February 2016

The meeting was called to order at 8:05 PM on February 2 at the Highland Park home of Cecilia Rowedder and Allan Kugel. The minutes are written in agenda-order although the actual order was rearranged until quorum was reached at about 8:15. Thanks to Chris Riemer for taking minutes for the Treasurer’s Report and Rules of Engagement.

ROLL CALL

Present were Kathleen Caccavale, Joanne Cronin, Lois DeRitter, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Lindsey Meyer, Mitch Radler, Chris Reimer, Jay Wilensky, and Barrett Wilson (officers and trustees); Mike Agranoff, Ken Brody, Christine DeLeon, Mike Del Vecchio, Lori Falco, Paul Fisher, Pam Robinson, Ed Roffman, Mark Schaffer (committee chairs)

Absent: Pat Brangs, Deborah Graham, Grover Kemble, Bob McNally, George Otto, Sandie Reilly, and Leigh Walker

Guests: Miriam Libove, Olga Alvarez

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

1. The Board tabled Mike A.’s motion to drop the FP’s workers’ compensation insurance.

2. The Board approved Lori’s motion to rescind the October 2015 vote that gave Scooter Ferguson permission to run a Special Concert for Li’l Rev, with proceeds going to Li’l Rev, minus the concert expenses.

ADMINISTRATION REPORTS

Secretary's Report

The minutes were approved for November, December, and January, so we’re all caught up.

Treasurer’s Report - Written Report

Chris had nothing to add to his written report, other than to note that the 1099 income reports had all been mailed to qualifying performers before the deadline. He thanked Mark Schaffer, Mike Agranoff and Pam Robinson for supplying contact information in several cases. At Mike’s request, he is also working on a different approach to monthly reporting that would use a spreadsheet to make additional calculations related to G&A assessments.

President’s Report - Written Report

1.) Sound Reinforcement Training: Barrett reported that this program, led by Mike D., has attracted a growing number of volunteers. After the MUUF system has been installed, the volunteers will use the FP equipment in the Terrace Room (for Open Stage) and the MUUF equipment in the meeting room (for regular Minstrel concerts and Special Concerts), so training is vital.

2.) Grant: He also reported that Barbara Moo is applying for a 2017 grant from Morris Arts (formerly the Arts Council of the Morris Area) for an amount up to $5,000. The money would be for “general operations”, which covers just about anything. If we receive an award, then we’ll discuss what to do with it. [Secretary’s note: The money originates with the National Endowment for the Arts, filters through the NJ State Council on the Arts, down to the local areas which, in this case, is Morris Arts.]

3.) Worker’s Compensation Group: Barrett put together this group, made up of himself, Lori, Chris, George, and Elizabeth, to study issues surrounding the complicated issue of Workers’ Compensation insurance. He would like to finish in the next few months but cautioned that we need to move carefully, as there is no clear path.

History:

The reason we currently have Workers' Compensation insurance even though we don’t have any paid employees: in 2009, Board members spoke to

pro-bono lawyers and concluded that although we might not need it, we might be better safe than sorry, as the NJ laws are not clear on this issue. It currently (2016)

costs the FP about $200/month. For more information, use the search feature in this wiki.

The main issues that arose out of our discussion:

• We want to have adequate coverage but not buy something we don’t need.

• Brokers will always try to sell their products “just in case”.

• Lawyers have given us differing opinions.

• We may also need Directors and Officers insurance and it may be cheaper to get it at the same time as we make adjustments to our Worker’s Compensation.

• Similar organizations to ours don’t carry Workers' Compensation.

Jay stated that the Board should find a knowledgeable broker right away. Chris agreed, reminding us that we inadvertently went a long time with no insurance at all and that a lawsuit during that time could have ended the FP and the personal assets of the individual Board members would have been vulnerable to suit. Elizabeth noted that insurance is not about fairness, it’s about who has the better lawyer.

Barrett encouraged everyone to read and respond to the ongoing email that’s been circulating about this issue.

NEW BUSINESS

Rules of Engagement

After an introduction by Barrett, Chris presented this final work product produced by last year’s Venue Chair Autonomy Committee (VCAC). For the new folks in the room, he recalled that last summer, the Board had become deeply polarized on a number of issues, one of which had to do with how we balanced venue autonomy and board oversight. Where should this line be and what do we do when either side feels it’s being crossed?

In August 2015, Barrett put together a committee to consider these issues, which included himself, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Mike Agranoff, Jay Wilensky and Chris Riemer. This group met twice and also explored the topic via email discussions. All of their proceedings are documented in the Back Office, for those who would like a detailed view. (It’s a blog-style page, so the posts are in reverse chronological order.) https://sites.google.com/site/folkprojectbackoffice/committee-pages/vcac-ad-hoc

Through these deliberations, the committee realized that the issue wasn’t procedural, it was interpersonal. That is, it wasn’t a matter of what we were doing or not doing, but of how we were doing it. So the committee put together some suggested “rules of engagement,” which Chris then read to the group. Acknowledging that this is just a more elaborate way of saying “play nice,” the committee still felt they couldn’t hurt. Allan suggested that another good principle would be to “engage with trust;” always assume that other Directors are acting in good faith unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Chris will forward the committee’s final document to the full board, for its consideration. That action will formally close the work of the VCAC, an ad hoc committee that is now dissolved. Here's the link: https://sites.google.com/site/folkprojectbackoffice/committee-pages/vcac-ad-hoc/vcac-posts/rulesofengagementfinal

NERFA Reports – This was on the agenda but was not addressed during the meeting.

Workers’ Compensation (not to be confused with Barrett’s President’s Report)

Mike A. said he wanted to make a motion and, if seconded, he wanted to table it until after the Worker’s Compensation Group comes to a conclusion. Mike moved “to drop our worker’s compensation insurance”. Mike’s reasons for the motion: no comparable organization has it and the cost is out of proportion to the coverage. Pam seconded the motion, then moved to table, which received a unanimous vote. Chris urged everyone to read Mike’s email and the ensuing email discussion on this important topic.

OLD BUSINESS

Uke Fest IV

There was no report.

We voted to move into a Committee of the Whole. When we emerged, we returned to the agenda.

Li'l Rev Benefit Concert

Due to lack of communication from Scooter about plans for the Li'l Rev benefit concert, Lori moved “that we rescind the motion from October that gave him [Scooter] permission to run a Special Concert for Li'l Rev, with proceeds going to him [Li'l Rev], minus concert expenses.” The Board expressed sympathy for Li'l Rev on the death of his wife and noted that the family still has medical bills. Since the benefit had originated with Scooter and he has been out of communication with the Board, the group felt uncomfortable leaving this responsibility up in the air. In a poll of those present, no one volunteered to produce this concert. The Board then voted to approve the motion to rescind.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Special Concerts - Written Report

Pam reported that Comas is set for Feb. 19 and Calan is set for Sept. 23, both at MUUF. She has no information on Uke Fest.

Horses Sing None of It - Written Report

Ken said he’d talk to Barbara about the possibility of getting grant money to fund equipment, since Horses is limited by the cable company’s less-than-ideal equipment.

Swingin’ Tern - Written Report

In Leigh’s absence, Elizabeth mentioned the special tribute to Joel Remde at this Saturday’s memorial, prior to the regular dance.

Publicity - Written Report

Due to ongoing issues with Dreamhost bouncing emails (especially to and from AOL customers), we’re probably moving to Gmail. Paul said that as a non-profit, we’d qualify for free Google Ads, which would be displayed to Google users who search using keywords appropriate to our organization. George is willing to do the paperwork if the venue chairs will commit to creating a list of keywords to give to Google. Paul requested that this be added to the March agenda. Chris said the FP Youtube channel only has 50 subscribers and we need 100 in order to get a vanity URL. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdbfs4jHHGz--AYidrnfZA (which is why we need the vanity URL!) OR go to Youtube.com and search <folk project video>.

Minstrel Staffing - Written Report

Deborah was absent but we were all glad to hear that her cast is off and she’s graduated to crutches.

Electronic Communications - Written Report

Lori had nothing to add to her report.

Membership - Written Report

Eddie and Deborah were both absent.

Newsletter - Written Report

George was absent. Mark noted that there was no article in the Feb. newsletter about the Valentine Show, so there will be a Facebook post about it instead.

Community Services - Written Report

Pat was absent.

Minstrel Booking - Written Report

Mike A. reported an average paid attendance for the three regular January shows of only 81, with a net loss of $214, including G&A and insurance. The G&A figure was $257 for the month and he expects that to be the ballpark figure for future months. He noted that profit and loss figures will begin reflecting G&A, so we should keep that in mind when comparing yearly figures, as it will be like comparing apples and oranges. He reminded other venue chairs that they need to incorporate G&A and insurance into their figures as well and Chris said that they’ll be able to do it through QuickBooks next month. New main act bookings include radical guitarist Shun Ng, who opened for Beppe Gambetta. Following the audience’s enthusiastic response, Mike booked him on the spot for a main act. “The crowd spoke and I listened,” said Mike.

Event Hosting - Written Report

Christine had nothing to add to her report.

Elizabeth reminded us that member shows fall under the purview of Event Hosting. This includes the Valentine Show, Halloween Show, and the upcoming May 6th Summer Songs, which needs a champion. In true Folk Project fashion, Mitch volunteered to run Summer Songs, garnering cheers from the crowd. Olga expressed an interest in producing the Halloween Show in the event that Deborah chooses not to.

Sound Reinforcement - Written Report

Mike D. noted that today (Feb. 2) is officially “Sound Hog Day”. Referring the $10,000 gifted to the FP for sound upgrades, Elizabeth requested that we give MUUF half of that amount now, since building construction hasn’t yet started. We also have concerns that MUUF’s sound choices may not meet our needs. She will send Chris a formal request to send $5,000 to MUUF (no money has been sent yet).

Getaway - Written Report

Registration opens on February 15 and Mark encouraged everyone to sign up quickly before it sells out. At the fall Getaway’s voting for Fest Forward, Jenvonnah beat out Thomas Lachowicz by a hair, so Thomas was given a 3-song set. Now Jenvonnah can’t make it, so Thomas moves up to a full set and Katherine Rondeau will do the 3-song set.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:57 pm. Next month’s meeting is at the home of Jay Wilensky and Marie Trontell in Whitehouse Station.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindsey Meyer, Secretary