There are now about 3,000 names in Constant Contact, and our open rate is about 30%, which is great.

SWINGIN' TERN: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

October was a low month attendance-wise, but it's up and down all year; overall they are having a good year, with lots of happy dancers. Leigh gave a special shout-out to Suzanne for all her hard work in booking great bands; she has really improved the dance. Special dances coming up are: 12/13: a special $5 admission dance to celebrate Leigh and Alice's 30th Anniversary; 12/21: Holiday dance and Holiday Party; 12/31: New Year's Eve Dance & Potluck Supper; January 4, 2014: 30th Anniversary of Swingin' Tern, special throwback $3 admission fee.

PUBLICITY: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Nancy attended a meeting of the Jersey Arts Council today and felt it was fruitful. Nancy's written report detailed the many synergies and connections the committee is making with various venues and publicity outlets. Allan is working to resolve some issues on the website; if anyone notices a problem with the site (pictures not loading, calendar broken, etc) please notify Allan so he can address it. The committee will discuss how to resolve potential turf battles for space on the home page, and will bring it to the board if necessary in the next few months.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

No report from the absent Joe Graziano.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS:

November's party will be at the home of Mark & Robin Schaffer, December will be at the home of Steve Humphreys; January is booked for Margaret Crowl's home.

MINSTREL STAFFING:

We have gotten about half a dozen volunteers in the last few months. At one recent show, the MC asked for help to clear up the kitchen at the end of intermission, and it worked very well, with the refreshments room being broken down in about 5 minutes. We will try this again.

MINSTREL BOOKING: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Only two “regular” Minstrel shows this month, as two other Fridays were taken up with Festival and a special concert. One was well-attended, one not. MUF has agreed to forgo part of the planned rate increase, and our rent will now be $280 a week until the middle of next year. Once MUF decides what they are doing with the sanctuary upgrades, we will repair or replace the sound panels. Mike got some great leads at NERFA and booked a group called Ocean Celtic, with possibly a Morris Dance Troupe as an opener. Overall Minstrel is up $1421 for the year, although $119 in the red for October.

NEWSLETTER: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Printing Costs for November Newsletter were $265.70 (350 copies), Postage: 90.00, Total for October Newsletter $357.70. George Otto will discuss logistics with Pat as he takes over the newleditor duties from Liz.

HSNOI: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Shot some great shows this month, and have more scheduled through January. Sandie found so many great acts at NERFA that they are now booked through the entire year.

SPECIAL CONCERTS: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Joni Mitchell Blue Concert was a fantastic success, financially and emotionally for both the artists and FP. Several FP members performed on October 30 at FDU's annual WAMFest and had fun and were well-received. Hopefully this will lead to more work with FDU at future fests, as this is a good college connection for us.

FESTIVAL: SEE COMMITTEE REPORT

Despite Mark & Robin's best efforts to spend every penny improving the festival, we still made an $800 profit. It was a great weekend, the music was exceptional and the only downside was Robin having to miss the festival due to her broken arm. However, her detailed agenda let others step in and take over very well. The workshops were well-attended and we had several second- and third-time attendees. In addition, some new festival folks came to the October EoM, so they are moving into the community itself. Although a new venue was under consideration (Crossroads), after a visit from some other FP members and lots of discussion, it was decided the cons outweighed the pros so we will be staying at Camp Bernie for the next year at least. Mark thanked those who came for the inspection for their invaluable input.

Mark and Robin are looking for suggestions for a new name for Festival. In discussions with performers and newer attendees, it appears that the name “festival” conjures up large crowds, outdoor concerts, and a generally different experience than we offer. In an age when people are scanning down a web page at at one-line descriptions of venues or concerts, “festival” doesn't convey what we're about, which is more like a retreat. In addition, some performers have not booked with us for this reason, or quoted us inflated fees. Although many of us are very attached to the name, the issue is how outsiders see it. Please email any suggestions you have to Mark.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:30. Next month's meeting will be at the Chimney Rock Inn, dinner at 6 pm, meeting at 8 with voting for next year's board.