March 2016

The March 1st meeting of the Board of Directors was brought to order at 8:04 pm at the Whitehouse Station home of Jay Wilensky and Marie Trontell.

ROLL CALL

Present were Kathleen Caccavale, Joanne Cronin, Lois DeRitter, Grover Kemble, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Bob McNally, Lindsey Meyer, Mitch Radler, Jay Wilensky, and Barrett Wilson (officers and trustees); Mike Agranoff, Ken Brody, Christine DeLeon, Mike Del Vecchio, Lori Falco, Paul Fisher, George Otto, Pam Robinson, Mark Schaffer, and Leigh Walker (committee chairs).

Guests: Tom Taylor, Miriam Libove.

Absent: Pat Brangs, Deborah Graham, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, and Ed Roffman.

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

The Board defeated Mike A’s motion “If another scheduled event falls on a second Friday, it should replace the Open Stage, not displace the Open Stage [to a different date].”

ADMINISTRATION REPORTS

Secretary’s Report

For the February minutes, the secretary reported two name spelling corrections. The minutes were then approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report Written Report

Chris was absent but his report states that half of the $10,000 grant has been sent to MUUF toward their new sound system.

President’s Report Written Report

Member Show Performers

Barrett noted that we have 2 new producers for member shows and asked whether we want to let non-members perform at these shows. He said there is a “wide arc of policy” on who can perform at these member events.

As creator of 3 of the 4 Member Shows, Mark said that he experimented with attracting new people by letting Meet-up people perform at last year’s Summer Songs without requiring them to join the FP. There were 15 performer slots, of which 3 or 4 went to Meet-up members, and there were many first timers in the audience. Mark pointed out that we already had 3 other member shows limited to member performers, there are a lot of repeat member performers, and he wanted to bring in new blood.

Much discussion ensued. The fact that non-members had been allowed to perform was news to many Board members at tonight’s meeting. We were all in favor of using these shows to bring in new members and new audiences, however many people voiced concerns about non-members signing up for performance slots and shutting out members. Three main issues emerged:

1.) Non-members are signing up and shutting out members.

Many people felt that it’s not fair to members to be shut out by non-members and that performance slots can be an incentive for people to join. The FP offers very few perks for members and this should be one of them. Non-members already have an opportunity to perform on our Open Stage, where they get 3 songs instead of just 1.

Others looked to our history of inclusiveness and said we should welcome non-member performers as potential new members. Meet-up has brought us new members and new audience members, and that is a good thing.

Some people advocated flexibility: if there’s a dearth of member performers, then allow non-members. A variation would be to allow member performers to include non-members in their performance.

Miriam asked about our objective. Is it for members or is it a marketing opportunity?

Mike A. suggested that a good compromise would be to invite the Meet-up people but ask them to join if they want to play.

2.) Some of the same members are signing up for each member show and shutting out other members. Mike A. suggested following Open Stage policy and limiting # of times a member can perform. that if someone performed at the previous event, they not be permitted to perform at the next one.

3.) Who should make the decisions and should all member nights be run the same way? Several people said let the champion [producer] decide.

Barrett stated that he wants to leave the decision to the individual producers, who would then bring it to the Board for a vote. Since Summer Songs needs to be advertised immediately, Mitch will need to decide by himself, as there will not be time before the next Board meeting.

ASCAP / BMI

Barrett asked whether we have a legal obligation to pay ASCAP and BMI fees. Mike A. reviewed the reasons why we pay these fees, which are our legal responsibility. In order for copyright holders (i.e. not the performers) to receive royalties from live performances of their songs, they register with either ASCAP or BMI. Those agencies then collect fees from the venues which they then distribute to the copyright holders. He said there is controversy about how fees are distributed, however that doesn’t concern us. We are required by law to pay these fees.

The way it works is that each venue is charged 0.8% of ticket sales. This is equivalent to 1 ticket price for every 125 tickets sold, which Mike called “a pretty reasonable fee”. This fee is paid quarterly by the FP treasurer and it gives each of our venues blanket permission to perform all the songs in the company’s catalog. Since there are two companies (ASCAP and BMI), the FP is charged a total of 1.6% of ticket price per year. As an example, Mike said that if 100 tickets are sold at $9 each, our payment would be $14.40. Bob added that the agencies got more aggressive about collecting fees about 10 years ago because many bars were making profit off the songs but the songwriters weren’t getting any royalties. At that time, the agencies began pursuing payments from smaller venues such as bars and organizations like ours.

Barrett questioned whether we should continue to comply with this law. Many Board members replied that we don’t have a choice – it’s the law and we are following it. Kathi said that these payments should be included in each venue’s budget, the same as G&A, and Lori stated that not every venue is currently accounting for it. Barrett took a straw poll asking whether we want to continue to pay this legal obligation and assent was unanimous. Mike will help any venue chair or member concert producer who has questions about how to budget for these payments.

OLD BUSINESS

2017 Grant Application

Barbara Moo was not present. She’s applying for an operating grant from Morris Arts.

Ad Hoc Workers’ Compensation Committee Written Report

Barrett had no comments.

NEW BUSINESS

Open Stage / Minstrel

Mike A. moved “If another scheduled event falls on a second Friday, it should replace the Open Stage, not displace it to a different date.” Mike said that’s the way it had been done for 38 years. The reason for his motion is financial: now that venue chairs have to account for insurance and G&A costs, he needs to be more careful with his budget. He stated that a regular show with a performer stands a better chance of making money than an OS. (OS hovers around break-even; regular shows clear about $90 profit.) Mike wants to keep in the black by returning to our former policy. Christine disagrees and this is why she and Mike brought this issue before the Board.

There have always been certain dates when the OS was cancelled due to conflicts. This year, there are two dates: the February Valentine’s Day show and the May Special Concert.

Christine stated that she’s concerned that OS is being seen as a throw-away and wants the other events moved, rather than OS. To keep the momentum she’s been building, she wants other venues to stop scheduling shows on the second Friday or, if that’s not possible, to reschedule the OS for a different date. Mike said that would negatively affect the Minstrel’s bottom line, since the OS generally does not make money. Following discussion, and with a number of abstentions, the Board voted not to adopt Mike’s motion.

FP Email Considerations

When using internal email and address lists to conduct FP business, Jay asked us to consider who is on each list, to think before we forward something, and to think about whether the receivers should be part of the conversation. He urged us to limit email distribution and scope, to be courteous and civil, and to consider alienation or attraction before we hit “send”. Other people agreed and pointed out that some sensitive emails could inadvertently be sent to the wrong person or be misunderstood. We should all keep in mind that when we send to a group, it’s no longer private and we shouldn’t mention names if the topic is private or personal.

Tick Program

Ken outlined a proposal to distribute accumulated ticks that have been donated to the FP by Jeff Saxton’s children and also by Cathy and Rick Thomas. Proposed recipients would be those in our FP community who can’t afford the $9 Minstrel admission. Ken said it would be in the same vein as Getaway giving out scholarships. The proposed recipients would be FP members and would be expected to volunteer in exchange for the ticks, although it was pointed out that volunteers earn their own ticks.

Although everyone liked the idea of honoring Jeff, a number of people said that there are a lot of unused ticks floating around and that giving them away would have a negative effect on the Minstrel’s bottom line. Mike A. said that he didn’t know about this idea prior to the meeting and that it should be handled by the Minstrel Booking and Staffing Committees, since it would affect the Minstrel’s finances. He said the ticks cost money to the Minstrel because of the way the performers are paid and that he’s actually been working to reduce the number of ticks distributed.

Kathi said that deciding who would qualify would be a “Pandora’s box of sensitive information”. Instead, she suggested giving ticks for shows we think won’t be well attended. Elizabeth said that at NERFA, they were encouraged to give away free admissions through institutions such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, food banks, etc. She said if we want to do outreach, we can give free passes – we don’t need to give away ticks. Jay suggested we move away from the concept of ticks as a tradable commodity; they’re a thank you to a person who’s volunteered on a particular night.

George pointed out that this is a Minstrel Committee issue, not a Board issue, and that it should not have been brought up to the Board. He said committees need to function in their areas and we’re misusing them if we don’t do that. It was decided to move this issue off the Board agenda and into the Minstrel Committee.

Lois requested a Committee of the Whole and we voted to do so. When we emerged, we returned to the agenda.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

As we were running out of time, Barrett requested that everyone keep reports and comments to a minimum.

Horses Sing None of It Written Report

Ken had no additions.

Minstrel Booking Written Report

Mike A. said that the MUUF sound system renovations are starting on Monday, March 21 and finishing by Friday, March 25. The Minstrel will be displaced from sometime in July through September for parking lot construction and we’ll move to the Presbyterian Church in Chatham for the duration.

Minstrel Staffing Written Report

Deborah was absent.

Special Concerts Written Report

Pam said she'd heard from a Board member who was disappointed in the relatively low profit for the successful Comas show (see written report). She pointed out that her purpose was not necessarily to make a huge profit. She aims to make a modest profit presenting high level performers and keeping ticket prices affordable and FP risk as low as possible. Referring to the previous conversation about ASCAP & BMI, she stated that the payment for the Comas concert was just under $50.

Elizabeth reported that Scooter hasn’t made any contractual commitments to performers regarding UkeFest 2016. Pam has stepped up to organize the event, has recruited Fil Wisneski to produce it, and is scouting out locations (assuming MUUF is unavailable due to the driveway construction).

The next Special Concert is Irish Mythen, performing on May 13.

Swingin’ Tern Written Report

Leigh reported a big dance on March 5, then requested a Committee of the Whole.

For the second time this evening, we voted to move into a Committee of the Whole. When we emerged, we returned to the agenda.

Electronic Communications Written Report

Lori had nothing to add to her report.

Publicity Written Report

Paul had nothing to add to his report. Allan said that we’ve made a successful transition to Gmail from Dreamhost. The forms on the FP webpage are following a different path and he requested that the Board members let the committee know if we see a change in the usual email traffic flow.

Membership

Deborah and Ed were both absent. Eddie wrote: Please note that Folk Project policy is that our roster is only to be used for Folk Project business.

Community Services Written Report

Pat was absent.

Newsletter Written Report

George had nothing to add.

Getaway Written Report

Mark reported that the spring Getaway sold out in four days. He said that if people didn’t get in, there’s a wait list and that people DO drop out, especially when Getaway is so far in the future. Sloan Wainwright is on tap for the fall Getaway.

Event Hosting Written Report

Christine had nothing to add.

Sound Reinforcement Written Report

Mike D. said that even if the new sound system is set up, we’ll continue setting up and using the old one until we’re comfortable with the new one.

Comment / Request

Mike A. requested that the president give more time to committee reports at Board meetings. He said that the written reports are often not sent out till late and the verbal ones have become rushed due to time constraints. In the past, the committee reports were an integral part of the Board meetings and at least included a verbal summary.

In response, Barrett requested that committee chairs email their reports no later than Sunday night in order to give Board members time to read everything prior to the meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:07.

The next meeting will be on April 5 at the home of Grover Kemble in Morris Plains.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindsey Meyer, Secretary