January 2016

The January 5 Board meeting was called to order at 8:00 pm at the home of Pam Robinson and Bob Safranek in New Providence.

ROLL CALL

Present were Joanne Cronin, Lois DeRitter, Grover Kemble, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Bob McNally, Lindsey Meyer, Chris Reimer, and Barrett Wilson (officers and trustees); Mike Agranoff, Pat Brangs, Ken Brody, Christine DeLeon, Mike Del Vecchio, Lori Falco, Deborah Graham, George Otto, Pam Robinson, Leigh Walker (committee chairs).

Absent: Kathi Caccavale, Paul Fisher, Allan Kugel, Mitch Radler, Mark Schaffer, and Jay Wilensky.

Guests: Andrew Hines, Nancy Kelner, and Bob Safranek.

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

There was no quorum, so there were no motions (other than those required to run the meeting).

ADMINISTRATION REPORTS

Secretary’s Report

As there was no quorum, approval of the November and December minutes was postponed until the February meeting.

Treasurer’s Report

Chris is waiting to receive all of December’s expenses before he closes out the books for 2015. We had a very good year, perhaps the best ever, and he intends to present a graphic report next month to show where the money came from and where it went. He added that he really needs 1099 forms from Getaway and Special Concerts *now*.

President’s Report - Written Report

Barrett reported that he received a proposal from Mihal Gross to archive FP materials and artifacts [in the American Folklife Center] at the Library of Congress. Pam pointed out that the LoC has been receiving and archiving monthly copies of our newsletter for many years. This proposal would involve much more material, such as papers, recordings, videos, skit texts, photographs, awards, and digital records. Barrett will solicit input from certain Board members and, if enough people are interested, he’ll report back in February.

NEW BUSINESS

Folk Project Credit Card

Over the years, we’ve considered getting a credit card to be used for FP expenses, such as Constant Contact renewal. Chris said that although it would be easier for card users to be reimbursed by the treasurer, the accounting end would be much more complicated and we’d also have to keep track of who’s got the card. We decided it was more trouble than it was worth. Mike A. and several others said it would be useful if we could at least *accept* credit cards for door admissions, ticket sales, and merchandise sales. Chris stated that, as Treasurer, he was not willing to look into Square, or something similar, but that anyone else is welcome to do so.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Special Concerts No report from Scooter. Pam’s written report is here.

New chair Pam reported a successful Holiday Benefit Concert for MUUF and gave thanks to the many volunteers who made it happen. After expenses, we presented a check to MUUF for $1,588, for which they were very appreciative.

Comas is appearing at MUUF on Friday, Feb. 19. Although Scooter booked the band, Pam has stepped up to produce the show, moving full-steam ahead. Pam said that Mike A. has taken Point on this event, doing whatever she asks. “She points and I go,” quipped Mike. Lori gave Pam a tutorial on Constant Contact to bring her up to speed prior to the Comas PR blitz.

Pam is currently in negotiations with several performers. She said she’d like to add four extra concerts per year as a “Sunday Series” (in addition to the regular Special Concerts). We will soon lose the use of the Schafferosa for house concerts and she envisions Special Concerts picking up the slack. Sunday concerts would give us the option of using either the Meeting Room or the (cheaper) Terrace Room, depending on ticket sales.

We discussed the Sunday concert idea. Barrett asked whether Pam could get volunteers to work on Sunday and said it’s important not to add work to existing volunteers, nor to increase Amy’s workload. Mike D. said that Sunday is a good day for concerts because it’s easy to get performers who might already have local Friday and Saturday gigs. He pointed out that Sanctuary Concerts frequently holds successful Sunday concerts with $20 ticket prices. Grover asked if holding Special Concerts on Sunday would have any effect on Minstrel attendance. Mike A. said not necessarily, and that we’ve held them on Saturdays with no ill effect.

Barrett praised Pam’s spreadsheet as “impressive as hell”. It uses algorithms to change attendance projections or ticket prices so you can foresee how potential changes would affect the outcome. He encouraged all of our business people to follow suit. Pam said that Rick Thomas created the spreadsheet. She keeps it as a template and has given it to every Special Concerts chair since she was last SC chair.

Audience Survey

At the Holiday Benefit Concert for MUUF, Pam distributed an audience survey to the 120 attendees, of whom 15% responded.

• On the question about interest in attending a Sunday concert, 11 indicated yes, 2 no, and 4 maybe.

• Of the 10 responses about acceptable admission price, the average that respondents were willing to pay was $17.

• For the question “How did you hear about this event? (check all that apply)” the highest counts were FP website and newsletter (8 each), Minstrel-Gram (7), the Minstrel and Special Concerts email (5 each), Facebook page and MUUF (3 each) and last but not least, Pam herself, with 2.

• The responses to “Which styles of music would you like to hear live? (circle all that apply)” indicated strongest desire for Folk Trad and Singer/Songwriter (14 each), followed by Celtic, Folk Rock, and Folk Harmonies (13 each), Appalachian (12), Blues and Jazz (10 each), Bluegrass (9), Classical and String Band (8 each), Acadian, Canadian, and Country (6 each). The following received 5 or fewer votes: Cajun/Zydeco, Gospel, Old-Timey, African, Rock, Rock-a-billy, Latin, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Asian.

Horses Sing None of It - Written Report

Ken reported two tapings this week and invited us all to come and be a part of the studio audience. We also discussed Ken’s idea to donate Jeff Saxton’s accumulated Minstrel ticks to some deserving members who can’t afford admission.

Swingin’ Tern - Written Report

Leigh said it was not a good month and noted decreased dance attendance in our region, not just at Swingin’ Tern. Last year’s finances were better because people donated more money, not because of higher attendance. Grover asked about the lack of younger people at the dances. Mike A. answered that younger people do attend more in other regions and he thinks “it’s a cultural thing”. Chris remembered a time about 6 years ago when NPR did a feature on contra dancing among young people. Around the same time, Cody Crawford did a lot of personal outreach, which brought in young people for a while but it didn’t last. Leigh noted the death of long-time volunteer and enthusiast Joel Remde and quoted Connie Crawford, who wrote, “he was always thinking about others in so many quiet ways.”

Publicity - Written Report

In Paul’s absence, Chris reported about his work on the FP Youtube channel (called “FP Video”) and some of the choices and issues that it entails. Having our own channel means we can upload videos, create playlists of other people’s videos, and subscribe to other people’s channels. Right now, we link to other people’s videos. The big question is whether we want to get into the business of uploading our own videos: for example, Bill Henderson’s Minstrel tapings or the skit. However, once we publish our own material, then we become producers and we’d have to get permissions and deal with copyright. Some of our own videos are already up on Youtube, such as the Minstrel Birthday Shows.

Chris recommended we get things working smoothly before we consider actively publishing and discussion revealed that most of the Board agreed. He said if we want to subscribe to channels, we have to decide which ones. He thinks 8 channels at a time are plenty and that we could swap them out for new channels, to keep a fresh look. We also need to manage our channel to keep the quality high – the videos should look professional and should make people want to come see the performer. George said our channel can attract people to see what we’re about and that this would be a good goal to keep in mind as we decide what to include on the channel.

Minstrel Staffing (No report from Barrett)

New chair Deborah is already working to streamline tasks to make them more appealing to potential volunteers, especially work-heavy positions such as Head Staff. One way to do this is to divide them into “people” tasks and “numbers” tasks so that those who are good at one won’t be asked to do the other. Another way to streamline is to identify which tasks are actually needed for each Minstrel. For example, Mike A. will ask performers if they are bringing merch and their own sales staff so we’ll know in advance if we need a floater. Some tasks may be split between two people. Deborah will email the volunteers in March about the new positions.

Discussion: Everyone thought simplifying and organizing are a good idea. Elizabeth cautioned that splitting tasks will mean we need more volunteers and that would hurt our income. Bob suggested asking current and past volunteers for suggestions, since they’re likely to have useful ideas. Deborah said that in February, she plans to survey current volunteers and will expand that to include past volunteers.

Barrett added that the basement locker really needs to be cleaned out. For instance, there’s a collection of bright orange hats, which elicited creative suggestions from the wags in the room.

Electronic Communications - Written Report

In her written report, Lori outlined the committee’s functions for the benefit of the new Board members. She said that we have 4,127 Constant Contact contacts, up from 4,105 last month.

Membership

Eddie was absent but his report states that we have 361 memberships representing 557 persons.

Newsletter - Written Report

George had nothing to add to his report.

Community Services - Written Report

Pat added that Jim West is recovering from a broken leg and everyone present expressed sympathy.

Minstrel Booking - Written Report

Mike reported a $39 profit for December and an average paid attendance of 47, which was respectable since only two shows were held: one was Open Stage and the other was Chorus Song Night, with a fairly typical low attendance. For 2015, we had a total profit of $5,827, including the Paxton show, and $3,967 without the Paxton show. He said Christine has been experimenting with the Terrace Room layout for Open Stages and he’s met with Barrett, Deborah, and Amy Livingston to discuss proposed changes to the Minstrel staffing procedures. New bookings include Feb. 5: Mustards Retreat, Apr. 22: Jim Hurst, July 22: John Gorka, Oct. 21: Christine Lavin with openers David Buskin (from Modern Man) and daughter Sophie, and Dec. 30: The Kennedys. Joe Crookston got moved from Feb. 5 to June 17.

Event Hosting - Written Report

Christine had nothing to add to her report. We spent some time discussing whether the Valentine’s Show admission was advertised as $10 or $12, with some stating that $12 was too high. It was later determined that the correct figure is $10.

Sound Reinforcement (no written report)

Mike D. continues training volunteers at the Open Stages. In January, MUUF will be installing the new sound system, which should be finished and usable quickly, although the carpentry could take a couple of weeks. The Minstrel sound crew will set up around it. Grover asked if the Fellowship was still planning to pave the parking areas. Barrett answered that there are issues with the neighbors, so there’s been no movement on paving. Mike D. said MUUF’s new padded chairs help the acoustics so much that he doesn't think we'll need the acoustic panels. Mike A. said that MUUF will include us in training sessions on their new sound system.

Getaway - Written Report

Mark was absent but Pat reported that all is well and that Mark is already working on the spring workshop schedule. Elizabeth suggested we all sign up on the Meet-up group in order to generate more activity and publicity on the group page. Over 400 people have joined the Getaway Meet-up group.

ET CETERA (New Business not on the agenda)

Stage Lighting

Grover suggested we consider adding lighting for our Minstrel shows and Mike D. and several others agreed that front lighting would help a lot. Mike A. said it would be one more thing to set up and take down and it would take up storage space. Mike D. said we could just use it for special shows and Grover said a spotlight is small but would add a lot to the performance. Mike D. said he’d find out whether lighting is part of MUUF’s renovation plans.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm. Next month’s meeting is at the home of Allan Kugel and Cecilia Rowedder in Highland Park.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindsey Meyer, Secretary